"The quantum switchblade - Made of the gods' reprise"
The Talis-man On The Age of Glass (Redux) by UK singer songwriter L.A. Salami (Lookman Adekunle Salami) is a genre defying foray into evocative obtuse poetry in serenade. The soundscape of swaying acoustic guitar, sparse meandering, wondering and wandering piano, and low bass lines (maybe acoustic too) that have an almost Lou Reed-esque amble, droning synths and a groovy drum beat is the kind of sounds that, in and of themselves, sneaks an arm around your waist, nestles against your cheek and dances with you. It is truly mesmerizing but not more so than Salami's vocal aesthetic and curious words. His flow and ability to construct truly artful melodies that feel like a come on is intoxicating and while there is a demonstrable vast sort of entanglement of philosophy / mythology / history / social commentary and questions in his lyrics:
"A mirthless quasar... the rock, the beast, the new... from death perspective... all moves like fields of grass... 'cause time's still solid... in the Age of Glass"
...sort of like Black Francis who traverses all sorts oddities, tangents, from his mind in his lyrics, on The Talis-man On The Age of Glass, Salami's melodic and lyrical cuts (here) feel more like something from The Great American Songbook than a punk club. Still, Salami's storytelling does have a busker's heart (to me), an earthy tone from heaven to hell and back again. The result is beautifully curious and truly hypnotic.
The Talis-man On The Age of Glass is the last cut on L.A. Salami's recent 2020 album "The Cause of Doubt & a Reason to Have Faith".
-Robb Donker Curtius
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
L.A. SALAMI
reveals new single video
‘The Age Of Glass’
+
new album
‘The Cause of Doubt & a Reason to Have Faith’
Released July 17th 2020
Available to pre-order HERE
“It's classy rap, with poignant, metaphorical and political lyrics** The result is a disillusioned and urban hip-hop track.** The Cage undeniably recalls the period of confinement that we have just gone through, we hear about capitalism, anarchism and racism”. Les Inrocks
“A talented Visionary, his poetry channels the fierceness I first heard in Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, but with a prowess found in today's best hip-hop” NPR
"Ragged and raging poetry from the fierce folk singer, think Jamie T and Frank Turner with a proper bee in their bonnets." NME
"Scuffed, sharply drawn street-poet blues." Sunday Times
L.A. Salami has just revealed a new single and video ‘The Age Of Glass’ , which is the third and final single to be released from his up-coming album ‘The Cause of Doubt & a Reason to Have Faith,’ which is being released via Sunday Best Recordings on July 17th 2020.
Lookman describes his new single ‘The Age Of Glass’ as being about, “This is a song about growing up, taking ownership of your past and making something better from it; to love, to laugh, to rationalise as well as hope. To think about what you're seeing. To feel what you are thinking."
The video features Lookman and actor Frank Dilliane (Fear Of the Walking Dead & Harry Potter) mime acting along to the song. Lookman originally also put white mime makeup on his face but it made him feel uncomfortable and so he changed it to black because (in his own words) “Black makeup doesn't make me uncomfortable, I love it, as long as the intentions behind it are positive, and it's quite easy to tell the difference between hate fuelled mimicry and Jimmy Fallon doing a Chris Rock impression; dark black make up especially looks good on black people. I, along with many black British people I went to school and grew up with, are not offended by Little Britain, League of Gentlemen, Mighty Boosh, Fawlty Towers etc.”
His new album ‘The Cause of Doubt & A Reason To Have Faith’ sees Lookman explore new experimental ground, touching on a bit of everything from rap, psychedelic folk, and sultry grooves which venture into extended hypnotic jams. This isn’t the music of a virtuoso: it’s explorative, daring, meditative and wild. Lookman describes the inspiration behind his new album, “I love the deliberateness, cleanness and colour of modern music, but I also miss the complete chaos of old, like some Captain Beefheart and Velvet Underground records, or even 90s HipHop records with the peaking 808s and static compressed vocals al la Wu Tang, or blues records like Robert Johnson’s. Somewhere in there is the carnival I’ve been searching for. This entire album could very well be a love letter to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground.”
