Young Fathers - 'White Men Are Black Men Too'

9/10

Since winning last year's Mercury Music Prize for their debut album 'Dead', Edinburgh-based trio Young Fathers have wasted no time getting their sophomore full-length out in the open. Released just 15 months later, 'White Men Are Black Men Too' seems to continue that same abstract energy as their first, but have almost reinvented their overall sound in the process, giving us what seems like a completely different band to their first attempt.

While dubbed as an "alternative hip-hop" outfit, this attempt at pigeonholing the Young Fathers sound usually doesn't land in the way it is intended and does nothing to describe what they really are. Having all three members come from different ethic backgrounds has turned this album into a melting pot of culture and created one of the most unique musical directions we have heard in years. Combining downbeat percussion, high-energy rhythms and even the odd piano organ, 'White Men Are Black Men Too' is this brilliantly conceived adventure in musical discovery that attempts to fuse multiple inspirations together in a rich medley of three-minute experimental blasts.

While hip-hop is the obvious source of their influences, they themselves are looking to push not only the genre's sound to its outer limits, but conventional music construction as well. The album is like a beautiful mess of diversity. A by-product of multi-cultured upbringings that leaves you excited for these young artists and the future of British music.

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