Slowthai nothing great about britain review năm 2024

There’s a key to understanding most things. You may not like anything that you come across in your musical journey, but it is indeed possible to understand what makes a particular record tick, and doing so consistently is the mark of a great reviewer! Now I don’t claim to be a great reviewer, but after spending around four years committing my thoughts to writing, I feel I have a significant grasp over my own feelings regarding music.

So how do you come to understand the music itself?

Albums like this provide an interesting case study in answering that question. There’s an imposter song here; all you need is a cursory listen to recognize the vast difference between “Doorman” and the rest of the album. The track is so separate in tone from the rest of the record that it tricked many listeners into expecting an entirely different experience than the one Slowthai delivers on this album. Now I love “Doorman”, and I’m glad that it’s included on this album. Here’s the thing though; Nothing Great About Britain amounts to so much more than just a Mura Masa crossover. There are a lot of great things about this album, but the things that aren’t great amount to much more than just not being as good as “Doorman”.

Case in point; a lot of what I feel has weighed this album down ratings wise just comes down to a sequencing error. “Doorman” is immediately preceded by a lot of skeletal trap instrumentals, and overall, there’s not a whole lot of variation across the entire record that would suggest the record’s fully realized. The pieces are there, but the album at large is lacking a sense of logical progression. It comes down to that, and also tracks like “Gorgeous”, where the bare instrumental doesn’t lend itself well to it’s comparatively lengthy run time. There’s also the track “Crack”, which is mostly a short and silly love song with a solid lowkey beat, but Slowthai doesn’t really deliver on the chorus, leaving the track feeling a little limp. Minor road bumps aside, the rest of the LP actually holds its own against the crown jewel that is Doorman, and in some cases exceeds it in quality!

For better or worse, this is probably one of the most British album’s I’ve ever heard. Slowthai’s delivery is often spontaneous, and at times obnoxiously British. Don’t let his natural inflections ward you off entirely though; his flows, while messy, do at times contain thoughtful lyricism, especially as it pertains to the state of the UK at the time of it’s recording.

The title track has surprisingly grown to be one of my favorites on the album; while the hazy wash of synths and off-kilter snare beat wasn’t something I was necessarily keen on to start, repeated listens have revealed it to be several shades more unique than I originally assumed. These hazy synth passages and tumbling drum patterns create this drunk and slovenly demeanor that not only complement Slowthai’s very erratic delivery, but also set the tone of the record beautifully. Also, a lot like Ratking’s So It Goes, the trippy production evokes the sound of an uncaring urban society, something that I have to imagine exists in Great Britain to some capacity. Of course the political commentary the song makes is all very poignant, and I love how the final verse, wherein Slowthai openly disrespects Queen Elizabeth, mirrors the final verse on the album’s closing song, “Northampton’s Child”. Half recount of his childhood, half a tribute to his mother, he closes his verse with a touching line,

“Only Queen, raised me up and kept me clean”

It’s not at all impossible not to grow tired of Slowthai’s voice, though the guest verses on “Grow up” and “Inglorious” bring some much needed variation from Slowthai’s very idiosyncratic style. Aside from that though, the album has its production highlights in spades! Of course “Doorman” really needs no further explanation, as it’s just a wonderful genre fusion that goes over w/ fireworks. The production really comes through on tracks like “Toaster”, with its somber guitar backing these odd, earworm synth melodies that really stand out in a great way amongst the otherwise lowkey instrumental. This song also signals a topical shift in focus for Slowthai. This song, and every song preceding it dives deeper into introspection, in particular on “Peace of Mind”, where Slowthai raps about not being able to steady his mind while doing anything more extraneous than sleeping and dreaming of a better life. The contrast in tone and the instrumental used here goes over especially well. The entire second half of this album is just incredibly consistent, and for me, provides for a bulk of this album’s replay value.

I’d like to make something clear though; I don’t claim to understand with one hundred percent certainty the music I listen to, nor this record in particular. I understand in pieces why I’ve come to love it, and also why it’s left a few with mixed feelings. Exercises like this are fun, but if I don’t sincerely enjoy the music, then I can’t always say that it’s been altogether worth it. With Nothing Great About Britain, however, one can certainly commit themselves to a full and complete listen and take much more out of it than a single song!