Tyron (studio album) by Slowthai

"Tyron" feels a little undercooked. Slowthai's flow and lyricism are certainty competent but lacks a certain explosivity. The hype tracks don't bring enough energy and the introspective ones could be a bit deeper. The beats have an impressive variety. There is a classic grime sound but also acoustic guitars, punk and even a little folk at times. "Feel away" is the highlight of album with the sense of melon collie and James Blake's earnest and tender vocals. A lot potential but it could just use a little more.

This is an album of two halves. The first half keeps the same mood as his debut album, though instead of being a natural progression, it feels more like a minor setback, production wise it lacks the brilliance and the punch -the explosiveness if you will- of it, it rarely steps out of the comfort zone of the modern rather generic trap with the occasional nod to grime's heyday that never fails to put a smile on my face - of course having a Dizzee inspired delivery helps immensely in that regard, not to mention featuring the legendary Skepta as a guest. The second part is what the fuss is all about. We get to see a completely different side of him, much softer, arrogance steps aside and gives way to introspection. If the first part is close to punk, the second is R & B. The lyrical content is closely related to the events of the last two years. The story is well known by now, hIs highly acclaimed debut was followed by the infamous NME awards incident and the resulting backlash, so he moved from "next big thing" to "his career is over" in the blink of an eye. Overall, I find it hard to rank this in comparison to his debut, both have elements that the other is missing, for now I consider them about equal (this is a grander artistic statement, but his debut was a much more focused attempt, he was really firing on all cylinders, a man on a mission) and I can only guess time will tell.

From Mercury 03/19/2021 14:51

(I am far faaaar from a fan or connoisseur of Hip Hop and especially not UK Hip Hop, but I really really enjoyed this brisk album.)

I have to say I loved the production here and I thought it was consistently vibrant and there was always something cool happening to keep my ears engaged. The rapping was solid as well, and while I don't pay attention to recent events with artists at all, I could hear that he was delicately working out his shortcomings and mistakes and thoughts on recent events in his career. Again, I don't give a fuck about that aspect, but as far as the lyrics and themes dealing with it he seemed to do well.

This is a genre that I have so little insight or background on I tend to just grade or rate based off my oblivious enjoyment. That is kinda how I initially look at all music, but with a genre I am a bit more familiar with I can connect the dots and critique things based off other listening experiences. Not so with UK Hip Hop. So, all I can say is I really liked this, I liked that all the songs are good and pretty rapid fire, I like the shortness of the album, the production and the flow. Really solid stuff.

I had never heard a Slowthai album before, it was a great introduction. NHS, cancel (Skepta's verse was incredible) and Terms are my favs tracks.