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R&B crooner Brent Faiyaz, whose dark lyrics, smooth vocals and high-profile collaborations (ever since he gained prominence by featuring in Goldlink’s 5x platinum track Crew) have forever kept him on the pop world’s radar, has a fresh solo album to offer.
In his second full-length album, titled Wasteland, Brent Faiyaz continues to speak of the demonic things which make him an anti-hero we love to hate. While the lyrics are as dark as one would expect, the album is another win for the new wave of R&B pioneered by The Weeknd.
Brent Faiyaz's Wasteland: Gorgeously sung, lyrically twisted, and another win for the R&B rennaissance
The album seeks to tell a story through a total of 19 tracks, interludes or skits, spanning over an hour of runtime. It speaks of a man’s struggle with a woman he has impregnated, who is the antithesis of the fast life he has led so far.
Villain's Theme
Right off the bat in Villain’s Theme, Brent Faiyaz addresses the "toxic" rap his lyricism gets, and talks of how the things he does are chasing a "temporary euphoria", while being as real as reality gets. Jorja Smith takes part in the repertoire with a humming, ominous instrumental in tow.
Loose Change
In Loose Change, Brent is tussling with his partner over the definition of love and the roles within it, with lines like "you wanna be my equal but you won’t even do the half." The dramatic organ and violin instrumentals are set against synthesised backing vocals.
Gravity
Gravity was released as a single over a year ago, featuring the presence of Tyler, The Creator and textured production by DJ Dahi. While Tyler’s feature is a short one, his impact on the song is evident, as the musical melodies have a subversive, left-field appeal to them.
Heal Your Heart (Interlude) / Skit: Egomaniac
The first skit, named Egomaniac, follows a minute-long interlude called Heal Your Heart. While the interlude is earnest, the skit picks up the intensity, as Brent Faiyaz’s baby mama accuses him of leaving her stranded while he lives out the fast life.
All Mine
All Mine goes back to Brent trying to seduce a woman with all the charm at his disposal and a classic R&B promise of romance. While the song seems innocuous on its own, the context of the album lends it a whole other meaning.
Price Of Fame
Price Of Fame comes next, with Faiyaz's voice going an octave lower to speak of the fragile nature of fame over a humming, choppy production. Around the two-minute mark, the song transitions into yet another R&B classic, with the lyrics crooning about the need for "someone to be there", and while the switch is unsettling, both parts do their jobs splendidly.
Ghetto Gatsby
Ghetto Gatsby paints Brent as a modern version of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s narcissistic hero, trying to be superficially unapologetic for his hedonistic lifestyle. Alicia Keys, an R&B great in her own right, features in a sensual, whispery yet lyrically ruthless rap verse which she absolutely shreds.
Wasting Time
Wasting Time sounds like a classic Pharrell track from back in the day (and for good measure, as The Neptunes get featuring credits on this track). This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, as both Brent and a featuring Drake lay in able vocal and verbal performances. Drizzy sounds competitive yet laid-back, and better than he does on most of his recent record.
Rolling Stone / FYT8
Brent finally takes a self-aware tone on Rolling Stone, talking about being unable to shake his demons and the pressure to maintain an image he has now curated. FYT8 returns to the album’s roots, with Joony providing a boastful verse enveloped on either side with Brent singing about his urge to find love in the haze of his own urges.
Skit: Oblivion
The second skit, Oblivion, features Brent Faiyaz in the back of a car, drinking with a flirty stranger, on his way to the airport from a red carpet. He receives a call from a woman, which he ignores. The duo continue with their revelry as the phone keeps ringing.
Dead Man Walking
Dead Man Walking flows into the narrative, with Brent Faiyaz singing "drop the roof and let the smoke clear." Over an unorthodox and eerie instrumental, the song goes on to preach living on the edge unabashedly. Released as a single, it is perhaps Brent’s biggest solo song on here.
Addiction
The drum-driven Addiction is a fast and catchy follow-up continuing the unapologetic tone of Brent Faiyaz’s misdemeanours. Tre’ Amani’s verse is slick but unsurprising.
Role Model / Jackie Brown
Role Model and Jackie Brown both take on the confident and suave (if dated) rhythm-and-blues formula with the latter’s tone feeling much more upbeat. Both feature the sort of lyrical ambiguity the album has had so far (the call-and-response vocals on ‘Jackie’ show the singer’s dilemma).
Bad Luck
Bad Luck has Brent Faiyaz playing a heartbroken man for the first time on the record, with lyrics calling “don’t take my sweetness for weakness baby" perfectly tying up the conflicted, self-victimising ways in which so many of us treat our relationships in this age.
Skit: Wake Up Call
In the final five-minute skit, Wake Up Call, he is finally ready to own up and return to the mother of his child, albeit in a casual ‘I don’t really care’ way, until he learns that she is contemplating suicide out of sheer depression, because she thinks neither of them deserves a child. The skit ends with Brent Faiyaz (called by his first name 'Chris' in the skit) running into an accident while trying to reach his partner.
Angel
Angel is the final track on the record, and is a lovestruck ballad replete with harmonies, almost an ode to the greats like Boyz II Men. It brings the record’s tragic story full circle.
Brent Faiyaz tells a cohesive story of an imperfect, conflicted relationship with slickly produced R&B extravaganza. Despite a moment or two of lulls, it is a record full of songs to delight any rhythm-and-blues aficionado and marks another triumph of new-age R&B.
