HOME OF THE STRANGE
Young The Giant (Warner)
HAVING had the pleasure of writing a review for their album Mind Over Matter, this feels like familiar ground. The funky vibes, the lyrics that lean towards melancholy, feel similar and yet remain refreshing. This time around though, the band does take on a new challenge, in the shape of songwriting.
Undoubtedly, Sameer Gadhia fits the bill of a heartbroken songwriter. With a voice like his, even the happiest of songs could sound like a love letter to a lost one. Home Of The Strange finds the band taking on a new element (at least in the first five tracks of the album) — culture.
The topic is obviously important to the band, with the first two tracks dedicated to the message. The members of Young The Giant come from various backgrounds and they take on the identity crisis faced by Americans of different descent. A conversation that is sure to connect with today’s youth but if the fear is that the rest of the record descends into a political mixtape, rest easy.
The storytelling style of Young The Giant remains, pairing vague descriptions of places and hyperbole as the frame, and with the familiar indie rock basslines and guitar riffs to complete the picture. It’s no surprise that Elsewhere and Art Exhibit are standouts, when love becomes the topic of discussion. Silvertongue brings some energy to the record as well, and is a track you would feel proud of having on your indie rock playlist.
HARD II LOVE
Usher (Sony)
DOES anyone know where the trend of replacing the word “You” with just “U” on track/album titles started? A safe bet would be the lovechild of Skrillex and Diplo a.k.a. Jack U, but that feels way too convenient. At any rate, what was once simply textspeak and something that drew the ire of parents when texting, is now seen as a sign of being with the times, and in trend, so to speak.
Which does go to show that Usher, at 37 years, young and having spent a quarter decade in the music industry, still knows what it takes to at least stay in the conversation at the coffee table. And some of the tracks on the Hard II Love might even be in the conversation in the clubs around the world that still play R&B.
Being the boss man at a record label can’t be a walk in the park, no wonder this album was three years in the making. Make no mistake though, this is the Usher we all know and love, and thank goodness. At a time and age when artistes from the past are trying their best to stay relevant, Usher still finds room to sound exactly like what you expect. And that’s a good thing.
Most of the record stays down-tempo, true to old school R&B but you might find yourself checking your equaliser and wondering where all that bass is coming from. That’s exactly the element that bridges the gap, with enough modern elements in the production to not make you confuse this for Usher circa 2002.
Lyrically, Usher doesn’t stray far from his area of expertise: Love, loss and um, physical contact. The fact that more than half the album is marked explicit is clue enough to what you can find in it. Still, a record with modern-sounding love songs, there’s not much about this album that’s hard to love.
WALLS
Kings Of Leon (Sony)
IF you still sing along to Use Somebody on retro nights at the club, good news! Kings Of Leon is back with a new album, WALLS (We Are Like Love Songs). The 10-track album has been teased on social media for the past weeks and is being described as the band rediscovering its friendship and taking new risks in making music.
They’ve released the first single along with a music video, Waste A Moment. It’s a reminder of what made us love Kings Of Leon in the first place — their completely unique sound and the absolute fun in their music. WALLS will be their seventh album, and will be released later this year.