ALBUM REVIEW: DIAMONDS & FREAKS (Instrumentals)
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WRITTEN BY: Sydney Martin
Having come out with DIAMONDS & FREAKS during June of this year, BLK ODYSSY released
an alternative version of the album on November 24th of purely instrumentals. Extracting the
previous deeply involved vocals from the original compositions, DIAMOND & FREAKS
(Instrumentals) displays stunning narratives that lyric-less music has the ability to achieve.
Across these fifteen songs sounds become animated– breathing, dancing, and intimately relating to
each other– as stories and emotions are delivered in ways lyrics can’t illustrate. DIAMOND
& FREAKS (instrumentals) highlights the methodical artistry that goes into music production,
contrasting with the original songs to show how these instrumentals have the beauty to stand strong on their own.
Starting off the album is nostalgic “DOPAMINE & HENNESSY – Instrumental,” a sultry
composition of slow stepping drums, soft flute, and dynamic saxophone. Rich strings and
dispersing piano notes crescendo before falling back into the distance, clearing a stratospheric
space for the following compositions. In “MS SWEET TEA – Instrumental” and “SUMMER AND RAIN – Instrumental,” swinging instruments and prominent percussion create a carefree resonance. As the presence of teasing saxophone and shuffling drums increase, sounds of restlessness are entertained playfully, the composition carrying a general tone of blissfulness throughout.
Vibrating bells and spasms of flute glimmer in velvet waves during “ADAM & EVE –
Instrumental,” an otherwise love drunk song if not for the low plucking of the bass and shuffling
drums stirring in a foretelling way. With little notice, a glamorous darkness arrives, a shift that is heard
halfway through “ADAM & EVE – Instrumental,” fed by the impending plucking of strings and
urging air of flutes. Mischievously, notes descend, brass instruments moan and sudden mocking
laughter echoes– breaks of silence nurse the underlying tone of uneasiness, perhaps a sort of
warning amongst this summery composition.
Love and desire is further explored within “HONEYSUCKLE NECKBONE – Instrumental,” a
composition that moves with caution at first; the soft strumming of chords later emerges from the
jazzy seduction of “HONEYSUCKLE NECKBONE – Instrumental,” breaking free from more
controlled instrumentals. The use of acoustic guitar amid a whirl of wind instruments resurrects
a free-spirited innocence nearing the end of the song, posing as an invitation rather than
temptation, boundlessly weaving through the outro of the composition at its own speed.
Foretold by the cautionary sounds in previous compositions, “YOU GOTTA MAN – Instrumental”
embodies lust, a moodier instrumental and a potential nod at the fourth song “ADAM & EVE –
Instrumental.” “YOU GOTTA MAN – Instrumental” rolls in the queue in a sultry jazz- infused
manner; a serpent of rattling instruments, distant female vocals, and a distressed flute
conceivably reference the biblical story characterized by temptation and lust. Overwhelming the
song by the end, a growing desperation takes place in the form of a flute breathlessly climbing
in pitch, completing the battling emotions within “YOU GOTTA MAN – Instrumental”.
Suspense is built in “ODEE – Instrumental” by a heart-like drum and a slow strumming guitar,
one of the more somber of the songs in the album. Similar in suspense but contrastingly
warmer, is the following “DIAMONDS & FREAKS – Instrumental,” teasing the trajectory of the
album. As doom and hope cross paths, playful sounds exist harmoniously with those of apprehension, an all too familiar feeling embodied in this song– a grumble of excitement and dread that words grapple with describing.
Decidedly, the intro of “JUDAS & THE HOLY MOTHER OF SKANK – Instrumental” embraces a
villainous tone, a dynamic instrumental holding a soundtrack-like quality. Through the rise of a
muffled electric guitar accompanied by puttering of an acoustic, an unmended wound is
revealed.
Lonely at first, “PINK MARMALADE – Instrumental” takes on the sweet, sippable quality of its
name, illustrating community and home through its playful and bouncy rhythm. Through upbeat
voices and clapping “PINK MARMALADE – Instrumental” transitions into “BROKE FOLK FUNK Instrumental”. Dipping further into a feeling of hominess, brief appearances of organs and
flutes lighten the impact of the deep strums of an electric guitar during this composition.
“EPHESIANS – Instrumental” follows, a heavyhearted song ballooning in yearning throughout.
Fluid in nature, instruments dip in and out, eventually revealing the soothing voice of a woman–
passionate saxophone, pianos and drums scatter to overshadow the soft voice, growing in
volume before descending all together, leaving only distant shuffling.
“LET ME GO” – Instrumental’s grandiose intro tapers off into a disheartened tone, influencing the
bittersweet “ORANGE WINE – Instrumental”; heavier feelings are thawed during this relaxing
song, a predecessor for the nostalgic sounding “LET IT GROW – Instrumental”, the album’s final work.
Echoes of children playing, mourningful guitar chords and flute, sound as drums are slowly introduced. Across this mellow composition, a flute weaves inspirationally, dancing with the saxophone in the foreground. The sounds of children playing complete “LET IT GROW- Instrumental”.
As if aging backwards, wrapping back around to its nostalgic beginning, DIAMONDS & FREAKS (Instrumentals) paints a picture of the demise and resurrection of innocence, love, and home. The diverse use of instruments beats and organic sound samples allow for a collection of mystical and ever-engaging compositions. Opposing emotional tones stir beneath these fantastical songs, oftentimes never fully surfacing; Nonetheless, peace is restored by the end of the album in “LET IT GROW – Instrumental”, an acceptance decisively found after journeying through a perplexing range of emotions. Curated by emotive sounds and instrumentals, this BLK ODYSSY album is both thought provoking and entrancing; these otherworldly compositions are certain to linger in mind even once the music stops.
