The Wire: "The Cycle" Album Review

THE WIRE’S RECKONING ALBUM REVIEW

The Wire says of Mourning [A] BLKstar’s double album: "Everything about The Cycle feels alert, vibrant and necessary.”

MAY 2020 | STEPHANIE PHILLIPS | THE WIRE | SOUNDCHECK A-Z

For three years every Wednesday, an empty storefront in Cleveland was filled from the floorboards to the rafters with a lo-fi soul funk jam that often lasted till daybreak. The source of that earworm sound was the city’s collective Mourning [A] BLKstar. From those productive sessions the collective brought forth The Cycle, an expansive double album that draws on the group’s eclectic outlook, bursting forth with industrial synth pop inclinations, jazz-inflected horns and drowsy, late 1990’s influenced beats.

Since their formation in 2016, the prolific collective led by producer RA Washington have released three albums that rail against the US’s worst impulses and highlight the African-American experience from their perspective. The Cycle continues in this tradition. Album opener, “If I Can If I May” sets the scene for the Afrofuturist journey we are about to embark on. The sludgy, spaced out synth tones are occasionally interrupted by staccato bursts of horns as the three vocalists speak of the positive power of choosing love. It’s the kind of music made for the frontlines of a protest, a theme that reoccurs throughout the album, notably on the neo-soul groove of “Whom The Bell Tolls” where we are greeted with the affirmation to “Hold on, rise up and stand our ground.”

The collective pride themselves on their multi-genre aesthetic and put it to full use here. From the brooding collage of “Debtors” to the lo-fi indie feel of “Been Around”, Mourning [A] BLKstar throw a lot of colours into the mix but nothing sounds forced or jarring. Rather, the elements sit comfortably with one another as counterparts rather than adversaries. Everything about The Cycle feels alert, vibrant and necessary. Vocalists James Longs, Kyle Kidd and LaToya Kent are all powerhouses on their own, but together they bring a force few others could stand up against. But that is not to say the instrumentation is not important. The twin drummer set-up gives the ricocheting beats that propel the record even more presence, while the horn section brings a gothic soulfulness to the proceedings.

The Cycle is a fully realised, liberating dive into self-actualization; one that, given the times we’re living through, couldn’t be more timely.

-Stephanie Phillips

Check out the full digital magazine spread here.

The Cycle was released May 15, 2020. Order your copy today.