Seems like critics posted U.K. rapper
Ghostpoet as left-field hip-hop's big hope just two verses into his debut, but the gifted man might really be the genre's
Mark E. Smith, even if MC
Obaro Ejimiwe doesn't share any of the indie rock frontman's same "quirks." Like
Smith's group
the Fall,
Ghostpoet is outsider music that sounds familiar and yet unique, so unique that to be outwardly influenced by the man's rapid, literate mumble or his hazy, poetic delivery would be to mimic him. BBC DJ
John Peel famously called
the Fall's music "always different...always the same," and with this third album, it also applies to
Ghostpoet. The instrumentation is different, as guitars and a traditional band support the lyrics where laptops and samplers used to be, and
Ghostpoet himself has changed a bit, responding to the band with a more natural or organic flow while letting a little more mirth out, perhaps because bassists and drummers are more fun to hang around with than hard drives. Still, "Sorry My Love, It's You Not Me" may open like an early
U2 number with echoing guitars and tats on the snare, but it's as if a beat were lifted from
Boy or
October once the vocals sneak in, boozily yearning "to feel magic and stars" before "it's just that you're forgettable, babe," because that's how
Obaro breaks up. Featuring
Maximo Park's
Paul Smith, "Be Right Back, Moving House" sets out on a
Mumford & Sons sized-journey, then gets wonderfully caught up in its rhythmically tangled second half, and if the artist does sound just like someone else -- rapper
Tricky -- on "That Ring Down the Drain Kind of Feeling," the key cut breaks away into
Ghostpoet land once the lyrics lay out a layered story of love and guilt. Add the devastating title cut plus more memorable melodies than usual, and
Shedding Skin might be the
Ghostpoet album to begin with for those who prefer something a bit traditional, but with three excellent efforts from the get-go, the point isn't where to start, but to start, because the rewards are consistent and plentiful. ~ David Jeffries
