Kassa Overall – ANIMALS (2023) [FLAC 24bit/44,1kHz]

Kassa Overall – ANIMALS (2023)
FLAC (tracks) 24 bit/44,1 kHz | Time – 35:33 minutes | 377 MB | Genre: Jazz
Studio Masters, Official Digital Download | Front Cover | © Warp Records

Kassa Overall is a Grammy-nominated musician, emcee, singer, producer and drummer who melds avant-garde experimentation with hip-hop production techniques to tilt the nexus of jazz and rap in unmapped directions. On ANIMALS, his kaleidoscopic Warp Records debut, Kassa engages with themes of race and mental illness and pushes his subversive vision further with an all-star roster of collaborators including Danny Brown, Wiki, Lil B, Shabazz Palaces, Nick Hakim, Laura Mvula, Theo Croker and more.The triumphant third LP from Seattle-born Kassa Overall sees the drummer/rapper/producer catapulted into the farthest reaches of his creativity, spiritedly showcasing his seemingly limitless capacity for experimentation, stylistic agility and technical prowess. Much like on his sophomore record, I Think I’m Good (2020), Overall avoids any pigeonholed interpretation of his art. “What does it sound like to you? … I just want to make the dopest shit,” he quips, as if to say, who cares? Why bother with these labels? He operates on his own terms, that’s for sure.

At face value, it is still jazz-hop’ and brazen fusion which drives the musicality. These aspects are complemented in equal measure by Overall’s deftness as an emcee, with internal mental health struggles and an array of wider social issues forming the thematic basis. A strong musical and lyrical voice interlinks all excursions through volatile musical and verbal terrains, elevating the work to lofty echelons of conceptual and performative sophistication—qualities which the Warp imprint is only too keen to sponsor. As ever, it is fortified by a rich catalogue of collaborators new and old, who feature in absorbing and unprecedented ways.

Animals finds its footing with “Ready to Ball”: a modal jazz/hip-hop workout, complete with masterful keys improv from Sullivan Fortner and ultra catchy, pitch-shifted vocal hooks (“It got a shine to it/ I could get it if I put my mind to it”). Hip-hop styles continue into “Clock Ticking,” which sees crunchy MPC percussion, choppy piano licks and an eerie likeness between Danny Brown’s tone of voice, and that of namesake Bootie Brown (The Pharcyde) circa Bizarre Ride II era—that ain’t passin’ no one by. Ever the fusionist, Overall even sneaks in a few impromptu borrowings from jazz-adjacent, South American styles: quasi-bossa nova guitar flavours in “The Lava Is Calm” and the futurist tango of “So Happy.” The album reaches the zenith of its maximalism in the dubby ensemble production “Still Ain’t Find Me,” a 1:46 whirlwind crammed full of jolty metric shifts, fizzing electronics and sprawling saxophone lines courtesy of Tomoki Sanders. To top it all off, the closer (“Going Up”) is a real gem, with a wistful Francis and The Lights crooning confessions to lost loves over an emotionally charged instrumental. It’s a perfect conclusion to what must surely be his most accomplished effort yet. Overall—a master stroke. – Finn Kverndal

Tracklist:

1-1. Kassa Overall – Anxious Anthony (00:09)
1-2. Kassa Overall – Ready To Ball (03:27)
1-3. Kassa Overall – Clock Ticking (03:36)
1-4. Kassa Overall – Still Ain’t Find Me (01:46)
1-5. Kassa Overall – Make My Way Back Home (03:56)
1-6. Kassa Overall – The Lava Is Calm (03:06)
1-7. Kassa Overall – No It Ain’t (01:28)
1-8. Kassa Overall – So Happy (04:08)
1-9. Kassa Overall – It’s Animals (00:33)
1-10. Kassa Overall – Maybe We Can Stay (03:58)
1-11. Kassa Overall – The Score Was Made (03:07)
1-12. Kassa Overall – Going Up (06:13)

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