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Chris Daly is a beat reporter, but not that kind of beat reporter.
You don’t need LA producer/composer/beatsmith extraordinaire, Sweatson Klank, to tell you how shitty things tend to be these days. For that, one simply can turn to any news service or use their own senses to determine something is off with the Worldly Vibe of Goodness (it’s a thing; trust me). And yet, while Thomas Wilson, as his parents named him, isn’t needed to make you feel worse about things, he’s pivoted in the complete opposite direction on his latest Friends of Friends LP, Good Days, to remind us that those happier times exist, too.
Opener “Together in Love” begins with a sermon admonishing listeners to, “gather together, as blacks and whites, reds, yellows and browns, because together we can stand, and divided we all shall fall. Together, we must be in love!” before SK drops a hazy, sunny loop that pretty much sets the stage for the next 11 tracks that follow. Klank continues to refine his unique take on chillhop, adding hip-hop-heavy percussion, swelling, orchestral strings and AM radio horns to profoundly calming effect. These beat-beholden tracks are intended to be played during extended rosebud sniffing excursions.
Whether it’s the unhurried, soulful nature and laid back humming of “Wandering,” the toe tapping vibe of “Too Fast” or the 1970s Brazilian porn groove of “Kiss in the Shadows,” Good Days is nothing if not music to relax to. Whether you consume via your headphones during a long walk around town looking for your new favorite ramen joint or in the background as you methodically tear apart this week’s crossword puzzle, Sweatson Klank has you covered. Regardless of what you might have thought when you woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning, Klank has made sure you have Good Days in front of you for the foreseeable future.
