Lawgiver The Kingson – Creation – Review

October 10, 2023

LawGiver The Kingson: Creation Single Review by Mr Topple for Pauzeradio.com.

LawGiver The Kingson is starting November 2023 strongly, releasing a song off his new album – which is also the title track, nonetheless.

Creation, released and executively produced by LawGiver’s own label Imperishable Uprising, sees the artist team up with musicians Cleveland ‘Clevie’ Brownie and Owen Rennalls. LawGiver has already dropped two cuts from the album: the fresh, summery Welcome To Jamaica, and the intricately orchestrated Irie featuring Matthew Bento. What firstly stood out about these tracks was the clean, detailed, and well-considered mixing and mastering – where levels and engineering had been placed perfectly to fit with the musical and lyrical backdrops.

Now, we see that replicated in Creation – a Dub-heavy Roots Reggae affair.

Overall, LawGiver said of the track:

“The song reflects everyday living. Everything in life is a part of creation: the words we speak and the things we do in our everyday life. They all play a part in creation. The release date is 2 November, Ethiopia’s Coronation Day – when the king and queen, Haile Selassie and Empress Mennen, were crowned”.

It’s a fitting release date for the track, as it happens – because Creation is a regal, fulsome, and imposing affair.
Some traditional Roots elements are present. The bass is rich and resonant, providing an elongated and deep riff across a drop-beat rhythm – which equally creates a smooth sound that still has breathing space. Drums are on a one drop, where the kick hits the two and four and hi-hats tinker in between. However, the snare – while often hitting the two and four as well – also mixes things up, running some syncopated buzz rolls.

This veering away from the usual sensibilities is also seen in the keys – which perform a bubble rhythm but only intermittently. Their line is also heavily reverbed and decayed, focusing on the Dub influences present across Creation. These are also seen in the stark breaks – where most of the instrumentation is stripped away – and the use of reverb on the snare, too.

There is a nice use of a guitar line that generally skanks just out of earshot, sometimes on a rapid-fire version of this – but it also riffs at points. Horns are also well-placed: regal, strutting in and out with simple yet effective melodies and harmonies. What sounds like an engineered melodica also plays a role, running extremely quick and staccato riffs towards the end of certain bars.

What also stands out about Creation is the clever chord progressions. Instead of unfussy Roots vibes, the track treats us to something nearer the Soul-influenced end of the genre. The verses are straightforward – however, these are deceptive as they lead into a pleasing bridge, which then abruptly changes again before going back to the same pattern. It works very well, especially when placed with the backing vocals, which switch between call and response (directly answering LawGiver’s calls) and heavy harmonisation.

LawGiver himself gives a compelling vocal performance. Here, his style is the vocal-end of singjay – using a basic melodic structure across the verses, with keen attention to detail on the rhythmic make up. Then, he flips to a straighter vocal of the bridges. Altogether, his rich, high-end baritone has a rounded embouchure which adds to the imposing nature of the track. He manages the runs on the bridges well – and makes good use of note extension and clipping to accentuate the lyrics.

Narratively, the track discusses the historical and current notions of ‘creation’ – from “King Solomon to Queen of Sheba…” via “children of today, builders of tomorrow”, and how everything we see around us is in Jah’s vision. The track is also reminding us to respect and honour that idea – as it has changed little over millennia.

Overall, Creation is a well-constructed, well-executed, and pleasing affair from LawGiver. The rich arrangement doesn’t take away from the infectiousness of the track – especially the chorus, where the chant-like nature makes it almost a sing-along. LawGiver gives a sterling performance, and overall (like its two predecessors), Creation bodes well for the full album.