Young Fathers | ||
| Allmusic Biography : Put simply, you could call Young Fathers a lo-fi R&B; trio. However, they dont completely fit in that box, with their wide-spanning spread of alternative rap, indie pop, reggaeton, and electronic music. Formed in Edinburgh, Scotland in 2008 by Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole, and Graham Hastings, the group started performing in nightclubs when the bandmembers were in their teens. A full-length, Inconceivable Child...Conceived, was recorded for Black Sugar Records, but it was shelved. Shortly thereafter, they teamed up with the Anticon label for 2012s Tape One and 2013s Tape Two, then signed to Big Dada. Their first commercially available full-length, Dead, was released in February 2014. Built on their knack for fusing inventive but gritty rhythms and sounds with incisive lyrics, the album gained a lot of critical attention and won the 2014 Mercury Prize, beating out considerably more famous competition. A U.K. tour turned into a world tour with some dates in the U.S., and Young Fathers traveled to Europe, which included a long stop in Berlin to lay down tracks for their sophomore album. After recordings were finished back home in Edinburgh, their album White Men Are Black Men Too dropped in April 2015. In 2017, the trio returned with "Only God Knows," a collaboration with the Leith Congregational Choir that appeared on the soundtrack to T2 Trainspotting. Early 2018 saw the release of the singles "In My View" and "Toy" ahead of the tense, pared-down Cocoa Sugar that March. | ||
 | Album: 1 of 6 Title: Tape One Released: 2013-01-22 Tracks: 8 Duration: 20:22 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Deadline (02:05) 2 Sister (02:59) 3 Rumbling (02:12) 4 Romance (02:23) 5 Fortunes (00:50) 6 Remains (03:51) 7 RRRamada (02:27) 8 Dar-Eh Da Da Du (03:31) |
 | Album: 2 of 6 Title: Tape Two Released: 2013-06-11 Tracks: 9 Duration: 23:38 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify Wikipedia AlbumCover | 1 I Heard (03:42) 2 Come to Life (02:45) 3 Only Child (02:02) 4 Queen Is Dead (02:42) 5 Bones (00:51) 6 Freefalling (02:07) 7 Mr. Martyr (03:04) 8 Way Down in the Hole (02:50) 9 Ebony Sky (03:35) |
 | Album: 3 of 6 Title: Get Up Released: 2014-01-24 Tracks: 4 Duration: 16:14 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify AlbumCover | 1 Get Up (radio edit) (04:06) 2 Better (04:32) 3 Outlaw (03:46) 4 Get Up (03:50) |
 | Album: 4 of 6 Title: Dead Released: 2014-01-31 Tracks: 11 Duration: 34:31 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 No Way (02:49) 2 Low (03:11) 3 Just Another Bullet (02:37) 4 War (02:50) 5 Get Up (03:50) 6 Dip (03:03) 7 Paying (03:12) 8 Mmmh Mmmh (03:31) 9 Hangman (02:53) 10 Am I Not Your Boy (03:08) 11 Ive Arrived (03:22) |
 | Album: 5 of 6 Title: White Men Are Black Men Too Released: 2015-04-04 Tracks: 12 Duration: 38:53 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 Still Running (03:08) 2 Shame (04:09) 3 Feasting (02:39) 4 27 (02:27) 5 Rain or Shine (03:49) 6 Sirens (03:00) 7 Old Rock n Roll (03:11) 8 Nest (03:17) 9 Liberated (02:55) 10 John Doe (02:52) 11 Dare Me (02:39) 12 Get Started (04:47) |
| White Men Are Black Men Too : Allmusic album Review : Edinburgh hip-hop trio Young Fathers continue to evolve on their sophomore release, so much so that White Men Are Black Men Too could threaten a jump out of the "rap" section of any given record store if it werent for all the electronic musical mashing and the albums aggressive, provocative title. Get past those two examples of the hip-hop aesthetic in action and this often bright, often very indie rock-influenced effort seems to owe more to Can than Nas, with the free-floating "Sirens" coming off as the Flaming Lips getting low, while "Shame" shakes a tambourine, employs throwback backup singers, and bounces with a bright melody straight out