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Pushing the limits of the contemporary genre while staying within his norm.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
Labrinth is the next big name in exploring new areas of music. He plays within his own sandbox of music that he created himself. In a sense, he\u2019s the “misfit kid” that was talented beyond belief, then forgot to grow up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Imagination & the Misfit Kid” is Labrinth\u2019s first album in over seven years. Spanning roughly a dozen songs and three transitional interludes, the narrative is deeper than one might think on a single listen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
When examined deeper, it\u2019s a play on the concept where a person with a child\u2019s spirit simply doesn\u2019t want to grow up and face the harsh realities of the stone-cold corporate music industry. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
He wants to make bright, ecstatic and care-free music that pleases him and the people around him that live for this sound. The result that came from this young spirit is something that very few could replicate at this level of fine-tuned perfection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI went through a lot of massive changes. My management changed, and I was also really, really busy and I got heavily exhausted. Loads of things happened that kind of made it really difficult for me to release music and for it to be as smooth as I wanted it to be. As a result, my experience as an artist in the industry \u2014 I didn\u2019t enjoy it. I didn\u2019t love the music industry much because I felt like it was more about a kind of fame game than it being about music,\u201d he stated in a recent interview with The Fader. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite not having released a solo LP since 2012, the English artist has stayed busy and had a wildly active 2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over the past year, he\u2019s formed an experimental musical supergroup known as “LSD” (Labrinth, Sia, Diplo), collaborated with Kanye West on his new album “Jesus Is King,” received five Grammy nominations for the Beyonc\u00e9-collaborated single \u201cSpirit\u201d and worked as the lead composer for HBO\u2019s smash television hit “Euphoria.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
These recent collaborations left a significant influence on the artist\u2019s new album, as the Diplo-esque 808\u2019s and synths are strewn throughout the album. Labrinth also crediting Kanye\u2019s “Yeezus” as a significant influence during the recording process with the thought of not being afraid to release wildly experimental projects. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
With just over half of the album\u2019s tracks being previously released over the past two years, to the listener\u2019s anticipation songs like “All For Us” and “Where The Wild Things” find their rightful spot in the project\u2019s coherent concept as if they were pieces to a bright and beautiful puzzle. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Interludes such as “Juju Woman,” “I\u2019m Blessed” and “The Finale” grabs the listener\u2019s attention and reel them in, then propel them into the colorful, bold, and vivid soundscape that is songs such as “Miracle” and “Dotted Line \/ Juju Man.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With the flamboyant pop-funk production being brought to the table this time around, he incidentally drowns out most of the emotion in his own voice with heavy 808\u2019s, trading soul for glamour. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Jealous,” Labrinth\u2019s most-streamed song to date (raking in an impressive 329 million streams on Spotify alone), is a staple song that most know the artist by for its soul and raw emotion. However, the closest the artist gets to this compassion are songs “The Producer” and “Where The Wild Things.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While many of his fans from the beginning will be disappointed and assume that he\u2019s lost his way, others will be proud of how far Labrinth has come as an artist and recognize the significant strides that he\u2019s made throughout his career. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the album begins to come to a close, the Sia-assisted closer, “Oblivion,” presents the listener with a final emotional ballad, complete with closing notes that give one last tug on the listener\u2019s heartstrings. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Imagination & the Misfit Kid” certainly resembles a reflection of the artist himself and how he sees the cold, greedy world around him. Labrinth manages to put himself in a tier of artists that create alternative formats of their \u201cdesignated genre\u201d to their success such as Billie Eilish, Tyler, The Creator and FKA twigs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
While he pushes those boundaries further with every track released, we can only expect one thing to remain the same, being that he will stay true to the \u201cmisfit kid\u201d within him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Review: 4.5\/5<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"