Since his last release in 2014, Otherness, producer Kindness A.K.A. Adam Bainbridge, proved that his artistic originality is a provocative innovation of sonic transformation. Recently, he returned with an exciting new project entitled Something Like War, an album that touches on the different dimensions of love.
Uncovering a romantic minefield, he finds the motivations and disenchantments of courtship. It is a story of how strange amorous feeling can complicate communication. Adam, depicts a war between genuine love and authentic lust as he creates an assemblage of sound. The Thirteen-song album is a tale that transmutes a universal theme into universal music.
It is uncommon to find an album that starts with an epigraph, yet Adam begins his with one. “There will be people that will say, ‘you don’t mix with that.’ And you will say, ‘watch me.” Immediately revealing the motif, Kindness dispels all boundaries and inhibition to open an all-inclusive emotional space. The openness provides a platform for genre crossing; therefore, blending traditional and contemporary styles together. As he mixes genres, Adam collaborates with other extraordinary artists like: Cosima, Nadia Nair,
Robyn, Bahamadia, and more to set the foundation. Touching on elements of neo-soul, R&B, trip-hop, indie, jazz, and more, he deliberately orchestrates a boundless agglomeration of intelligent mainstream dance music.
Pat Benatar said it best, “Love is a Battlefield.” An internal fight between fear and acceptance that keeps a lover in a state of ambivalence. The song “Something Like War” describes the combat as Hip Hop legend, Bahamadia explains the feeling: “So compelled to retreat now / Take the focus off us, put it on me now / Conducive to my survival to be out / Enough of the psychological beatdown.” She illustrates the overwhelming effects that an amorous feeling can have over a person as one try to escape from the negative source. Ultimately, whether love is good or bad, it will have significant impact on the individual that it will breed a unique transformation.
Adam continues the theme in his song, “Lost Without.” He keeps us in the war scene as he catches our attention with the catchy neo-soul piano hook. Layering it with a semi-somber pop beat that drags the tempo into a groove. Featured artist, Seinabo Sey, decorates the struggle between the regret and the satisfaction of love as her entrancing voice captures an innocuous innocence of the pain. She’s exhausted from consistently of convincing her lover that the act is self-deprecating.
Falling in love is a universal mystery that comes to us as a surprise. Filled with anxiety, the song “Who You Give Your Heart To,” showcases the ineffable experience of embracing a lover. Adam understands the secret of romance that lives outside of rationality. Additionally, he ties in the feeling with sonic ambient minimalism to further express the sensuality of the way “love is gonna find you.” Bainbridge also invites singer, Alexandria to impart her delicate vocals to accentuate the internal drama. Creating a slow build-up that climbs its way to a climactic resolution, the cascading melodies designs a relative dreamworld where we find the spell of unrestricted love.
Kindness is a project that embraces all forms of love. From how the music is written to the specificities of the theme, each song has a purpose that navigated by his innate motivation. In fact, Adam’s ability to encompass these different writing / musical approaches, allows his listeners to fully engage in to his auditory landscape. The big sound exemplifies his professionalism as a producer. He’s meticulous, well-organized composer that creates arrangements with determination. Collaborating with other artists is an additional ingredient that is exciting and helpful in putting the pieces of multicultural music together. Therefore, bridging the universal concept of love with an international sound makes his music powerful – the type of music that is medicine for the soul during a heartbreak. Adam provides his services for those in need to offer some introspective understanding. Something Like War is a collection of ballads for the romantic looking for answers.
Rating: 9.5/10
