RELEASED 12TH FEBRUARY 2021

Favourite track: feel away

This album is split into two different moods. We’ve got aggressive, intense rap music and then we’ve got slower, reflective rap – both are incredibly listenable and well-produced.

I’ve only recently discovered UK artist, slowthai, with the song ‘feel away’ which I had on repeat for ages but I was keen to listen to more of his stuff so when I saw TYRON was out containing 14 tracks across 2 discs I was ready. I really like the cover art which shows him sitting under a tree with a lilac-pink sky on top of a hill.

’45 SMOKE’ opens with distorted, chaotic audio and repeated keys and then bursts into a heavy bassline and harder beat under his rap verses about getting money. It then smoothly transitions into a flute piece and Hip-Hop beat track ‘CANCELLED’ featuring Skepta. The chorus is very catchy and the backing music has this edgy, haunting feel to keep it tense as they rap about cancel-culture and award shows. A$AP Rocky features on ‘MAZZA’ which opens with repeated synths and a Trap beat. There’s loads going on in this song in the background whilst they rap chaotically about the drugs, lifestyle and money that comes with fame. ‘VEX’ immediately opens with an attacking audio, steady hard Hip-Hop beat with a siren-like deep bass synth which reflects the intense lyrics about basically getting angry and choosing violence, as suggested by the title.

The track then changes to ‘WOT’ seamlessly which is this 48-second piece with distorted audio and then rap which is kind of random but it works. The next track ‘DEAD’ then comes through with repeated deep piano and Hip-Hop/Trap beats. The rap is slower here and steady as he talks about being there til the end of time. The final track of disc 1 is ‘PLAY WITH FIRE’ opens with magical strings and audio and then some echoed gun-shot sounds here and there. It then stops and has this chill wave synth under a crisp, Hip-Hop beat. The production here is great and I do like this one.

What was a nice touch is that the 1^st disc was all in capital letters but the 2^nd disc flips this and has all songs in lower-case letters reflecting the change from aggressive, attacking rap to slower, heartfelt pieces. The first track ‘i tried’ opens with various audios, old school classic Hip-Hop production which works welllll. I am loving this jazzy, Hip-Hop sound under the slower rap. ‘focus’ has got a lighter Hip-Hop beat, great vocal FX on loop as he raps about his life, achievements and future. I like the bass here as well to add some variety and depth to the lighter sounds in this one. Dominic Fike and Denzel Curry feature on ‘terms’ which begins with guitar and then HEAVY bass and lighter beat. The vocal FX in the background are gorgeous and there’s definitely reflection in these lyrics with the chorus “I woke up and came to terms with it”.

‘push’ (ft. Deb Never) begins beautifully with acoustic guitar an dreamy female vocals which is super calming. He then raps (without a beat) which allows you to focus on the lyrics until a very subtle Trap beat comes in quietly, getting louder later in the track. I really like this one. ‘nhs’ opens with child vocal audio and dream guitar strummed and whistles. Then we have a subtle, chill beat and melancholic piano. It’s a heartfelt song and definitely looks at the reality of decisions and life. James Blake and Mount Kimbie feature on my favourite song ‘feel away’ which I cannot get enough of. It just works so well and the build with the beat coming in at the right time and James Blake’s vocals taking it to a different level. The final track ‘adhd’ has a slower beat and repeated deep dream guitar and really nice chorus. The telephone then rings at the end and he speaks to a friend. The track finishes with the same music but a much more aggressive rap.  

This collection of songs across both albums really has songs for both moods – Disc 1 is definitely a lot more aggressive, intense, attacking rap and then Disc 2 we’ve got the heartfelt, magical songs with old school sounds.