It’s been a long, long five years since Plan B last produced an album, or even a single, but damn, he’s still got it.
I’ve read and listened to a whole bunch of interviews that he’s done with national newspapers and radio stations and the thing that keeps sprouting up from presenters and writers is how much Plan B is a changed man. And you really can tell that he’s grown up just from listening to this new release.
In an interview, he mentioned how he needed to go away for a while and live a little before he could make music again, and he sure has lived since his last release in 2012. He’s a parent now, and his life is undoubtedly very different to the alcohol, party-filled life that he was leading in 2012. If becoming a parent doesn’t change a person and open their eyes to a new world, then I don’t know what does.
Honestly, you can still tell it’s him, it’s got his kind of rough-around-the-edges mark on it, but there is passion behind his voice that I don’t think I’ve ever really heard before. The biggest, most obvious change is that he is no longer rapping his lyrics, he’s a singer. We’ve heard him sing before, but it was nothing like this.
I respect the fact that there is no rapping on this single. The song is relatively soulful and by that I mean that you can really tell that he cares about what he’s singing, and that the words that are coming out of his mouth really are his, not those of another writer. However, I do miss his rapping, even if he doesn’t feel as though it’s a good representation of how he is feeling, it is still what he is best at.
Weirdly though, it is a little reminiscent of his earlier work, despite the lack of rapping and the change of tone. It’s a lot more like his 2010 album ‘The Deformation of Strickland Banks’ and the single could easier be dropped into that album without anyone thinking it was out of place. It is definitely one of those songs that makes you sit back and think hard, and I’m sure that’s exactly what he was aiming for when it was written.
It’s not the best song he’s ever made, at times it’s clear that his voice is strained, but it is beautifully written. I do worry that it is one of those songs that could become tiresome after a while. However, for this review, I have listened to it A LOT and I’m not sick of it just yet.
Nonetheless, Plan B is back, and I can’t wait to hear what other delights he has up his sleeves.
