Kate Tempest - Let Them Eat Chaos

To open, a sparse spoken word piece sets the scene (beautifully, beautifully). We are taken to a soft world whose ‘blues make you feel love’: but then come, industry, grime, beats annunciate the words - you can imagine. We are taken to London, and Kate asks (we ask) ‘what am I to make, of all this?’. Lionhead Doorknocker introduces the album’s seven characters: the only seven awake on the street at 4.18am. Separately, they tell us of alienation, love, drugs, high paying jobs, ‘all this stuff’ and this ‘thing’ that is life. When she really gets going (I’d say it takes four songs) she is irritatingly powerful. Her didactic lyricism is supported by hip hop and grime influences, and some intelligent mastering allows her vocal tenderness to hold through.  Tempest’s poetry punctuates the album, and gives us a point of reference by which to understand the characters.  There’s some sweet use of contrasts (see the poignant We Die - ‘we get old so others can be young’, followed by the messy grime beats of post-night-out Whoops). There is real energy. The last words on the album: ‘wake up, and love more’. The last sound: a kick pedal mimicking a heartbeat.

9/10