Lookman began writing poetry at a very early age, which then evolved into writing lyrics and he then self-taught himself the guitar aged 21. Fostered from birth, Lookman was periodically re-united with his birth mother from the age of 5, which he describes as being emotionally confusing, “I find it rears its ugly head consistently in my life, and music became one of the easiest ways to release that pressure valve every so often.”
L.A. Salami’s two albums to date, ‘Dancing With Bad Grammar’ (2016) and ‘The City of Bootmakers’ (2018), have seen the London-based artist present a singular vision. His evocative, poetic lyrics span everything from grand existential questions to vignettes of everyday life as well as the affairs and anxieties of modern Britain.
The Cause of Doubt & a Reason to Have Faith- track- listing
THE FACTS AS WE KNOW THEM - PRESS NOTES:
L.A. SALAMI
reveals new single video
‘The Age Of Glass’
+
new album
‘The Cause of Doubt & a Reason to Have Faith’
Released July 17th 2020
Available to pre-order HERE
“It's classy rap, with poignant, metaphorical and political lyrics** The result is a disillusioned and urban hip-hop track.** The Cage undeniably recalls the period of confinement that we have just gone through, we hear about capitalism, anarchism and racism”. Les Inrocks
“A talented Visionary, his poetry channels the fierceness I first heard in Bob Dylan's Highway 61 Revisited, but with a prowess found in today's best hip-hop” NPR
"Ragged and raging poetry from the fierce folk singer, think Jamie T and Frank Turner with a proper bee in their bonnets." NME
"Scuffed, sharply drawn street-poet blues." Sunday Times
L.A. Salami has just revealed a new single and video ‘The Age Of Glass’ , which is the third and final single to be released from his up-coming album ‘The Cause of Doubt & a Reason to Have Faith,’ which is being released via Sunday Best Recordings on July 17th 2020.
Lookman describes his new single ‘The Age Of Glass’ as being about, “This is a song about growing up, taking ownership of your past and making something better from it; to love, to laugh, to rationalise as well as hope. To think about what you're seeing. To feel what you are thinking."
The video features Lookman and actor Frank Dilliane (Fear Of the Walking Dead & Harry Potter) mime acting along to the song. Lookman originally also put white mime makeup on his face but it made him feel uncomfortable and so he changed it to black because (in his own words) “Black makeup doesn't make me uncomfortable, I love it, as long as the intentions behind it are positive, and it's quite easy to tell the difference between hate fuelled mimicry and Jimmy Fallon doing a Chris Rock impression; dark black make up especially looks good on black people. I, along with many black British people I went to school and grew up with, are not offended by Little Britain, League of Gentlemen, Mighty Boosh, Fawlty Towers etc.”
His new album ‘The Cause of Doubt & A Reason To Have Faith’ sees Lookman explore new experimental ground, touching on a bit of everything from rap, psychedelic folk, and sultry grooves which venture into extended hypnotic jams. This isn’t the music of a virtuoso: it’s explorative, daring, meditative and wild. Lookman describes the inspiration behind his new album, “I love the deliberateness, cleanness and colour of modern music, but I also miss the complete chaos of old, like some Captain Beefheart and Velvet Underground records, or even 90s HipHop records with the peaking 808s and static compressed vocals al la Wu Tang, or blues records like Robert Johnson’s. Somewhere in there is the carnival I’ve been searching for. This entire album could very well be a love letter to Lou Reed and The Velvet Underground.”
Lookman began writing poetry at a very early age, which then evolved into writing lyrics and he then self-taught himself the guitar aged 21. Fostered from birth, Lookman was periodically re-united with his birth mother from the age of 5, which he describes as being emotionally confusing, “I find it rears its ugly head consistently in my life, and music became one of the easiest ways to release that pressure valve every so often.”
L.A. Salami’s two albums to date, ‘Dancing With Bad Grammar’ (2016) and ‘The City of Bootmakers’ (2018), have seen the London-based artist present a singular vision. His evocative, poetic lyrics span everything from grand existential questions to vignettes of everyday life as well as the affairs and anxieties of modern Britain.
The Cause of Doubt & a Reason to Have Faith- track- listing
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