Hydro: Crucial
An undeniably crucial debut from Hydro
Also In The News
|
Leeds head coach Brian McClennan has praised his side's "mental toughness" following their Grand Final victory. |  |
Sunday, 05, Oct 2008 05:27
Underdogg Entertainment, out October 6th.
In a nutshell...
Cool, slick, original, honest, energetic.
What's it all about?
Hydro's first single Sugar (a double A-side with Crowd Goes Wild) is already receiving some attention; it's been put on both Tim Westwood's and the BBC Asian Network's playlist, and the video can be seen on most music channels. This is partly due to the irresistible summer-style beats, and partly due to Che'nelle's slippery-sweet vocals gliding around over them. The rest of the album is even better. A rare feat for a 17-track long album, Crucial doesn't suffer from obvious filler songs, random skits, or any form of excess fat. From the moment the retro 80s-style (and that's in a good way) title track opens the record, to the moment the almost tender Sweetie Pie closes it, there is barely a note, beat, word or grunt out of place.
Who's it by?
Sugar and Crowd Goes Wild might both be familiar as the first singles taken from Crucial, but listeners might also remember Hydro from his 2007 hit Celebrate. Hydro already has a following of famous fans in the impressive shape of Tim Westwood, Devo Springsteen-Harris (who produced Kanye West's Diamonds are Forever), and Busta Rhymes (who features on the spectacular Crowd Goes Wild), and it's not hard to see why. Expect to hear many more singles blasted from car stereos, clubs, and, well, anywhere with speakers.
As an example/...
"Everything I do has vision/and ambition... "
There are actually a number of fantastic lyrics on this album but it's harder than you might think to find many which are appropriate to print... but in any case, it's largely the delivery which makes Hydro's lyrics so great; written down they lose the growling and spitting of his voice which gives them their wild energy.
Likelihood of a trip to the Grammys?
Unless there is something very, very wrong with our award ceremonies, Crucial is almost certain to get some serious attention. One of the really great things about Hydro's style is that, similar to Dr Dre and Kanye West before him, the beats are so slick, the lyrics ring so true, and the melodies are so seductive that even those listeners who usually cannot bear hip-hop music will be doing a double take, cleaning out their ears, and begging for more.
What the others say:
"CD of the week." - Stereoboard.com (for the double A-side release Crowd Goes Wild/Sugar)
"[Sugar is] a slick crowd-pleaser that showcases Hydro's diversity within the field. Both songs are worth hearing and bode well for the forthcoming album Crucial, which drops on October 6th." - IndieLondon
So is it any good?
No - it's more along the lines of spectacular. Here's a fun game for you to play. Find a mate who "doesn't like hip-hop music" and challenge them to reject this album. Don't like the chauvinistic sexist attitude? Have a listen to the, ahem, sweetness, of Sugar or Sweetie Pie. Don't like the materialistic attitude of rap music? Raised That Way and Determination are full of genuine blistering struggles. Rap music is too simple and boring? But check out the plunking Dr Dre-like piano beats and golden sounding harmonies! Rap music isn't tuneful enough? Ok, so the gorgeous melodic bits from Sugar are samples from Gladys Knight and Curtis Mayfield, but that's not to say they don't fill you with a glimmer when you hear them over a gently grinding Clinton Sparks beat. (Clinton Sparks, if you didn't know, has produced the likes of Akon and P Diddy.) And what about Scramblin' and All Y'all? Come to think of it, this album is teeming with some of sweetest tunes you may hear all winter. And then there's the sexy Missy Elliott-esque Body Language to get ready to go clubbing to, and of course Pardon Me to chill out to when you get back...
In a word, how to describe this album? Not important, nor even essential. I believe the word I'm looking for is crucial.
9.5/10
Louise McCudden