Mute Davinci Remember Me?

Following the release of his impressive album Breaking News, Mute Davinci has been hustling hard – releasing single after single to keep the creativity and the buzz at a high level. Remember Me is just one of a series of recent releases, and it’s a brilliantly spacious and organic track, leading with acoustic guitar and the artist’s own expressive and up-front vocal style. There’s familiarity to the sound now, and meanwhile this surprisingly pop-like vibe pours through – melodically and rhythmically enchanting, lyrically simple progressing into complex as things move along.

Leaning in a slightly different direction is the song Suicide, one that offers shock factor from the title alone and proceeds to deliver on that mood and that thought process in a mellow and self-reflective manner. The beat works beautifully underneath Mute’s personal outpouring of difficulty and observations on life. The track sounds great, calming you in contrast with the struggle implied by the concept. Superb production from Prod-A-Gee allows the sound to wash over the listener in a likable way. Then you get Mute playing around with his delivery, with the pace and the performance, and this reignites a sense of brightness that’s more in line with the mood of the soundscape. Again, that voice is stylish and softly confident – there’s a sound to Mute Davinci’s music that’s easily recognisable.

What I Know takes to the darker side of hip hop, leading with a haunting piano riff that feels fairly classic. Meanwhile, the story-line deals again with inner turmoil and pain. The arrangement is brilliant, longer lines follow the simple repetition of this what I know, paving the way for something catchy, hooky, yet loaded with emotion and depth. Some of the bars here are incredible poetic, notably open and honest, all of which works well to impress and connect all at once. Mute Davinci doesn’t hide behind anything – the music and the lyrics work as a unit to portray a sense of realness and purity. Even when effects come into play, they’re artistic choices – not something included just to sound relevant or to overcome a bad vocal; far from it. Mute’s voice works well in just about any setting.

Holding on to those darker vibes that fall a little further away from the optimism that kicked off Breaking News, Devil seems classically hip hop again but utilizes a fairly hopeful melody to contrast any weight implied by that. The devil and demons roam free lyrically, and Mute takes on a quicker delivery, a more free-flowing rhythm that showcases yet again how versatile and inherently attached to the whole art of hip hop and music the artist is.

In addition to these, the song Family is one that crafts a fairly ambient, partly guitar-kissed soundscape around you, which is subsequently juxtaposed by one of the quickest lyrical outpourings yet. There’s a story, as always, but a second listen may well be the best way to get to grips with it. What’s clear is that Mute Davinci wears his heart on his sleeve, and this shows throughout his releases. This is a skillful and deeply thoughtful rapper and artist who, you can be fairly sure, will keep on making music regardless of what happens in the future.

Adding a further hit of intensity to the recent collection, the song Too Long sees a dismayed vocal appear in the distance to emotionally explore a certain series of feelings and experiences. This set-up is fairly striking, quiet yet heavy – intriguing and clearly loaded with intention and that all-important artistic awareness when attempting to express a particular sentiment. Then you get the equally ambient yet more clear-cut story-telling and freely meandering melody of Updated. A tired and expressive voice connects well with the tale, and once again the beat has been professionally and smoothly crafted. In every case, whatever the topic or the energy level, Mute Davinci storms into view with precisely the vibe required to make it work. The future looks increasingly bright at this rate.

Find & follow Mute Davinci on Instagram or YouTube or visit his Website. Check out more of the best independent releases via our Hip Hop Playlist.

Rebecca Cullen

Founder & Editor

Founder, Editor, Musician & MA Songwriter