Rapid Fire Reviews: Having Difficulty Defining Genre With Toro Y Moi, Obongjayar & 070 Shake
These are a trio of multi-faceted artists I've talked about before and wanted to make sure I reviewed before their records faded too far out of the lens of music fans, if that hasn't already happened.
I had high expectations for this record for a couple of reasons. The first is that I thought both of the last two Toro Y Moi records were pretty decent and that he might be building to his most substantial release in years especially given the more perceivable concept that runs through this one. I also liked the singles quite a bit as a general group but specifically the song Postman, one of the most infectious singles I've heard anywhere in 2022. Surprisingly given the personality of the singles this record is actually a lot more innocuous than I was anticipating and while it isn't exactly chill wave levels of cool, there's a sense of hesitation here to anything too sonically unpredictable. While there are certainly lots of good vibes and pleasant sounds to be found on the record I wish they added up to more complete and memorable songs. With the exception of a handful of highlights in the mix the album rarely stretches beyond the bassline level of slightly psychedelic R&B and pop fusions that you could expect to hear slipped into any generic Forever 21 summer playlist. It's a fine listen but far from memorable. 5.5/10
MAHAL - Toro Y Moi
I had high expectations for this record for a couple of reasons. The first is that I thought both of the last two Toro Y Moi records were pretty decent and that he might be building to his most substantial release in years especially given the more perceivable concept that runs through this one. I also liked the singles quite a bit as a general group but specifically the song Postman, one of the most infectious singles I've heard anywhere in 2022. Surprisingly given the personality of the singles this record is actually a lot more innocuous than I was anticipating and while it isn't exactly chill wave levels of cool, there's a sense of hesitation here to anything too sonically unpredictable. While there are certainly lots of good vibes and pleasant sounds to be found on the record I wish they added up to more complete and memorable songs. With the exception of a handful of highlights in the mix the album rarely stretches beyond the bassline level of slightly psychedelic R&B and pop fusions that you could expect to hear slipped into any generic Forever 21 summer playlist. It's a fine listen but far from memorable. 5.5/10
Some Nights I Dream Of Doors - Obongjayar
Obongjayar is a Nigeria artist that I've been paying attention to for a few years now after he made two absolutely standout appearances on records by Danny Brown and Little Simz. While I did hear his first album in 2020 I never got the chance to review it and I wasn't going to let this one slip through the cracks again. I was particularly intrigued by the records first two singles Message In A Hammer and Try which were difficult to define with conventional genre labels but both features great vocal performances one very upbeat and one much more balladic. With that range in his pocket I think Obongjayar is really capable of just about anything and while this record didn't necessarily blow me away at first the more I listen to it the less I can think of to criticize. While it is scant and there are tracks that do feel like very tactically similar to others I can't help but enjoy most of what is here. While it doesn't take the next big step into conceptual extravagance or truly seamless versatility it does show off that Obongjayar has absolutely every tool he needs to do that in his arsenal. This is already one of the most underrated releases of the year and I'll be keeping an eye on him, because he has the potential to drop something really special in the future. 7/10
You Can't Kill Me - 070 Shake
A few years ago 070 Shake released her debut album and I was pretty excited for it because she's an excellent vocal talent who showed off her emotional range on Kanye's Ye album where she delivered some of the record's most memorable moments. Unfortunately I wasn't crazy about the record at all save for a pair of pretty solid tracks. While she is undeniably a talented vocalist that didn't translate at all into good songwriting and the gimmick of what should be intimate R&B songs being blown up to epic sweeping instrumentally dense R&B songs got old very quickly. But I obviously wasn't going to give up on Shake after one bad record and finally she returned with a sophomore effort that is better, marginally. Firstly the instrumentals here have improved. I think they're better at creating the spacey atmospheres she's intending to and this time when they interpolate some random stadium sized drums they usually do a better job at working up to it. The songwriting has made an improvement too with more catchy refrains to be found but this also leads to the records biggest issue. The wash, rise and repeat method of writing to these tracks gets old very quickly even just on individual songs. But hearing the sparse development over and over across the entire record is a very exhausting experience. At 14 tracks and nearly 50 minutes I wouldn't call the record monotonous but sometimes it walks right up to that door and knocks. Ultimately I can't complain too much because it feels like an improvement for 070 Shake but I also still feel like she has a long way to go to reach her potential. 5/10
