Footsteps – Is That Foot Vol.1 EP – Review

July 3, 2020

Footsteps: Is That Foot Vol.1 EP Review – Mr Topple for Pauzeradio.com.

London-based artist Footsteps’ plans to release his debut EP were thrown off-kilter due to the coronavirus pandemic. Fortunately, not for long – as this highly talented act has finally released it. And it was well worth the wait.

Footsteps Is That Foot Vol.1, released via My-iSh Music, is a completely self-assembled album from this technically skilled artist – doing all the compositions, lyrics and production. No mean feat – but he’s pulled it off with class and ingenuity.

The EP opens with Intro, and immediately sets the tone for the rest of the record. It’s a brooding, unsettling mash-up of Drill and some Funk and Hip Hop moments thrown into the mix, too – which is spilt into two halves. Present throughout is (what sounds like) a synth electric guitar line: five notes, the first and the last hitting beat one and four, and the three in between being across dotted rhythms. This winding flow is a constant across the track.

In the first part of Intro, the sparse hi-hat/snare arrangement with its stuttering, offbeat-led rhythm and buzz rolls is pure Drill. It’s complimented by a kick which hits the one and the off after the third. Snaps hit the final off, first once then twice on the second bar of the phrase, but coming in first directly on the fourth. The rounded, full 808 does a dotted crotchet-quaver-beamed-to-crotchet rhythm, giving the track momentum at the start of each bar which the percussion then picks up. The brilliant use of rasping, high-passed synth horns bring some Funk into the mix. Then, the string arrangement compliments these: glorious yet delicate; slinking in and out, working across semibreves and adding depth to the already heavy atmospherics.

A bridge divides the two parts up, where the synth horns’ riff goes down an octave, an electric organ picks up the synth guitars dotted rhythm and the percussion stops. It’s all a bit otherworldly.

But part two then gets busier. The hi-hats/snare up the syncopation, heading into more Hip Hop realms with the attention being drawn to the latter. The bass changes rhythm, hitting the one and then offs and ons after the third. The inclusion of a G-funk synth whistle which then morphs into a choral vocal sound, both working off a new melody, is inspired. And Footsteps’ vocal arrangement is pure class – working around compressed secondary lines, serving as responses to the main vocal’s call. Intro is utterly perfect; brooding and unsettling in every way – and sets a high bar for the rest of the EP.

My Type moves Is That Foot Vol.1 into straighter Afrobeats-RnB territory and features the vocals of Remel London. The driving forces of the track include the snare, on a classic rhythm via the final semiquaver before the second beat, then coupling up with the hi-hat for a roll into the fourth. The latter also drops some buzz rolls into the mix, just before the one drops in. They also focus on the offbeats, pushing home the Afrobeats vibe. The kick does a two-bar phrase, dropping on the one and the offbeat between the three and four; doubling up on the first beat in the second bar. This whole arrangement compounds the Afrobeats feel, and serves to give My Type its momentum.

The bass is the other dominant line, working of a half Dancehall clave (‘oneeeeee-twooo-and’), before dropping beats three and four, returning on the final off. Again, it’s a classic Afrobeats device – and coupled with the drums brings forward motion. Then, the use of a synth organ adds some RnB flavours, as it works around the root triads with some elongated reverb added. Footsteps has added that G-funk synth whistle again, in as a counter melodic line, but it’s low-passed and dampened (as opposed to the raspier, high-passed sound use back in the 90s). Some well-placed breaks (“bang-bang-bang” is a stroke of genius) finish the arrangement off – and the whole thing is a blissed-out, attractive and almost Afrobeats goes to Toronto via Blackstreet affair.

Doktor comes on board for Take Time and the EP takes on a more AfroDancehall vibe. Djembe work around double time rhythms; the snare does that Afrobeats riff again as does the kick, and snaps drop in and out. But Footsteps has taken that AfroDancehall sound one step further. Because the main instrumental focus actually lies in two areas. Firstly, the string arrangement is fascinating. As opposed to a bass guitar sound or 808, he’s used strings in the bass clef for this role. The arrangement is stripped back, with the sparse, bowed across one beat rhythm stretched over two bars. Then, treble clef counterparts add some flourish on the chorus, sliding in just before the one drops and stretching across beats two and three. The addition of what sounds like a synth atenteben, on a syncopated riff, adds to the ‘Afro’ part of the track – while an always on-point Doktor brings some rhythmically intricate singjay to compliment Footsteps vocal. The end result is an extremely clever cut, which could easily sit at home on Vybz Kartel’s latest project. ‘Nice Tingz’ from the two ‘Dons’.

