Review of 'Mood Valiant' by Hiatus Kaiyote

 

Hiatus Kaiyote return with some catchy and vulnerable neo-soul jams.

Review of 'It Is What It Is' by Thundercat

The funky bassist-singer gets serious.

Review of '3:15:20' by Childish Gambino

Childish Gambino loves to surprise the hell out of his fans.

Review of 'Cuz I Love You' by Lizzo

Lizzo’s new pop album is more infectious than malaria.

Review of 'Igor' by Tyler, the Creator

Tyler’s new album is a grower.

Review of 'Sweetener' by Ariana Grande

The ponytailed pop princess delivers playful production and positivity on her new polished LP. Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers. Pppppppp.

INTRODUCING: Star The Moonlight

Meet Star The Moonlight.

Review of 'Drunk' by Thundercat

Thundercat ought to be a pretentious douche. Most people with his level of instrumental prowess have the right to be. Instead, the bassist-extraordinaire refuses to take himself seriously. At all. Which is what makes him so lovable.

Review of 'The Divine Feminine' by Mac Miller

The Divine Feminine wants to be a love album, or a feminist album, I’m not entirely sure which. Instead it ends up being a graphic ode to Mac Miller’s sex life. Thankfully the soul beats are dangerously gorgeous enough to distract from most of it.

Review of 'Freetown Sound' by Blood Orange

Dev Hynes is the kind of guy who likes to keep changing up his style. Metaphorically speaking, he’s the kind of guy who never wears the same dress twice. Literally speaking, he’s the kind of guy who’d probably never wear a dress in the first place. But let’s not get ourselves sidetracked with cross-dressing analogies…

Review of '99.9%' by Kaytranada

Sporting vocal guests as big as Aluna George and Our Holy Father Craig David, this Haitan-Canadian EDM producer is clearly making a name for himself, even if I hadn’t heard of him until a couple weeks ago.

Review of 'Surf' by Donnie Trumpet and The Social Experiment

Donnie Trumpet and the Social Experiment is a Chicago hip hop collective consisting of Donnie Trumpet, Nate Fox, Peter Wilkins, Greg “Stix” Landfair jr and a load of other artists I won’t pretend to have heard of. About the only member I was familiar with beforehand was kooky emcee, Chance the Rapper, who provides bars on most of these tracks.

Review of 'The Beyond/ Where The Giants Roam' by Thundercat

When you’ve listened to as much soul and funk as I have you begin to get desensitised to the slinky chords and groovy basslines. Everyone becomes another wannabe-Stevie-Wonder, another wannabe-Steely-Dan. It takes an artist like LA producer, singer and bassist Thundercat to prove that funk and soul still has room to evolve.

Review of 'Choose Your Weapon' by Hiatus Kaiyote

On the odd occasion when I’m feeling classy, I’ll kick back with some brie, crackers and red wine and listen to some soul music. Hiatus Kiayote are my latest and greatest find – a Melbourne neo-soul group with a frontwoman villainously named Nai Palm (pronounced ‘napalm’). From a glance you’d think they were some crazy white brutal hardcore band, but their sound couldn’t be more opposite.

I first stumbled upon them a couple weeks ago after hearing an old hit of theirs titled ‘Nakamarra’. The husky vocals and pillowy chord progressions transported me to a happy, summery place of peace and love and daisy chains.

I expected the same husky vocals and pillowy chord progressions from this album and without a shadow of a doubt I got this. Hiatus Kaiyote know all the sweet notes to hit to make you feel warm inside. However, it became immediately clear that the vibe wasn’t the same. The reason behind this became clear after repeat listens – Hiatus Kaiyote have lost their smoothness.

They’ve developed ants in their pants, losing their ability to sit still, crafting songs that refuse to settle into a groove. There are no straightforward, easy-flowing numbers like ‘Nakamarra’ on Choose Your Weapon. The record opens with ten minutes of jazzy noodling, disguised as three songs. After this, the music becomes a little more structured and digestable, but there’s still a lot of melodic fidgeting and no real hooks or solid riffs or rhythms to serve as a payoff.

Too much noodles

That said, buried beneath the progginess are some beautiful moments that are worthy of praise. ‘Swamp Thing’ has a muddy, driving bassline that aptly suits it’s title. ‘Prince Minikid’ has a dreamy instrumental that Flying Lotus would be jealous of. Then there’s my favourite track, ‘Atari’, one of the most energetic tracks here – sporting an upbeat chorus of sorts and some fun 8-bit synths.

All these moments feel like creative strokes of genius that could have paid off if Hiatus Kaiyote didn’t have such a short attention span. Meandering off every time a good idea pops up, the album feels like a constant tease. Those with more tolerance for a good noodle will enjoy it. 

★★★☆☆

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