The Free Nationals, Self-Titled, Album Review
The Free Nationals
Self-Titled
Album Review
Thankfully for me, this album managed to release right at the very last minute, As I will be concluding 2019 with my week of last-minute mini reviews, and then my final lists. Needless to say, The Free Nationals have had a fair bit of my attention this year, and I am very glad that I was able to find this album upon its very fine-cutting release.
I had listened to a little bit of Free Nationals this year, both in terms of their recorded music, and also live. As somebody who had been into Anderson .Paak for quite some time now, it was interesting to discover that he would be banding together with The Free Nationals in his live performance at this years Reading and Leeds festival. I thoroughly enjoyed that set, but felt that Anderson .Paak didn't just steal the spotlight on his own. In other words, I felt that The Free Nationals had a great deal of input in that live performance, and they contributed a great deal towards my own personal enjoyment.
As well as that great live show, I also enjoyed their single titled "Time", which features from Kali Uchis, as well as a posthumous input from Mac Miller. As what would eventually be a teaser track for this debut album, I feel that this track gave me a great sense of who the band were, what they were about, and what their style was. They are essentially a collective group of musicians, which include .Paak himself on drums, percussion and lead vocals. Seeing him through this band really clarified to me just how versatile the man is, and it showed in the live performance too.
As for the album itself, It is somewhat similar to Anderson .Paaks solo material, only venturing away from the more Hip-Hop influenced style, and instead fitting more into a jazzy electro-funk type style which I would say is similar to Daft Punk.
That statement is certainly justified with tracks like "Gidget", which .Paak lends his vocals on, but the robotic sounding backing vocals that go with this do indeed feel like something you'd see on the more recent Daft Punk efforts.
But while "Gidget" is one of the earlier songs I enjoyed on the album, it still took some time to get there. To specify this a bit further, the album essentially takes a little bit of time to really wake up in my opinion. I agree that "Obituary" is a fitting and enjoyable introduction to this album, but the next three tracks to follow this feel somewhat sluggish, and slightly repetitive. Even the fourth track "Apartment" is arguably guilty of this as well, but I somehow found myself enjoying that track more for being a nice chill tune with enjoyable vocals from this track feature, Benny Sings.
But personally, I feel that this album shines brightest in its mid section, kicked off with the formerly mentioned "Gidget". This mid section also includes "Time" as well as what is possibly my favourite single on the album currently; "Cut Me A Break", featuring the bars of T.I. It's a somewhat brief but engaging hit, which reminded me slightly of Kanye West's "Follow God" in terms of its composition.
All-in-all though, this album is an awesome debut from the full band. While I feel that it would've been the perfect summer record, it still stands as a brilliant way to close off 2019.
Thank you for reading,
Booth Boy
Comments
Post a Comment