Ace-of swords pulled out of the stack this gem and music producer by Brookly, USA Michael Kanyongolo. His first album released in this year 2022, Michael Kanyongolo is saturated and marinated in a fantastic blend of guitars. I was hooked at the first listen of “Dreams”. ”Anomaly” unfolds with drum layered into a dreamy-yet-edgy atmosphere in the opening, full of promise for lovers. “Assembly” drips in a catchy melody line of the guitar feels hopeful and maybe even playful; energetic without being excessively attention-seeking.
Love the complementary work of the bass drum, deep and anchoring and bringing out all of the colors and nuances of the lead and rhythmic scor on “Trial and Error”. And “Noise” keeps moving and evolving. The dreaminess evolves into a more aggressive sensation, spilling into a wide, opened and fronted by the compelling instrumentation of Michael Kanyongolo and textured with quietly lush harmonies. I don’t know if you can call ”Night Systems” “enchanting”–but I do feel to be under a spell. Or in a dream, as Michael’s alluring Brit-rock vocal style refrains.
To experience listening to the gothic Americana-inspired Michael Kanyongolo is to allow yourself to succumb to the delirious dreamscape the album has created. Pulsating with the hollowed out energy of great classic mixed with bubbly hooks in “Iterations”, the album is intoxicating in its narrative misery, haunted in how it clings to your skin after experiencing the score through “Obsolescence”.
It is, without a doubt, one of the most startlingly assured full-length albums in years, and if “Waking” is a signifier of an immense talent that is only now at the verge of his career, those other singers can go back to the bottle and cigarettes–just give Michael the mic. Happy to have been introduced to the work of this artist and curious where the road will take him.
Reviewed by Ace Sway
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