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Kae Tempest has, for a while, been a crucial voice within the UK different scene. At all times available to ship slicing observations of life in Britain, he’s lauded as a Mercury- and BRIT-nominated musician and as a poet and author. On his fifth album Self Titled, we see rather more of the artist himself. After popping out as a transgender man earlier within the yr, that is without delay a reintroduction to the artist and a reminder that he’s nonetheless the identical distinctive lyricist and artist who grabbed our consideration over a decade in the past.
On Self Titled, Tempest skews nearer to rap in hard-hitting numbers like Diagnoses and Statue on the Sq.. This album additionally sees him workforce up with a number of the business’s brightest new abilities, Connie Constance and Younger Fathers, in addition to collaborating with Pet Store Boys legend Neil Tennant.
There are two key strands to Self Titled; one which seems at group, and the opposite which focuses on the self. Opener I Stand on the Line explores on a regular basis existence as a trans individual dwelling within the UK, at a time when the federal government is turning into extra overtly hostile. From the consequences of hormone substitute remedy to transphobic aggression, this can be a wealthy and daring opening that units the tone for the album. Afterward, Breathe is a relentless probe into the previous.
The opposite facet of the album is extra private and romantic in tone. Sunshine on Catford paints an image of the consolation and peace that comes from a loving relationship with a pop-adjacent earworm of a refrain. Know Your self is a masterclass in vulnerability as Tempest samples one in all his personal early spoken-word performances in a trippy dialog of the self.
Self Titled is an apt title for Tempest’s fifth studio album; a reintroduction to the artist as his truest self. Cinematic in its instrumentation and incisive in its lyricism, this album continues to cement Kae Tempest as a novel and important voice within the UK.
