Black To The Future - Sons Of Kemet: Review
Sons Of Kemet
is one of the numerous projects of contemporary jazz pioneer Shabaka Hutchings. The project has been active for almost a decade but saw it's biggest moment in the spotlight when they released their third album 2018's Your Queen Is A Reptile which brought in universal acclaim and was ultimately nominated for a mercury prize.
Review By Lav:
While I may not be the biggest or most knowledgeable jazz head on earth I still have a strong appreciation for many of the genres classics both conventional and experimental, as well as it's newest and brightest voices. Shabaka is one of those brightest voices by any metric so when The Comet Is Coming, Sons Of Kemet or even Shabaka and The Acestors drop music, I pay attention. The last Sons Of Kemet record was a world class jazz experience so my expectations going into this album were pretty high and at points it really does live up to those standards. But it does have an undeniable lull in the middle that holds it back from some of its grandest ambitions.
The record really hits the ground running and the first two tracks are two of my favorites. Field Negus is the opener and it's an amazing spoken word led piece with familiar guest performer Joshua Idehen really giving it his all. He does so over some disjointed percussion and sax that are honestly easy to loose track of completely with how compelling his vocal performance is. Lyrically he is setting up the records themes of channeling black history through the music in its songs perfectly. This carries onto the next track Pick Up Your Burning Cross an up-tempo circular composition that flexes its detailed mix of instrumentation right away. The track has a driving energy to it particularly on the back end alongside the exciting horns that dominate the mix. The track managed to score a Moor Mother feature and the vocals during the songs middle passage are a great addition even as they muddle within the dense mix. The track also manages to rise to an incredibly satisfying finale.
The record also has an absolutely killer series of tracks to end it off and as the compositions get longer they generally get more satisfying. Let The Circle Be Unbroken is the first of the records two longest tracks which are placed back to back. It gets off to a great start with snappy percussion that draws me in immediately alongside the unique sax tones. The song moves very methodically through its progression and I really can't stress enough how much I love the drumming on the track and how much it keeps the whole thing sounding fresh despite not being the dominant instrument in the mix. The last few minutes of the track are where everything really starts to go crazy as the background instrumentation starts to blur together behind the absolutely squelching sax. It's a jarring finale for sure but never dissuaded me from enjoying the song. Envision Yourself Levitating is next on the record and it presents a bit of a calm moment at first coming off the previous tracks insanity. The track doesn't resign itself to being easily digestible for long as sax lines start to fly in and out of the mix here in front of another tightly looped instrumental backing. The track doesn't hold onto that for very long either as the backing instrumentation starts to get a bit more disjointed and ventures out on its own wandering experience for most of the rest of the runtime. There is a long but worthwhile sax solo on the back end of the song that I think is a fitting way to punctuate the song, even if the slow, steady drum outro seems indulgent.
Throughout Madness, Stay Strong is one of the more upbeat cuts on the record after a few indulgent moments. The instrumental has a charming little flutter to it that almost makes the whole thing feel like a fairytale in an absolutely gorgeous way. The sax over top just adds to how vivid the tracks sonic palette is, and how much I enjoy it. The closing track Black is the first time in nearly a half hour of the records runtime that vocals return and it's out old friend Joshua Idehen from the intro track back for another tour de force performance. His performance is once again thematically poignant as he addresses blackness as a sort of collective conscious being acted on by outside forces. His delivery feels utterly epic in tone as if he's giving a rousing speech to a large crowd and continually building on their energy as it goes on. He plays off the eccentricity of the instrumental to just make the whole thing more and more exciting and I think it's an utterly perfect way to end the record.
To Never Forget The Source is probably my favorite of the tracks in the records middle section. It's an incredibly smooth cut whose brass is just absolute butter throughout. This comes from both the playing and the incredibly slick songwriting that sees passages flowing into one another effortlessly one after another for 3 minutes. Think Of Home is a bit more of a reserved track that uses tubas to live in much more of a lower register. While it isn't necessarily as exciting it does progress in a very methodical and satisfying way. Compositionally it gives enough reason to stick around with compelling moments of instrumental isolation on the back end.
Hustle was released as a single and I've listened to it a lot since then trying to decide exactly what to make of it. I'm not quite as compelled by the guest vocalist here on both the lyrical and performance front. I also think the really tightly looped musical passages start to get pretty draining across the songs 5 minute runtime. Not only does it make the track feel claustrophobic but it also doesn't really align that well with the vocals. For The Culture has a bouncier and brighter instrumental than much of what else the record offers which is once again contrasted weirdly with a very reserved vocal guest. I don't really see the song as being all that exciting even though the vocals have their moments, when all is said and done I'm not sure exactly what the statement of the track is lyrically or sonically. Finally there's In Remembrance Of Those Fallen which gets started in a very, very patient way. There is a fluttering woodwind section a few minutes in that marks the point where it starts to get a lot more indulgent with its instrumental isolation. This does a decent job at redeeming the track but I still wouldn't call it one of my favorites here.
Even on a record that may not necessarily blow my socks off like Reptile did a few years ago, the mountains of talent that Shabaka and his guests and fellow instrumentalists posses is still completely undeniable. The start and end of this record shows off how amazing the band can be when they are in stride, working with talented contributors and playing their asses off, there isn't much better. That along should give jazz heads plenty of reason to dive into Black To The Future, but if you're a jazz head, you probably didn't need me to tell you that. 7/10
This cover is minimal and cool. The overwhelming red is striking and keeping the composition simple in color and form helps to keep it digestible. The bright white text stands out and directs your eye right to the information. The graphic isn't centered and I think that helps you eye moving even though it could cause some people some annoyance since it's not off the center by that much. 7/10
