King Charles has released his brilliantly diverse, ten-track album ‘Out Of My Mind’ on 17th April 2020.
Following a serious accident in 2010, King Charles is back with a whole new mindset and focus to add to his third collection of songs.
The complete disregard for musical boundaries alongside an in-depth exploration of the unusual illustrates the personality that has been poured into ‘Out Of My Mind’.
The controlled tempo, finely tuned falsetto and synthetic sounds allow King Charles to explore a range of music, from neo-soul to funk and trap.
His flair for theatrics and the unusual gives life to this album, as complex and versatile themes of love, loneliness, sex and suicide unfold.
The first track, ‘Freak’ is a smooth, laid back number you can’t help but bop your head to. The bridge reveals a slightly darker vibe common throughout the album which underlies the woozy mix of hushed vocals and hypnotizing harmonies.
The use of vocals in this album is essential and is utilised to its full capacity, directing the tone, emotion and pace of the tracks. The title track, ‘Out Of My Mind’ uses Charles’ vocals to push the audio directly into your ear almost like a whisper. This personal touch isn’t necessarily intrusive or unwelcome but adds to the discordance of the track.
‘Out of my Mind’ glides between an unsettling tone and what you would find the main character in a film swaggering along to. The unnerving feeling created is what King Charles expertly crafts as you are thrown between the two states of mind.
The sensuality of Charles’ music is introduced in ‘Deeper Love’. The funky hum of the bass and soul-filled slides makes this a perfect song to strut to. There is a level of assertion and power in the track heard in both the main vocals and harmonies.
If King Charles’ flair for theatrics wasn’t evident yet, ‘Money is God’ will solve that. The capitalistic theme is accompanied by electric noise in creating one of the more unusual tracks on the album. The distinction between the different vocals used in the track brings chaos as they are paired alongside each other throughout. The use of trap as well adds another dimension to the track and brings an element of displacement when all the sounds meet.
An example of the diversity on the album is the contrast between ‘Money is God’ and ‘Melancholy Julia’. The beautiful melody of this is initially stripped of all the noise, chaos and electric which powered the previous track. The instruments add illustration with the occasional flourish and twang, mirroring and accentuating the main melody. The raw sounds of the backing vocals additionally push the emotion and reflect on past love, youth and regret.
Similarly, we see a softer side to the album in ‘Watchman’. The easy beat paired with the piano and maracas highlights the range of sound, genre and emotion in the album. There is a glimpse of fragility to the chorus created by the piano before the interruption of the guitar jolts you back.
The album is filled with diverse changes preventing you from settling down into any tracks. The unpredictability of what theme, sound, topic or emotion is coming next leaves no room for boredom. The lyrics are brilliantly written and performed and filled with deep emotional resonance. The uniqueness and originality of the album are striking but so essential to the overall impact.