Finally. DX. FRIEDZONE's highly anticipated album makes its way to the public. Two years in the making, and the result is a tumultuous adventure into the subtleties of sounds passing through one another to slight listeners' conceptions of the spatial//sonic balance. You wont find the platitudes guarded by the minimalism in PUSHA T's latest efforts (which are powerful in their own right), here. The ‘ZONE duo serenades their audience into dense, overpopulated, charismatic bursts. They’ve worked with A$AP Rocky (on his track ‘Fashion Killa’, which just saw the light of day as a video), Main Attrakionz, and ANTWON, just to name a few. And while these collaborations [partially] explain the evolution of Rap, DX entertains what may be up next.
Sure, there’s a spatial//sonic balance that FRIENDZONE exploits for this 12-track endeavor. They’ve mastered that. But the album as a whole is built on careful balances in a much larger sense, exploring new possibilities. Levity//density (where the first spawns the second), speed//delay (where the first taunts the second), and asperity//obtusity (where the first is overwhelmed by the second) all play at one another throughout. Light synths grapple with one another, bleeding into each other’s spread, wincing at their neighbors, authoring new depths from their enzymatic layers. Gnawed vocal samples tighten through dilating spaces, scampering away from spastic drums. Sharply-skewered snares, chimes, and heel-toed claps send shocks that return with a vengeance.
These are only three examples that present themselves most readily to my ears. But to be perfectly honest, I’m completely at ease with the idea that someone else may hear an entirely different set of binaries, conflicts, and equilibria. In fact, I’d even accept if listeners didn’t hear any form of balance or interplay at all. In a focused way, FRIENDZONE chews through such a marking density and bouquet of sounds, that listeners could sense any message they chose.
And that’s usually a copout. ”Oh yeah, this could really apply to just about anything”, most would say about the white rice equivalent to music that pervades pop. But there are no [rice] paddies here. It isn’t that listeners could reap any sensation they find; it’s that they have to. Held hostage by the duo, accepting the Stockholm Syndrome grip we feel roping our musical biases, we’re drawn in by their layered sermons. FRIENDZONE telegraphs their sounds on DX. We can’t escape this collection because every sound contains its own future in a guttural sense. Listeners vibrate to drum rotations that have yet to combine. We loose our breath to exasperated slatherings during [brief] moments of open space. We smile at the pit of charcoaled scratches, recognizing a release around the corner. But their predictability isn’t a function of obvious sonic moves. FRIENDZONE simply cradles their intentionality, suffusing their sounds with a clear passage and directionality. Now you decide what you get out of the experience.
***And Do Yourselves A Favor And Cop The Album To Receive Some Highly-Engaging Bonus Tracks***
DX :
<a href=”http://friendzone.bandcamp.com/album/dx” data-mce-href=”http://friendzone.bandcamp.com/album/dx”>DX by FRIENDZONE</a>
-CUTT CZAR (HERONALD REAGAN)
FORMERLY KNOWN AS : FRANKLIN WEATHERFIELD AKA DENZEL SPLASHINGTON AKA PATOIS VUITTON AKA CHUCKDEGAULLE