Dean Blunt - Babyfather

  • Share
  • After Dean Blunt released his landmark solo album The Redeemer, he dropped a sneaky companion release. Released through an obscure Russian website, Stone Island fleshed out The Redeemer's icy, baroque charm.. Now, with Babyfather he's done a similar thing for his second LP, Black Metal, which dealt in the warm palette of '80s indie rock and digidub. Babyfather doesn't so much expand on the sound of Black Metal as continue it—there's a track called "BLOW 2," presumably a sequel to "Blow," with more of its gorgeous guitar noodling. As on Black Metal, Blunt sounds rough, like he's been up all night, and pissed off. "Hennessy, what have you done to me?" he croaks on "SON," a track that first surfaced last year. He grumbles over the otherwise sunny "RACHEL CUT," and adopts what sounds like an exaggerated English accent on the synth pop of "WAR REPORT." We then get a sharp rap on "COCO," which is almost hilariously vicious, with Blunt savouring each syllable. The instrumental tracks lay bare Black Metal's endearingly rudimentary form of sampling. Closer "GASS" is a single looping sample of Nicki Minaj but it's a powerful one—"y'all got everybody infiltrating negroes," she says over and over, a possible comment on the continuing appropriation of black artists. "DIESEL" is a piece of brittle dub, while "UV" is a lush slice-and-dice effort with an orchestral feel. These tracks are a microcosm for Dean Blunt's odd methodology. You can never tell what's sampled and what's come from Blunt himself. Not that it matters. Blunt's frayed singer-songwriter style is gripping regardless of which kind of music he's pilfering.
  • Tracklist
      01. UV 02. SON 03. BLOW 2 04. RACHEL CUT 05. WAR REPORT 06. COCO 07. DIESEL 08. GASS
RA