SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MDOU MOCTAR – FUNERAL FOR JUSTICE

MDOU MOCTAR
FUNERAL FOR JUSTICE
MATADOR RECORDS

Mdou Moctar is back with their studio album, Funeral For Justice. It is a record that bursts with sensation and life through a psychedelic rock energy not felt in years to make a work definitely worth a listen, but thanks to its awe-inspiring vocals and songwriting, it is, even better, a true highlight for a remarkable band.

The opening track, “Funeral For Justice”, really sets the whole thing up in a fast and true rock style. It is a banging track filled with vocals that feel like consumption feeding into the roaring and unforgettably transfixing sound. On its own, this song captures the great features of pure, bare rock at its most distinctive. Filled with nice, loud vocals that really keep up with the sound. Despite all of this, there are some very minor slip-ups that will be mentioned later, but besides that, it is quite a strong opening that captures not just what album you’re about to listen to but also the experience you’re about to embark on. If I had to describe this in the most basic form, simply put, it stands out to a high degree compared to any LP being released. Even more, it highlights one of the most standout bands in recent times at what seems to be their peak.

Funeral For Justice feels like an album that everyone has waited for, mainly thanks to its use of rock. Rock, to a degree, feels missing in many ways from most music coming out. If there is rock, it usually doesn’t go this hard to the level Funeral For Justice takes it. One reason is that it is truly hard to do it well. A major one is keeping up with all that goes on. While this album mainly succeeds, it does slip up slightly here. Albeit slightly. If there is one element hurting this album, it would be a slight issue with the vocals. At points throughout some tracks, it feels as if the vocals struggle to keep up with the sounds that intoxicate every piece of this work. Though, despite this minor issue, there is another critique of this album. A slight one about the drumming. The drumming is nice in the opening track, which really sets the mood, but a feeling of overreliance on them drains some tracks of variety and ingenuity. While it can help to bring life into certain tracks, it can make others feel slightly overindulgent based on the lack of uniqueness and distract from an album that feels as though it attempts a range of styles but feels all taken down a notch. These critiques, though quite minor compared to the brilliance expounded here, are tiny issues that are quite noticeable in the experience Funeral For Justice delivers.

Overall, Mdou Moctar delivers another blazing and quite intoxicating album on Funeral For Justice.

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