Young Fathers: White Men Are Black Men Too - review

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White Men Are Black Men Too

(Big Dada)

Winning the Mercury Prize has often proved a kiss of death to its victors, especially the more obscure ones. But Young Fathers, the very obscure winners of last year's prize, break the Mercury's curse in style on the rapidly recorded follow-up to their garlanded debut.

White Men Are Black Men Too is an even better album, propulsive, imaginative, its richly textured blare casting the Scottish trio as Edinburgh's version of TV on the Radio.

There are floor-quaking basslines, African chants and percussion, a variety of vocal styles, prettily twinkling melodies, harshly pounding beats, whistled solos, euphoric rock anthems and tribal-futurist hip-hop.

The riddling album title signals an urge to burst free of all categories, a desire reinforced by repeated images of running and motion, freighted in music that tumbles onwards with the seize-the-moment rush of young men in a hurry.

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