I was sent a DM asking me to review this album, I had to respond and admit I had never heard of Kae and was told it was an acquired taste. Let Them Eat Chaos was me stepping into the unknown.
I should know Kae Tempest as they are a spoken word performer, poet, novelist, playwright and obviously recording artist and this album was nominated for the Mercury prize.
Do I like it? Yes and no. Its clever and well thought out as the album is linked between seven individuals who live on the same street who have never met, and all come outside for a storm. The spoken word delivery is not really my thing. This is no slur on Kae, they do it very well its just not my type of music
Picture a Vacuum, Lionmouth Door Knocker and Ketamine for Breakfast are the three opening tracks. I really enjoyed these, the minimal beats and Kae’s delivery are excellent but the following few tracks I found a bit samey, and my mind wandered. Whoops brings the album back on track, but Brews is just spoken words with no music, nothing wrong with that but not for me. Perfect Coffee jumped out at me towards the end, the words are stunning.
This is an articulate and engaging talent if I could write like Kae I would not be working in an office and doing this on the side. This was a completely new type of music for me and took me out of my comfort zone and for that I am grateful. I enjoyed some of the tracks and will certainly listen to anything else Kae releases.
7/10 (marked more on my taste in music than the quality of the songs)
GIVE IT A STREAM: Perfect Coffee