I do not own this picture
There is too much I love about this album.Faulkner's fifth album "Human Love" is his best yet.
Since the dominantly acoustic folk sound of his first album "Hand Built By Robots", his sound has evolved to some new depths.
The release of the music video of his cover of the track 'Get Free', originally by Major Lazer in 2012, sparked excitement amongst his fanbase since he had stayed away from the media for a while. Boy, was it a comeback. I nearly had a heart attack watching him cut off his beautiful ginger dreadlocks. I got over it pretty quickly though - he is now rocking the short dreadlocked ponytail... Team short-hair!
"Human Love" takes on Faulkner's new sound that moves away from the dominantly complex acoustic guitar rhythms and riffs and towards a more soothingly electric composition of some dissonant, some anthem-like, and some highly percussive melodies.
One favourite of mine has to be 'Far to Fall'; it has a subtle multicultural influence with its percussion sounding like a joyful clapping ensemble, as well as the aurally pleasing utterances that sounded like people engaging in a tribal dance. It is entirely fast-paced and energetic. Overall, this song has so much depth and character it's impossible not to do a little loose dancing to it!
In contrast to this, 'Shadow Boxing' is a little more eerie and haunting. It feels more tense, with the pre-chorus building tension with the breathy vocal harmonies, the different voices singing lyrics that overlap each other. The climax is hit in the chorus when Faulkner exerts his sensational ability to reach high notes in a way that is soothing, yet straining, but therefore passionate. The consistent pulsing beat amongst the melody also creates this tension and heavy atmosphere.
Despite this beautiful transformation in his music, Faulkner still, of course, has to have an acoustic guitar centred song. Besides, that's where his sound started in the first place - never forget where you came from. 'Break' is the mellow, cool-down track in "Human Love", a song that's easy to fall asleep to. Just listen to those simple, alleviating melodies.
Each song in this album adds something pretty unique to its story, every song narrating its own personality to the overall ensemble. What an eclectic culmination of feelings this album wields.
You can listen to some of Faulkner's magic here:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hfJlJY9yK6A&list=PLl6jXdB8pXHJI0w9GtUZB6iKbfQCJrdNp
If you want to listen to the entire album, go ahead and buy it on iTunes or listen to it on Spotify!
Thank you, Faulkner, you've made us proud yet again.
~ glessabella
xo.
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