ANdrid

Socially Challenged

The Debut EP by ANdrid

Review By

Professor David Longshore

Every so often, like honey drops of creative ambrosia, we’re given the chance to taste something new and sweet in contemporary music. While the work of a talented performer can readily fool and even seduce the ear, it takes much more by way of artistic talent and creative vision to engage the spirit and set alight the universal imagination.

Considering that we live in the age of cultural fusion, it’s not surprising that on so many levels “Socially Challenged,” the debut EP from New York musician ANdrid, reflects the wider diversity of our times. On one hand we have the artist himself – a hard-charging, talented African-American from East New York whose fusion rock artistic mission has by deliberate choice expanded well beyond the R&B, Reggae, and Hip-Hop traditions typically associated with African-American musicians. On the other, the blazing talent expressed on the “Socially Challenged” EP compels us to move away from our hackneyed musical preconceptions by essentially confronting us with them.

As in the case of his contemporary inspirations, ANdrid’s genius stems from his ability to fuse different musical styles into a cohesive displacement that’s rewarding to both the ear and the soul. This isn’t music as pastiche, where modern instruments and techniques are simply tacked on to traditional styles and performed as a trendy novelty. Instead, ANdrid’s gift is for evoking the metaphysical, the understanding that there’s still a body of music that does in fact exist, but remains unknown – even hidden - to humankind.

The “Socially Challenged” EP contains five tracks, beginning with the powerful – yet strangely sensual – “Belligerent,” and concluding with the aptly-named “Hypnosis,” a haunting melody that defies its title expectations by challenging the listener to consider the idea that in order to enter a dreamy (even hypnotic) world, one must first act, not simply drift, into that existence.

Because of this, none of ANdrid’s creations are passive. It’s not rootless music that a person can or should take standing still. This is music that pays homage to the energetic, bold tradition of classical and even acid rock, and yet is much more than a simple retread of what we’ve all heard before. This is a strident new voice set amid a new type of rock music, one which sustains itself by defying our preconceptions and our expectations to lead us to where the artist believes we should be.

Each track on the aptly-named “Socially Challenged” EP relentlessly drives the artistry forward by any means at the lone artist’s disposal; a pounding, drilling riff here, a graceful, spinning arpeggio there; and all tied together by a fast-moving, never jarring, soulful lead guitar. ANdrid’s vocals are guttural and explosive, light and dark, strident yet gentle. In just five tracks, we’re fully drawn into a dazzling but still very earthly world where contrast makes for harmony and imbalance becomes stability.

Both in its sound and themes, this is truly energetic music. On the surface, the titles of the five tracks indicate passion and even lurking violence; “Rumble!” “Fast Lane” and “Release My Grip” are the remaining three tracks on the EP. And yet, their lyrics – often gentle and even wistful in their words and themes - sabotage their seemingly ominous titles.

ANdrid’s songs deeply mine a twisted universe of lyrical extremes, while generating the same bright intensity found in the best of ringing anthems. The “Socially Challenged” EP portrays the artist as an unfinished hero, as a revolutionary in a quiet world beset by inner turmoil and hidden despair. “I feel like I wanna kick you/I feel like I wanna rip someone,” the artist sings in “Belligerent,” the first of the five stunning tracks on this engaging EP.

“Socially Challenged” is a musical tapestry that sweeps away the outdated concept that rock music exists solely to advance the angst – and triumphs – of our past history. It’s the soundtrack for a new future.