For the past few years Hudson Mohawke has been at the heart of a meteoric rise of a yet to be denied sub genre of electronic music. After his EPs, singles, mixtape and remixes he finally broke through with 2009’s with his first studio albums Butter. From there he went on to produce and remix for a number of artists and work with Kanye West on Yeezus where he helped produced ‘Blood On The Leaves‘. But it was his EP with Lunice under the stage-name TNGHT that really brought him recognition. Regardless 5 years is a long wait between albums, thankfully ‘Lantern‘ shows growth, maturity and is worth wait.
Hudson played it pretty straightforward with the singles released from the project. After the glitchy title track opens the album we launch into the first single ‘Very First Breath‘ featuring Irfane. Tailor made for the festival circuit with its “Bring us back! Bring us back!” refrain. The second single ‘Ryder‘, which sounds like an instrumental from the early 00’s reminding us of Kanye in his sample heavy days.
‘Scud Books‘ is slightly more familiar territory with Mohawkes now trademark horns blaring over high synths, and thunderous claps. It doesn’t take much for Hudson to turn in a crowd pleaser and he’s already explored the instrumental side to perfection on previous album Butter.
Where the instrumentals are fun, every single feature is solid to masterful. The features get stronger the further you make your way down the track-list. ‘Warriors‘ featuring Ruckazoid & Devaeux, has summer written all over it, with the entire song being one long build to the chorus.
‘Deepspace‘ however, is easily the standout moment. Miguel takes up vocal duties here and gives an unbelievable performance. The track encapsulates every reason Miguel had his sudden rise to fame from his last album. His vocals go above and beyond and the Mohawke’s instrumental manages to warp the mood into something more melancholy despite Miguel’s soaring vocals. Both artists come off well here. Miguel reminding everyone just how talented he is and Mohawke for providing such a layered instrumental.
The album ends in a progressively dancey fashion following a very “Jhene Aiko” performance from Jhene Aiko. The end result is an album littered with fun instrumentals that are sure to cause near riots at festivals but more importantly show Hudson Mohawkes skill as a varied producer who can cater his productions to an artists sensibilities. ‘Lantern‘ is a more subtle experience than most would think but instantly rewarding.
