After working from within Drake’s largely-casted shadow, Majid Jordan, the duo consisting of Majid Al Maskati and Jordan Ullman, have boldly leapt out into the light with their debut self-titled album.
The Toronto-based recording and producing duo are best known from their feature on Drake’s mega-hit “Hold On, We’re Going Home.” But since then they have been steadily building up a strong repertoire of their own songs that has culminated with this impressive first effort.
While the dark, emotional sound of their music might not have much in terms of mainstream appeal, it is still an easy, smooth listen that also impressively doubles as a quasi-concept album about losing one love and finding another.
The sound of the record itself is largely repetitive, but not in a boring way. While many of the songs share similar structures, layered synth patterns accompanied by a driving percussion beat and melancholic vocals, Majid Jordan are able to tweak this formula just enough in each track to keep things interesting.
This is not to say there are not some standouts on the album — or duds either.
Thematically, the album is broken up into three parts. The first concerns itself with one relationship, the second the ensuing breakup and the third a new one. In Majid Jordan’s style, however, there is never specificity and all of the lyrics are intentionally vague.
The album opens with the stellar track “Learn from Each Other,” which features snazzy percussion and synth sequences reminiscent of house music. This similarity mixed with the bleakness of the duo’s lyrics like, “Thought I knew what it was the first time I saw you / But I only found when you walked away,” replicate the all too familiar experience of having anything but festive thoughts while being in a festive place.
These themes of a relationship simply not working out escalate on the main single of the album, “My Love,” which is notable since it has a feature from Drake. Unfortunately, despite its important position with the album, the track disappoints. The vocals drown out the production, which is mostly just one synth sequence. Drake’s feature feels like it was recorded in 2008 because it doesn’t feature any of his recent creativity nor the ingenuity of the superstar’s latest work.
But the album picks back up quickly and is captivating through the tracks “Small Talk” and “Pacifico” while the unknown speaker of the album deals with his break-up. Unfortunately, the album loses its stride the moment its speaker hits his. This is to say, as the speaker gets over his past love and finds a new one on the tracks “Shake, Shake, Shake,” “Love is Always There” and “Warm,” the album hits a bit of a snag.
While it is a valiant effort by Majid Jordan to try and sing about happy things, it turns out that minimalist production and anguished vocals might not be the best vehicles for such a subject matter. As a result of this disharmony, the tracks feel awkward and the production takes a notable hit.
Luckily, the album finds another great place at the end with the tracks “Day and Night,” “King City” and “Every Step Every Way.” It is during these songs the relationship seems to escalate and the increased emotional depth of the lyrics begin to mesh well with the production again.
The track “Every Step Every Day” is a perfect way to end the album, as it completes a full circle. As doubts begin to creep into the unknown speaker’s mind with lyrics like, “I don’t wanna drive you crazy / That’s just something people like to do,” the production follows suit alternating between sections with busy and stripped down production to re-emphasize this emerging instability.
Overall, Majid Jordan is an impressive debut effort from a duo that should be a force in years to come. Though some songs fall flat, this is easy to forgive. There is such a large margin for error with minimalist music because there is little to fall back on if just one element does not hit the mark. And they certainly hit the mark more often than not, as many times the vocals and production synthesize to create a listening experience that is emotionally moving while still remaining minimalist.
Reviewer’s picks: “Learn From Each Other,” “Pacifico,” “Every Step Every Way.”
