Silk Sonic- Track by Track Review
The debut Silk Sonic album is out today, brought to us by Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak.
Date published: 12th Nov 2021
Silk Sonic was an idea that sparked when Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak were on tour together. Such a high-profile collaboration has got a lot of people excited and rightly so, they've invited us in with an album called An Evening With Silk Sonic. We're going to dive in and give a track by track review of this incredibly hyped album to see exactly what this superstar pairing have given us.
Without further ado, here are our thoughts on each track from An Evening With Silk Sonic.
Silk Sonic Intro
This is perhaps the perfect introduction to this album, an invitation into the vibe and the grooves as the host Bootsy Collins is introduced before leaving Silk Sonic free to work their magic. The chemistry between Mars and .Paak is already apparent, riffing off of each other already. It feels like we've been invited to an exclusive club, all we need to do is sit back and enjoy the ride.
Leave The Door Open
The first single from the project to be released back in March, this song is oh so smooth. As Anderson .Paak sings, "smooth as a newborn". You can't exactly take every line on Silk Sonic seriously, it's an incredibly tongue-in-cheek album as their performance of seduction can sometimes wanders close to preposterous territory.
This doesn't make Leave The Door Open any less irresistible, the duo are absolutely magic together. The vocals are so smooth when in tandem, the chorus is absolutely sublime. It's Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak's world we're just living in it.
Fly As Me
Flickering to life with a disco-tinted bass line. "Go ahead sprinkle some truffle on your mashed potatoes" sings Anderson in one of the best lyrics you'll find on the whole album. Paak's raps on this track are nothing short of delicious, but it's the little touches of handclaps, the drumming, the harmonisations that make this track come together.
We really haven't heard anything this fly before.
After Last Night (With Thundercat and Bootsy Collins)
It's the night after and we're leaning deep into the retro feeling, as we get booming blasts of saxophone and licks that feel as though they've jumped straight out of a 70's time capsule. The pair are smitten, they can't get this girl out of their heads, they'll give her anything, take her anywhere and you can feel every drop of their lust in the sound.
Smokin Out The Window
All of the singles released ahead of this album were excellent and Smokin Out The Window was one of them, as we get fully immersed in the Silk Sonic world. Mars' vocals are full of longing, yet never slip from his smooth gentile persona. Anderson .Paak revolves around Mars' orbit on this track, with his ad-lib calls and coming out with lines like "Not to be dramatic but I want to die".
If you couldn't tell during the rest of the album then this is probably the point where you'd realise that this pair are two of the coolest guys in the world.
Put On A Smile
Bootsie is back to urge the fellas to "tell her how you really feel", which begins a sequence that sets the picture of a rainy night. The boys are deep in their feelings, as they put on a mask to hide how upset they are. There's an incredibly satisfying slide of percussive hits as the pair reach down deep for their most emotive performance on the album.
777
Starting with slides of guitar strings that almost feel like glitches, the pair are suddenly back on top. They're back on their high, the glamour and the extravagance at the forefront. Both Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak are at their playful best, their humble brags never feeling obnoxious, we're completely on their level.
Silk Sonic is a completely constructed world and tracks like 777 are where you feel truly immersed in it, what they've constructed out of retro sound of old truly feels like a breath of fresh air.
Skate
One of the smoothest and most satisfying entries on the album, the rhythm of this track simply cannot be avoided. Every element of this track glides together in perfect tandem. It looks like it's as fun to play this song as it is to listen to it. The production is absolutely on point as this feels like one of the pinnacles of the Silk Sonic project.
It must be impossible to listen to this song without moving at least one of your limbs. Expect sales of skates to increase dramatically.
Blast Off
Unfortunately, this album has to end and we find the pair floating up high on the final bow. There's probably no more enticing prospect than flying off to space with Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak. The romance and the seduction now entering metaphors that no longer ground you on Earth, this is a whole other level of infatuation.
There's a glorious blast of guitar halfway through as we're taken on a sudden sci-fi odyssey, where we hear all kinds of ethereal effects. With a final word from Bootsy, the journey ends.
Conclusions
Silk Sonic is an AOTY contender, the rich, glamourous soundscape that mixes up soul and R&B feels like a carefully constructed world between two like-minded people. The vision is so clear and delivered with zero hesitation, it's seductive, melodically pleasing and even downright stupid in places but never borders into cringe territory. It's an irresistible project from two talents at the top of their game.
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Header image credit: Silk Sonic (Facebook)