Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.A self-confessed "typical middle-class north Londoner", Jack Allsopp is a young rapper/ songwriter whose debut album marries conventional singer-songwriter virtues to hip hop beats and sample-based grooves. The single "Paradise (Lost & Found)" is typical of his engaging style, with rapped verses over jazzy beats, punctuated by catchy sung choruses. It's a quintessentially modern British mode, reminiscent of both Badly Drawn Boy's low-key outsider beatbox melodicism, and the Streets with a decent tune. Allsopp's concerns are the familiar fundamentals of urban life – loneliness, alienation, thwarted romance – addressed with a disarming equanimity that suggests he's unlikely to be easily fazed by anything. Certainly, his attitude to romantic disaster in the opener "Let's Get Really Honest" is a model of philosophical sangfroid – "Everything has to end, I guess/ This was no exception/ We were gonna have to break connections" – although his return to the theme at the album's close in "Ain't Too Sad" belies his cheery manner: "I ain't too sad you're gone," he claims, "so why am I crying all the time?" The most ambitious piece is probably "Snapshot Memories", which moves through three disparate sections – chattering electro-beat, downtempo rap, and upbeat conclusion – as he tracks a day spent raving. Elsewhere, chilled Massive Attack-style downbeat grooves such as "Snowflakes" and "Deep Thrills" carry Jack's musings about dissociation and urban dystopia in imposingly sinister manner. An impressive debut, especially coming from a typical middle-class north Londoner.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments