The 30th of September saw Manchester 3-piece narcissus release their new single. OSM took a little listen…
“Can we get a yeah for hip hop?” Chuck D asks, as his inspirational speech from 2012’s Beastie Boys induction to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is sampled. These words begin an homage to the genre as this one, taken from their ‘a sense of place’ debut album, is a self-proclaimed love letter to hip hop.
A steady beat, flooded with well mixed samples and an ecstatic DOOM video game-esque guitar loop, ‘once a thief’ inevitably will have listeners tuning in to the long-awaited debut collection. Selected samples negotiate the clear messages of not only the trio, but also perhaps their view of their beloved genre.
“Show people that, look man, this is not a joke. This is not a passing fad. This is not kids’ music.”
“Be together, play together, stay together. Together forever.”
Chris James, a member of the trifecta, reflected on ‘once a thief’:
“From Grandmaster Flash taking two slabs of vinyl and looping the drum break on a record, to Public Enemy and Chuck D educating the masses with a mastery of the power of words. From Rick Rubin combining guitars and beats and the Beastie Boys ruling the world, to Run DMC sampling The Stone Roses and proving the power of sampling can take you anywhere. The spirit and sense of adventure of those pioneers and their ideas have often been the foundation of a narcissus track and ‘once a thief’ is our love letter to hip hop.”
Listen to narcissus and their latest album that came out on Friday. Admittedly, the group suggest their tunes will strike a chord with fans of The Hip Hop Nation, The Chemical Brothers, Daft Punk, and LCD Soundsystem.
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