★★☆☆☆
Brendan Tuckerman, better known as Tuka and member of hip hop collective Thundamentals, has gone out and rehashed his 2015 full-lengthLife Death Time Eternalas an EP made up of acoustic and live versions of the formerly released songs.
It nails that brand of indie/hipster hip hop – let’s call it hipstop – which is best showcased in lead single ‘L.D.T.E.’ Here Tuka ponders the meaning of life and the feeling of being just a mere speck amongst the universe using some well composed melodic patterns. It’s this kind of introspective lyrical style that sets Tuka apart from some of his hipstop contemporaries.
As we’ve come to expect, the EP is interlaced with female vocals that convey some of the raw emotion of Tuka’s lyrics, especially in the track ‘Tattoo’. Tuka finishes off the EP with his triple j Like A Version cover of ‘Big Jet Plane’ – an odd choice, given the song has been covered by a number of high-profile artists to varying degrees of success in the past.
Points are lost here for a lack of originality, but then again, the crux of this EP isn’t exactly original. In fact, that’s almost the point.
Tuka’sAlive Death Time Eternalis out now on EMI.
