Thanks to studio vocal manipulations, the former member of the boy band EXO becomes his own boy band on “Antares,” his voice contorted so many ways that he sounds like a variety of vocalists as he rap/sings through standard themes of superficial attraction, materialism and a blended vision of self-pity and self-aggrandizement. Regardless of whether his numbers are legitimately through the roof or just a publicity stunt, Wu is a household name in Asia, and it stands to reason there would be considerable interest in him on this side of the Pacific.Īnd he does a fair job of approximating today’s pre-packaged hip-hop/pop, which has evolved into a formulaic genre, so there’s no reason he shouldn’t be a success. ++++++++++ Kris Wu's "bad boy" isn't all badĬhinese-Canadian pop star/actor Kris Wu attempts to make in-roads into the Western hip-hop world with his new solo release “Antares,” and he’s run into problems from the get-go: His eye-popping initial numbers on iTunes have been flagged as fraudulent, and Wu’s team has been accused of gaming the system to exaggerate Western interest in the vocalist. Imagine Dragons "Origins" Rating: 3-1/2 (out of 5) Imagine Dragons probably could have spent more time polishing the weaker material, or writing better songs, but apparently that’s not Reynolds’ style. Other tracks are more problematic – “Only” is nothing but punchy filler, “Digital” explodes, then falls flat, and “Boomerang” is silly, incomplete and not the least bit infectious. The songs may sound familiar and the lyrics may be platitudes, but they’re rewarding on a primal level.
“Origins” open with the cynical “Natural,” the bombastic Imagine Dragons sound instantly recognizable as a riled-up Reynolds bellows, “You gotta be so cold to make it in this world/Yeah, you’re a natural.” Later, he grinds into the churning industrial cadence of “Machine” to announce “it’s about time to stand up,” and later still he funnels that energy into a more hopeful message of unification – “We’re living for the same thing/Where did we all go wrong?”
And on the percolating “Bullet in a Gun,” Reynolds fires off lines like rounds from an automatic weapon: “I’m high, then I’m low, low/Stop, then I go, go/Bipolar, oh, oh.”Įnlightening as that is, most fans will likely appreciate that Reynolds pulls out of his self-analysis to deliver the fist-in-the-air goods elsewhere, supported by his go-to producers Alex da Kid and Mattman & Robin. His self-awareness bubbles up in the charming rumble of “Cool Out,” where our hot-tempered hero fights his inner demons in an attempt to woo a laidback lover: “I live my life in black and white/I know that’s not what you would like.” The subsequent “Bad Liar” is darker as he sings “I wish I could escape it … I can’t be what you want me to be,” while the propulsive “Zero” finds the excitable singer detailing his love/hate relationship with anxiety. Nevertheless, the aptly titled “Origins” gives lyrical context to what the fuss is all about.įrontman Dan Reynolds is haplessly addicted to adrenaline.
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