A Happy Man Review

 

    Dende is undeniably a large unknown in the industry at the moment. He has released two solid projects prior to this new album A Happy Man, and while most likely to remain anonymous among the mainstream, this new album is another strong entry into his catalog. Laced with a variety of groovy, colorful synths and a gorgeous cinematic array of chords and charismatic vocals, the project serves as a musical odyssey into his amalgamating streams of thought. A Happy Man presents his emotions and experiences in a uniquely thematic exhibit that aims to chronicle his journey through the turbulent ups and downs of life, centering on Dende’s happiness and his pain, ultimately revealing the emotional rollercoaster of a journey he has experienced while seeking out a peaceful salvation from sorrow and trauma.

    The album blends the R&B genre with melodic jazz rap continuously throughout the record, with tracks having layered combinations of both or strictly leaning in either direction. Whether it is the vocal harmonies, the soulful percussion or the beautifully cinematic synth and chord arrangements, this record has a lot of variety that is streamlined to fit the thematic messages and artistic style of Dende’s music quite well. This genre-bending aesthetic Dende presents allows this album to feel extremely fresh and provides some very revealing, almost surprising moments on the record in which Dende conveys vulnerable insights into his persona. He presents a duality of emotions in the forms of joy and despair that are acted upon throughout the album by a collection of tangible experiences, those being mental health struggles, lost loves and the uncertainty of his true self. The introduction to the album “A Happy Man” serves as the beginning of this journey as he emphatically lays out in the lyrics that before the releases of his two previous records he lost family members before each of them. The production is gorgeous, as it opens with some moody acoustic chords, slowly evolving with the onset of a delicate kick drum and shapeless synth notes echoing behind the subtle snaps supporting this beautiful track. “Close2u” sees Dende singing about his desperation to be with this girl again, as he sings “I just want to be close to you again babe.” The track is a crooning slow jam vibe, complete with some emotional guitar harmonies spliced into the cut, providing a distant sense of sorrow and desire. This track allows for an interesting insight because even if Dende isn’t happy now, broken relationships and heartbreak are inevitable and necessary experiences in life, so this song being on here seems to be a testament to his healing and acceptance.

    The Album’s theme of searching for happiness is presented most noticeably on the first track “A Happy Man,” then in the middle of the record on “A Happy Man’s Demons.” The song features skeletal production in the form of a relaxed kick drum and a synth note slowly rising and falling as Dende raps from two perspectives; the first being himself contemplating what happiness is, then the other as a “demon” which is introduced with the assistance of auto tune to deepen his voice. The demon’s voice serves as the foil to Dende on this track, acting as the negative voice in his head telling him that he will never be successful, thus never being truly happy. Dende’s emotional concept is tied up as the other tracks progress, with cuts like “I Cried” revealing vulnerable moments about Dende’s past. The track’s production gorgeously blends jazzy trip-hop and R&B together with the groovy percussion, moody bassline and the ethereal chords emanating from the instrumentation. The vocals are a combination of rapping and singing, with the chorus vividly exemplifying Dende’s amazing voice.

    Special moments on this record occur quite often but the track “Say Sum” is arguably the best, due to the catchiness of the 808-snare combo and the beautiful harmonies created by the chords and synths. Dende’s vocals are wonderful and the melodic rap from OLA on the feature is just as good so there are no moments that come off as dull or uninspired. The final cut on this record is “I Smile,” and it serves as the closer to a cinematic, emotional journey from Dende. The vocal performance from Dende combined with the elegant instrumentation creates for a diaphanous, triumphant ending to a meaningful project.

    Dende’s ability to merge hip-hop and R&B aspects of music into his records is a rare talent and even more uncommon is the fact that he does it while harnessing a meaningful concept throughout. The themes of this record lead me to believe that the cuts on here would be overwhelmingly sad or mired in stale tones of sorrow, regret and depression. A Happy Man does not fall victim to this these vices and Dende’s performances on here deserve a heaping quantity of praise and admiration. Some of the features on here were a bit lackluster and disappointing, but the overall quality exuded by Dende and the sheer gorgeousness of the sonic textures of the project are testaments to the potential he has, with him chronicling his journey to happiness a giant leap forward for his career.

Score: 8/10