In No Particular Order: Injustice, Love, and Life Take Over (6/5/20)
Happy Friday!
This week on In No Particular Order, we take you through the politically-charged Run the Jewels album, the sophomore release of helpless romantic Bruno Major, indie folk rising stars Mt. Joy, and the debut album of UK alt-rock group Sports Team.
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Bruno Major – To Let A Good Thing Die
8/10
Singer-songwriter/Soul-pop
London singer-songwriter Bruno Major took on the self-imposed challenge of releasing a new song each month back in 2017. His ambitious feat resulted in the stunning debut release A Song For Every Moon, a collection of heartfelt songs about love and life. The very independent production helped launch Major to a wider audience, and now, three years later, he returns with an equally, if not more heartfelt release To Let A Good Thing Die.
With the sultriness of Harry Connick Jr., and the bedroom eyes of John Mayer (musically speaking), Major creates intimacy with ease. The drawl of the lounge-jazz guitar, the candor in his lyrics, and his delicate croon form a bubble of relaxation and harmony.
It wouldn’t surprise me if most of To Let A Good Thing Die makes its way into wedding day playlists. The candid affection in his words on “The Most Beautiful Thing” and “She Chose Me” are perfect picks for romantic moments. Of course, not to be overdone by the lazy day tune “Nothing”: “Track suits and red wine / Movies for two / We’ll take off our phones / And we’ll turn off our shoes” opens the lovers ballad, as Major paints an ideal Sunday evening with a special someone.
Major started his musical career as a jazz guitarist, and his origins help round out the record. While nothing overly intricate or virtuosic comes out, the subtle trills and playful chord progressions help add a formal edge on tracks like the Casablanca-esque piano opening of “Regents Park”, the nu-R&B flare of “Old Fashioned”, or the effortless triplets of “I’ll Sleep When I’m Older”.
Although packed head to toe in love songs, To Let A Good Thing Die somehow manages to remain captivating, while being a helpless romantic.
Notable tracks: “Old Soul” // “Nothing” // “To Let A Good Thing Die”
Run the Jewels – RJT4
8.5/10
Hip-hop
The release of New York hip-hop duo Run the Jewels‘ new album could not have come at a better time. In fact, it’s almost uncanny how its release coincides with the ongoing protests and riots of the Black Lives Matter movement. The unstoppable pair of Killer Mike and EL-P have always been outspoken fighters against police brutality and racial inequality in the United States, and while the topic is no stranger to their discography, it bites back this time on RTJ4.
Like fire spilling out from an open door, “Yankee And The Brave” kicks the album into high gear, as EL-P and Mike continue their criss-cross rap flow while delivering their message with vigour. Anti-Black racism, Capitalism, and political corruption are at the forefront of the album. Even though RTJ4 was recorded months ago, the political references on the album stand out even more today. They declare themselves as “Supreme violence of the time describers” on “Holy Calamafuck”, scattering their prophecies across their track list, such as when Killer Mike raps on “Yankee And the Brave”:
“I got one round left, a hunnid cops outside / I could shoot at them or put one between my eyes / Chose the latter, it don’t matter, it ain’t suicide / And if the news say it was that’s a goddamn lie / I can’t let the pigs kill me, I got too much pride / And I meant it when I said it, never take me alive”.
Or on “Ju$T”, which features Pharrell Williams & RATM frontman Zack De La Rocha as they rip into the capitalist system of the country with “Make a dollar, government, they want a dozen dimes…You believe corporations runnin’ marijuana? /…Pedophiles sponsor all these fuckin’ racist bastards / And I told you once befo’ that you should kill your master / Now that’s the line that’s probably gon’ get my ass assassinated”. While EL-P declares “You ever notice that the worst of us have all the chips? / It really kinda takes the sheen off people getting rich” on album closer “A Few Words For the Firing Squad (Radiation)”.
The final track on RTJ4 brings everything to a new level. Killer Mike and EL-P open up, letting everything off their chest as the song crescendos behind them. Their thoughts on life, love, family, and their place in the world come out with their fighter instincts. But the closing verse from Killer Mike hits the hardest – especially with the current Black Lives Matter movement:
“Black child in America, the fact that I made it was magic / Black and beautiful, the world broke my mama heart, and she died an addict / God blessed me to redeem her in my thoughts, words, and my actions / Satisfaction for The Devil, goddammit, he’ll never ever have it / This is for the do-gooders that the no-gooders used and then abused / For the truth tellers tied to the whippin’ post, left beaten, battered, bruised / For the ones whose body hung from a tree like a piece of strange fruit / Go hard, last words to the firing squad was, “Fuck you too””.
