Album of the Week: Deadpan Love

I warned you a few weeks ago that I was going to try my hardest to get everyone on the email involved in Record Club at least once. The plan is working! Friend of the blog Kristin has taken the bait, and she is now here to choose an album and write a review and bless us all with some cool sounds. Thanks Kristin!

I should clarify that it is actually Kristin choosing the album this time, and not just PoYB putting words into her mouth. I am still waiting for that O.A.R. review, though...

While you're here, you can check out the archives (now featuring the playlists and a supplemental archive for Record Club-related non-reviews) as well as the 2022 goals (we're in good shape, people). After you get through all of that, you can check out the album of the week, presented below.

WEEK 181 — July 17-23, 2022

What we're listening to this week (Kristin's pick):

ALBUM: Deadpan Love

ARTIST: Cautious Clay

RELEASED: June 25, 2021

LOCATION: Cleveland, Ohio

WHAT GENRE IS THIS: R&B / hip hop

WHY KRISTIN PICKED IT: "I picked it because he's been one of my favorite artists for a few years. He's always on my Spotify Most Played list. I really love his lyrics. There are always a few line in each of his songs that really resonate with me. But I haven't really listened to his debut album all the way through from start to finish in a way that I feel like I should if I'm calling myself a fan. So it works out well for Record Club. It's also kind of short, so that's a plus."

 

TRACKLIST:

1. High Risk Travel
2. Shook
3. Karma & Friends
   
4. Strange Love
5. Box of Bones
   
6. Agreeable
7. Dying in the Subtlety
8. Why Is Your Clay So Cautious?
9. Artificial Irrelevance
10. Whoa
11. Wildfire
12. Spinner
13. Roots
14. Bump Stock
    

LENGTH: 33:08

 

WHERE TO LISTEN FOR FREE: YouTube

READING SOME SHIT: Here's an interview with Cautious Clay with what I would call a very foreboding headline (though maybe only because I hate "the algorithm," but y'all already knew that).

PREVIOUSLY ON RECORD CLUB: I knew I recognized this name from somewhere—Cautious Clay sings backup on John Mayer's "Carry Me Away" on Sob Rock. That means that Clay joins the shortlist of voices who have appeared on multiple Record Club albums. Find the full list on that Sob Rock write-up (and add Lucius, whom I forgot last time, they were on WoD and Styles).

Also probably worth noting that Cautious Clay's big break was his song "Cold War" getting sampled on Taylor Swift's "London Boy." I'm not familiar with either of those songs, and Taylor Swift is not currently a part of Record Club (though at least four people have suggested ineligible Swift albums for Record Club in the past), but I thought it was worth bringing up, if only because "London Boy" also features a spoken-word section by Idris Elba, who starred in The Wire, which we talked about a lot during the week we did John Campbell.

Happy listening, fam! Have a great week!