Around the start of 2019 I started hearing about a new album that was out in February by an artist that I’d never heard of. I was intrigued as the album was being described as UK Hip-Hop and Grime but featured Jazz musicians Nubya Garcia (saxophone) and Mansur Brown (guitar) it was also coming out on Brownswood Recordings a label mainly famous for putting out modern Jazz releases and not Hip-Hop or Grime releases. Then the reviews started coming out and my interest deepened. Finally the release date came and I can honestly say that for the first couple of listens I didn’t know what to make of.

It has gone on to become the album I have listened to the most this year and also the one of favourites but there’s no way I could have predicted that back in February. It’s become clear to me why it took so long for this to happen. This album is a challenge but in a good way at no point did I hate but it took a long time to a) understand it in all it’s complexity and b) to find myself enjoying the great music. This is an album that is bringing together two different worlds the world of electronic music production and the world of live musicians and vocals from multiple genres from Jazz to Grime via Hip-Hop, Reggae and Spoken Word.

This album isn’t just a challenge to listen to (initially) but was also a challenge for Swindle and the cast of guests on the album. It took three years to make this incredible ambitious album and while all enjoyed the experience everyone involved had to work hard to make it work. Many artists have tried to make some kind of fusion music and many end up with unfocused, messy, tuneless and unsatisfying results. While “No More Normal” won’t click with you instantly it will reward those that stick with it. For me it’s the album the most rewarding album that’s came in the first Quarter of 2019. Sometimes it’s worth spending more time with an album and this is one of those times.

Ok, so I guess you’re wondering what “No More Normal” sounds like, so let’s get to talking about that. Well, to quote my follow Blogger Sampleface it’s “a buffet of Transatlantic black music” that takes in the following genres “West Coast Hip-Hop, Grime and Drill, Soul, Midwest funk/house”, Reggae, Spoken Word. Jazz and Southern Hip-Hop e.g. Timbaland and The Neptunes. It’s a thoroughly Modern music but nods to both the recent and more distant past. The majority of these nods come through the live instruments and vocals whether it’s the Jazz saxophone solo from Nubya Garcia on “Run Up”, the souful badass vocals of Eva Lazarus that pop across the album or the cinematic strings that a times recall a Blaxploitation soundtrack and other times like the score to a Bond movie. But even in his production Swindle does seem to reference beats from early 00’s Hip-Hop and R&B in addition to the previous mentioned Timbaland and The Neptunes there is definitely a touch of OutKast on ‘Knowledge’, ‘Take It Back’ and ‘California’. However, these references aren’t reductive and this isn’t a retread of those genres instead Swindle is able to fold them into his own style and reinvigorate those sounds and genres. It’s immense achievement that with all of the vocalists, instrumental collaborators and musical styles involved that “No More Normal” always sounds like Swindle and no one else.

All-in-all this fantastic album is a celebration of the UK music scene and some of it’s key players both in the present and moving into the future. I will continue to follow both Swindle and his collaborators music well into the future.

I have two more albums I want to write about in this series and they will be posted between now and the beginning of July when I start writing about the best releases from the second quarter of 2019.

Check out this mini documentary on the making “No More Normal” below. It features clips from over half the albums tracks and really illustrates what an achievement it is.

Let me know what you think “No More Normal” below in the Comments.