release date: Oct. 6, 2017
format: digital
[album rate: 3 / 5] [3,18]
producer: Justin Harris
label: BMG - nationality: England, UK
Track highlights: 2. "Streets Been Talkin' " - 3. "You Keep on Whispering His Name" - 5. "Grounds for Resentment (feat. Olly Alexander)" - 7. "Do U Right" - 8. "Versions of Us (feat. Corinne Bailey Rae)" - 9. "Portrait"
3rd solo studio album by Kele Okereke following Trick from 2014. Since then, and together with Bloc Party they released Hymns in 2016.
Fatherland is the first time Kele releases music using some of his surname, and it's also a markedly different album from his previous releases. Before Kele released any music as a solo artist, Bloc Party had flirted with the dance genre, but Kele went much further into that scene on his two previous solo albums and on several EPs, but Fatherland contains exclusively folk-inspired, singer / songwriter, and vocal jazz, and arranged with acoustic guitar, piano, and wind instruments.
Generally, the album received positive reviews, however, without leading to great sales numbers. Perhaps his previous release with its relatively low placement at No. #99 on the albums chart prompted a change in style?. His debut had fared better reaching a position as No. #20. Who knows, in any case this is a completely different release, where Kele does his best as a genuine folk singer. If you are able to forget his earlier uptempo and danceable melodies, Fatherland has its own qualities without sounding particularly original for that matter, and this latter sensation is probably my biggest complaint about the album.
Not really great and not all bad either.
[ allmusic.com, Clash, Drowned in Sound 3,5 / 5, The Guardian 3 / 5 stars ]
