Labrinth knows his way around a hit. After dominating the UK charts more than a decade ago with his early Tinie Tempah collaborations and solo smashes such as Let The Sun Shine, he has gone on to rack up global acclaim as a producer and songwriter, working with bonafide superstars including Beyoncé, The Weeknd and Rihanna while also soundtracking the TV series Euphoria. Amid all of that, he still finds time to release records of his own. ‘Cosmic Opera Act I’ is his fourth LP, revealing an artist who’s unwilling to compromise on his own grand vision.
Labrinth has revealed that it’s an attempt to explore “mental illness while navigating a career in the entertainment industry.” That means: “The paranoia, the confirmation of threats, the desperate and unfulfilling pursuit of success.” Opening with a spoken monologue about swimming against these currents, Something Like An Opera soon bursts into blaring life, setting the scene for a dramatic and emotional modern epic.
Debris deals with giving his whole self for the masses. “The roof is on fire / Nothing left of me / Party at my house / Now it’s all debris,” he sings over choral stabs and hip hop drums.
Lead single Implosion marries a gritty, bassy beat with defiant horns to show that Labrinth still knows how to give people what they want.
And that’s pretty much how its 28 minute running time plays out. Light, airy choruses rub shoulders with hard-hitting rapped verses, while classical compositions do battle with rap tropes.
But, all told, ‘Cosmic Opera’ feels unfinished — not in a sense of this record taking the story up to an interval, but more that the tracks have a habit of ending just as they find their groove. It’s a big gamble to think that the as-yet-unannounced Act II will give them all satisfactory endings.
That being said, ‘Act I’ does have its fair share of highlights. S.W.M.F. provides a ridiculous amount of fury and attitude alongside a neat conclusion, and closer Running A Red introduces futuristic jazz-funk into an already-heady concoction. ‘Cosmic Opera Act I’ is a success in terms of allowing Labrinth to continue setting trends, and it certainly makes the continuation of this series a tantalising prospect.
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