Their recorded music can be dark, dense and the lyrics ambiguous, but when you watch Young Fathers live, that kinetic energy is unmistakable. They’re direct, visceral and highly addictive.
With a textural palette that includes club, dub, industrial, R&B, hip-hop and pop music, the pioneering band has grown accustomed to trying to explain their sound ever since their Mercury Prize win for the 2014 album Dead. Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and G. Hastings met as kids, and followed their instinct in setting themselves against the tide.
The title of their new, highly acclaimed album Heavy Heavy could be a mood, it could describe the granite mass of bass that supports the tracks, or it could be a nod to the natural progression and inevitable toll of living, relationships and family. This new longplayer nails together a collage of influences, ideas and scenes, all bound together with unrestrained energy, passion and soul.