Released on Black Box Recordings

Release Date: 29/11/10



Heard of Shad?  Us neither, but if Kanye, Common or Outkast are the kind of acts that prick the ears and hasten the heart then it is important you seek out TSOL. This is an album with an appeal to at least match these headily placed rappers and if there was such a thing as musical justice will propel him from his current position as a relatively well known artist in Canada (where this album was nominated for the Polaris Prize) to that of cross Atlantic staple.

If there’s going to a song that takes him there it is ‘Keep Shining’- the spit of Common’s ‘Be (Intro)'-  with its anthemic synths and lyrical content that couldn’t be further away from the misogyny that we have come to associate with many of the sleazier purveyors of hip-hop . An ode to the ladies in his life and a lament that there aren’t more women in rap it is glorious, one of those tunes that’ll lift any gathering flagging under the weight of its own intake; think ‘Move On Up’, ‘All Day And All Of The Night’, ‘Heart Of The City'. Kicking off with mouth curler synths and ‘I roll with clever broads’ the track identifies Shad as a rapper apart, not to mention one you’d be happy to play at your parents house.

Positive, thoughtful, self-concious lyrics are a theme throughout and it seems Shad would rather do anything than be associated with a gangsta rap scene that seems ever more suited to the 18th century the further we march into the 21st. The short, snappy, life affirming ‘Call Waiting’ has him declaring ‘I learned Geography is destiny and History is fate/Art is taste and the Science of escape’, whilst ‘We, Myself and I’ displays Shad’s non-allegiance to the ego-mongering that derives too many commercial artists of any depth or tangible empathy with ‘coz I am imperfect, none of us is Iron Men/Please be my 3rd eye when the light gets dim.’ It brings to mind this years Hilltop Hoods album and is DMX-like in scope; guitars, vocals and drums all competing for a place in a gigantic splice of Kasabian and Nas.

Don’t think Shad’s conscience removes any of the power of his tunes though; there’s massive bass, distorted keys and aggression on ‘Yaa I Get It,’ whilst ‘Listen’ is the kind of intelligent r n’ b  we can only dream of in the JLS age.   Flitting deftly from powerful to funny, clever to singalong, whisper to synth, this is an album to endure and should be in the stocking of every squared-up indie boy that ever doubted the power of rap.



8/10

Posted In Album Reviews, Nov 30 2010. Words - David