Kicking My Feet & Screaming
Ruel · Pop / R&B
“Nazvao si ga Kicking My Feet & Screaming, ali najglasnija stvar na celoj ploči jeste tišina tamo gde je trebalo da bude rizik.”
Ruel, treći album si nazvao Kicking My Feet & Screaming, nastavak Kicking My Feet, što znači da je tvoja velika umetnička izjava u ovom trenutku napad besa sa spiskom pesama. Deset pesama o celom luku jedne veze, usponima i padovima, zaljubljivanju i otpadanju od ljubavi, otpevanih onim baršunastim glasom koji te nosi još otkako si bio tinejdžer. Glas je stvaran. Vizija je moodboard. Naslagao si zasluge sa Julianom Bunettom, Johnom Ryanom, Kennyjem Beatsom i Danom Wilsonom, vrsta sobe koja je svima napisala hitove, i upravo je to problem. Kada je tekstopisačka soba toliko odlikovana, a rezultat i dalje zvuči ovako uglađeno i ovako bezbedno, pošteno je zapitati se šta je zapravo tvoje. Emocionalna iskrenost koju neprestano obećavaš stiže izbrušena do prijatnog sjaja, zvučni ekvivalent sveće na čijoj etiketi jednostavno piše osećanja. U svemu ovome krije se sjajna ploča, jer talenat nije upitan, samo hrabrost. Stalno pokazuješ ka padovima jedne veze, a muzici nikada ne dozvoljavaš da zvuči nisko. Raskid je haotičan. Ovo je besprekorno. To dvoje ne bi smelo da bude toliko udaljeno.
Kada Ruel prestane da glumi zrelost i jednostavno zapeva, talenat je neporeciv, taj glas bi mogao da proda telefonski imenik, a nekoliko ovih pesama pogađa sa pravim bolom. Sirovi materijal za sjajan album leži tačno tu, naočigled svima.
A sequel album with nothing new to say
“Kicking My Feet & Screaming is explicitly framed as a follow up to Kicking My Feet, recycling the title and the same concept of cataloguing a relationship's highs and lows.”
The fix Earn the sequel. If you are revisiting the same emotional territory, show what you learned the second time around, do not just re shoot the same feeling in slightly nicer light.
Co written into a corner
“The credits feature an all star cast including Julian Bunetta, John Ryan, Kenny Beats, M-Phazes and Dan Wilson across just ten tracks.”
The fix Strip one song down to just you and a single collaborator and let it be a little ugly. The polish is currently hiding the person underneath it.
Comfortable where it should be brave
“The album is pitched as an authentic exploration of emotional highs and lows, yet the production stays uniformly smooth and radio safe from front to back.”
The fix Let the lows actually sound low. A breakup record that never once sounds uncomfortable is a breakup record nobody quite believes.
Think your track survives me? Drop a link.
A full teardown from €2,99. No mercy.