This is simultaneously a terrific revelation because his albums have been uniformly great for most of his career, but also disconcerting, knowing there are few dark alleys he hasn’t traversed. These extra tracks are largely superfluous, yet critical for the Waits completist.Īdmittedly, this has been a lot of talk about his back-catalog, but Bad as Me rarely sees Waits branching out beyond what we’ve come to expect from him. Ultimately, Waits caved to his impulses, also releasing a deluxe CD-version of the album, which adds three bonus tracks. If anything, the tightened focus on shorter songs is likely a result of the exhaustion after compiling 56 songs – 30 of which were new – for the stellar three-disc Orphans collection (truly the perfect distillation of what makes Tom Waits the best musician still living).Įven Bad as Me‘s closing song, “New Year’s Eve,” was cut down from what we presume could have been a “Sins of My Father”-sized track the end result hints at this potential to reach out exponentially, and really it’s the only track to suggest a larger presence. Market the album as you wish, but Bad as Me doesn’t stand as Tom Waits’ first attempt at compartmentalization Swordfishtrombones (1983), the first album informed by Kathleen Brennan, was marginally leaner by comparison. In his interview with Pitchfork, Waits commented on how his wife Kathleen Brennan “wanted to do 12 three-minute songs,” adding that he has becoming more “economical” in his songwriting process. This is evident from the onset of “Chicago” from there, Bad as Me churns forward with a wider scope than we might have expected. Tom Waits is a masterful conductor always on the right track. Blackhearted misanthropy never sounded so fun. While not an obvious comparison, there’s a hint of Robert Pollard in Rønnenfelt, a determination to slice the flab and leave only the finest cuts intact – the title track is a mere 106 seconds when it could be three times the length and still as glorious. It goes some way to explain the chokingly thick atmosphere, the smouldering remains as they adopt a scorched earth policy. “Wounded Hearts” especially clearly shows that lead singer Elias Bender Rønnenfelt has been burnt since New Brigade dropped a couple of years back, and so his natural reaction is to torch everything around him. For a record that doubts our morals, proclaims our worthlessness and rattles against the futility of basic affection, it seems wholly content with allowing us to at least chant along in unison, following in lockstep (lol fascism) as they trudge forward to the militaristic snares. In more ways than one too – You’re Nothing is one of the most hook-happy albums to emerge from this field in yonks, proudly displaying a silver lining of pop in amongst the immensely stormy clouds. A 28 minute package of pure visceral thrills, on their sophomore effort the Danish young guns spat bile, sneered, jabbed and got under your skin. “We’re so excited to collaborate with the Kennedy Center on what will be a milestone moment in not only hip-hop history but also in popular culture,” the Apollo's executive producer, Kamilah Forbes, said in a statement.Ī press release also reveals that, following the performances, "Bey will venture to Africa to focus on his arts, culture, and lifestyle collective A Country Called Earth (ACCE)," adding that he'll continue to pursue his newly-formed passions as a painter.You’re Nothing hit like a bolt from the blue at the beginning of a lacklustre 2013 release calendar, and while things picked up, few other records this year can go toe-to-toe with it still. Bey's own artwork, as well as other artists in Bey's and Ferrari Sheppard's A Country Called Earth collective, will be anonymously displayed at both venues. The Kennedy Center shows will be highlighted by a post-show party in the venue’s Grand Foyer.
Each performance will also feature special guest appearances by artists who have been instrumental throughout Bey's career. Every show will offer a unique musical experience for audiences, a press release points out, with Bey performing songs from a different album each night, including The New Danger, True Magic, The Ecstatic and Black on Both Sides, alongside new material.
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