Hip-Hop Lives Here
Hip-Hop Lives Here
Porij’s debut album ‘Teething’ is destined for clubs and late-night festival sets. On this siren call to the dancefloor, the quartet – who met while studying in Manchester – continue to hone a euphoric blend of alternative and indie sounds with far-spanning electronic influences. It’s a winning sonic world that they established on previous releases like 2020’s ‘Breakfast’, which NME described as “a genre-splicing collection that flits between nu-jazz, house, funk and art-pop”, and 2021’s sun-drenched sugar rush ‘Baby Face’ EP. Here, Porij broaden their palette into something more mature.
It comes after a period of transformation for the band. In 2022, two members of their initial line-up left, prompting vocalist and keyboardist Egg Moore and bassist James Middleton to enlist uni pals guitarist Jacob Maguire and drummer Nathan Carroll to join them. Thrown in the deep end, their first summer of shows in this formation included gigs at Glastonbury and Green Man festival.
You can hear this change in the music, too. While the album does miss the Disclosure-esque bounce of tracks like 2021’s ‘Can’t’ Stop’, it’s undeniably still an album to dance to. Working with renowned producer David Wrench (The xx, Frank Ocean), they’ve expanded their sound: percolating synths, lithe beats and Foals-style wiry guitar licks are paired with ethereally beautiful arrangements, intriguing production and poppy hooks, taking their music in a darker direction.
Take ‘Marmite’, the record’s punchy opening track, on which floor-shaking bass is merged with twinkling keys as Egg’s vocals flit between searing, not-quite-spoken-word parts and soaring, melodious moments. ‘My Only Love’, which is reminiscent of London Grammar’s more uptempo moments, explores the sometimes complex emotions of being in a long-term relationship. “Don’t know if this will be forever / But for now know / You’re my only love”, Egg sings honestly. Fusing UK garage-laced rhythms with pitch-shifted vocal samples, its jubilant chorus captures the feelings of dizzy romance.
Album closer ‘Slow Down’ is a quieter affair. An impressively written song, it’s built around skipping piano riffs and crunchy chord progressions that don’t quite resolve and instead build an unsteady tension. The resolution comes with its final lines – “Finally I’m on my own / Finally there’s silence in my bones” – when a sweet vocal melody arrives like a sigh of relief.
Injected with the thrilling energy that’s become a staple at Porij’s live shows, ‘Teething’ sees the quartet level up their sound without losing what fans have come to love. A swaggering collection of complex-but-catchy cuts, you won’t hear any teething problems here.
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It feels like it’s been a long time since Kings Of Leon really revelled in recording an album together. Ever since ‘Only By The Night’ shot the Followills to the stadium-straddling heights of their peers (The Killers, Muse) in 2008, the demand for chart-hogging hits appeared to dictate the next four albums to the point where even the Tennessee quartet cried, ‘enough already!’ Well that, and the fact they finally broke free from their long-term record deal with RCA after 2021’s ‘When You See Yourself’, opening the door for them to craft a record bereft of uncompromising demands and pressure.
Thus the title for album number nine ‘Can We Please Have Fun’ started off as a “frustrated request” from frontman Caleb Followill to get back to making music that “made us happy”. Speaking to NME, they said offers for anniversary tours – not their bag, apparently – “pushed us to where we are right now” and the desire to “make something great”. It then became their daily work mantra as they freely laid down tracks at Nashville’s Dark Horse studio with Kid Harpoon, whose recent credits include Harry Styles and Maggie Rogers.
Many fans will be wondering if this is finally the record where KOL return to the dirty rock‘n’roll roots that we fell in love with in the first place? Well, yes and no. Kick-ass comeback single ‘Mustang’ finds Caleb back to his howling old, shouty self as he sings: “Oh there’s a mustang in the city and it’s calling me out,” over rollicking guitar riffs. It’s a throwback to the sound of their 2007 opus ‘Because Of The Times’ and it’s by far the best song they’ve released since ‘Sex On Fire’.
And that’s kind of it for your balls-to-the-wall rock‘n’roll. The rest of the record skirts more familiar anthemic territory which at times works well on spine-tingling opener ‘Ballerina Radio’ and the driving Strokes meets Joy Division ‘Rainbow Ball’. But it falls flat on drab ballads like ‘Ease Me On’ and ‘Don’t Stop The Bleeding’. The excellent ‘Split Screen’ does redress the balance a little bit with its textured guitars but the album as a whole leaves you aching for more songs like ‘Mustang’.
This is easily KOL’s most promising, liberated record for over a decade but still surprisingly restrained in places. Can they have fun? Yes it appears, in places, but they could have had a whole lot more.
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