Heavy Heavy is the fourth studio album from the Scottish experimental trio. Young Fathers is a group that I’ve always been somewhat aware of but never actually delved into their catalog until this album. When I discovered that the Fathers were signed onto the Ninja Tune record label, home to artists like Kamasi Washington and Black Country, New Road (who released by AOTY of 2022), I knew I had to be on the lookout for this record. Not to mention, the cover of this album is very eye-catching (I really want this album art as a poster!). Luckily, I find that this album is a great starting point for entering the creative realm of Young Fathers as this is a brief record of just 10 tracks and just over 30 min and is filled with punchy and catchy songs which uniquely combine the sounds of post-industrial, metallic soundscapes along with melodies that borrow from Gospel and African Spirituals.  

The first half of the record is a solid homerun of snappy songwriting. The song “I Saw” is a rhythmically driven march with buzzing synths and an awesome break-down with pounding tribal drums and group “whoops”. The song “Drum” has the most influence from Spirituals with its refrain commanding the listener to “Hear the beat of the drum and go numb, have fun”. Finally, the song “Tell Somebody” is a gorgeous piece that starts almost like an ambient cut before it grows into an almost overwhelming crescendo with a cacophonous soundscape of densely layered synths and strings. I will elaborate on this more in just a moment, but I really do feel like this could have been an excellent closer for the record. In the second half of the album, I really enjoy the song “Sink or Swim” with its pulsating dance beats and group Gospel vocals chanting in the background. The songs that hit, really hit. 

I do have a couple gripes with this record, however. First is the sequencing. I find that some songs are awkwardly placed next to each other with little to no consideration for flow. I think the first 3 songs are perfect where they are but “Tell Somebody” being placed between “Drum” and “Geronimo” is very peculiar since the adjacent songs are both lighthearted and straightforward with their songwriting. I also find the closer of this album to be quite the strange beast. “Be Your Lady” is a song that starts like an unassuming piano ballad, when all of a sudden these skittering and glitchy drum samples engulf the entire track. It’s a very demanding and experimental track that pretty much sounds nothing like anything else on the album and as a closer it is just a very jarring last impression. This is why I feel like “Tell Somebody” would have been a better closer. Though more of a nitpick, my final hitch against the record is its brevity. I find that nearly every song cuts off just a minute too soon, right after it gets good. The sound of this album has so much potential to envelop your mind and ears with its hypnotic timbres but unfortunately, the Fathers saw it fit to cap every song at just 3 and a half minutes or shorter.  

Conclusion: While there are some weaknesses when viewing Heavy Heavy as a holistic project, there are still captivating songs within that I think listeners will really enjoy! The production of this album really carries, truly a one-of-a-kind album that has persuaded me to delve deeper into the Young Fathers discography.  

Favorite Songs: “Rice”, “I Saw”, “Drum”, “Tell Somebody”, “Geronimo”, “Sink or Swim”