Tuesday , March 19 2024
Free Radicals

Music Review/Video Premiere: Free Radicals ‘No State Solution’ and ‘Dub for Besouro’

Free Radicals will drop a new album May 25 called No State Solution. And Blogcritics premieres the music video “Dub for Besouro.” The album features new remixes and remastered tracks from the band’s last six albums. Dutch-born American producer DJ Sun and Nick Cooper (drummer of the Free Radicals) generated the remixes. The album’s underlying premise rejects government corruption while celebrating communities.

The band just released a statement concerning the album’s title and concurrent world affairs:

“With no injured Israelis, but 111 dead and 12,000 injured Palestinians, this isn’t a clash; it’s a massacre. Trump, Netanyahu, Nikki Haley, Jared Kushner, and Mahmoud Abbas have no solutions, because there are no state solutions. Corrupt governments only know oppression and exploitation, but the people know better. Free Radicals mourns the dead, condemns the assassins, rejects apartheid, and honors the non-state actors like BDS and anti-racist communities in the U.S., Palestine, Israel, South Africa, and around the world that already have the answers. Together, we will either perish or throw off the mental and physical chains of corrupt states, propaganda, warmongers, nationalists, fundamentalists, and ignorance!”

Hailing from Houston, Texas, Free Radicals is tagged as a horn-driven dance band that ranges in age – from 20-somethings to 90-year-old Harry Sheppard on vibraphone. The band’s sound encompasses a vast array of styles: hip-hop, funk, ska, African music, jazz, Indian music, klezmer, punk, cumbia, and salsa.

No State Solution comprises 25 tracks. Highlights include the title track, remixed by Lancandon, which features a potent, numinous tenor sax performance by Marcos Melchor as well as Nigerian Pidgin vocals by Folasayo Dele-Ogunrinde.

“Screaming (DJ Sun Radio Remix)” rides a rock-flavored tune with a growling, braying sax. Powerful guitar riffs inject the music with dark energy, as the horns blast out strident colors. “Space Witch (Dub Remix)” travels on an oozing minimalistic psychedelic riddim with extended drums and a throbbing bass.

“Dub for Besouro” rides Latin-flavored ska-jazz tones reminiscent of the muscular tones and rhythms of War. Layered harmonics attend a delicious exotic groove, imbuing the tune with a viscous sensuality. The video, steeped in surreal kaleidoscopic colors, reflects the intoxicating mood and feel of the music, vibrant and mind-expanding.

No State Solution is innovative, brisk, declarative, and supercharged. The various stylistic flavors blend together into gorgeous sonic confections with compelling rhythms and expansive harmonics. No State Solution is one of those albums you don’t want to miss.

Follow Free Radicals on freerads.com and Facebook.

About Randall Radic

Left Coast author and writer. Author of numerous true crime books written under the pen-name of John Lee Brook. Former music contributor at Huff Post.

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