Tag Archives: SZA

King Krule – Easy Easy (Willow Freaking Smith Cover)

Posted on January 21, 2015 | Leave a comment

I’ve decided this week that now is the time for me to actually invest in Soundcloud. Put in the hours. Do the legwork. This isn’t me trying to expand the reach of this site, but quite simply, it’s too much of an amazing way to find new music to ignore it any longer. Spotify is handy, but music has to be officially released. It has to be licensed. Blah blah blah. And beyond surfing related artists and looking at new releases, it isn’t all that easy to find new music.

So a couple of days in, and what have I found. Fustratingly, at least one of Will Smith’s kids has got some serious talent. Willow, best known for that ‘Whip My Hair’ song a few years back has done a seriously mean cover of King Krule’s amazing ‘Easy Easy’. A few things are pretty striking. A) Her voice. Holy moly. It’s credible. It’s subtle. It’s got these little nuances that make it so listenable. B) A cover of King Krule? One way to get some nifty indie-cred for sure, but it works for her here. And finally, C) I notice she did a track with SZA (one of our favourites) not so long ago. SZA played a similar trick to Willow by loading an EP with cred-giving indie reference points, and that’s worked out for her pretty well.

So all hail Willow Smith, and all hail Soundcloud.

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SZA – Time Travel Untrue

Posted on August 18, 2013 | Leave a comment

Everything’s a little blurry this morning. SZA is helping. We can clump it together with the ‘post- R’n’B’ movement if we have to, but it’s just plain good. I know nothing of the backstory right now and am a little too hungover to try, so let’s just talk about the sounds.

The first I heard of SZA was ‘Time Travel Undone’. The production is smart and savvy, but it’s the voice that gives the record its soul. It lends itself to the ethereal nature of the project so well. Marry that with a trippy ‘You’re not in Kansas anymore’ visual that filters through the video, and it’s all incredibly captivating.

Part of the post-R’n’B aesthetic is to show off your indie credentials, so I did chuckle when I heard an Empire of The Sun loop being used in another track, but it’s not a token measure. It works, again with some smooth beats and SZA’s voice reverberating over the top.

There’s also some Frank Ocean comparisons that could be made. ‘Crack Dreams’ draws a lazy likeness to Frank’s ‘Crack Rock’ in name only, but beyond that there’s a storytelling element to the lyrics that’s interesting. And again, it just sounds so good. Excited to hear more.

 

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