Tosten Burks has definitely gone Linsane.
So Yelawolf debuts to high expectations and high critic cred (that’s what matters, right?) with an album largely criticized for being too poppy, and then responds with a project with a British pop songwriter? It’s the type of move that reads as gimmicky, but is delivered with a conviction that somehow demands to be taken seriously.
The four song EP succeeds because of its restraint. Any longer than four songs might have been too showy. It doesn’t over-ambitiously attempt to meld styles or manufacture some sort of Brit-Bama brand as much as just allow for two inspired artists to bounce ideas off each other. No song tries too hard to be “original.” It is just music that pays respect to both artists’ backgrounds and allows for both of their best attributes to rise to the surface. The result is eery, deconstructed, hallow melodies carried by pop sounds stripped of their cheer.
Yelawolf’s rapping is typically amazing. Intensely personal internal rhymes, stunning, stark imagery, a slithery, snapping flow with the flexibility and teeth of a snake. “Tone” is virtuosic, and show stopping lines like “I’m the child of a deadbeat, so I gotta give the beat some life” casually speckle everything else.
Sheeran is dangerously Jason Mraz-y at times and dangerously Mr. Hudson-y at others, but it is somehow justified or at least validated by the extreme character balance provided by Yela’s tumbleweed-dusted gutter lone-ranger-ness. It’s a powerful character, angry, vengeful, and vulnerable. Hollywood hasn’t made Yela any less hungry.
Another point: the fact that Yela working with Sheeran is so unexpected is a testament to just how much faith everyone has in him even after a major label debut misstep. He wouldn’t go pop twice, would he? But, with Slumdon Bridge, does he really? It also shows how narrow-minded fans can be, demanding the same old, same old from an artist who has been doing just that since 2005. This type of inspired progression stemming from pure creative intrigue is what we should hope for from our favorite musicians.
Previous Episodes:
The Hard White Wolf: Empty Towns and Radioactivity
Throwing it up at White Castle w/ Eminem, Yelawolf, & Gangsta Boo
Wolf Blitzing: Yelawolf’s Next First Single
Download:
ZIP: Ed Sheeran & Yelawolf-Slumdon Bridge EP (Left-Click)
