The question is… for how much longer can we call Allday the king of modern Australian rap and a local boy? The former Adelaide, once Melbourne, and now Los Angeles resident has slowly been jumping cities, and the glossy evidence sparkles throughout Speeding, the long-anticipated successor to the breakout Startup Cult.
Cuts like ’10 Drinks’, ‘North Melbourne’, and ‘Spill My Blood’ don’t sound dissimilar to what we’d expect from the Chubby Lord. There are trappy drum sequences and effects-driven harmonies, but Speeding boasts a global maturity which is product of its three year incubation.
This wouldn’t be an Allday record without jaded heart-on-sleeve ballads like ‘Raceway’ and ‘In Motion’ feat. Japanese Wallpaper, or come-down anthems ‘Ghost’ and ‘Codeine’, but what shines throughout is the freshly-blossomed marriage between lyricist and songwriter.
You’ll still find a signature vulnerability all throughout Speeding, but don’t overlook Allday’s effortless command for creating catchy melodies, and the pen-game of an accomplished emcee at the peak of his craft.
It took three years – and becoming another pining soul in the city of lost angels – but the result is a glamorous catalogue of a mature juvenile in the fast lane; a once local youth who now finds himself notarising rose-coloured confessions, perched atop the Hollywood sign.
4 stars
Speeding is out today through ONETWO
