Marlae sounds like the perfect artist for this post-genre world that we find ourselves in. There was a time when music was strangely tribal, that unwritten rules dictated that members of one broad musical base couldn’t be a fan of others. Punks didn’t go to prog gigs, Indie kids didn’t hit the commercial dance floors, rap and goth would cross the road to avoid each other. Thankfully all of that nonsense is behind us and broad minded artists are free to pick and chose genres and blend them as they see fit.
Kingpin (Blue) is just such a blend, a deft mix of chilled, slow dance beats, skittering trap percussion, dark and sultry pop, nu-soul, electronica and groovesome R&B. It also somehow references all these musical touchstones whilst leaving enough space in the song for atmosphere and anticipation to also work their magic in and around its various elements. It doesn’t matter what genre it fits into, it just matters that music this broad-minded, this slick and this effortlessly cool has entered the musical arena.
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