MUSIC: WILL JORDAN - PLANT CITY
Will Jordan is no foreign name on the Tacoma scene. He's often referred to as the guy who wrote for Nicki Minaj and that is expected after he provided the verbiage that attracted Grammy nominations. But of course every true artist's effort is to be able to interpret their art themselves and directly to the audience. Being a vessel can only satisfy the creative urge for so long. Up until now Jordan has not been one on my radar regularly. He comes from singing in the church and that sound and my ears do not always resinate well together. But the talent is undeniable and has always been - but as a listener it is your prerogative to decide to bump it or dump it.
PLANT CITY is a totally different realm Jordan is opening up. The sound is big, structured in places, deconstructed in others, arranged well, written well but the biggest nod for me was performance. This has production value from song concept to beat BPMs. At first listen I wanted to run wild with the comparisons, comparing Planet City to Nostalgia Ultra in terms of the feeling. Although most songs sound like well traveled heartache (much like Frank's breakout effort) there is a sense that he is being more so intimate with himself, than his audience. That is the endearing quality that I hear in every single song - start to finish and that is just the writing and arrangements.
The production is another plateau, more impressive because he did it HIMSELF!!! But it's also why I draw the Nostalgia Ultra comparison because he took great music and remixed a few choice songs into his experience sonically - that is artist ingenuity at its finest and song of the most impressive that I have heard since Alexander Spit's self produced, arranged, performed and mixed projects A Breathtaking Trip to the Otherside and Dillinger. Will constructed an album so in the pocket it is out of pocket and he's giving it away for free. It is huge toss up between the intro and Forbidden Fruit for best track. The intro is a show of his creativity setting it up as a melodic bridge into a huge song track 2's Get Down. Forbidden Fruit has the best writing and concept, not to mention his (with the times) 12 bars during the final breakdown and amazing sample unraveling at the end. But the production steals the show - phenomenal from the intricate synth chords, slamming drums tiered on top of each other and they elegant breakdowns, its incredibly complex but the bounce is so simple you can't miss it. After playing it for two weeks my decision on whether it gave me nostalgia reminiscent of Nostalgia Ultra still lingers but it now feels more comparable to Kenna and his two legendary releases , New Sacred Cow and Make Sure They See My Face. Plant City is like 25 min version of Say Good Bye to Love and that is a winning recipe.
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