Young Fathers return with the lighter side of chaos on new album ‘Heavy Heavy’
Young Fathers haven’t gone back to their roots on their new album Heavy Heavy insomuch as they’ve gone back to the very roots of modern music. There is something decidedly West African about the pounding drum rhythms that rattle throughout the record, and a spiritual air of exultancy that comes with this primordial connection. They’ve always harnessed the power of trance-like ceremonialism in their music, but this time the usual perturbing overture is replaced with a far more joyous feeling—the claustrophobia of a dinghy club roof traded for the vast horizon of a sunsetting sky.
This blasts off right from the start with ‘Rice’. The opening track sets the tone for the album brilliantly. The pitch-perfect production which runs throughout the album, tessellates new-fangled studio techniques seamlessly with Apala beats, and an oddly beautiful and catchy spoken word piece in a thick Scottish accent is spooned in for good measure. Welcome to the eclectic world of Young Fathers.
While they have always maintained their trademark thrill of not knowing what to expect on any given track, with Heavy Heavythey have taken that to the extreme. By the time you reach ‘Drum’, only the third song no less, you half expect the panic attack breathlessness to part for a Simon & Garfunkel-style folk chorus. Instead, you get a fantastic flurry of rap delivered in perfectly catchy vocal tones. And then with the sound of a sticking CD, the repetitive sound simply ceases.
And by then, you’re onto ‘Tell Somebody’, one of the albums many oddities. The band have always held a theatrical sense of drama, but here that turns truly cinematic. In fact, it ventures right back to the wake of Sigur Rós revolutionising the soundtrack game. As it happens, this is a swelling world where they perhaps try to contrast the chaos a bit too much. Yes, they capture the sense of unburdened spiritualism, but ultimately the wails are just reminiscent of José González’s ‘Step Outside’ without the key changes.
In this regard, you are left wondering whether the anthem gives due respite to the unfurling chaos of the emotional release that comes before it, or whether it is a manufactured pause that points to an uncertain intent. As Kayus Bankole accurately points out: “You let the demons out and deal with it. Make sense of it after.” They’ve certainly let it out and then some, the question is whether it makes sense after the fact or remains an emotional mess?
As they assert: “Heavy Heavy could be a mood, or it could describe the smoothed granite of bass that supports the sound… or it could be a nod to the natural progression of boys to grown men and the inevitable toll of living, a joyous burden, relationships, family, the natural momentum of a group that has been around long enough to witness massive changes.” That seems like a hell of a lot to encompass in one record, and I’ll be damned if they don’t actually try their hand at capturing the whole gamut.
Thus, you could argue with that scope at play, the pitfalls are inevitable. Loosely tied by this notion of a golden spiritual sun and the liberation of moving into a brash new sound, the Achilles heel of chaotic exploration can be found on tracks like ‘Shoot Me Down’ which sounds not unlike an Adam Buxton Podcast jingle to begin with. Then it’s OTT finale acquiesces into the Disney-like sound of ‘Ululation’. This rally begins to ware you into a state of annoyance as an overwhelming swarm of sounds come thick and fast.
But when all is said and all is done, you feel invigorated, refreshed, and often astounded by some of the invention, originality and power on display. They’ve ditched the perturbing glare that made them one of the greatest live acts around and headed into a new territory that seemingly brims with cognizance of the world around us. Sometimes that spills over into a mess, sometimes it creates a magic whirlwind that knocks you off your feet. But it always sounds like Young Fathers, and that still sounds like nobody else around.
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