EPTDemocracy Manifest by The Lique (Album Review )
Las Vegas has sprung a Lique!
From the high desert with low morals a new band has emerged – The Lique.
The band combines rapid fire lyrics rapped by their eccentric husky voiced baritone front-man Rasar with melodic Jazz riffs, straight-up-funk baselines, well timed breaks and some truly beautiful solos by their superstar pianist; this album has immediately entered my hip-hop play-list (which currently includes, Royce da 5’9’s latest album Layers and Untitled Unmastered by Kendrick Lamar ).
This band features five studio quality musicians; each member of the band has a unique voice. There is not one song on their debut album, Democracy Manifest, that is a generic looped beat and looped melody.
The radio single of the album is Batman, for which they have released a music video worth watching
The second verse of this song is one of the stand-out examples of Rasars well-developed story telling technique. This song is rather meta, it is self-satirical and full of humor and wit. The layout of this song fits the mold of modern radio without feeling stale. This is one of my favorite songs to see live. BATMAN!
The most original song of the album is Walk into My Office. A little back story, I first heard parts of this song, as part of a Tedx Sacramento event performed in a spoken word format. Without meaning to offend – the original version is DEAD.
The production of this song is world-class.
The premise of the song, “Walk into my office and I’ll make you a star” sets the stage for what can only be called an operatic journey. In this song Rasars ability as a voice actor and brutal impressionist are on full display. I don’t want to give away the song but I have to say, at one point I was sure Jack Skellington made a rare album appearance.
The most important song on the album (to me) is the track Democrashy Manifesht it is a song of social and political commentary that shows that the band hasn’t just been making music, they are watching the world with wide eyes. It manages to be deeply critical of dozens of issues without an once of cynicism. This track has the type of connected knowledge that first drew me to Immortal Technique, but instead of hiding behind a wall of militant aggression, Rasar instead provides commentary that feels more like a real person dealing with the world.
This song and its topics, helped me feel a little less alone on a day where Cspan was full of hateful rhetoric. The second verse of this song begins, “This is oligarchy manifest..”
Nuff said.
There is a stand-out concept song called, Velveteen Dream. I don’t have words, just feelings. Check out this song.
And now introducing my favorite song on the album, The Frequency. This is a rock-funk song with a feature from one of my favorite artists – Zumbi of Zion-I (Check out the anthem – The Bay).
Thankfully Rasar didn’t let Zumbi outshine him. This song is a spiritual masquerading as music. It is direct application spirituality which taps into the one universal truth (hint: everything is vibrating – vibration creates frequency – therefore everything is sound since nothing is still).
I am tempted to continue going track for track but I won’t. You deserve to experience this album for yourself.
Preview album at thelique.bandcamp.com
You can find TheLique on Facebook, on YouTube or on their website TheLique.com.