Next, and Do Me Something moves Is That Foot Vol.1’s sound forward again, this time featuring Moelogo. The BPM is upped, with that Afrobeats hi-hat snare line still dominant – but more embellished. Tom-toms feature centrally for the first time, dropping generally just before the end of each bar. The kick works off a broken clave, with the bass mimicking this. It sounds like Footsteps is also giving a nod to Reggae – as you’d be forgiven for thinking a melodica casually drops in and out at points. He nods again, with a pacey but recognisable electric guitar skank entering the mix. Footsteps love of strings is also apparent, again, as they bow gently in the background. Breaks also nod to Reggae/Dub, and the whole affair is a thoroughly modern mix of Afrobeats with hints of Jamaica coming through. Ingenious.

Real One takes the Afrobeats-RnB vibe into modern Toronto-esque Slow Jam territory. Hi-hats do buzz rolls, while the snare works off rim clicks in this instance, hitting the two and its off, then the four. The kick hits the one, then depending on the bar of the phrase focuses on the ‘and-four’s’, or just the ‘and’. A slightly distorted bass works off a strung-out rhythm extending across two bars and vanishing at points. But the genius of Footsteps is the juxtaposition of the other instrumental lines against this fairly busy arrangement. For example, the strings are low-passed and reverbed working off straight, bowed chords. But in their two-bar phrase, they drop on the first beat in bar one, but then come in on the semiquaver before the start of the second – smoothing the vibe out but also creating edginess. And there’s a brilliant, grimy bridge where the bass is distorted and compressed even more, growling across a sparse arrangement. It’s a blissed-out juxtaposed with franticness cut, full of smokiness and surreal vibes.

The EP concludes with Right Time. It’s a fitting closing, as it’s perhaps the most musically daring cut of Is That Foot Vol.1 – almost entering a 2020 Alt Soul arena in its merging of styles. The synth hi-hats and snare, focusing on the two and four and the offs that follow them, feel a bit wound-down Two Step, but without the additional syncopation. The rounded kick constantly hits the one, then dropping on a combination of latter offs, the three and the four – depending on the bar in the phrase. Various tom-toms play dotted rhythms, almost bringing in elements of more traditional Afrobeats. Meanwhile, the bass hits the one and then is generally silent for the rest of each bar, before returning with a syncopated rhythm on the four. This rhythm section combined serves to give Right Time momentum, but just enough space and smoothness so as to feel more gliding than frantic. A synth organ on breve chords adds to this flow.

But Footsteps has made the centre piece of the track the vocal. Using what sounds like megaphone EQ and some low-pass filtering, he’s turned his voice on its head with some ‘other room’ engineering – almost making the line feel distant. It serves as an ambient trick and gives Right Time an almost spacy, Toronto RnB vibe – and that coupled with the more syncopated percussive line makes the cut musically ambiguous and wholly fascinating.
Aside from the top-class compositions, production and engineering – Footsteps is a very talented vocalist. His voice is unique, sitting comfortably between rapping and straight vocal and has a pleasing timbre. But what he also does exceptionally well is the use of pitch and intonation. Intro is the perfect example. If Footsteps was Roots, it would be singjay. On the track, his pitch, dynamics and intonation all build perfectly as the instrumentation does – which exactly matches the snarking lyrics, too. It’s this which sets Footstep’s apart – the expressiveness that exists in his voice. If there was to be one (completely constructive) criticism of Is That Foot Vol.1, it would be that he can roll-back on the use of vocal engineering. It’s clearly the sound and vibe he’s going for, which is fine – but his voice doesn’t need to be so heavily ‘vocodered’, as it is more than unique and gifted enough to stand up without it.

Is That Foot Vol.1 is an extremely well-crafted release from Footsteps. The level of intricacy in the compositions and arrangements make each track stand out from the others. A narrative is built throughout, coupled with some delicious lyricism. The EP also serves to showcase Footsteps’ inventiveness – as the merging and mashing of genres, often done delicately, has created a wonderfully unique sound. He is a skilled vocalist, and the whole project is thoroughly on-point. Solid, solid work from this interesting and progressive talent.