Grieves - Irreversible [+ Hide] The city of Seattle keeps slowly but surely changing its tune and becoming more and more of a hot bed for underground hip-hop. Many new artists have lit a spark in the scene with the goal of taking it from the local to the national (and even international) level. Grieves is one such artist and his 18-song debut is a wonderful showcase of a new talent emerging from the Emerald City streets. Irreversible opens strongly with “Fly Away,” a groove-laden song with sampled horns that seem to mark the arrival of the new artist. “Unedible” is up next and leads with a bit of melancholy guitar work before the main beat kicks in. What becomes immediately apparent is Grieves’ natural rapping ability. His deep voice and dead-on delivery easily bring out the subtly bleak nuances of each song. This holds especially true for “Bottom of the Bottle” in which he sings, “All your demons / Are gonna get you” over a harmonic keyboard melody that floats below. However, “Capital Hill Girls” happens to be the strangest song on the album and showcases Grieves almost bizarre sense of humor. In it, we find Grieves singing in a British Cockney accent over a Euro-disco beat about guys who look like girls and vice versa. The humor of the song may be partially lost on those who don’t live in Seattle and recognize the local reference, but just listening to the lyrics is enough to provoke a snicker: “You have long hair and yours is short but coke is what both of you snort / Your pants are loose your pants are tight you both don’t eat and you’re both white / But I can’t tell you apart / No I can’t tell you apart.” Irreversible is a well-crafted and produced album that was obviously made by an artist who wants to have and keep a career within the hip-hop community. Grieves demands respect for the degree to which he pulls off highly introspective lyrics with so much raw emotion. He also makes music that is refreshingly original, fun to listen to and very melodic. (Self-released) www.myspace.com/grieves -Casey P. O’Neill |