of the Passion Pit playbook. Phoenix should check if their book of riffs was stolen too, but the brittle and broken "Old Rock n Roll" is like nothing on the pop charts, as it brings to mind Flying Lotus with its complicated, dark music, plus the Last Poets with its complicated, honest lyrics ("Im tired of having to hold back/Im tired of wearing this hallmark for some evils that happened way back"). "Liberated" brings the same revolutionary spirit and anger, even when it is an uplifting and empowering number in the end, and then theres the musical tension on the album, as the opening "Still Running" teases the listener into thinking its an intro, even as it builds and builds, refusing to break into a standard hook as it curls into a whirlwind. Member Aloysious Massaquoi declared that on this second LP "Young Fathers are breaking out of the ghetto," which might explain all the pop influences, but most of the competition is still catching up to the trios debut. No musical ghetto here as White Men Are Black Men Too suggests Young Fathers are quintessentially ahead of their time, even when their music is tight, attractive, and vital enough to be enjoyed today. | ||
 | Album: 6 of 6 Title: Cocoa Sugar Released: 2018-03-09 Tracks: 12 Duration: 36:50 Scroll: Up Down Top Bottom 25% 50% 75% Spotify TrackSamples Allmusic AlbumCover | 1 See How (02:01) 2 Fee Fi (02:41) 3 In My View (03:15) 4 Turn (03:36) 5 Lord (03:35) 6 Tremolo (03:08) 7 Wow (04:00) 8 Border Girl (04:01) 9 Holy Ghost (02:32) 10 Wire (01:40) 11 Toy (03:13) 12 Picking You (03:04) |
| Cocoa Sugar : Allmusic album Review : After Kayus Bankole, Graham Hastings, and Alloysious Massaquoi won the Mercury Prize for Dead, they affirmed and reaffirmed that their debut album as Young Fathers was simply a start. A strong follow-up was released only six months after they accepted the award. Between the release dates of their second and third albums, amid other creative pursuits, the trio made urgent contributions to Massive Attacks Ritual Spirit and the soundtrack of T2 Trainspotting. Novelist Irvine Welsh fell so hard for his fellow Edinburgh natives that five songs off their first two albums -- in addition to the made-to-order "God Only Knows" -- were licensed for use in T2. Young Fathers fascinating evolution continues with third full-length Cocoa Sugar. Tiring of being cast as eccentrics, they set out to make comparatively straightforward material, only to end up with their least classifiable, most unique work yet. "Lord," the prelude to the album, indicated the perhaps unintended results with balefully buzzing avant-gospel. Its vague cluster of pained and plainly spoken lyrics are capped with a seemingly disconnected statement -- "While the government wants to control, her culture will set you free" -- that jumps off the page but is delivered during the fade-out like an afterthought. Other instances of bloody-mindedness can be heard in the near concealment of hooks that require close listening to be heard. Theyre often deliberately distanced from the battery of contrasting vocal lines, laser FX, and rhythms that churn, batter, and rattle, whether evoking Krautrock bands or African tribes. One aspect that does shoot clear through is the high level of ferocity on display throughout a latter-half stretch that concerns immigration and desperate survivalism. It culminates in "Holy Ghost," which jitters and battle-peacocks like Kendrick Lamars "King Kunta," a rare obvious point of reference. In a way, the crammed, almost impenetrable layers of sound recall specific phases of Simple Minds (Sons and Fascination/Sister Feelings Call), Associates (Sulk), and maybe even Cocteau Twins (the darker parts of Head Over Heels). Like those Scottish post-punk recordings, Cocoa Sugar mystifies before it gratifies, but it reflects a modern global chaos as much as it does a personal one. | ||