Ren’s musical output is relentless. Between road busking, The Large Push, solo work, Skinner Brothers initiatives, and ventures like Undertaking Labcoat Runway in New York, preserving observe of his timeline requires dedication.
However that’s the enchantment. Sick Sick Soul Vol. 1 drops as one other chapter on this always evolving story, and “Twos On A Cigarette” may simply be its silkiest second.
From the primary bars, jazzy chord progressions set the tone earlier than that unmistakable storage and drum & bass sound kicks in.
Takes you straight again to the 90s, but it surely’s not some nostalgic throwback train. The Skinner Brothers mix breakbeats with these jazz influences, creating one thing that nods to warehouse raves and pirate radio whereas staying recent.
Unapologetically British, tough across the edges in all the appropriate methods, easy the place it counts.
Ren opens with a scene: moonlight, a shared cigarette, that preliminary spark of connection. The verse flows naturally, assured with out being cocky.
He’s portray an image of city romance, concrete areas remodeled by fleeting moments.
Soul Boy’s verse shifts the temper barely, bringing in reflections on London streets, time passing, numbing routines.
The interlude with its Bob Dylan reference and day-of-the-week development retains issues unfastened and vibing, stopping the observe from getting too heavy.
Easy hook, but it surely lodges itself in your head immediately. That repeated “proper now” turns into the observe’s name signal, capturing that live-for-the-moment mentality with out attempting too laborious. You’ll end up buzzing it hours later.
Jazz components from the intro maintain surfacing all through. Chord voicings, rhythmic looseness, house for components to breathe.
That closing guitar solo provides mandatory fireplace to what’s already a various combine, transient however completely positioned.
Right here’s the factor in regards to the manufacturing: it’s virtually begging for remixes. These drum & bass foundations may simply push to 170 BPM, home producers may strip it again to the hook and rebuild from scratch.
The modular development and powerful melodic core make it ripe for reinterpretation throughout digital subgenres.
For individuals who’ve adopted Ren by means of his extra confrontational work, this gives a distinct angle solely. Subtle however inviting, the closest factor to a love track on the album.
“Twos On A Cigarette” manages to honour a particular period of British music with out getting caught there. Seductive, easy, ear worm materials.
As a part of Sick Sick Soul Vol. 1, it exhibits vary between the tougher tracks surrounding it.
One other stable lower in what’s shaping as much as be a constantly sturdy undertaking. The journey continues, unpredictable as ever, and loving the second.
