Georgee Landy is the sort of artist who drives with a thoughtful desire to reflect upon real issues with real story telling. Half The *Ish offers up a simple acoustic soundscape – organic instrumentation and a mellow, colourful yet delicate beat, surrounding and supporting the leading vocal and the accompanying touch of melody (provided by singer Bex Grant). This lays out the ideal setting really, for what is essentially a considerate and conscious rap performance that deals with an undeniable truth.
What works well about this release is that you can hear the live element, you can sense that a real time performance would sound almost identical to this. The song relies upon the strength of Landy’s lyricism and spoken word flow, with these various musical details merely lighting up the outer edges of the artistry. The flow of the verses has a real sense of movement and story telling to it, which leads confidently and in a captivating way through to the again simple yet effective hook. This latter moment of repetition provides the perfect break from the intensity of the truth bombs that come through in the verses. It also provides a calming moment of familiarity later on in the track, a moment to reflect on the story, to appreciate the sound of the artist’s leading voice and the unquestionable realness and honesty of the writing.
In an age of unlimited music and creativity, it’s a pleasure to stumble upon songs that exercise the simple or minimalist strength of pure expression. This track doesn’t arrive covered in glitter or magnified volume, it doesn’t shout to grab your attention, it warms you with a hopeful musical backdrop, and it grips you with a genuine and heartfelt presentation of poetry and character. I look forward to hearing more from Georgee Landy.
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