SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: MICHAEL HAMPTON – INTO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN

MICHAEL HAMPTON
INTO THE PUBLIC DOMAIN
INDEPENDENT

Longtime Parliament-Funkadelic guitarist Michael Hampton has released his latest solo album. Into the Public Domain marks the first release from Hampton as a part of his current project that will be unveiled through a pair of EPs and a full-length album, released between now and spring of next year. Musically, this collection is centred around an instrumental fusion tone, blending elements of rock, jazz, and world music together. While available digitally, Hampton is also offering the album free via a QR code trading card at live shows, offering a disruptive distribution method oddly reminiscent of P-Funk.

Into the Public Domain opens with the acid-washed psychedelia of “Fight or Flight Response,” a song built on a collision of island vibes and rock guitars. Hampton leads the track with a bombastic flair that ebbs with the dynamics of the song as his guitar shifts from a haunting whisper into stratospheric soloing, demonstrating an impending intensity to the track. Similarly, the following song, “Savanna” is a loose reggae-based jam, accented by synthy horns and winding guitars that take the listener through a unique harmonic passage.

Throughout the remaining seven songs, Hampton takes on funk, Latin, jazz fusion, and rock, each with a daring degree of conviction and focus. Furthermore, the album is overflowing with exceptional guitar work that is both reserved and excessive in just the right moments. In this context, Hampton demonstrates a level of musicianship that feels virtuosic, as he presents a unique voice in his electric guitar, guiding the listener through a wide range of styles that feels oddly cohesive, despite the post-genre approach to Into the Public Domain. Highlights include “Public Domain,” “Canyon Jam,” and “4 Out Of 5 Doctors (Live At Sunset Sound).”

Hampton proves his worth as both a guitarist and a songwriter on Into the Public Domain, an album that, at its core, serves as a song experiment for Hampton to flex his musicality through a highly versatile body of work. As such the inaugural record from Hampton’s current project marks a point of interest among the growing wealth of material to emerge from the Parliament-Funkadelic alumni community.

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