New Wave is very much a return to form for Common - a hip-hop heavyweight
whose credibility has been on the slide for a couple of years.
Electric Circus (Common’s current LP from which New Wave is taken) was met
with everything from disbelief to despair upon its recent release. Common
appeared to have lost his way and forgotten where he had come from and what
had made him so popular in the first place.
New Wave, unlike the album, however, is definitely worth picking up. Dark
beats and eerie organ sounds courtesy of The Roots’ ?uestlove allow Common
to spit rhymes like he used to do, while Laetitia Sadier of Stereolab
provides a floating chorus which works brilliantly. Go buy it.
Reviewed by Fraser Syme
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