Why SYRE is the Best Album of The Year
I’ve said the sentence “this is the best album of the year” three times in 2017, and each time I meant it — each time, the album surpassed the last one. The first time was with Ed Sheeran’s ‘÷’ back in March, when that hit immediate and mainstream success and he finally got me interested in his work. The second time was with the ICONIC AND INCREDIBLE comeback of Kesha, with her party anthems and soulful ballads in ‘Rainbow’ that actually touched and then broke my heart. The third time was only on the 17th of November, when Jaden Smith’s ‘SYRE’ was released and changed my life.
From beginning to end, ‘SYRE’ tells the story of a rebel, a renegade, a revolutionary, “a boy who chased the sunset until it chased him”. Told through Smith’s not-particularly-surprising-but-still-phenomenal rapping, SYRE has seventeen songs that make you feel like you’re floating through the vast and empty universe, or lying in the middle of a mountain road at sunset, or sitting in a chair as the world’s layers all become visible to you at once and suddenly you can see sounds and taste music and every breath is like breathing in an entire ocean as whales swim through the open air.
‘SYRE’ contains a multitude of genres with a vast array of messages, paying homage to Kanye West in ‘Lost Boy’ and hitting the charts all over the place with his singles. So why is it the best album of the year? Because it takes the listener on a journey through house parties and concert stadiums, on the open road in the desert and sitting in a diner in a neon-lit city. There is every inch of youth torn open and splashed out over the lyrics and Jaden Smith’s voice is like a lapping tide at the edge of your mind, pushing and pulling all negative feelings until they’ve faded into an ocean of poetic lyrics and stunning hooks.
No matter how romantic ‘÷’ was, or how fun Rainbow continues to be, or how great a whole host of artists performed this year with their new albums, it’s Jaden Smith’s debut that changed the game. It’s ‘SYRE’ that makes me feel like I’m suspended in an endless body of water, and ‘SYRE’ that brings a sense of bliss with heartfelt lyrics. It’s ‘SYRE’ that can say “But when that light gets low, he’s invincible | So much soul that he redefined inevitable” and make me want to cry.
SYRE was released on the 17th of November, 2017, and is available to listen to on Spotify and iTunes.
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With thanks to Bekah Mayne
