This album is a bit outside of my normal tastes, I tend to stick more in the wide spectrums of rock and electronic music. That being said, every now and again I will break character and go on a hip-hop or pop kick.
While this album has an undeniable hip-hop presence, I feel that it shows the interesting path that music is taking right now. The lines between genres are being blurred and it seems that the most successful band are able to capitalize on this. Ronson is no exception as combines pop lyrics with hip-hop beats to produce catchy songs that easily digestible and make for a quick listen.
Right off the bat you are drawn in by ‘Bang Bang Bang’, the bouncy earworm that was chosen as the first single. It exemplifies europop and throws french nonsense lyrics that you’ll be singing to yourself for days. ‘The Bike Song’ has a similar light airy vibe that makes you think of good times out with friends. Both songs have some hip-hop cross-over which helps to keep them fresh for their duration. Mid-album Gem ‘Record Collection’ also falls under this category as an extremely catchy cross-over, what makes this song stand out as one of the albums best is Duran Duran’s Simon Le Bon delivering the chorus.
The album does take heavier turns with songs such as ‘Lose It (In The End)’, ‘Somebody To Love Me’ and ‘You Gave Me Nothing’. Depsite the heavier beats and subject matter these songs are still bouncy infectious and driving.
After the head-nodding, foot-tapping first 5 songs, the album becomes more of a collage of Ronson’s musical tastes and ambitions that just don’t seem to have the same polish. The exception to this are the three short instrumental tracks ‘The Colour Of Crumar’, ‘Missing Words’ and ‘Selector’ that serve as bumpers and palate cleansers between the albums remaining tracks which come across as being either hip-hop songs or more experimental pop songs.
‘Hey Boy’ and ‘The Night Last Night’ are examples of this. They almost seem rushed and incomplete, they lack the catchyness of the first 5 songs and seem to rely on seductive and extremely well performed female vocals to keep them a float.
This brings me to the only songs that seem out of place on the album. ‘Glass Mountain Trust’ my least favorite song on the album. It’s a straight hip-hop track, which isn’t what bothers me. What makes this track grate on my nerves is D’Angelo’s vocals. He sounds like Cee Lo Green singing in slow motion and his timing doesn’t match the beat at all. ‘Introducing The Business’ is nowhere near as bad, but it still just seems like a bland hip-hop track that ends fairly quickly and doesn’t leave much of an impression
Final Verdict: Made up of very catchy-glitzy songs that have been stuck in my head for 2 weeks. Great instrumentals, Few Misses
Key Songs: ‘Bang Bang Bang’ ‘Selector’ ‘Record Collection’ ‘Lose It (In The End)’
