The latest winners of the Mercury Prize and Edinburgh’s very own success story had a lot to live up to after their astounding début album.
Therefore, it is with some apprehension that listeners approach the first track to be revealed from Young Fathers’ new album White Men Are Black Men Too. However, the single does not disappoint. Beginning with fairground-esque music which eerily plays on a loop, lyrics that are half crooned and half spoken are gradually woven throughout it. The track climbs to include unnerving chanting and an infectious beat (features that are now almost expected from the trio). The music sounds like it is about to speed up and spiral out of control at any second and yet it never does. This apprehension fuels the melody and ensures that the track will never merely be background music. Ending abruptly, listeners are left longing for more.
Young Fathers are known for refusing to be restricted by genre, or in the words of Alloysious Massaquoi (vocals): “Fuck these constrictive selling boxes”, and their latest offering oncemore does just that. In an age where it is insisted that music must be pigeon-holed into narrow categories, this is a refreshing deviation from the norm.