Categorizing an artist like HeIsTheArtist isn’t easy when trying to use the standard labeling that applies to most performers in 2020. When listening to his new EP, Adam & Eve, there’s a general sense of continuity to the music we hear in tracks like “Boom – The Explosion,” “Sometimes / I Want You Around” and “Boom – Remastered,” and yet it isn’t sourced from a structural familiarity or, for that matter, any sort of basic genre blueprint. In Adam & Eve, anything can happen; HeIsTheArtist came into this record to express himself, and using every tool at his disposal, he does just that in this amazingly well-rounded and remarkably eclectic extended play.
The vocal is seemingly woven directly into the instrumentation in “High Fashion” and “Lovin’ You,” leaving absolutely but the harmony in the spotlight as the lyrics come in and out of focus throughout the tracks. HeIsTheArtist never puts much weight into the poeticisms presented in his verses; there’s the feeling that we’re getting more than metaphors in a performance like “Boom – Love Version,” and it comes almost exclusively from the method of execution employed for that specific track. There’s nothing hodgepodge or thrown together about Adam & Eve – I get the feeling that this record was pieced together slowly rather than all at once, if for no other reason than to avoid misinterpretations of its purpose. This player’s creative priorities are made more than clear to the listener from start to finish, and paramount above all is the preservation of compositional integrity (even in the case of the three cover songs here).
It’s not easy assembling an EP that is equally comprised of original and cover material, but all the same, HeIsTheArtist makes it sound like a rather simple operation in Adam & Eve. He demonstrates an immense amount of versatility in his arranging of “High Fashion” (originally cut by the incomparable Roddy Ricch just last year), “Sometimes / I Want You Around” (a medley of Brittany Spears and Snoh Aalegra tunes) and “Lovin’ You” (the Minnie Riperton classic), and though the original content consists solely of “Boom” in three versions – the remastered cut, a slow jam “Love” mix and a smothering indie version “The Explosion” – it’s a multilayered look for sure. This guy has a lot of ability, and he’s only scratching the surface in this record.
APPLE MUSIC: https://music.apple.com/us/album/adam-eve-ep/1526330763
If you’ve been hearing good stuff about HeIsTheArtist and, like me, are curious to get to know his sound, Adam & Eve is absolutely the right sampler to get this September. HeIsTheArtist doesn’t try to front with a lot of cinematic fireworks here, and he definitely steers clear of the overindulgences that have been plaguing a lot of his competition in recent times – the truth is, he doesn’t need those kinds of bells and whistles to get the attention of a large audience right now. With his natural skills alone, I think this performer will be able to have a major impact on his scene a lot sooner than later.
Jodi Marxbury