Dead

The atmosphere isn't always strictly severe, knowing right when to let up with gorgeous melodies seeping through the chiselled cracks. These moments save the record from being vociferous without a cause, allowing the more vehement moments to speak louder than they would otherwise.

The mish-mash of styles on Dead makes for a globalised texture, an eclecticism that appears to know no bounds. For some, it may all be a little too much to handle. But if you’re looking for a thoroughly twenty-first-century record that’ll challenge your preconceptions and bombard the senses, then Dead is something that’s definitely worth your while.

Dead is visceral, propulsive and bursting with life. [Mar 2014, p.88]

It’s not an easy listen and will send hipsters scurrying for their bobble hats and fake specs, but this is the sound of a band pushing themselves, challenging their audience and making something to be proud of.

Somehow they’ve retained their pop nous, making for an album that’s unique, but maddeningly all over the place.

If Dead proves anything it’s that Young Fathers are one of the most versatile acts in hip-hop today, they’re excellent rappers, producers, and singers. This is just their proper debut. Expect excellent insanity in the future.

As jagged and dark as Dead might appear, there's a real celebratory feel to this album and that's down to some fantastic influences.

Young Fathers have quietly constructed a strange and intoxicating musical universe that feels entirely their own, while no one else was paying attention.

Young Fathers have not so much captured their sound as they have chiselled it afresh from the Earth’s core.

The balance between pop and experimentalism is very fine but Young Fathers strike it with exuberant ease.

As good as Hastings’ production is, however, it is Young Fathers’ vocals that make Dead great.