L’Orange & Solemn Brigham are the hard-boiled duo behind the fun house fever dream, Marlowe. The unveiling started today with the video for the first single Lost Arts. The album will be in stores July 13th.
Released on Mello Music Group, Marlowe is a triumph of ambition, a rap bricolage blending prohibition and civil rights-era samples with Asian psychedelic rock flourishes. Solemn is an artist perennially seeking something to fight for, channeling energy from the music of the civic rights era, stealing timeless rhythms and inflection from classic funk and soul. An old soul with original ideas, tapping into the eternal reservoir of Sam Cooke to Ice Cube, Otis Redding to Chuck D, Curtis Mayfield to KRS-One.
With dazzling cinematic mise en scene, L’Orange crafts a world that sounds like an old-time medicine show dropped into 90s Brooklyn, with Solemn summoning the holy spirit of Big L. Cymbals crash, drums pound, fuzzy guitars ride out, a bronze rain of horns cascade. This is gorgeous celestial dust, high-powered fuel with every syllable meticulously ordained. Marlowe cracked the case, but how they did it can only become clear under deeper investigation.
Take a look at the official video for first single, “Lost Arts” below directed by Jon Webb (edited by Zach Kashkett with animation by Catherine Salisbury).
What did you think of L’Orange & Solemn Brigham’s new single, “Lost Arts”? Tell us in the comment section.
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