Album Review

Akira The Don – The Life Equation

• 5th Mar 2012

The Life Equation is the second album from the force of nature known as Akira The Don (real name Adam Narkiewicz). Mixing hip hop style vocals with indie guitars and electo pop hooks gives this release an extremely varied and thought-provoking sound that simply doesn’t fit into any one genre. But then why should it?

Produced by synth pop pioneer Stephen Hague (New Order, Pet Shop Boys, Blur) many of the album’s tracks have already achieved radio play and this follow up to the 2010 release The Kidnapping of Akira The Don is well worth a listen.

Akira The Don is described in his PR material as “a modern Renaissance man in every sense of the word” and it’s easy to see why. He is a prolific blogger, creates cartoons and videos and produces for others as well as creating his own music. Previously signed to Interscope and tipped for big things in the US, it didn’t work out as planned and Akira is now totally independent.

There are ten songs on the album, although that includes a near fourteen minute title track that is broken into seven parts. In The Morning and Antlife start things off nicely, a couple of good hip hop tracks with sharp lyrical delivery. The heavier Jesus features some fine guitar work and the political nature of some of the lyrics works well.

The highlight of the album is the new single We Won’t Be Broke Forever (Baby) which features Gruff Rhys of the Super Furry Animals. The lyrics are clearly autobiographical and the hopeful message of the title is reflected in the upbeat production. It’s a lot of fun and is basically a damned good pop song.

There are several other fine tracks too. Video Highway has machine gun fast lyrics, big guitars and a catchy chorus. Coming in under three minutes long it still has time to stop in the middle before the riffs start once again.

I Am Not Dead Yet opens with some nice organ work giving a psychedelic feel and then wanders through hip hop into funky pop. The lyrics are clever and the mention of “French kissing with a forked tongue” is a lovely image for betrayal in a relationship. Nothing Lasts Forever is another break up song, this time a duet with Leeds-based MC Envy and it works very well. The faster vocal style of the female MC contrasts with Akira’s slightly slower delivery and the overall effect of the dialogue is pleasing.

Babydoll samples what sounds like The Supremes’ Baby Love before slipping effortlessly into its own pop sound. It’s one of several examples of songs with several different phases rather than a single overall sound. We Are Not Alone is a pop song with a good chorus, an interesting synthesised voice that repeats the title every so often and lyrics that take us into science fiction and extra-terrestrials. It’s much better than that description makes it sound.

There is so much in this album that the word eclectic doesn’t really do it justice. It is interesting and inventive throughout. The lyrics are sharp and well thought out and musically it combines styles well to create something very different from mainstream pop. At times it may get a little confusing but it is never dull.

Akira the Don is clearly a man with a lot to say.