Brent Faiyaz - Wasteland - 2x LP Vinyl

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Info

SKU:c0035478 ,UPC:

Info

SKU:
c0035478
UPC:
199284238923

Specifications

Artist, Album, Batch, Format,

Specifications

Artist:
Brent Faiyaz
Album:
Wasteland
Format:
12" Vinyl
UPC:
199284238923

Description

2025 reissue - Wasteland begins with R&B margin walkers Brent Faiyaz and Jorja Smith informally discussing the etymology of "toxic," and with Faiyaz essentially positing that "honest" is a more accurate description of his songs. A cyclical musical backdrop and warped treatment of the subjects' voices puts a surreal twist on the discourse. Faiyaz further blurs the line between reality and escapism by filling almost a quarter of his hour-long second album with this chatter, skits consisting of fraught interactions with a lover, and an additional interlude that escalate and culminate in the penultimate track, in which a possible suicide and high-speed car crash transpire. While Wasteland plays out like a melodrama that undercuts Faiyaz' reasoning for not writing traditional loverman R&B -- "shit that's romantic, or sweet," as he puts it -- the high quality of its majority shows that the singer/songwriter is at a new creative peak. Whether these songs are unfiltered "real" creations or the result of Faiyaz growing into a persona, they're penetrating all the same, and some of the most artful R&B songs of their time. On first pass, sleeper hit "Dead Man Walking" (released almost two years before the album) starts like light interlude material but uncoils as a stamping, swirling reflection on submitting to temptation -- with Faiyaz somehow projecting an air of triumph. In terms of situation, rhythm, and personality, the self-produced "All Mine," his eeriest and freakiest song yet, meets three definitions of creep. Even more creative is "Jackie Brown," a candied and elegantly smudged ballad in which Faiyaz duets with a feminized version of himself (hardly a first, but it's astonishingly discreet). The featured-artist power moves, such as a highly energized Drake appearance that clashes in velocity and aggression, ironically, are immaterial. - Andy Kellman
A1Villain's Theme
A2Loose Change
A3Gravity
A4Heal Your Heart (Interlude)
A5Skit: Egomaniac
A6All Mine
B1Price Of Fame
B2Ghetto Gatsby
B3Wasting Time
B4Rolling Stone
C1FYTB
C2Skit: Oblivion
C3Dead Man Walking
C4Addictions
D1Role Model
D2Jackie Brown
D3Bad Luck
D4Skit: Wake Up Call
D5Angel