Young Fathers is a hip hop trio that are actually based in Scotland of all places. Conveniently enough, their first album/mixtape thing was released under the name Tape One. Despite being forgot about soon after the release, the album received glowing reviews and opened the doors for the group to go on multiple international tours. Most importantly, they landed a record label deal with Anticon Records. For those unfamiliar, Anticon is the undisputed leader for experimental hip hop. Naturally the group fit in perfectly.
One of the biggest complaints from their debut was the shortness of the album. Looking at the tracklist it appears that the group either failed to make the adjustments or just didn't care. Like the first album, this only clocks in at around twenty minutes. Personally, I've always thought that a short burst of music can work really well when you're relatively unknown to the music world. Best case scenario, it leaves the fans wanting more.
The biggest thing Young Fathers is known for is their fusion of different genres. Those genres include mostly Hip Hop, Electronic, African, Soul, and Reggae. I would be telling a ridiculous amount of lies if I said I could accurately judge how well most of those sound. With that being the case, the hip hop aspect with be reviewed accordingly and I'll do my best to review the rest for what it is.
1. I Heard
The album opener comes off very soft and its obvious that this album won't feature your traditional hip hop. Its doesn't start off with a bang but its far from boring. I'm aware that the instrumentals are the biggest part of the groups music. Its got these light drum loops that carry it for a majority and has some vocal samples that are barely audible. The song song has a very distant feel to it, but its easy to tell that the members are very capable singers. Not sure how the rest will turn out but I'm sure that this was used to ease the listener into the music.
2. Come To Life
As usual, I was right about the last song easing into the album. This song has a much more up beat instrumental, which I found to be very enjoyable. With a few bars from "I Heard" excluded, this is the first time there is any rapping. Their rhymes aren't the reason this album is getting so much attention but their certainly good enough to be classified as hip hop. Very good song.
3. Only Child
This reminded me a lot of the last song with only a slightly different vibe being a difference. Most notably, "Only Child" contains some outstanding group vocals, also similar to the last track. The beat is also nice, as its carried by some very hard punched piano keys. This was a very fun song that could have benefited with at least another minute of music.
4. Queen Is Dead
For me, this is the point on the album that I realized these guys are just on some other shit. All off their influences are apparent and I could honestly spend hours thinking about how I could classify this. The hook is extremely loud and the mix of the rising synthesizer makes this one of the most unique instrumentals in the album, a rather impressive accomplishment.
5. Bones
This fifty second interlude serves virtually no purpose and makes for one of the more useless tracks I've heard all year.
6. Freefalling
The Jamaican and African influences are all I could really remember from this track. I didn't really get any type of message from the song either. The vocals are nice enough but this still ends up being one of the least memorable tracks on the album.
7. Mr. Martyr
One of the darker tracks on this short release. Again, the vocals are executed to near perfection and this also provided some of the most fluid and traditional sounding rapping. Building upon the idea that this is more of a traditional rap song, the instrumental has a very heavy base loop. All other aspects have a rap feel to it besides the hook, which was extremely Young Fathers esque.
8. Way Down In The Hole
This starts off in a very fun and frivolous way but takes a turn when the darker percussion hits you. Not sure what instrument produces it but there's a constant clicking that matches very nicely with the rising base line. More than any other part of the album, the drums and vocals show the songs obvious African influence during the first part.
9. Ebony Sky
In almost every way, "Ebony Sky" has a connection with "Mr. Martyr". Most of those comparisons come from the dark tone and base heavy instrumental. The hook brings the dark theme with it, as it talks about a girl looking for love in all the wrong places. That sounded corny as hell but it sounds better in the context of the song.
Rating: 4/5
Still not entirely sure what I just listened to but most of it was really fucking good. For the pure sake of creativity, I feel obliged to give his album a good rating. Its definitely not traditional hip hop but it is consistently entertaining which is ultimately all I am asking for. The instrumentals are unorthodox as hell but work for the most part as well as the hooks. They're all incredibly catchy, most notably songs such as "I Heard". The only things holding this album back is that this just feels like a bunch of their songs they threw together. Unfortunately this has no real cohesive feel to it and it lacks the feel of an album. My only other complaint is that some of the songs, mostly towards the middle, come off as a little redundant. Thankfully most of the songs are fantastic and help give the album a very unique style. Since there is still a few days until the new albums are released, I'd appreciate any review recommendations because its obvious that I'm reaching with this one.