KAYTRANADA Announces Debut Album, Hear The Soothing “Bus Ride”
I almost never post tracks anymore, because most of them just aren’t good enough to warrant the time it takes out of my day. (This isn’t a music blog, and everyone is going to Stereogum for that kind of comprehension anyway. Word to how fucking quick Tom Breihan can blog a track, but your girl does not possess that speed, never has.) KAYTRANADA is worth the time. He’s one of the few “Soundcloud warriors” I’ve maintained interest in over the course of the last couple years. Whenever he surfaces on someone else’s track, the song always increases exponentially, and I’ve been itching to hear him helm an entire album of his own for a while now.
So, 99.9% will be just that, and it will be out this May via XL Records. That’s the art above. The lead track off the record is called “Bus Ride,” and it splits a gentle soothing string section with spastic, almost manic percussion. KAYTRANADA is one of those rare producers who can make an instrumental line as compelling as a lyric, the song blooms and grows in emotional height as it goes along, almost derailing at the end but never losing touch with the initial gentleness. He was helped along here by Toronto’s River Tiber and Detroit jazz drummer Karriem Riggins. Both influences show, but KAYTRANADA has his own swing, and here, his trajectory reaches up out of the gloom of public transit and into the big blue. I’m often on a bus because I take one to and from work now, and I’ve never heard a song capture how cocoon-like they can feel. I know he’s not based here, but this feels like Arthur Russell doing “New York State Of Mind.” Listen below and check out the full tracklist.
99.9%:
01 “Track Uno”
02 “Bus Ride” (Ft. Karriem Riggins & River Tiber)
03 “Got It Good” (Ft. Craig David)
04 “Together” (Ft. AlunaGeorge & GoldLink)
05 “Drive Me Crazy” (Ft. Vic Mensa)
06 “Weight Off” (FT. BADBADNOTGOOD)
07 “One Too Many” (Ft. Phonte)
08 “Despite The Weather”
09 “Glowed Up” (Ft. Anderson .Paak)
10 “Breakdance Lesson N.1.”
11 “You’re The One” (Ft. Syd)
12 “Vivid Dreams” (Ft. River Tiber)
13 “Lite Spots”
14 “Leave Me Alone” (Ft. Shay Lia)
15 “Bullets” (Ft. Little Dragon)
99.9%. Due May 6th via XL Recordings. Pre-order it here.