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Definitely a bigger fan of the first half, lol. First half is pretty much perfect.
That boy showed OUT with "Deal", "NWA" and "Waves"... I fux with those 3 the LONG way. Anyway, my track-by-track breakdown...
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"A Beautiful Exit" was a good album opener, particularly for this album. It shows
the promise of some good writing and songs you can visualize as you hear them.
Both promises are fulfilled.
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"Deal" is like some 80s funk with lovely groove and feel... like Prince/Time meets Gap Band meets Survivor. Awesome song overall.
Now pay attention to how a song like this is what everyone raps over when they're
trying to show how open-minded they are and praise like crazy when it's done by
a white artist or band, because any amount of soul from them is just sooooo
awesome to some people. Miguel too brown for that kind of love, I guess. Imagine
this done by MGMT or TAME IMPALA and tell me I'm lying. At any rate, this shit jams.
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"The Valley" had me kinda afraid at first, thinking dude was about to do something wayyy
too ambitious. The little synth that comes on... the delivery and lyrics... I was like "uh oh",
but he really brought that together nicely, and that's why I say this cat is really coming
into his own and carving out a style that belongs all to him. When you can experiment
and perfect your own experiment, you're in the zone.
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Already heard "Coffee", and thought it was a good album track, but not single material.
Just sounds like something that would work great as music played during a movie scene...
as does most of the music on the album, actually... even the ones I deem single-worthy...
which is a good thing.
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"NWA" ... man. Cmon, if you can't appreciate this shit, what planet are you from?
That slow riding funk... it's like you can see the imagery in your mind as this joint plays.
You can see the smokey scene as the motorcycle slowly pulls up lol. Shit's like a
hood western.
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"Waves".. his voice sounds great on this song. If it's not evident that the kid got
his own style by now, I don't know what to tell you. I'm expecting clones in a few.
As for the song, the groove is really nice. I just wanna dance to it with a pretty lady
who's wearing some heels and a loosely form-fitting outfit that accents her chest.
Graphic, I know.
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... but then he hit me with "what's normal anyway" ... nah bruh.
That's some shit that would be cute for a 13 yr old with a changing voice to make lol.
However, musically, I'm not mad at it at all. The album was playing earlier, and
I realized that that song played, and I didn't have the urge to skip it. I'm 1000%
sure that it's because I wasn't listening to the lyrics... so yea...
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"Hollywood Dreams" is a decent song. Again has Miguel written all over it.
Just something I can't really connect with due to lyrics tho.
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"GoingToHell"... I love this song. It was stuck in my head after I finished listening
to the album for some reason. "Save me I'm a sinnerrrrr". These songs man...
they have FEELING in them that I don't feel is often captured in newer music.
Like you get when you hear "Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac for instance.
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"Flesh" is a great lil album track. Like a toned down version of Prince's "Scandalous",
which I never thought was necessarily a great song, but served it's purpose.
This one is only different in that it doesn't make one wanna fuck as much as the
other one... at least for me.
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"Leaves" is a good downtempo joint that almost channels Radiohead in the beginning
verse... but picks up with a more swingy drum pattern just before the end.
I like it for the brief album track that it is.
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"Face The Sun" is good 2015 pop music. Well-written and composed celebratory feel.
Wind-in-your-hair type music.
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Overall I'd give this album a 8 to 8.5. Really good album with some great grooves,
some nice feeling in the music, good singing, a nice voice, and good writing.
This dude was most improved and game-stepped-up artist when he dropped that
Kaleidoscope. This time he's still in that category to me for growing even more into
his own. This is the kind of artist growth that should be a joy to see for anyone who
claims to love artistry. Mad props to the kid for that.
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Days like this I miss Sha Mecca
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