They Die By Dawn And Other Short Stories

It’s been 2 years since we were first teased with Close Your Eyes, and now the wait for The Bullits’ debut album is finally over.

Recorded and mixed at Miloco’s Musikbox studio, the record is an intriguing mix of Hip Hop, Rap and Electronica curated by super-connected, all-round talent, Jeymes Samuel – a songwriter, producer and filmmaker.

They Die By Dawn… is an interesting concept to say the least and is made even more appealing by the somewhat supergroup status. Essentially a collective recruited by and revolving around Samuels, The Bullitts consist of various members who dip in and out, including actress Lucy Lui, Jay Electronica and Idris Elba, but also enlisted are other famous names including Cornflake Girl, Tori Amos on track, Wait Until Tomorrow. With each release there is an accompanying short piece of cinema, perhaps an excuse to show off some more famous faces, but also to add another dimension to the music, too.

The title track and lead single is a modern take on a classic Western–style soundtrack, complete with the conventional Wild West brass, guitar finger picking and whistling, but infused with ultra cool beats and slick productions, topped off with some seriously skilled rapping. Tongue clicking imitates the clip-clopping of horse shoes as they gallop off into the distance. You can find out more about the film, They Die By Dawn here.

Murder, Death, Kill opens with a monoluge from Luicy Lui, with the evokative line “Killing someone is difficult…lying about it afterwards is the easy part”, before kicking into an authoritative falsetto from Samuels and some witty rapping from Jay Electronica – “A picture’s worth a thousand words, so welcome to the cinema”.

Continuing along the cinematic/soundtrack theme, Close Your Eyes sparks into action with majestic strings before another ‘in character’ narration by Lucy Lui is executed over a synth heavy accompaniment. If you’re going to listen to one track, make it this one – the rapping is oozing with American style and coolness, whilst still managing to remain dream-like and relaxed.

Landspeeder is one of the standout tracks on the record. With a simple, repeated guitar riff played throughout, it’s a laid back jam with big beats and smooth vocals. An occasional reverberating bass line and a catchy hook make this a real summer song. As the only acoustic track on the album, A World Inside Your Rainbow  is a tender, beautifully simple song featuring just Samuels’ vocal and guitar, a welcome step back from the polyphonic chaos of the rest of the album.

The Bullitts have delivered so much more than just a standard album with this release. It takes elements of the concept album from the 70′s, acts as a soundtrack to it’s own cinematic work and is a refreshing step outside the musical genre boundaries. With so many ideas, themes and plots, this easily could have been a disjointed and confusing offering, but somehow this just works!

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The Bullitts’ debut album was released 9th July Via Kilburn Lane Music.

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