Three days ago, The Raconteurs confirmed that they finally finished their long-anticipated third album. This album, yet to be titled, will be the band’s first LP since 2008’s ‘Consolers Of The Lonely’. Their debut, ‘Broken Boy Soldiers’, was released two years earlier in 2006. Last year, the four-four-piece announced that they were planning a new record after releasing singles, ‘Sunday Driver’ and ‘Now That You’re Gone’. The band, consisting of members Jack White, Brendon Benson, Jack Lawrence and Patrick Keeler, were last active in 2011.
New Releases
Greg P. The MC ‘The Most Overlooked’ EP
Greg P may think he is the most overlooked but that won’t be for long after this EP. The Paterson New Jersey MC keeps the culture alive on his latest EP titled The Most Overlooked, combining boom-bap, soul, trap and lofi for his soundscape. Introspective lyrics paint vivid pictures over top this soundscape ‘Searching” and “Intro” show an artist very self-aware and also socially aware, self doubt and grand ambitions both occupy the same mind and the battle transmutes into heartfelt tracks, songs that show personal vulnerability and optimism for his culture and community. “NJ Finest” has the ‘microphone gorilla’ in battle mode with a lyrical assault on the beat featuring Stephen Xavier and Bali Wop. “99 Losses” has the MC showcasing intricate flows and bars all with matching visuals. Greg P. The MC may be overlooked for now but no one will overlook a diamond in the dirt for long. Listen Below:
. @DexAmora Drops ‘Telekinetics’ Single.
Dex Amora drops another laid back smooth single, with a combination of upbeat drums, catchy choruses, introspective lyrics and rapid flows. A quick preview of his Pensieve album slated for Summer 2019. Listen below:
Conductor Williams ( @DwillBeats ) ‘Winter Forever Cries’ Album Out Now.
The listener arrives at the station moments before their train departs and Conductor Williams immediately transports them on an instrumental journey as trippy and spaced out as his visual Instagram videos. “If We Die” is never a phrase you want to hear your conductor say while beginning a journey but played as a funky instrumental title to a soundscape of hard hitting drums, atmospheric chords, digital blips and Moog like bass lines the passenger is ironically set at ease. The key elements to this project only amplify as the train picks up momentum, ‘Re-Learn to F.L.Y.” takes the funky bass line up another notch, and the spacious chords elevate to a beautifully meditative state. Conductor Williams is an amalgamation of Roy Ayers if he made beats, an 80s synth bass funk session-musician, Black Milk and J Dilla student, and a well studied and enthusiastic 90s sound engineer. “Oscar” sounds like a master producer orchestrating a mellow jam session for a Jazz band’s modernized revival album, ghost-notes and intricate drum patterns accent in and out of even more beautifully ominous chords. “Nikki Neptune” is an open and up to date all around vibe, trap-like drums and synths replace the jazz chords and lofi drums but maintain the same essence and spirit of the project. “Maybe” follows a open musical soundscape which features live instrumentation and no drums, this is juxtaposed with the Boom-Bap of this final track, a Tribe Called Quest-like instrumental that continues the space-age grit and a fitting finale to a journey that most passengers did not want to end.
Listen below:
Gary Clark Jr: “This Land”
Texas guitarist, Gary Clark Jr., released his third studio album, ‘This Land’, last week. The artist has spent the last few years translating his mojo into studio statements and seemingly failed to capture the thrilling dynamics of his live shows in his previous albums — 2012’s ‘Blak and Blu’ and 2015’s ‘The Story of Sonny Boy Slim’. Clark Jr. finally conquered the pitfalls that held him back all these years. His latest album serves as evidence of the singer-guitarist embracing the possibilities of studio production rather than resisting the expressive challenges. His studio experimentation consists of eighties R&B, funk, rockabilly, punk, reggae-inspired bass synths, keyboards and samples to replace his extensive guitar solo’s that he is known for in his live shows. The 35-year-old has never had more to say thanks to his updated studio experimentation methods that led him to a flux of songwriting. “Exploitation wants me to be the same,” as he puts it. “I don’t want to.” In the album, Clark narrates stories of success, marriage and fatherhood and, for the first time, his longing for social justice. The artist stated that he was concerned about coming across as the stereotypical angry black man at first, but he realised that it was more important for him to be honest and authentic. Listeners will be confronted with traces of Clark’s earlier music influence such as Sly & the Family Stone, Curtis Mayfield, Luther Vandross, Whitney Houston and Stevie Wonder. He is currently on tour for the album and was quoted saying, “I’m singing like I never sang in my life before. I’m going to be exhausted after this but it’s time to put it all out there on the table.”