We Are King is all about plush, impeccable grooves and spine-tingling harmonies. It's without fault.
Debut LP We Are King finally gives the act room to stretch its crushed-velvet sound to its outer edges.
Every track on We Are King putters and glides by quite smoothly. It’s only gradually you notice how complex this dream state actually is.
We Are King expands the familiar R&B set-up – the harmony group – into a mind-altering cosmos distilling jazz, Luther Vandross, video game music and 90s Aaliyah and Missy Elliott influences into a heavily textured sound that enters psychedelic territory by evoking sparkly, vivid colours.
KING harkens back to a time when there were clearer distinctions between R&B, pop, and hip-hop, when acts like Jodeci and SWV ruled the airwaves, and the music was lighter and more sensuous. We Are KING recalls the best of that era without completely rehashing it.
We Are King is an album designed to work on the listener as a whole. The LP’s slow-burning atmospherics, vamping introductions and sophisticated song structures unfold elegantly and purposefully over the course of its 60-minute runtime.
I know that the book is not judged by the cover, but the cover of the album is the worst I have seen in this and previous years - three girls on the cover and the two look worse than disabled (what a haircut?). We are king make wonderful R'n'b, which have long not heard. AMBITION is poured out on the album, but you have to remember that good cover also attract the eye, a bad scare.
I like the production a lot, it's very detailed and lavish sounds good, but I can't say i'm too crazy for the vocals. There are times were I feel like they were trying to reach into their upper register vocally, and it just wasn't really working for me personally. A few of the hooks aren't too bad though, however I think a lot of these tracks don't really have much focus or sense of direction, a lot of songs just kinda felt like they went nowhere and just kinda meandered. Overall, it's a decent ... read more
1 | The Right One 4:46 | |
2 | The Greatest 3:15 | |
3 | Red Eye 4:38 | |
4 | Supernatural 6:45 | |
5 | Love Song 3:41 | |
6 | In the Meantime 4:36 | |
7 | Carry On 3:53 | |
8 | Mister Chameleon 3:35 | |
9 | Hey 6:36 | |
10 | Oh, Please! 4:51 | |
11 | The Story 5:13 | |
12 | Native Land 5:40 |
#13 | / | God Is In The TV |
#16 | / | The Guardian |
#21 | / | SPIN |
#26 | / | The Quietus |
#34 | / | The Vinyl Factory |
#35 | / | musicOMH |
#37 | / | Pitchfork |
#45 | / | Uncut |
/ | AllMusic |