Alasdair “Illy” Murray may be best known as a rapper, but he has often branched out into rock, pop, and other modes. That’s especially true on his seventh album, which he explicitly conceived to push himself beyond his already spacious comfort zone. Yet Murray never sounds out of his element here, whether singing more than rapping on the trippy psych-pop of the title track—a co-write with Johnny Took from DMA’s—or romping through country tropes against fiddle and handclaps on “Good Night Good Luck.” He also dives into frantic synth-pop on “Satellites” and “Closer,” joined on the latter by Tonight Alive’s Jenna McDougall under her solo guise Hevenshe. Even when he’s on more familiar footing, his carefree verses and chant-along choruses bely anxious, self-critical streaks in his lyrics. “You don’t like me/I don’t either,” he quips repeatedly on the punky “You Don’t Like Me,” before “Stubborn” details a particularly chaotic couple and “Doing It Right” makes light of diving headlong into partying despite the crushing hangovers that follow. Murray has called this record a love letter to Australian hip-hop and rock alike, and one can imagine some of these tracks fitting in nicely on a Dune Rats or DZ Deathrays album. Like those bands, Murray celebrates fast living while still poking plenty of fun at himself for it.
- 2016
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- Thundamentals
- Seth Sentry
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- Amy Shark