Digging indie is always interesting. Fresher surprise than mainstream. Like finding a few goodies from tons of oldies at a thrift shop.
August 23 was like that. That new-release-Friday had some known names, a rare occasion in the recent. Missy Elliot’s Iconology after 14 years blank, without advance information. Taylor Swift’s Love that would have 9 Billboard top 50 songs within two weeks. Raphael Saadiq, Lyfe Jennings…but the major side didn’t succeed to catch my interest. Average quality for me. So eventually I dug some indie side. Clyde Carson’s Late Night Money High, SAINt JHN’s Ghetto Lenny’s Love Songs (cheers to a nice start at #39)…underground always got unique personalities.
Then this album cover got me during the search. A young lady who rocked young LL Cool J inspired fashion on the porch in front of nature. Simple, not exactly original, but instant appeal. A good mixture of freshness and old fashion. Cover art always matters even this digital age.
That album was Over Night, a debut EP from Tabby Wakes from Brooklyn, New York City.
The album was released a week before August 23 but somehow raised on my raider. Curiosity pushed to press the play button. Ok, it was an interesting material. Time’s flow stopped right moment after the music started and made my ears concentrate on the music flow.
The keyword of Tabby Wake’s music is “neutral” over the base of a laid back and low key digital twisted R&B or pop.
Voice: female/male. Music: electronic pop/hip-hop. Sound: new/retro. Style: contemporary/old fashioned. Pretty much the world can be imagined from the cover. Tabby’s comical voice and catchy melodies float in between those differences. And Tabby’s version of neutralness is comfortable and makes me repeat the 8 tracks EP over and over again. Each song has a nice quality. The first song, “Congratulations”, succeeds to express what the album is about from the beginning. The second song, “All The Same” is actually not all the same. Sampling fax transmitting sound into a galactic melody creates addictive dopeness that is hard to get out. This idea is two thumbs up. Aggressive beats at the last “Lady GaGa”. Because the mood is the same throughout the EP, I think 8 tracks were enough to avoid boredom (for some listeners, the repeated mood might be boring). Tabby’s next album will be a challenge for her real talent to arrange quality songs over the full length while keeping her original identity.
RELEASE DATE (US): 08/16/2019
OVERALL POINTS: 86/100
- Songs: ★★★★
- Originality: ★★★★
- Thrills: ★★★★
- Song orders: ★★★★★★
- Vocal: ★★★★
- Background: ★★★★
- Production: ★★★★★
- Strong songs: “Congratulations”, “All The Same”, “Snakes”, “Lady Gaga”
EXTRA (NOT COUNTED TOWARD THE OVERALL POINTS)
- Title: C
- Album cover: A
