Young Fathers (acclaimed trio of Alloysious Massaquoi, Kayus Bankole and G. Hastings) release their long awaited new album ‘HEAVY HEAVY’ – the group’s fourth album and their first since 2018’s album ‘Cocoa Sugar’. The 10-track project signals a renewed back-to-basics approach, just the three of them in their basement studio, some equipment and microphones: everything always plugged in, everything always in reach.
Serving as the opener of the album, recently shared single “Rice” immaculately sets the tone for the vast range of styles, genres and influences the trio manage to cram into the 10 tracks of the record. Elsewhere on ‘HEAVY HEAVY’ we hear kinetic rhythms, controlled chaos and unbridled soul on singles “Geronimo”, “Tell Somebody” and “I Saw” all of which demonstrate how Young Fathers so skillfully side-step any kind of musical boundary. To accompany these releases, the trio continued their creative collaboration with 23 year old Austrian-Nigerian artist and filmmaker David Uzochukwu – allowing him to compliment the songs with visuals that perfectly demonstrate the scale and expansive feel of the music.
Speaking of the title, the band share that ‘Heavy Heavy’ could be a mood, or it could describe the smoothed granite of bass that supports the sound… or it could be a nod to the natural progression of boys to grown men and the inevitable toll of living, a joyous burden, relationships, family, the natural momentum of a group that has been around long enough to witness massive changes.
“You let the demons out and deal with it,” reckons Kayus of the album. “Make sense of it after.”
Since the release of their two now-legendary mixtapes, ‘Tape One’ in 2011 and ‘Tape Two’ in 2013, the latter of which also won Scottish Album of the Year. Young Fathers have received non-stop acclaim from both fans and artists alike – receiving cosigns from the likes of David Byrne, Florence Welch, GoldLink, Sam Fender, Janelle Monae, Self Esteem and Danny Boyle – the latter of which used 7 of their tracks a one unique composition for his sequel to Trainspotting. Their last album ‘Cocoa Sugar’ entered the UK Album Chart Top 30, and won the Scottish Album of the Year Award in 2018, the second time Young Fathers have won. It also received huge press support from Pitchfork, NPR, Hypebeast and many more.
In recent years the band have toured with long-time collaborators Massive Attack, Florence + The Machine, LCD Soundsystem, and Yeah Yeah Yeahs to name a few. Other US highlights include a standout SXSW performance for the New York Times showcase, NPR Tiny Desk, KEXP live session and a performance on Jimmy Kimmel.
‘HEAVY HEAVY’ is out now on Ninja Tune.
