Three albums in, people might feel they have the measure of even the least predictable musican. Tyron "Slowthai” Frampton has always been an outlier as a rapper from Northampton, not London, and while his unhinged videos, gigs in his underpants, and chaotic, controversial awards show appearances have made him stand out further, they might also have turned him into something of a cartoon. “People see you as a character. They don’t actually know who you are. You’re stereotyped as the nutter who gets in his boxers,” he has said in the run-up to this release.
So, time for a reset. “UGLY”, which he now has tattooed beneath his left eye, has two meanings, the literal one and an acronym: “U Gotta Love Yourself”. The new music, however, is largely lacking in those positive connotations. It’s menacing, extreme, rooted in punk and post-punk rather than hip hop, and the lyrics frequently sound despairing. It’ll probably lose him a fair number of fans, those who prefer the fun stuff, but its honesty is often breathtaking.
He’s been seeing a therapist, who introduced him to the idea that he has a “F*** It Puppet” – a devil on his shoulder who permits him to do bad things. That voice appears on a song of that name, sounding high and hysterical and urging him towards suicide, and on Yum, outlining the benefits of taking as many drugs as possible over manic electronic beats. The latter song ends with the music falling violently to pieces and Slowthai building sharp breaths to a furious scream.
There are a handful of glimmers around the dark clouds. Sooner gallops along on something like a Motown backbeat, though once again the lyrics are harrowing: “Sometimes I wanna kill myself… I don’t feel like I’m a real person,” he says. Throughout, he largely avoids his rapper’s voice in favour of a place between singing and speaking that is familiar from the current crop of indie punk bands such as Idles and Black Midi.
The single Feel Good manages some bounciness, while Never Again, helped by the singing voice of Ethan P Flynn and a melancholy piano line, is another highlight. But on the whole, this is a difficult listen. The second half, including a squalling contribution from Fontaines DC on the title track, mostly contains unremittingly bleak rock songs. One thing’s certain: no one’s going to think he’s a clown this time.
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