So you’ve all heard of this Sampology dude, right? He’s kinda blowing up at the moment due to his pop-culture-mashing Ritalin-sniffing shows. Well the boy who swallowed the internet is about to get a whole heap bigger cause his debut album comes out tomorrow and it's a rippa.
While his live performances showcase his insane creativity and a profound understanding of pop culture, they don’t necessarily show just how good a producer he is. Doomsday Deluxe puts this right. To be honest, I expected a mixtape-style album full of cheesy pop culture references and hyped up breakdowns. Please don’t get me wrong; I was looking forward to it. However, what Sampology has delivered in his debut long player is a collection real songs.
It’s hard to describe the sound of Doomsday Deluxe without mentioning a certain collaboration between Diplo and Switch, but I’m going to do my best. There's a modern Jamaican dancehall theme running consistently through the album but the way the tracks are built around the sweaty 'I wanna booty shake all night' vibe that sets it apart.
There are synth lines that would make Giorgio Moroder's 'stache tingle. DD’s rhythm section borrows from a diverse pick and mix of genres, covering everything from post-dubstep right through to afrobeat. The album has a strong presence of pad-triggered samples that defined his early sound, though they are used sparingly, making room for a richer and more varied sound.
And of course, there's Sampology’s warped sense of humour spread throughout the album, no more so than in 'Attack of the Cats', a song about attacking cats. Duh.
'Stars' featuring Hannah Macklin, is the first single from this album and naturally the song with the most commercial appeal. I can’t stop listening to it. It takes the best elements of modern R'n'B while neglecting the elements that generally lead to bleeding of the ears, something I didn't think was possible. While the few songs which feature vocal artist are certainly the ones that stand out, the "album fillers" are great too and leaves the album sitting somewhere between a listener and a party album.
Doomsday Deluxe feels like the result of Sam having some serious down time, being able to sit in a studio and flesh out ideas. It's like telling Michelangelo he could stop doodling on cocktail napkins and giving him the ceiling of a chapel to paint on instead. Okay lets not get to carried away, this album definitely isn't no Sistine Chapel but you get my point. This album that has complexity, depth and soul the likes of which he had yet to reveal. A pleasant surprise and one that's going to get a bit of a flogging around the office.
WORDS: Tim O'Shea