KING COBRA

A1 Neath The Willow's Leaves A2 Coke Jaw A3 A Melancholy Boogie A4 The Culling ft. Tyler Moonlight A5 Don't Let The Smooth Taste Fool You A6 Theme from King Cobra A7 The Badger A8 The Not So Tired Sounds of Brian Ennals B1 Sunday Feb 19th 2017 B2 Death of a Constable B3 The Bushman B4 Headclean B5 Premium Malt Freestyle ft. Eze Jackson B6 Milk & Codeine B7 Bluffin' B8 Sambo's Last Words B9 On Bread Alone ft. Allison Clendaniel inexhaustible creativity has already gifted us 2020™s Dear, Sudan - a kaleidoscopic, unpredictable joyride of late night channel-hopping - and 2021™s brutal post-George Floyd manifesto Rhino XXL, but King Cobra is a new experience still. It is a masterfully executed expression of both ferocity and joy. ›Not a checklist of all the ills in the world,› says the band, šbut it feels like darkness›. An expansively ambitious record, full of fire, and a thrilling new step from artists on a crucial mission. An opening of moody, operatic lamentation for guitar and voice steeped in VHS warble intensifies the record that follows. šCoke Jaw› barrels out like a swinging fighter, matching nimble Tron synthesis with lines that šfuck the Clintons and the Kennedys› and proclaim šwe the post-apocalytpic Run-DMC›. Lead single šDeath Of A Constable› maintains the visceral energy, Ennals honouring Black life and culture in one line and biting hard on injustice and inequality in the next. He™s šsaving up for a new guillotine› to deal with PTSD giving him škiller dreams›. Centrepiece šA Melancholy Boogie› ups the funk without softening any collision impact. A Prince-esque bassline and Funkadelic backing vocals are punctuated with orchestral stabs and Ennals™ penetrating, fleet-footed dissections of innercity hardship. Throw in themes of learned Afrofuturism and Tanzania-born Infinity Knives™ instinctive East African licks, and the track is capable of towering over its peers. The duo offering Ice Cube and KRS-One™s Boogie Down Productions as influences reveals an admiration for time-revered classic hip-hop, but digging deeper uncovers references (both overt and subtle) to Pink Floyd, Stars Of The Lid, William Basinski, Sade, Outkast and Aretha Franklin among a vibrantly coloured palette. šSonically it™s jagged, it™s incongruent, it™s supposed to make you feel a little uncomfortable,› the duo explained. More than a pure hip-hop producer, Infinity Knives (aka NPR composer-in-residence Tariq Ravelomanana) demonstrates his oft-discussed love of contemporary classicists such as Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson throughout. Hidden deftly amongst the hard-hitting beats and Ennals™ lyrical dexterity are moments of blissful orchestration that betray an abundance of musical talent and a precise control over the cleverly formed layers of melody and harmony. Key track šDon™t Let The Smooth Taste Fool You› is in the rare and notoriously complex 10/4 time signature, but in Ravelomanana™s hands it prowls sleek and powerful as a lion. More than a pure hip-hop record, King Cobra provides a relentlessly inventive backdrop for Brian Ennals™ righteous poetry of vitriol, rage, philosophy, humour and myth-making. šThis isn™t an album meant for you to smile to,› Ennals writes, šexcept when I say something funny.›