Review Summary: A stronger focus on depth and substance has lead the Hilltop Hoods to their best record to date.
In Australia hip-hop isn’t exactly the most prominent genre. Most of the talent tends to lie underground, only occasionally breaching the mainstream bubble that America’s rap scene has created. The Hilltop Hoods are one of the few exceptions to this; their ability to remain accessible without sacrificing talent sent them to the forefront of the Australian hip-hop scene and there they have remained for almost a decade. Progression has not come easily, though. Their two major hits
The Calling and
The Hard Road were both excellent examples of what H.H are capable of but there was very little difference between them and their earlier works. Even when they remixed
The Hard Road and added a symphony orchestra to it to create
The Hard Road: Restrung the novelty soon wore down and the listener was left to realize that nothing much had actually changed, the old albums had been repackaged once again.
State Of The Art breaks that cycle excellently. Improvement, for the first time, is evident. Now, to be fair, not a great deal has been altered. The characteristic H.H that you know and love (and, perhaps, hate) is still present i.e. an emphasis on piano melodies, live instrumentation, drum based beats, plus that oddly sickening but oh so good humour. It’s just all been beefed up a bit by the addition of more samples in each track, which creates a fuller, more satisfying sound, as well as an improvement in the lyrics.
DJ Debris has really outdone himself here and is clearly the most improved of the three. The tracks may be filled to the brim with his outstanding samples and wonderful instrumentation but everything is mixed perfectly so clutter is avoided. Like a man who has been given two items on his plate for years and is now given 5 at once, the listener must now contend with having a lot more to absorb then they are probably used to with The Hilltop Hoods. The mixing stops this being a problem though and it takes but a few listens to become accustomed to it all.
Suffa and Pressure are not to be left in his dust though. Pressure has long been regarded as the lesser of the two, and its here that he really makes himself known and stands out. For a beautiful example of this look no further than his performance in “Last Confession”, a message to his son and the rest of the world about his past and his future. During it he takes the opportunity to reflect on his opinion of religion and the rifts it has created in society.
“I’m a logical man, given of science/forgive me, I know religion inspires/but too many have government have political ties/and use state of the art warfare to bridge their divides/There’s hate crime wars on daytime talks/rape trials walk in state wide courts/We don’t pray no more, we only break thy laws/so what this world don’t give us we gonna take by force.”
The song flows along with a conviction rarely seen elsewhere in the Hilltop Hoods’ discography as well as several piano solos and a gorgeous string-section climax that combine to create one of the most powerful tracks of the year if not the decade.
Meanwhile Suffa has his own one-man show in the closing track of the album “Fifty In Five”. In an incredible feat of lyrical skill he manages to condense the majority of 50 years of history into one 5 minute song. Admittedly the lyrics do seem a little haphazardly put together, but that is to be expected considering just how much he crams into it. Hell, he even makes a reference to a safe sex ad from the 90s (“Grim Reaper with the bowling ball).
There is far more to say about
State Of The Art than can be said in one review for every track is unique, a feat the hoods have been working towards for years by reducing the amount of filler material. For proof just look at how many tracks are on their albums (in chronological order):
A Matter Of Time: 14
Left Foot, Right Foot: 18
The Calling: 17
The Hard Road: 15
The Hard Road: Restrung: 14
State Of The Art: 12
In the end that’s partly what has made
State Of The Art so good, the hoods have been tougher on their choice of cuts, only keeping the best rather then adding in the lesser tracks as well. That makes sense but as you can clearly see it hasn’t been fully accomplished until now. It will be interesting to see their next album which could either continue or break the current trend of using increasingly higher standards.
State Of The Art is the culmination of 2 decades of work, with The Hilltop Hoods capitalizing on the talent we knew they had all along. Superb instrumentation, brilliant lyrics, and expert mixing all come together beautifully. The closing statement of the album is a perfect representation of this. After 5 minutes of solid rapping about the events of the past 50 years Suffa finally delivers these words, a sentence that can be seen both as a question towards the group and as a question towards the human race:
“As we walk into the sun/can you believe what we’ve become?”
