What appears at first as a fitting and simple addition to the world’s hip hop, later evolves to be something more of a connection to a thoughtful, skillful individual – something fresh to find solace in.
Rebecca Cullen
This album is made up of an immeasurable number of details & experimental layers of audio. Barendo strikes as both an artist & musician, able to take any sound or collection of sounds & craft something unusual with them. At the same time, there’s a lot of heart & self-reflection in the writing – the chaos of the music doesn’t replace the desire to connect.
Some of the most common mistakes we make in life are those which are just so naturally human but that, at the time, make us feel like we’re the only ones going that way. This song addresses issues & recurring negative thoughts in a way that makes you feel part of something, more normal perhaps; less alone.
The whole EP has a stunning smoothness to it & in fact, to listen in full is to get the feeling that this is all part of a single thought or feeling. There’s only six minutes to make your way through, but when it ends, you feel the loudness of that silent void quite intensely.
“Every aspect of my life is somehow connected to my art or is art in itself; the way I maneuver through a capitalist society, the way I deal with obstacles, problems, losses & successes.”
I think although we are an indie pop band, we all grew up on the same stuff. We all were really invested in the Warped Tour scene as young kids, even though our music doesn’t sound anything like those bands. We loved all the hooks & melodies.
Stumble upon Increst & be reassured that there are still bands out there pushing for that nostalgic, hard-hitting, emotional & gritty rock sound – the likes of which have felt so out of reach since the days of Pearl Jam & Audioslave.
Young is a gorgeous track, beautifully produced so as to bring in elements of a slightly world-like bounce alongside of those that are a little more electronically soaked. It feels like a beach-side song, one to be shared – one that represents togetherness in every way.
3mind Blight drives with a gritty, perfectly expressive leading voice on this single Rag Doll. The sound falls somewhere between Nine Inch Nails and Rob Zombie, with a flicker of Papa Roach for good measure.
Project Sapiens are a hard rock band, without question – there’s weight to their music, intensity & pace. It’s energizing, it fills the room with volume, but more than this – there’s skill to the arrangement & the performances, and there’s a hell of a lot of heart & depth to the writing.
Chucky Orbitz is someone to look out for in music right now. You can hear the soul and the determination in his voice, and you can hear the professionalism in the soundscape. Real Feel is a huge track, but it’s also clearly just the beginning of something even bigger.
The vocal style has a classic feel, taking inspiration from some of the best soul & RnB artists of yesteryear. This approach, when united with such a crisp, colourful, contemporary soundscape as this, makes for a release that seems genuine & likely to reach a wider audience with its accessible tones.