Just before Autumn began to cleave leaves from the trees, Marlowe (producer L’Orange & emcee Solemn Brigham) released their debut, eponymously titled, roughshod rap record to widespread acclaim from fans. Despite being the duo’s debut album, the record had the type of organic chemistry you expect from well established groups – in part because the L’Orange & Solemn Brigham have been friends for nearly a decade and had been making music since the start.
“Brigham lays down the kind of breathless, jam-packed lines that encourage rewinds.” – Pitchfork
Microwave journalists searched from easy to use comparisons such as Madvillainy, but for discerning listeners the record broke new ground for L’Orange with production that reached into the psychedelic and drew from genres as varying as surf and experimental. Solemn’s original flow and baritone delivery seemed to wrap itself in metaphor and then spin free with the type of rotational energy that left listeners dizzy with the sheer force of bars the newcomer delivered. The vortex created by the two musicians drew fans into a world that felt like a night out in an unfamiliar city yet reminiscent of places you’d always loved. Today, the pair talked with DeadEndHipHop about the record for a new interview and decided to debut an unreleased track for fans as well: Vagrant.
Album Available Now! L’Orange & Solemn Brigham – Marlowe
“A spaced out Afrofuturist mind-f*ck of the highest order”
-Afropunk
Released on Mello Music Group, Marlowe is a triumph of ambition, a rap bricolage blending prohibition and civil rights-era samples with Asian psychedelic rock flourishes. Solemn is an artist perennially seeking something to fight for, channeling energy from the music of the civic rights era, stealing timeless rhythms and inflection from classic funk and soul. An old soul with original ideas, tapping into the eternal reservoir of Sam Cooke to Ice Cube, Otis Redding to Chuck D, Curtis Mayfield to KRS-One.
“plunges into rap’s psychedelic deep end” – Pitchfork
With dazzling cinematic mise en scene, L’Orange crafts a world that sounds like an old-time medicine show dropped into 90s Brooklyn. Cymbals crash, drums pound, fuzzy guitars ride out, a bronze rain of horns cascade. This is gorgeous celestial dust, high-powered fuel with every syllable meticulously ordained. Marlowe cracked the case, but how they did it can only become clear under deeper investigation.
