Dominic Fike sticks to what works on his new album.
Following four singles, led by the major hit “White Keys”, and a three-week delay, Dominic Fike’s How To Quit Smoking arrived on streaming services on October 30th. There are some albums which represent a reinvention of an artist’s sound or identity, doing something entirely new or experimenting heavily. Fike’s third studio LP isn’t one of those albums – not that it has to be, in all fairness.
Kicking off the album, “Wallflower” sets the tone nicely, showing the listener what to expect from the project. The instrumentation is typically varied and well put together, with great synths in the intro and outro and some really fun guitar moments in the middle section; and the production is vivid and colorful, contrasting with a less positive tone in some of the lyrics. Following that song, “Small Town” shows off another one of the album’s strengths – an infectious, laid-back groove built largely on the back of a fantastic bass line. The bass work on large parts of the tracklist is excellent – not overdone technically, but shaping the rhythm of the songs perfectly. The mixes also allow the bass to be quite prominent, which strengthens the grooves even further. The bass is a large part of the merit of several highlight tracks, such as “Reno” or “Cabby”, as well as others like “Casting Call” or “Squeeze”.
The production in general remains sharp throughout, with each instrumental resonant and present; the soundscape is varied and quite versatile from track to track, while maintaining a common airy atmosphere throughout. The composition of some of the instrumentation is quite strong as well, with highlight segments including the guitar riff on the aforementioned “Reno”, or the piano motif central to “Honeylove”.
The album has its flaws, though. Some songs feel like there could’ve been more put into them; nine of the fifteen tracks are either shorter or insignificantly beyond the 2,5 minute mark, with “Casting Call” even dropping below two minutes. Quite a few of them feel like they end rather abruptly or earlier than they should. Fike’s rapping is typically effortless and laid-back, a little too much so at times. The mention of Labubus on “Pangea” instantly makes that song feel significantly more dated than it would otherwise – and the lyrics in general, while mostly serviceable, don’t really stand out in any way.
The features are something of a mixed bag, too. Rapper Jorjiana’s appearance on “City of Steel” isn’t anything to write home about, and the phone conversation with incarcerated rapper Tay-K occupying the majority of the outro “Spotlight/Inner Child” is rather bizarre and a strange way to end the album. On the other side, Danny Brown’s deadpan delivery on “Not The Spirit” is typically unorthodox and adds an interesting layer to the track; singer-songwriter Emma Ogier contributes well on both of her appearances (“Small Town” and “Cabby”); and Grace Ives’ vocals enhance “Honeylove” significantly as well.
Overall, for listeners who already enjoy Dominic Fike’s music, How To Quit Smoking will deliver on everything they’re looking for; it shows off all his strengths and unique traits as an artist quite well, with plenty of catchy moments and fun instrumental parts and production. However, as previously mentioned, it’s anything but a radical reinvention; it’s a little predictable at times, and it has its issues, a lot of which are similar to issues present in Fike’s previous music. Still, that doesn’t stop it from overall being an enjoyable, well-made album.
7.0/10
