Album Review: Allan Rayman Tells The Story of Harry Hard-On
If Bill Withers went on a “Fear & Loathing In Las Vegas” quest, you would get Allan Rayman’s new album: Harry Hard-On. It is soul meets self-destruction and rebirth; with Rayman’s voice coming off like a man tight-roping across emotional edges. The result is a sound/album that will have people enamored.
There are those that believe humanity likes a “fall.” As a society, we enjoy too much seeing someone stray from their grace. Though I do not think this thought is wrong, I do believe there is more nuance. Part of Allan Rayman’s charm as a songwriter is that he goes for the self-loathing and self-mistaking we all commit. It is not that the world loves “fall from grace;” it is that we understand them. Rayman’s verses show how love can go from the most beautiful rose to the deadest flower, and it all because YOU forgot to water it. Thus, his music scintillates sultry synths and melodramatic moods.
Harry Hard-On is both metaphoric and allegoric; using vivid, vivacious verses to bring to life the world and mind of a man in pain. “Peach,” “Rose,” ‘Amy,” and “Never No Good” have Rayman singing as if he is in a room taking a lie-detector test administered by his heart. With guitar checks, he sees how many truths and fibs he has told, not just others, but himself. After all, every lie you give begins with you, and Rayman never veers from choice and will as proponents to the dark situations we can get ourselves into. Thus, every chord, key, and snare warps like you have been offered a handful of psychedelics, and Rayman’s voice is your sub-conscious.
Allan Rayman – Repeat ft. Jessie Reyez
Rayman’s vocality scrapes and cuts through your thoughts like concrete does to skin. The minute you fall fast is the also the second he grabs and leaves you gushing open. This artist is a master at showing self-isolation as an epidemic. His rich, cocoa voice is, literally, tastable, but melts and kicks your budded sentiments as if they are 80% Cacao. He is trying to be as pure and raw as he can be in delivering a sound that feels like twisted candy. Once again, this dynamic is irresistible to people. Everyone, at least once, will mess up something that was good for them, and Allan Rayman sings for those times when you wish you could take back the choice, but are learning to accept that all you can take is the lesson. For More Information On Allan Rayman And To Buy Harry Hard-On on November 16 Click Here.
