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Kenny Fame: “Who Am i” – nu-jazz and alternative R&B soundscapes

Singer-songwriter Kenny Fame doesn’t disappoint fans with the release of his new album “Who Am i”. Kenny Fame was a recent ‘Runner Up’ in the SONG OF THE YEAR Song & Lyric Competition, with his entry “GOODBYE”. Kenny captivates listeners with his confessional lyrics and emotional vocals. Since releasing his first album in 2013, his career has been unstoppable.

kenny-fame-wai-350On “Who Am i” you’ll hear a wide variety of musical influences, find catchy melodies, riffs, and bass lines, while the audio production is superb. Kenny Fame probably shines brighter than he ever has, as these nu-jazz, alternative R&B soundscapes, perfectly fit his eclectic style, and you can’t help but move to these tracks.

In this release, Kenny Fame downplays the outright weirdness in favor of a more subtle sound. Call it experimental ultra-quirk acid-jazz if you like. It’s not just a fun album, but a richly engaging one with some deceptively simple-sounding songwriting. Kenny has an excellent voice for this type of music – it sounds clear and flexible, while being strong enough to rise over the powerful music that could have overwhelmed him.

And he brings depth to certain songs like “Who Am i”, “I Wanna be Your Number One”, “Friends” and “Hometown Glory”. Elsewhere, like in “Stay (For Jazz)” and “Summertime”, the songwriting is just deliciously bizarre.

kenny-fame-wai-coverJack Mullin takes charge of the musical backdrop for Kenny’s voice. And a fine job he does too, blending a variety of organic instrumentation with delightful guitar tones. Kenny Fame is so good at making you think without thinking. Hard-hitting drums fuse with definite jazz elements and you can’t deny the almost sweet trip-hop feel. At times it can seem like a dark album, but then you remember the tongue-in-cheek attitude that this artist sometimes takes.

Kenny’s voice has a way of sounding sexy but cold, strong but vulnerable, and the lyrics are nothing short of introspectively thought-provoking. Jack Mullin also proves to be a top producer as every sound is in its right place (and at the correct amplitude) for this eclectic genre.

One thing I’ve come to have learned is that when it comes to Kenny Fame, you need not classify, but simply assign yourself to a special corner of your mind and it’ll become all a cosmic blur, but I assure you, it will not hurt, on the contrary, it will soothe and conciliate. Then, once finished listening to “Who Am i”, you can put on whatever music you want and go back to organizing whatever it was you wanted to categorize!

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