At Maximum Volume Music one of the core values is that if you don`t know some artist or some band don`t bullshit it coz somebody “out there” will find you out. There`s always somebody who knows a damn sight more than you do. I`ve heard of TV On The Radio but couldn`t name a song. `Thee Black Boltz` is this indie band`s frontman Tunde Adebimpe`s debut solo long player and is released to the world this month.
Tunde Adebimpe is a musician, actor, animator, director, and visual artist who also sings for the band TV on the Radio. Tunde initially conceived of the album `Thee Black Boltz` in 2019, while TVOTR was on a break. Two years later, as the world was emerging out of the global Covid pandemic, he started to put ideas down on paper; specifically, a notebook, which captures a free-thinking mix of words, illustrations, and ideas.
`Thee Black Boltz` is Tunde’s grasping of small moments of joy amidst the dissonance and sadness, any way he can. “It was my way of building a rock or a platform for myself in the middle of this fucking ocean.” As Tunde writes in his notebook, “The sparks of inspiration /motivation/ hope that flash up in the midst of (and sometimes as a result of) deep grief, depression, or despair. Sort of like electrons building up in storm clouds clashing until they fire off lightning and illuminate a way out, if only for a second.” “Also,” he adds. “It’s a good name for a cool metal band, and I think that most people would describe me as akin to a very cool metal band.”
Title track `Thee Black Boltz` which is a brief poetic spoken word oration leads us in before `Magnetic` which appears to be a view of the human race from a celestial position really kicks us off with its funky wonderful dance like vibes and a delightful lightness to the vocal delivery.
`Ate The Moon` is bass heavy with the title possibly a figurative expression, often used to describe lunar eclipses in various cultures or to symbolise events where something seems to disappear or be swallowed up.
I have to admit that I found myself being pulled into its appetising layers of sound. A `Pinstack` refers to a type of modern bowling alley and entertainment destination but that doesn`t seem to be the case here. I heard a touch of the song `Swinging on a Star` within from eighty years ago and some “whoo whoos” and harmonies throughout this possible contemplation on life.
`Drop` really drops beats and has some nice fretwork and what I’d call oral or vocal percussion similar to Bobby McFerrin. A dreamy introspective number which has some whistling as the number concludes. I read elsewhere that it was described as a “propulsive and emotional bedroom-rocker built on a human-beatbox loop”. A recurring acoustic guitar riff leads us into and through `ILY` or I Love You, a gentle, heartwarming, positive and emotive declaration of love and commitment. A song that cannot help but effect you unless you have a heart of stone.
`The Most` has a synth underbelly and is a realisation of coming to terms with living on your own after a relationship has ended, still loving and respecting that person but taking a more practical optimistic attitude or outlook. Midway through there`s a short reggae tinged deviation. A rolling rhythmic beat leads us into `God Knows` as a piano joins this absorbed, quite rhetorical abstract musing which has an easy going kind of sing a long feel with what sounds like steel or pedal steel guitar riffs.
I thought `Blue` had a moody almost a temperamental texture, fairly pensive heading towards melancholia. An electro pulse like beat drives `Somebody New` along which veers towards an EBM vibe. A superb foot tapper with busy handclaps which slows halfway thru before resuming its melodious uplifting beat.
The release closes out with `Streetlight Nuevo` a final meditative ruminative offering.
There`s loads to love on `Thee Black Boltz` and running at around thirty six minutes it won`t consume your day but I have to say here `less is very much more` and I had this album on repeat for some time as it seeped into my subconscious. I`m sure it`ll do the same for you if you allow it.
Rating 8.5/10
