The Range - Potential

The Range
Potential
2016
Spotify

Sampling in many ways has become a bit of an archaic endeavor. You don't find it all that much in modern music, and often when it is used it is met with a sense of disdain. That is until you hear The Range do it. He has such a profound sense of confidence in his music and in his delivery that something in the hands of someone else may sound hallow takes on a whole new rich life. Potential sounds like you are hearing something for the very first time, even though the vehicle that is delivering it to you may be old and dated, the product is just next level. Though Potential will fit firmly in the Dance/Electronic genre The Range uses that base to explore hip hop, electropop or anything else He runs in to. The singers or samples that He uses aren't coming from the usual crop of polished and ready pop stars instead he digs deeper, finding interesting and unique voices to round out his sound. The music itself is very present yet also ambient, it is a relationship between a DJ and his audience, that symbiotic thing that anyone who has experienced a rave or a really great DJ knows about. It is almost indescribable the connection that develops when a crowd and a DJ come into some kind of union with each other, but that sentiment is all over Potential. 

"Five Four" which features rap vocals around a beautiful piano track is next level good. It is a shame that this track could not find it's way to another more accomplished MC, but that may take away from some of the magic of the song. The rawness, the hunger and the always pushing mentality that permeates this album is where it derives all it's power. Each track has it's own very distinct identity and they often don't mix in together well track to track, but you can hear the underlying strings that would pull the whole thing together. There is an overarching darkness to the whole record, but interestingly not in a negative way. Somehow The Range is able to take that dark feeling and turn it into something positive, something that the listener wants to be a part of. This is quite evident on tracks like "No Loss" where the lack of vocals allows you to put yourself right in there with the track. And that is the crux of most of this record, it wants you to participate, it wants you to leave the album better than you arrived to it something that is not only noble, but also quite amazing. This is one of those records that unfortunately will fall through the cracks not because it is lacking, but because there is not a machine behind it pushing it forward. Buck the trend, turn off some of that bullshit you are listening to now and experience something truly special and real. Just go listen to this record.

8.9 out of 10