C’est la vie: George Clanton’s Nostalgic Exuberance
A review of the vaporwave virutoso’s self-reflective third album, Ooh Rap I Ya.
The inaugural post for my revamped newsletter—or ‘new’ newsletter, if you weren’t here previously—is my review of George Clanton’s latest album, Ooh Rap I Ya, from a university media project. Of all the music released in 2023, it’s easily my favourite album, arriving at an especially tumultuous time in my life. It helped me pull myself together. Also, finally seeing him live since being a fan from his 2018 breakthrough, Slide, made the wait worth it. Ooh Rap I Ya is the culmination of his artistic progression.
I’m posting this review here because I’m immensely proud of it. I’ve slowly been writing other pieces for publications, hoping to express my admiration for good music. Here, I intend to write extensively about whatever interests me—it’ll be at my own pace too. Whether or not you’re interested in what I’m writing about, just the fact you’re reading this means the world to me.
Thank you, Dom
It’s been five years since George Clanton’s last studio album, Slide, but he’s kept busy. 2020’s deadbeat summer saw collaborations with Nick Hexum of ‘90s alternative rap-rock group 311, a feat that brought Clanton to tears, telling Bandcamp Daily in the same year. He’s just concluded an extensive world tour, and now back on his own, he’s conjuring nostalgic alternative dance recalling the impassioned synthpop from aeons past.
Ooh Rap I Ya, with its warbly kinetic sand artwork, is a fresh progression. Where 2018’s Slide was his first album fully recorded under his own name, introducing electric guitar and acoustic drums, its complexity was deceiving. Its blown out production was underscored by simple chord progressions. Conversely, his new album takes that evolution further. In a 2023 interview with Stereogum, Clanton described Ooh Rap I Ya as a “conscious attempt at making Grown Up Music about self-realisation.” His booming soundscapes are well-suited to his newly acute songwriting, featuring luscious melodies that rekindle better times. There still are his obvious alternative ‘90s influences, My Bloody Valentine and Primal Scream, and yet overall, they’re more distilled this time around. Ooh Rap I Ya is the maturation of his sound, with increased honesty and deeper personal reflection.
Opener ‘Everything I Want’ tricks the listener into sparse quietness until it explodes into maximal ethereality. As the overblown drums continue to sway, so does Clanton, donning the vocals of a strung-out Backstreet Boys: “No one, no one, no one but you”. It perfectly welcomes the listener to his new, rich musical world. On ‘Justify Your Life’, Clanton flaunts his new-found confidence, belting a massive chorus like he’s Oasis’ former lead singer Liam Gallagher. Clanton’s deep appreciation for ‘90s music, culture, and aesthetics is more than surface-level revivalism—he grew up in that era and is drenching it in newness. After all, Clanton is 35 years old—he was there.
Lead single ‘I Been Young’ is the album’s centrepiece, where the boundaries for ‘90s revivalism are pushed to their limits—with great success. It’s Clanton’s attempt at remaking boyband music if they had producers with substance. The result is a powerful dance pop hit tinged with a humane poignancy. “Growing up is never easy / Can’t you see how life is blinding you?”—Clanton sings fervently, delivering his profound words with the same energy as Tears For Fears’ revered ‘Everybody Wants to Rule the World’. Its existential call to coming-of-age is later repeated, cementing itself as anthemic as that ‘80s new wave staple. The emotive song marks the all-encompassing culmination of Clanton’s escapism into a nostalgic world. While it may sound tried and true to Gen X, ‘I Been Young’ is refreshing, exciting, and sentimental for Gen Z and beyond. It’s purposeful pop of the highest calibre.
Though equally glowing, the album’s middle section takes a psychedelic turn, in tune with the hodgepodge Play-Doh artwork. ‘You Hold the Key and I Found It’ is a long-drawn trip hop groove driven by world music flutes. Its serenity is pleasant, but overstays its welcome with little development. ‘Vapor King / SubReal’, meanwhile, initially chugs with thick echoes as its second part diverges into a rattling jungle drum ‘n’ bass beat. It leads into ‘F.U.M.L.’, a fuzzy, bass-heavy breakbeat banger reminiscent of early ‘90s Chemical Brothers. The dreamy and distorted vocals of Neggy Gemmy expand on the track’s suffocating chaos.
The title track ‘Ooh Rap I Ya’, a seemingly random mixture of syllables, breathes cheerful life with a nonchalant cadence: “I believe there’s more to life than this”. The gleefully optimistic bop celebrates living through life, as the chirpy blips and melodic piano chords elicit a wide grin. Then, ‘For You, I Will’ with Australian dream pop artist Hatchie is an insurmountable shoegazing wall of sound—the closest to Clanton’s vaporwave era. Clanton’s blissed-out bellowed howls are matched by his guest’s sing-songy chants, tying together the gargantuan soundscape that flushes over the listeners’ ears.
Clanton’s attention to songcraft has never been more intoxicating. Without any irony, he’s integrated the sounds of the past to make his most introspective album yet. Not one song sounds clustered despite the high-density. That and Clanton’s grounding lyricism reinforce the album’s triumphant emotional intensity. All in all, Ooh Rap I Ya is a spiritual guiding hand for those clinging onto optimism. Clanton’s exhilarating love letter to self-reflection is simply a life-affirming beauty.
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Stay tuned, and take care of yourselves! 💜