“Fubar From Alias Wayne
Fubar, the new extended play from Alias Wayne - aka Ranzel X Kendrick - opens with its signature composition, and through a mist of strings that create our foray into the track, we get a taste of the magic in store for us in the next 15 minutes of play. Kendrick’s lyric finds its way to the forefront of the mix with an airiness that meshes with the haunting, atmospheric tone of the instrumentation perfectly, and although there is no percussion at the beginning of the song, it doesn’t take very long for us to synchronize with the implied rhythm of the melody as it slowly unfurls. In Fubar, Alias Wayne doesn’t try to redesign his artistic persona, nor that of his brand, but instead greets loyal fans with a more experimental edge that was only teased in past offerings bearing this moniker.
URL: https://www.ranzelxkendrick.com/
“Father Song” is only a little over three minutes long, but thanks to its consistently gripping groove and thoroughly evocative harmonies, it doesn’t feel like a fleeting jam session at all. Truth be told, this track is one of the more fluid on the record; in three movements, it evolves into a cinematic opus that is even more imagistic than the roughly five minutes that preceded it. It’s difficult to make a song as stacked as this one interesting after only one or two listens, but I feel like I discovered more within the composition’s picture with each sit-down I spent with it. Enigmatic might not be the right word to describe this track; it’s as multidimensional as a riddle, but Kendrick isn’t indulging in a lot of metaphorical nonsense here, either.
“Eight Ball in the Corner Pocket” is a little plain and simple on the construction front in comparison to “Father Song,” but to be fair, what wouldn’t be? Kendrick straddles a very gentle rhythm in this track with ease, stealing away some attention from his instrumentation for a shot at breaking off the most seductive vocal of the EP, and his valiant effort winds up producing some beautiful results. We come to the conclusion of Fubar with another trip down the rabbit hole in “Window of My Soul,” but even as this track’s vortex of melodicism and instrumentally grown grooves smother us in their twisted melodicism, the effect of the past three songs isn’t minimized in the least.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/fubar-ep/1681115413
From start to finish, it is very difficult to put down Alias Wayne’s Fubar once it has been picked up for the first time, partially because of the fantastic musicianship of its star, but mostly because of the fabulous chemistry he creates when he steps into the recording studio, and more prominently, the material that they’ve constructed out of this highly experimental groundwork. Kendrick himself is the main attraction in Fubar, but there’s as much to be said about cosmetics as there is substance here. It would be really interesting to hear how a lot of this music translates live, but until I have the chance to find out on my own, the surrealism of this latest recording will have to suffice.
Anne Hollister
Anne Hollister
We do music reviews for Independent Artists and Publicists.
