Blue King Brown
Worldwize Part 1: North & South
Lion House Records
As I slipped ‘Northside’ — disc one of Blue King Brown’s ambitious new double album Worldwize — in the player and turned it up, something remarkable happened.
Natalie Pa’apa’a’s impassioned cry, “This music is about life, it’s about the people… And the victories that wait for us,” burst through the speakers and, outside, Melbourne’s fierce winter winds subsided and the clouds retreated slightly to let a few golden rays slip through. To suggest that one event caused the other is absurd, but it was just as well, for this album deserves to be played in the sun.
Worldwize is the Melbourne crew’s epic, two years in the making call to arms, thrust upon a world with “too many hearts not believing”. With track titles like ‘Resist’, ‘The March’, and ‘Our Word Is Our Weapon’, along with an audio sample from Subcomandante Marcos, leader of the revolutionary Zapatista movement in Mexico, their intention is certainly clear.
Thankfully, BKB is a band with a groove to match its conscience. Worldwize is full of infectious tribal beats, fiery horns and soulful vocals that make you want to pick up a flaming stick and have your voice heard. You can imagine the album pumping out of huge speakers at a victory dance party as the fires of the old world smoulder in the distance. Lyrically, it can sometimes become a little repetitive but then maybe that’s the point.
The dub heavy second disc, ‘Southside’, provides a gratifying come down from the relentless battle cry of ‘Northside’. Its relaxed rhythms are custom made for sitting back and watching the sunset or, perhaps, the sunrise.
Sometimes a band’s attempt to use an album as a platform for a message can get in the way of the music, but there’s none of that here. Take from it what you will, maybe it’ll inspire you to change the world, or maybe you’ll just have a good boogie.
