Ummm, so there are times in life where you’re going along minding your own business when you come across something that interferes with the order in your matrix. There you were, knowing what you know and doing what you do then something appears that’s pretty unique and foreign to your ‘zone’ but it’s still pretty downright amazing. I guess it’s safe to say that this is how I felt when I sat down to listen to The King of Anxiety, the newly released EP by Petite Noir – the rising African artist, born Yannick Ilunga.
Let me say make this statement: creativity is a beautiful thing because it allows us to escape the limitations often put on us by ourselves and others.
The King of Anxiety is, for all intents and purposes, an anxious album. Not because Petite Noir and his production team don’t know what they’re doing but because it deals with life subjects that make us anxious – love, rejection, loneliness, broken relationships and all of that other stuff – and takes an impressive snapshot of them in song. Can you picture something that opens with some atmospheric synth pads, the semi-crazed laughter of a woman, military-style drum programming and some Tarantinoesque spaghetti western guitar work? Well, that’s Come Inside, song numero uno on the EP and the piece that sets the listener off on the wild ride that is this release:
“Only you can make me feel this way;
Only you can make me feel the pain;
When I fall, you welcome me inside”
So, what do we like about The King of Anxiety? Firstly, it oozes fearless creativity and is most certainly a must-listen for lovers of deep exploration in music and folks who don’t like to be fed the standard ‘creative’ pop fare of our day. Another thing that sticks out quite pleasantly about this album is that each song is potentially a music video director’s dream. It has both a rich visual and visceral sense to it which not a lot of pop music being made out there possesses. Kudos for that! Third, and most important (to me anyway), is that this is fresh out of Africa. It just goes to show that big tings a gwan on our continent and the best is ahead of us, not behind us.
Petite Noir has done a great job with this project and is definitely an artist worth keeping an eye on as a rising star for Africa and the global music scene.
Wanna get the EP? Click here. Want to know more about Petite Noir? Click here.