Song Review-1990 by Daryn Alexus

by Dan-O

R&B as a genre in the current musical environment is a lot like Daryn Alexus. Both seem to bubble over with energy, enthusiasm and ideas. Her new mixtape GREEN extends itself in as many directions as it can with a spread of sonic landscape that includes Go Wild sounding like an edges-sanded-off Janelle Monae radio hit while counterparts like Lone Wolf are slow and haunting. Sometimes she throws her energy, voice and talent at the wall for a miss but when it works she makes music you feel like you’ve always known.

1990 seems to pay homage to that watershed Montell Jordan This Is How We Do It house party era while not getting locked within the prism of referential. Credit goes to Dee Lilly who produced the track for building the perfect mix of sounds. This is one of those weird songs that’s hard to dislike even if you try. The beat is fun and her voice makes the hook catch but beyond that she also seems to be genuinely having fun creating it.GREEN is proof that R&B is more wide open than it has ever been. Female voices aren’t trapped in American Idol style crooning, dudes aren’t standing in the rain with their shirts unbuttoned (ok some are but less). Credit whoever you want for the change, smarter people than I do that kind of popular music anthropology. I’m just loving the result.

stream the song 1990 or download the mixtape GREEN below:
http://darynalexus.bandcamp.com/