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.Like Jamie T, Just Jack (Allsopp) suffers from the abiding stricture of hip-hop that requires exponents to "keep it real" when what is really needed is a bracing dose of the unreal, hyperreal or the downright surreal - anything to help listeners to escape his songs' grim procession of lairy pissheads and fuddled dopers. And that, as they say, is just the girls. But Allsopp has a sharper eye, and tongue, than Jamie T, with digs at small-scale, artificial pop stars - "happy-clappy trustafarians" - and compromised breadwinners juggling deceit and disillusion. "Hold On", a lament for a passing era, even acknowledges its protagonist's inevitable decline, Allsopp advocating, "Let's just hold on to what we got right now," one of the less inspiring manifestos of the new millennium. His musical landscape is more varied too, with slick funk bass loping lazily along, keeping guitars, string samples and rolling beats corralled towards the same goal. But ultimately, Overtones suffers from the fact that this territory has been covered with much more élan, and better melodies, by the Kaiser Chiefs and Arctic Monkeys.
DOWNLOAD THIS: "Writer's Block", "No Time", "Starz In Their Eyes"
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments