Month: August 2023

ONE-FIVE-TWO | 2023-08-31

2,597 days. That’s how much time will have passed since the release of Taking Back Sunday‘s last album Tidal Wave in 2016 by the time their eight studio project 152 comes out on 27th October. Announced yesterday in conjunction with their defiant and rabid second lead single “S’old“, the LP is slated to feature a scant ten songs, clocking in at just about half an hour and change of new music—officially making this their shortest album to date (for comparison, their seminal and raw emo-punk 10-track 2002 debut Tell All Your Friends is a whole two minutes longer). That is like around four minutes of new music on average for every year that has passed since Tidal Wave. Not exactly freehanded, but we’ll take it.

Riding on the fresh and reinvigorated coattails of the soaring and anthemic comeback single “The One” from a few months ago, the full length reveal broke the ice by way of injecting more speed and grittiness in earnest into the Long Islanders’ projected sound to come. Once again produced by radio-pop mainstay Tushar Apte (a connection via last year’s co-sign Steve Aoki, as it recently transpired) and mixed by Neal Avron, new cut “S’old” increases both pace and aggression compared to its softer and perhaps more agreeable predecessor, all the while relishing in a degree of carelessness rarely seen displayed by lead singer Adam Lazzara before: “You’re going to get s’old / You’re going to get so old / You’re gonna get so old either way“.

Undoubtedly, this second teaser packs a tighter and more nostalgic punch than “The One”, yet succeeds in couching enough of a lyrical arc into itself that ends up becoming even more gratifying, in spite of its shorter runtime—this both cathartically and lyrically: “Science never lies it only learns / I could use a bit of both / A little less your high hopes / A little more your love“. Standing as a spiritual love child between something off the edgiest moments on Happiness Is and Tidal Wave‘s “Death Wolf“, the exploit’s fierce delivery does not come at the expense of melody or replay value. Judging from these first two previews, on account of the somewhat unprecedented range displayed on them, most bets are off as to how the rest of the material on 152 is going to sound like.

That is, aside from the more surface-level remark about seven years having gone by since Tidal Wave (making this the largest gap between any two Taking Back Sunday releases to dare), a whole lot of life has happened for the band and its members in-between. For starters, there was Twenty in 2019, their career retrospective compilation celebrating twenty years as a band while keeping in touch with two previously unheard bonus tracks. Then there was the experimental, off-the-beaten path, vocal-only, lockdown-imposed side project Fuckin Whatever—we’re still owed some more explanation that can’t be chalked up to the pandemic cabin fever. Most importantly for the band, there was the departure of storied founding member and longtime rhythm guitarist Eddie Reyes in 2018. The umpteenth line-up change impacting the alt rock outfit, now officially a quartet (Adam Lazzara, John Nolan, Shaun Cooper, and Mark O’Connell).

In an attempt to make some sense of it all, their new US West Coast imprint Fantasy Record summarizes said ebbs and flows permeating the last seven years as catalysts for an album “[i]nspired by the long layoff and the cloud of uncertainty that blanketed the world (and music industry) these past few years”. Continuing by stating how “152 stands among the most genuinely reflective and emotionally pure efforts of Taking Back Sunday’s illustrious career“. Self-indulgent record industry jargon notwithstanding, a similar earnest sentiment seems to come straight from the horses’ mouth:

152 offers a lot more hope and light than we first realized when we were in the thick of it, putting it all together. We’ve been fortunate enough, through our music, to grow up with a lot of people going through the same things at the same time, and probably feeling the same way. Our hope is that you’re able to find a little bit of yourself in this new collection of songs, because you’re not alone, and neither are we.

You would think after 20 years, we knew what each other is going to do. But there were so many times making this record where I heard the initial idea and thought I knew where it would go, but then I was super surprised. It’s those kinds of surprises that make it so exciting. That’s why we all still want it so badly.

When we’re writing songs, the one thing we ask ourselves, ‘Is it capable of making people feel something?’ You try to make people feel emotion. That’s the one goal we went in with, and we think we did it.

In short: this thing is riddles with incognitos. Fantasy is a brand new label for the band (their fourth), putting out, amongst others, Americana, jazz, and R&B. Australia’s very own Tushar Apte is an unchartered and frankly unlikely choice to executively produce what’s arguably the most highly anticipated project of their career. For context, his production pedigree hitherto includes Chris Brown, Demi Lovato, and Nicki Minaj—not exactly scene pals to the emo rockers. And yet, there’s the 152. Even the occasional Taking Back Sunday fan knows about its symbolism and semantic, and in all likelihood has sculpted their own version of what it truly means. For what it’s worth, Fantasy saw fit to set the record straight by providing a somewhat diplomatic and collectively agreed upon answer, explaining how Exit 152 is “the section of road in North Carolina between Highpoint, Chapel Hill, and Raleigh where the band and their friends would meet up as teenagers“.

Regardless of what version one runs with, the lore surrounding 152 almost seems like the only familiar through line die hard fans can still cling on to, for now. Amidst so much wind of change for the New York group, another two months of patient wait before getting the full body of work looms as an agonizing gust at best. Here’s to hoping another teaser will see the light of day between now and late October. The boys seem very excited about the new record: they’ve been testing as many as the aforementioned two cuts off it live during their recent US headlining run at Sad Summer Fest—something almost unheard of for the band. What’s for sure is that, by and large, Taking Back Sunday has grown up. And that can’t but be a comforting beacon to rely on, still after so long.

We’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and we hope to feel your interest again next time.

AV

IF YOUNG METRO DO TRUST YOU | 2023-08-11

Metro Boomin might just have churned out the best long-form hip-hop listening experience of 2023. No hyperbole. Thirteen individual cuts, spread across 47 minutes of impactful, unbridled, and envelope-pushing music—all without hinging on tired or predictable recruits such as Drake, The Kid LAROY, or Post Malone. Now a little over two months old, his Across the Spider-Verse (Soundtrack from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) radiates as such a convincing body of work that no other major drop has seemingly been able to top it hitherto (even though Travis Scott’s UTOPIA, albeit irreconcilably different, gets scarily close). Dare we say it, with this compilation, the American record producer, executive, and DJ has sequenced the most accomplished popular soundtrack since arguably Black Panther (2018). But then, he’s so plugged into the cultural zeitgeist that one would be hard-pressed to think of someone better suited to score the marvelous adventures of Miles Morales, constituent of all the righteous values and virtues they emanate.

Sonically, the tight collection of tracks offers both an aptly gelled and unified listening experience, as well as radio-friendly heavy rotation potential from nearly all numbers tracklisted. Believe it or not, this thing weaves one sticky, swaggerish, and memorable exploit after another; all without sacrificing artistic bravery and stylistic exploration (one shouldn’t forget this thing is supposed to be attached to a ginormous Hollywood blockbuster). Modern trap, conscious hip-hop, alt-R&B, neo-soul, and flat out bubblegum pop; they are all welcome and at home here. Even when at times the score dances with devilish accusations of getting phoned in formulaic and a tad one-dimensional—such as on “Danger” or “Silk and Cologne“—enough perspective and a particular appreciation for the motion picture are quick to dissipate such affronts. That is, for instance those two songs might work less efficiently as standalone singles, yet in the context of the whole album they sound just as indispensable and necessary as the other eleven.

Not to mention the deeper cuts on here. Through his flavorsome and balanced taste making on moments such as the exquisite slice of high brow alt pop on the James Blake-assisted “Hummingbird“, the forlorn standout “Calling“, or even the tenderly sweet Coi Leray vocal flex “Self Love“, the 29-year old Missourian sculpted an acoustic stream of consciousness more akin to, say, Frank Ocean‘s Blonde, than the first Various Artists-downgraded Into the Spider-Verse OST. And to think that for reasons allegedly unknown (yet just as easily guessed), the Boominati Worldwide founder had to do without the inclusion of poppy wind in sail of Dominic Fike‘s “Mona Lisa“—released this past 2nd June as lead single for the whole multimedia Across the Spider-Verse venture. Granted, the track was reportedly always set to only be thrown onto the compilation’s deluxe edition. Yet with the benefit of twenty-twenty hindsight, Metro’s herculean creative effort transpired as more focused and zero’ed in without it.

Speaking of deluxe editions, the record’s Disc 2 counts five additional tracks. They are all well and fun, but frankly, do nothing but further prove and solidify Young Metro’s editing capaciousness as an on-demand executive producer. Mind you, none of the bonus joints are bad in and of themselves—they’re all perfectly decent and enjoyable while they’re on. However, the thirteen minutes of extra material are of a cutting room floor affectation for a reason, and did not make the main tracklist’s cut for evident causes. That is not to say that they don’t possess virtues: “Ansiedades” beautifully elevates the dreamy pipes of Puerto Rican singer Mora, potentially introducing him to a limitless audience. With that being said, aside from showcasing the St Louis native’s knack for musical experimentation, the bottom line is that their clubby, vibe-based, electronic prevalence would’ve caused them to stick out like sore thumbs—cases in point, “Take It To The Top” and “Infamous“. That’s a shame and pity a savvy and tasteful curator such as Metro could not have allowed.

Lest we all forget, the Republic Records-earmarked Across the Spider-Verse (Soundtrack from and Inspired by the Motion Picture) stands as mainstream companion piece to the more canonical incidental tunes released under Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse (Original Score), orchestrated and arranged by English composer Daniel Pemberton. For once, the Universal Music Group’s USA imprint should get its due flowers for the formidable environmental enablement they were able to grant Metro and his ambitious multi-licensing roster vision. As many as sixteen official featured performing acts in total are present on display credit-level here. They range from budding new guard picks like Roisee, EI8HT, and Coi Larey, and journey all the way to bona fide elder rap statesmen such as  A$AP Rocky, Future, and Lil Wayne. Oh, and did we mention managing to enlist critical swan song co-sign from none other than genre GOAT Nas?

Not unlike some of the key constituencies of African philosophy Ubuntu, with integrity, responsibility, empathy, and focus, Coach Metro has mastered a call up of a winning sample of carefully functional picks. His team tactics surgically constructed a court tapestry mastering both defense and offense, both below-the-rim paint points and long-range triples. If the earned trust from such a stacked A-list line up—as well as that he placed on them—does not go to prove that the producer born Leland Tyler Wayne doesn’t have the clout and creative vision to claim a marquee seat at the hip-hop conversation table, then virtually nothing else will. As the genre celebrates half a century of cultural impact, appropriations, and misunderstandings on this very day, its spiritual founders and forefathers can take a wealth of comfort from the notion that its future-proofing keys are in safe and capable hands. Now go watch the film. Then re-watch it. More importantly, listen to Young Metro’s synchronized masterpiece, we might need to await another five years for such a good movie soundtrack.

We’d like to thank you sincerely for taking the time to read this and we hope to feel your interest again next time. And happy birthday to hip-hop this time around.

AV