On GRIP, R&B and digital songwriter serpentwithfeet goals to attract a throughline between the membership and the bed room. The Baltimore-born songwriter unites the sensation of closeness, neighborhood, and catharsis that exists in each areas, constructing a sonic template impressed by rap and R&B manufacturing from the early 2000s to create this cohesion.
Whereas serpent’s 2021 LP DEACON was stuffed with ballads — odes to like and love misplaced — the songs listed below are extra sultry and private. GRIP consists of reflections as a substitute of reminiscences. Deeply private and but endlessly inviting, serpentwithfeet reveals a deft capability to make the communal seem to be a whisper between lovers and a shared secret inclusive to everybody.
Although the report isn’t as electro-tinged as previous serpentwithfeet albums, the songwriter also called Josiah Sensible begins the report with a club-ready banger. “Rattling Gloves” options Ty Dolla $ign and Yanga Yaya and accents the extra sexually charged points of the report. “Kiss you longer, longer than a opera,” serpent sings earlier than including: “I don’t want no weed/ I don’t want no liquor/ I simply wanna preserve grind grindin on my n-gga.”
The album is nearly divided between moments of affection and lust, with Sensible shifting backwards and forwards between what he wishes. On this sense, the 2 places of the album — the membership and the bed room— act virtually as opposites. In a single, ecstasy and hedonism reign, within the different, deep connections and sophisticated emotions loom giant.
“Spades” sounds prefer it may have been featured on a Justin Timberlake album within the mid-2000s; the drums have that signature Timbaland knock. On the reduce, serpent croons: “Cherished you since I used to be 17 years previous/ I’m not ashamed that these emotions gained’t go.” These emotions flip into statements of gratitude because the singer provides: “So glad life ain’t flip you to stone/ Acquired a brand new zip code/ However boy, you continue to really feel like dwelling.”
Elsewhere, serpentwithfeet trades in these intimate recollections for pleasant narrative pushed slices of life. On the Mick Jenkins-assisted “Black Air Pressure” he cues up one other early 2000s R&B beat, huge dawging an nameless good friend, lover, or just anybody in search of some optimistic affirmations. “Acquired all people in your pocket/ I’m hoping that you simply clocked it/ You’re not broke in case your spirit ain’t/ Pants could be torn however your coronary heart ain’t,” he spits.
Whether or not singing for a lover down within the dumps or a fan 3,000 miles away, everybody deserves to have a champion like serpentwithfeet. On GRIP, the singer-songwriter has a voracious urge for food to be cherished, however equally obvious is his capability to offer love, too. That is an album of romance and sexuality, however in these common phrases is a symphony of feelings and emotions. serpentwithfeet has an unbridled wish to love, nevertheless, he needs to be celebrated and never judged for these wishes.
RELEASE DATE: February 16, 2024
RECORD LABEL: Secretly Canadian
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