Bob Vylan have cemented themselves as considered one of punk’s most significant voices. Their final album, 2022’s ‘Bob Vylan Presents: The Worth Of Life’, hit the Prime 20 on the album charts and in that very same yr, the duo gained the first-ever MOBO for Greatest Various Act. They usually’ve finished all of it whereas remaining unbiased, releasing music on their very own label, Ghost Theatre. The temptation may have been to uninteresting the perimeters however, fortunately, Bob Vylan aren’t entertaining the thought of backing down.
Their newest file ‘Humble As The Solar’ broadens the duo’s musical scope, mixing punk, hip-hop, rock, grime, rap, lure, drum and bass and digital influences. Equally, the lyrics span a spread of matters from financial disparity (‘Starvation Video games’) to poisonous masculinity (‘He’s A Man’). The title observe takes purpose at exploitation within the music trade: “Now watch me as I struggle again / For each reggae artist that by no means acquired their rights again / That died broke and hungry on the island of Jamaica / Whereas somebody at Island Data made a killing off the proper tracks.”
Elsewhere, the lyrics showcase their trademark sense of humour. “I used to be a sufferer of 1 crime / Was it a gun crime? / No. Bob Vylan acquired robbed for the Mercury!” vocalist Bobby Vylan raps on ‘Reign.’ However the album’s lyrical energy comes from the duo’s means to cowl huge floor on every tune, drawing hyperlinks between totally different points, the layered references and intelligent wordplay rewarding a number of listens. ‘Reign’, for instance, tackles the truth of the UK as we speak, discussing colonisation, police brutality, racism and wealth inequality.
‘Humble As The Solar’ has various surprises: the album opens with piano and organ and ‘Starvation Video games’, with its raucous riffs, ends in a sequence of optimistic affirmations over a drum and bass beat: “Be proud, be open / Be loud, be hopeful / Be wholesome, be joyful / Be sort to your self.”
That selection retains issues attention-grabbing, nevertheless it additionally permits the duo to flex their musical muscle mass, they usually’ve traded in a few of their earlier blistering punk for a extra relaxed tempo on sure tracks, however with out sacrificing any depth. The urgency comes by way of in different methods: ‘Get Your self a Gun’’s electrifying riffs distinction Bobby’s restrained supply of the refrain, whereas ‘Reign’ takes a darker flip musically and lyrically. ‘Makes Me Violent’’s chilled-out vocals and down-tempo melody add a stage of irony because it critiques the hypocrisy of a rustic that perpetuates violence whereas warning folks off it.
However these contrasts communicate to the spirit of the album: perseverance within the face of hardship. Rousing album nearer ‘I’m Nonetheless Right here’ faucets into the fireplace of Bob Vylan’s different releases, as Bobby sings, “I survived / I survived / I survived!” It’s a testomony to resilience, but in addition to the band’s willingness to develop and to problem themselves. It’s clear that irrespective of the place they go, audiences can be listening.
Particulars
- Launch date: April 5, 2024
- Document label: Ghost Theatre
