American artist Mykki Blanco whisks us away to a concrete jungle oasis of his design with newest album, CAFE PARADISO, released via Transgressive Records.
Listening to this album feels like a whirlwind multi stop trip with your most fabulous and unpredictable friend. It’s the flight, the lavish hotel, the search for party favors in an unfamiliar place, the discotheque, the spooky taxi ride, and the tropics. Some songs feel like they were crafted specifically for the adventure, others like ‘Wasted In Soho’ feel like a confessional from it.
Blanco’s first single ‘Little Feet’ made me think of four things: cocktails at sunset, Thundercat, French funk, and a playlist I have titled ‘beach lust’. Also, I would be selling this track short if I didn’t mention the dance and 90’s R&B elements that give this groove life.
At the intersection of funk, New Wave, and garage rock, you’ll find ‘NYC Dogs’. The hook sounds like an homage to ‘Werewolves of London’ and it’s just as fun.
‘Tough Guy’ does lyrical storytelling in a Funkadelic way. The production intensifies the lyrical impact and the vocals channel Screamin’ Jay Hawkins in Blanco’s most theatrical moments.
“Café Paradiso is a record for city kids. It’s heavily inspired by New York, but the New York of now, which isn’t parochial but transatlantic. Café Paradiso is also global. It’s a series of vignettes that speak to the lives lived inside the concrete jungle.”
MYKKI BLANCO
CAFE PARADISO dares you to try to put it in a box and, like the true cosmopolitan it was meant for, you should live in the moment and let each track speak for itself. When you get to ‘God Is Alive’, savor it. It is a transcendental close to the wonderfully wild journey.
Stream CAFE PARADISO here.
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