Mutt Deluxe: HEEL＜Translucent Ruby Vinyl＞

グラミー賞受賞アーティスト、レオン・トーマス。絶賛されたセカンドアルバム『MUTT』の世界観をさらに広げるデラックス版『HEEL』をリリースする。
オリジナルアルバムの自然な流れを汲む『HEEL』は、サイケデリックR&B、ロックのテクスチャ、ソウル、そして限界を押し広げるプロダクションを大胆に融合させ、レオンのサウンドの世界を深く掘り下げている。
Translucent Color Vinyl仕様。

In a matter of 13 months, Leon Thomas released Electric Dusk, his first album for Ty Dolla $igns Motown-affiliated EZMNY label, and returned with MUTT, his second one. As a writer and producer, he also had a hand in multiple songs on Bryson Tillers self-titled LP, Charlotte Day Wilsons Cyan Blue, and Vultures 1 and 2. Factoring all that, "HOW FAST," the revved-up cinematic start to MUTT, could be heard as Thomas escape from the studio to blow off steam and gloat. Hes full of bravado, declaring himself a visionary, calculating his wealth, and hanging nightly at the strip club -- not the one where he broke up with his woman, mind -- though he avows that he should be settled down. Ambivalence and fleeting moments of certainty with regard to marital status fill Thomas second album. Even the one that goes "Im a dog, Im a mutt," a soul ballad retrofitted with hulking drums and bass, is less a players anthem than an admission and warning. While the album is a model work of sonic cohesion, wild changes in emotion and perspective are not uncommon. Take how the protagonist swings from indignant isolation on "FEELINGS ON SILENT" to begging for connection on "ANSWER YOUR PHONE." (The latter, a Diane Warren collaboration, is the only song Thomas didnt co-write.) Or how he follows "MUTT" with the finely-wrought "I DO," a thankful love song trailed by the lithe "I USED TO," a duet with Baby Rose that is all acid, bitter and sad. Most of the aforementioned action takes place near or during the second half. The section that precedes it contains some of Thomas most creatively layered and emotionally complex songs yet. "SAFE PLACE," urgent and defiant, knocking and blaring, inserts a sample of Donny Hathaway asking, "Is that any way for a man to carry on?," and that can be taken as either support or objection. "DANCING WITH DEMONS" rides in on a foreboding bassline that gains strength when joined by a grinding Thomas guitar riff. "VIBES DONT LIE" is so warped that its easy to miss the humor ("We like Weezy and Styrofoam") and seemingly effortless falsetto on fogged-out display. Another latter-half highlight is "YES IT IS," an expression of sexual possessiveness with a gospel-fied chorus worthy of any given 90s vocal group. This is all alluring in the manner of a good neo-noir film. ~ Andy Kellman