Record Review // YGT "Sinking Ship" (Youngbloods)

$19.99 //
Edition of 300 //
https://kingdeluxe.ca/album/sinking-ship //

YGT starts off "Sinking Ships" with the titular track which has these jazz horns mixed with all the soul of R&B and I can't even think of someone to compare this with on the first song.    At times it does sound like a record player during an old time movie soundtrack type of idea, but that's only just barely.   

The beats really kick in and it's music over lyrics now in the second song as there is a pleasant feeling within here but also the drums make it feel like things are breaking down, crashing all around you.   Then it just seems to stream until just exploding as it fully takes off into space.  

Slower trill now starts "Eleventh Century".    The beats drop and this just feels like Us3 or something along the lines of De La Soul, Tribe Called Quest, that sort of idea only instrumental here.    The vocals come in singing soulfully and they sound different than those other artists but it works somehow.   YGT makes it work.  

"New Heart" has these weird electronics which remind me of a fish tank for some reason and then the singing comes through in waves.    I'm not sure why, but based upon the idea of "You gave me a new heart" I feel like this is from the perspective of a robot, which is totally cool.   There are still some lingering jazz feels in here as well.   This is just a fun song even if the lyrics suggest otherwise. 

It's the beats.   The singing.  The melodies.  It just makes this combination that isn't quite rock and isn't quite hip hop, but it's somewhere in between and whether or not someone has done something like this before, it's not been done quite like this before and I think that's the most important take away from this record-- the unique sound of YGT.  

The flip side starts off sounding like a broken music box and then it kicks into beats.   There are elements of jazz in here, hidden underneath chillwave.    Pieces of singing go back and forth, two different voices, no real words but it gives off a great amount of soul.   This makes me want to float on a tube in a pool during a sunny summer day.

The next song comes in with some definite 1980's/1990's type of drum machine beats-- true to the synthwave format of that time.    Through the singing I am thinking of Duran Duran as well, but with a modern twist.   It just has that Tears for Fears feeling to it in some ways, but in other ways it feels more modern as well.   I can't describe what makes it feel modern but it's mostly just how you can tell the different between Orgy's "Blue Monday" and the original.

"Moscow Nights" has this cool beat, which kind of gets disturbed, and there are vocals but it's just what I would imagine Beck might sound like if he was more into electronics than guitars.    It has definitely shifted more towards the modern here, almost coming to close to being similar to someone like Tony Njoku. 

Quieter now with minimal melodies this is floating on the clouds here.   The singing continues into video game glitch harmonies.   It feels like a hip hop song that never quite gets going but it still sounds cool.    The last song has the opening of a can and it just feels so cool, like we're wearing sunglasses and tank tops.    Kalu brings out that really soulful singing and this is somewhere between Outkast and Gorillaz.    It's just that coolness that's through this entire record and it might really shine most here at the end but this is still one of the best overall sounds I've ever heard.