LV & Josh Idehen - Islands

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  • When LV made Routes with MC Joshua Idehen back in 2011, it felt universal. The slinky grooves mashed UK sensibilities with African rhythms, and Idehen's half-rapped, half-spoken ruminations on London could have been applied to any sprawling metropolis. But then the group turned their attention towards South Africa with Sebenza, which made their collaboration with Idehen seem like a simple dalliance. So it was a surprise—but a welcome one—when they dropped "Imminent" out of nowhere early this year. Sharpened to a razor's edge, "Imminent" saw everyone involved turn more venomous than ever. Idehen's lyrics no longer concern the rhythms of city living, but rather the inequality and strife it breeds. "That boy, that boy, that idiot/ Thinks he's grimy, thinks he's brilliant/ He don't know his time is limited/ Can't see his end is imminent," he snarls, hanging on the last word and jackhammering it out again, as if some new meaning might surface from the repetition. Probably the toughest track on their latest album, "Imminent" isn't representative of the moodier Islands, but its shift in subject matter certainly is. Idehen sounds disconnected from the sprawl around him this time, his perspective pointed inward rather than outward. As a result, his influence is occasionally muted, like he's pausing for thought. On "Run Down," he's almost overtaken by the weepy synths around him, and on the fantastically fidgety "Double Decker Back Seat," he's more of a spectral presence. His occasional absence allows the production duo behind him to flourish—"Double Decker" is a near masterpiece, racing forward smoothly with a few well-timed bumps in the road, like a coach riding through the night. When Idehen does speak, he commands attention. "Talk loud, not properly," he intones on album opener "New Pen," and that seems to be his motto for the brasher half of Islands, twisting words and phrases with giddy aplomb. The best moments of the verbally dense "Talk Trim," for example, come from his wordless onomatopoeia. There are quieter tracks, too, where his voice nears a whisper. "You make the hardest of me go soft/ I need to cool off/ I can't calm down when you look at me so," he says with unnerving focus over a palpitating organ on "Obsession," adding "boil the water with the miso." The way he cuts through the drama with the mundanities of everyday life is as affecting as a Frank O'Hara poem; it feels as if we're sitting in Idehen's apartment with him. On "That Old Darkness," he speaks about depression with the honesty of someone who has experienced it firsthand, finding a new universality in intimately personal themes. Islands' most heartbreaking moment comes with the closing track, a crushing tale of failing relationships and affairs so delicate it feels as if it might disintegrate on contact. That LV are able to soundtrack such moments of intense introspection with pitch-perfect backing tracks only proves their own growth and versatility, even as they sacrifice some of the more anthemic qualities of their earlier work. But it's a worthy trade-off: Islands might not have the far-reaching social insights of Routes, but it shows that Idehen's personal world is almost as gripping.
  • Tracklist
      01. New Pen 02. Run Down 03. Obsessed 04. Imminent 05. Talk Trim 06. Mistakes 07. Shake 08. Shudder 09. Make It Count 10. That Old Darkness 11. Double-Decker Back Seat 12. Out Of The Blue 13. Waiting For The Night 14. Angry Hiss 15. Island
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