Terry Blade - American Descendant of Slavery, The album
Chicago based artist "Terry Blade" releases a meaningful album titled "American Descendant of Slavery".
The album includes 8 short interludes of audio recordings of former African-American slaves (and their descendants) that do a great job at not only engrossing you in the passionate music, but also keeping the well thought out structure.
"Inward"
Beginning with a cresending arrangement of brass instrumentation, the track immediately conjures your attention before the introduction of the main vocals. The main vocals are fast paced, and speak the rhythmic off-the-tongue lyrics perfectly. They flow with the backing instrumentation throughout, before around half way through the track.
A unique instrumental section is introduced, almost alien like in texture, with a variety of creative sound effects and musical styles taking part in the production.
"Black Hurts"
The 2nd track is definitely one of the most emotional tracks of the album.
"Just being Black, Is a Burden, Is a Burden"
The lyrics really touch your heart, and build a strong connection with the listener, which is great at capturing REAL fans and real listeners. Wah inspired guitar bounces around the bluesy musical background, adding to the slow paced nature that the light percussion upholds.
"Mtf"
Also carrying a slow paced vibe similar to "Black Hurts", it's another unfeigned track.
The lyrics tell a story, in musical form, which I believe is a great way to express messages, and inform people, as it instils messages better than a simple narrative. Although the instrumentation doesn't change much throughout, it still manages to stay fulfilled with harmonies and depth throughout the entirety of the 3 minutes.
"Mr. Robertson"
Complex acoustic guitar upholds the track in a calming, tranquil environment, allowing the vocals (that carry bags of character) to be under the spotlight.
It's simplistic, but it doesn't fail at anything. The vocals have some calm natural reverb that really suits the acoustic instrumentation. It's almost comparable to a lullaby, musically, contrasting to the haunting context of the wordplay.
"Ms. Mizell"
I believe this track, showcases the passion and willingness of Terry Blade to experiment with a wide variety of styles, from the complex, bouncy bass, to the funky chord progression that keeps the song grooving along.
Before the outro the song slowly begins to pack away it's elements which ends the song with an undisturbed, sleepy feel. It leads into another interlude, which adds imagery and cinematic ambience to the album, before the next track "I Want it Back" is introduced.
"I Want it Back"
The half lick half chord, sounds are very elemental and calming, almost like Coldplay. The chorus is very alluring and catchy.
The meaning behind the song - as with the rest of the album - is very valuable and prominent.
The vocals go from gorgeous singing to an ataractic soothing speech like tone. The tranquilizing nature of the song is capable of putting you to sleep and depressing your psychological activity.
"They Must Be Kin"
Deep airy singing is the focus of this track, which seems to transport you to a new world with the handpan melodies. In a world of pop and tiktok songs, this track is truly a pleasure to hear, purely the definition of original thinking!
It's only short, but never gives a moment of downtime and always keeps you breathing and listening carefully.
"Reperations"
Synthesised elements radiate around each ear, complex percussion beats through your chest, amongst the varied backing, before a whole mood change, transitioned in with funky effects enters.
The main digital rhythm running the song is a real earworm, It has a catchy old school video game feel; it wouldn't feel out of place in mega man or sonic. It showcases a genre that is yet to be mainstream discovered.
"Same Gender Loving"
Towards the end of the album, this song feels intimate, and expressive. If you listen to this track you are to immerse oneself in desert landscapes, in the middle of canyons, snow-covered peaks or abandoned roads... And to let yourself be guided by the intimacy of a voice that speaks from the heart.
"The Silent Treatment" (Shivers Remix)
Featuring lo-fi elements of chords and drum taps, it creates an eclectic sound is a compound of various electronic tones ranging from experimental bedroom pop style beats to hiphop, r&b and strong influences of jazz.
It's a modern twist of many genres, it allows individuality and aforementioned creativity to flow from Terry Blade.
The closing track is titled "Who Cares For Me?". The speech ends the musical journey one will have experienced by listening to "American Descendant of Slavery". It isn't a matter of just listening to music, it's about immersing yourself and actually taking into account why the album has been created.
BONUS TRACK - "Crawling"
Piano is the main feature of the music side, yet this track could still feel complete without it. The vocals, isolated or together, would always feel traditional, and magical. This is the type of song that is open to interpretation from the listener, and the cinematic landscape and spotlighted vocals make this the perfect XFactor choice.
Please check out "American Descendant of Slavery, The album" below, and let us know what you think about this masterpiece mix, it showcases how hard it is for people to come out, and how hard it has been and still is for Black people in the United States and the "western" world. It's truly inclusive, rich and moving.
