Negro Swan – Blood Orange
Harry
Blood Orange’s 4th album has him taking inspiration from T.L.O.P and Blonde by producing a scattered album that flows like a scrap book. Songs frequently feature drastic changes of direction, kept interesting with their beautiful blend of organic instrumentation with spacey synths and sharp beats. It is this aspect that carries the album and what holds me back is the lack of powerful and intoxicating vocals. Often the delivery is soft and falsetto, which causes the lyrics to drown into the vibe of the songs. As a result, ASAP Rocky’s feature is a refreshing highlight midway through the trackless. Moreover, the fairly generic interview snippets dropped within the songs feels contrived when within a lyrically unsure project. Sadly the album falls short of its potential.
67/100
Zach
Negro Swan combines jazz and soul infused beats with a blatant disregard for song structure. While I thought the production, especially in the first half of the album, was really special. Some of the songs utilised stripped back ‘leany’ chords with a sax or flute solo over the top. Sadly, the production completely outshone the lyrics, melodies and the overall vocals throughout. The vocals were, at best, disappointing, at worst, embarrassing and is the main reason why this album falls flat and becomes forgettable for me. I almost wish that the production could be taken and given to an artist who was actually interested in creating music that can be listened to casually as well as intensely.
Spazzy McGee 