Owusu & Hannibal - Blue Jay
This album defined the year 2007 for me. I stumbled upon this group listening to Rewind 5 compilation where they did a dope cover of the Beach Boys - Caroline, No. The cover is really spaced out and sensual similar to a lot of ambient music, but with excellent vocals over top. Their creativity shined on this cover and I immediately began searching for their album “Living with…”
Basically they are two guys from Copenhagen, who bonded over a mutual love of Sly Stone (***psss the artist below). The group put the album together in about a year working on it 50/50 in each others home studios and recording the vocals in Phillip Owusu’s grandmothers bathroom.
On to Blue Jay, I love how the track comes on with the almost drunken drums with the guitar being sucked in a straw. Phillip Owusu has such a dope style of singing. It’s like subtly soulful, he’s not oversinging or undersinging, but hitting it perfectly. You can feel everything that he is saying. The harmony on the chorus is beautiful. Phillip Owusu makes me want to sing again, I just can’t get enough of his style. This is merely a sample of how beautiful the whole album is.
Tune in later and I will post some tracks that Phillip Owusu has remixed and some tracks from Robin Hannibal’s other groups Boomclap Bachelors and Non+
THE CITY SEEMS AT PEACE TONIGHT
THE CITY SLEEPS I RUN THE LIGHTS
FROM THE EAST TO THE WEST SIDE
IT’S AN ALL NIGHT RIDE
A GARBAGE TRUCK HONKS THE HORN
GREAT MINDS COLLIDE A TREATY TORN
NO ALLEGIANCE SO SKINTIGHT
NOT THIS LATE AT NIGHT
I HEARD HOW SOON THE DAY COMES
BLUE JAY GOT ME ON THE RUN
I THINK ABOUT I THOUGHT IT THROUGH
I READ THE GREEKS LIKE CHINESE DO
FROM THE BOTTOM LOOKING UP
IT’S A DEATH DEFYING DROP
I BREAK THE GLASS I KEEP THE SCORE
TAG THE HALLS AND CORRIDORS
I WORK AT NIGHT I WORK THE NIGHT
I WORK THE LONG NIGHT
I HEARD HOW SOON THE DAY COMES
BLUE JAY GOT ME ON THE RUN
