- Switching samples for synths—and house for neo-soul—Wayne Snow levels up on his second album.
- As Figurine highlight "The Thrill" breaks down, Wayne Snow speaks directly to his album's lofty intentions. "Don't wanna sound like Wayne Shorter," says Snow, with somewhat backhanded respect, "when he talks, it's like a whisper." Taking cues from his namesake's pioneering fusion of jazz, rock and electronics, Snow goes his own way, delivering a loud and proud spectrum of emotions.
Emerging from the Tartelet Records camp in 2014 alongside a hotly-tipped crop of sample-chopping producers like Max Graef and Glenn Astro, Snow became a voice for the blossoming jazz-meets-lo-fi house scene. It worked for a while—and birthed some classy, vocal rollers like "Red Runner"—but Snow needed to set the record straight. Four years later, with his second album Figurine, the Berlin-based Nigerian finally has the tools to channel his pop star energy.
You notice the difference before even pressing play. The cover of his debut LP, Freedom TV, featured a blurry Snow inside a nondescript black frame. The artwork for Figurine, on the other hand, is dazzlingly orange, with a striking image of Snow at its centre. You'd be forgiven for expecting explosive cuts of big-band Afro-jazz to follow, but those moments are deployed sparingly, as Snow tends mostly towards more introverted, soft-centre sounds.
Even at its most intimate, Figurine is profoundly arresting. It sounds like Snow is singing to you and you alone. "Faceless" or "Seventy" are shamelessly loved-up crooners, but Snow's impressive vocal range (as well as quirky production from the likes of Nu Genea and Brandt Brauer Frick) carries the weight. The lyrics hint at complex-yet-everyday ideas of identity and love. Snow uses vague metaphors, like lovesick interactions with strangers in the subway, to keep things from getting too soppy. "Love is faceless," he sings, introducing an idea about courtship in the age of social media, "but love delusion is maybe what we want."
Figurine's liveliest moments jut out from the tender neo-soul around them. "Nina," with its booming club-ready bassline, is an obvious hit. The addictive "Number One" and "The Thrill" also crank up the energy on the home stretch, teeing up the sublime, Oscar Jerome-assisted closer "Magnetic."
Even with its deliberately raw and organic instrumentation, ultra-slick electronic touches give Figurine the accomplished feel of an act destined for big things. Lush melodies ooze from vintage synthesizers, counteracting the humanness in the drums, while guitar solos spiral with the kind of spiritual psychedelia that Snow has absorbed from Nigeria's golden era of rock.
Pan-African at its heart, Figurine borrows from a rich culture, retaining just enough of the sound that made Snow a name in Berlin. For the most part, it lends itself to closed-eyes and swaying—or an arm around a partner—more than fully shaking loose. It's the earnest sound of Snow indulging his development as an artist, as he continues growing from the weekend clubs to the midweek concerts.
Tracklist01. Figurine
02. Silly Games
03. Faceless
04. Nina
05. FOM
06. Seventy
07. Number One
08. The Thrill
09. Relativity
10. Magnetic feat. Oscar Jerome