☆☆☆☆.5
Image: Tim Swallow.
The wait is over, Cordi Elba has arrived! ARIA Award winners Lime Cordiale have teamed up with British actor, writer, producer, rapper and singer-songwriter, Idris Elba to bring you a mini-album full of crunchy goodness.
Written alongside the duos longtime producer and co-writer David K Haddad, the charming body of work pushes the boundaries of Lime Cordiale's signature breezy sonics, with Elba's unique and textural performance providing the perfect, if somewhat unexpected, musical partner for the duo. Elba fearlessly leads Lime Cordiale into new territory, bringing his own hip-hop and R&B background to the project to create a quirky and distinctive body of work that stands apart from anything either artist has previously delivered.
“We’ve been catapulted into new territory with Idris and this has inevitably influenced the future of Lime Cordiale,” Oli says. “He gave us permission to break out of our genre and it’s going to be interesting where this takes us with new music." Idris says, “I’d be honoured to help their exposure in the UK. I am hoping to jump on stage with them when they tour.”
Frontman Louis Leimbach's charming vocals perfectly compliment Elba's easy-going flow on Apple Crumble, before Elba's booming vocals take the lead on their latest single Holy Moley. Weaving together notes of hip hop and dub, the track navigates the darjer side of fame fuelled by expectations and substance abuse. We're then introduced at a whole new fuzzy realm for the project on What's Not To Like, anthem to stay true to your own course and shake off the opinions of others built upon riotous riffs and propelling percussion.
“Idris wrote most of the lyrics, I know it’s about the danger of alcohol within the entertainment industry but I think there are lyrics that he didn’t completely explain to us. Apple Crumble and What’s Not To Like were a bit more literal, so I love the fact that even we don’t know the depth of this song. You’d have to ask Idris,” says Louis of Holy Moley.
Leimbach's dynamic vocals return on Ditto, a funk-infused cut that brings a more demure vibe, before picking up again on Holiday. At moments, the release takes on a call-and-response format, with the two artists playing off each other and working together to draw out moments of musical mastery. The mini-album closes with new version of Lime Cordiale's 2020 track, Unnecessary Things, the first piece the duo worked on with Elba whilst he was in town filming Marvel's latest blockbuster, Thor: Love and Thunder
“We wrote everything together,” Oli says. “We were all writing lyrics – it wasn't our music or his music, it was smack bang down the middle with every lyric.” Elba adds, “I wanted to collaborate. We agreed about the vibe and the song was there. They were really open to ideas; it was an opportunity for me to write songs I normally wouldn’t write. Ultimately, this is a step into a new universe musically for me.”
Cordi Elba is out now!
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