The dense trap production from EL-P adds to the aggressive and relentless attitude of the album. “Ooh LA LA” featuring industry pioneers DJ Premier & Greg Nice hits with some East Coast swagger, while “Ju$T” bounces like an underground club banger. “The Ground Below” and “Walking In the Snow” take a page from nu-metal, combining heavy rock elements with the flow of hip-hop to strike with a different punch. Run the Jewels never put their guard down.
Since coming together in 2013, Run the Jewels have never been afraid of the end of the world; instead, they prefer to produce the soundtrack.
Notable tracks: “Yankee And The Brave” // “Ju$t” // “A Few Words For the Firing Squad”
Mt. Joy – Rearrange Us
8.5/10
Indie folk rock
What started as a bedroom project for Matt Quinn back in Philadelphia quickly accelerated into a what can be described as an overnight success story. Their 2016 debut single “Astrovan” became an international hit, and the band began touring major festival lineups. 2018 came and the newly shaped five-piece released their self-titled debut to critical acclaim. Now, Quinn and his band have released their sophomore album Rearrange Us.
And just as you might expect, the album is a powerful, enthusiastic folk rock collection with ties to bands like The Head and the Heart and the Lumineers. Their songs are almost built for arena-sized shows but with the heart of an indie band. Explosive choruses, southern rock-infused builds and crashes, and summery zeal give Rearrange Us its life on songs like “My Vibe”, “Acrobats”, or the live-in-the-moment dynamite track “Come With Me”.
But similar to the ebb and flow of life, the album faces a similar trajectory. While most of the album is uplifting and spirited, it has its darker side as the band explores the emotional and physical toll of understanding one’s intentionality. On “Every Holiday”, Quinn sings about facing your family’s pestering expectations with “Every holiday I feel that depression / From all of this pressure”, being candid with his lyrics. Similarly, on the Half Moon Run-esque “Acrobats”, he helps a friend feel grounded during a crisis between psychedelic, full-band swells: “Look alive, don’t hurt yourself, touch your body / Realize your surroundings / Count five things in the room / Cause no one is dying soon”.
The album comes to a close on a more sincere, heartfelt journey of finding freedom in a breakup. Love comes to an end on “Us”, and the two-part closer “Become” & “Strangers” shows the shift from trying to win them back before realizing being better off means being without them, and being “rearranged”.
The combination of the warm, rugged vocals of Quinn, and the band’s ability to alternate between grandiose and delicate throughout the album is what keeps the band among the ranks of chart-topping performers like The Lumineers and The Head and the Heart. Rearrange Us candidly brings listeners along for the journey.
Notable tracks: “My Vibe” // “Death” // “Acrobats”
Sports Team – Deep Down Happy
8/10
Indie alt-rock/Brit rock
From the middle-class neighbourhoods of Camberwell, UK comes Sports Team, a band that is overly-aware of who they are and what they stand for. They’re brash, vigorous, and take no prisoners (themselves included). Growing up around people who want to be “lawyers or people who hunt foxes”, they jokingly reference on opener “Lander”, the six-piece comment on the privilege of falling into comfortable, sheepish expectations of life and politics: “Going Soft” plays at the middle-aged folk who hold on to the past as an escape (ironic for a band that sounds like they time travelled from the ’80s and learned a few new tricks), while “Camel Crew” throws satirical critique at the world’s need to be different but failing from trying too hard.
Known for their feverish and electrifying live shows, the band built up a massive following in the UK with just an EP release. And even from just listening to the album, you can get a feel of the band’s explosive tenacity. “Here It Comes Again”, “Fishing”, and politically-charged lead single “Here’s The Thing” are prime examples of Sports Team’s charged demeanour, playing with their British alternative and proto-punk roots to create a wild ride.
Like a stereotypical British pub fight, Sports Team seem to know, if you throw a punch, expect to get hit. So while they swing at outdated generations, the group-think of privilege, and cynical destructive habits of the rich and powerful, they’ve already braced their chin for the consequences. You either love them, or hate them.
Notable tracks: “Lander” // “Here’s The Thing” // “Fishing”
