Bristol-based singer-songwriter and producer MAX RAD has released his second album, a love letter.
Having spent the last few years quietly becoming one of the most influential voices behind the scenes of the UK’s alternative music scene, a love letter is MAX RAD’s attempt to balance the worlds of being a songwriter, producer, touring musician, collaborator, and mentor to others in the scene.
Known otherwise as a label head with a particular talent for finding emerging artists, MAX RAD emerged as a key collaborator and producer with acts like Faithless and on Antony Szmierek’s Service Station At The End Of The Universe, now making more of a move with his own solo career.
The 8-track, 25-minute album is steeped in UK electronica, with looping digital percussion and pounding beats dressed up in MAX RAD’s sweet, heartfelt vocals. This is particularly the case on lead single “Empty Spaces,” which features MAX RAD cracking out his best falsetto while the mournful tones of a harmonica join in.
“Empty Spaces is a song about young love,” says MAX RAD. “It’s the story of two people meeting during carefree days, finding each other in the chaos of dancefloors and parties, in a time when you are finding out who you are just as much as you’re finding new people and friendships.
“I wanted this song to encapsulate the feeling of falling in love with someone in those early days. It feels like a folk song to me, but over dance music.”
The track definitely captures that feeling of the city of Bristol in the summer – buzzing, carefree, with music playing everywhere and a festival every weekend. It feels breezy, easy, but somehow bittersweet with the knowledge that it can’t last forever.
The emotional core of the album, introduced on “Empty Spaces”, quickly devolves into something sadder and more wistful on tracks like “my world,” which sees MAX RAD sing “time is on our side/we’re willing to try/if just for love”. It feels like fighting against that same inevitable feeling of knowing everything will end, but choosing to dance through it and enjoy it for what it is.
MAX RAD's influences from other artists particularly shine through on tracks like "Stick to Me Like Glue," which opens with the same kind of pulsating, dark beat you'd absolutely find on a Faithless album, but MAX RAD lightens the tone with a groovy guitar riff and gentle, fuzzy vocals, making it something altogether his own.
It pairs perfectly with one of the album’s stand-out tracks, “Things Don’t Change” (the other being “Love Around You”), one of the album’s more guitar-forward tracks on the album, using a gorgeously treble-boosted sound as the harmonica joins back in.
Following track "Tell Me Something Good" — the album's other most guitar-heavy track — is very Daft Punk and Chromeo reminiscent, combining the best of MAX RAD's dance beats with truly funky guitar and bass work over a more regular four-on-the-floor drum track.
Overall, a love letter is a beautifully-produced piece of work. It doesn’t overstay its welcome or waste any time.
It feels like it’s exactly the right length and everything about it is cleanly done, with a truly lovely mixing style that remains expressive and rich without doing too much.
