Crossroads is a track that opens with absolute power. The atmospheric sound-scape offered at the start is brilliantly intriguing, and then the beat hits, the strings stretch out, the vocal fires up; and it’s smooth and seductive and proud. A phenomenal track that it feels like a crime not to have heard before. The level of talent lying just below the radar is immense.
Lycan is fantastic – even outside of the lyricism, and that stylish croak of the vocal – the artist offers a beautiful, almost minimalist track, with a heavy beat and some stunning piano work. Then there’s the melody, which transforms him from pure lyricist to songwriter, and everything about it falls into place so effectively. It’s a one of a kind piece of music, and the voice is as pure and addictive as it gets. From start to finish it feels like he’s right there in the room with you.
Not to get too hung up on genre, but this is a little like something outside of hip hop, something completely fresh and unheard of. If you take the rap away; the music is great. If you take the music away, the rap is great. If you take both away, the melody and the lyrics have a life of heir own; and then if you fuse it all together. An incredible track, really. I feel robbed to have not heard it before.
One thing you can’t help but notice is that the honesty throughout Crossroads is explicitly unforgiving. It’s an expression of self development and learning, and it’s mind blowing the extent to which the artist has captured this concept. The music stops and starts almost like a heart beat, pounding from calm to manic. The chorus melody is inescapably addictive – an ear-worm of the highest quality, the kind that is welcomed; the kind that spins around in your head and makes you assess you’re own life and you’re own existence in relation to these ideas. I’m genuinely a fan of this artist, and the prospect of a multitude of future releases to look forward to is something I’m officially locked in for. His website promises a host of projects and collaborations in the near future, he’s clearly an artist that sees making music as a way of life, so get involved if you like what you hear.
By Rebecca Cullen
Travelling musician and writer from Manchester, UK.
