Unkle G – An Honest Meal (LP) [Equiknoxx Music]
“Don’t touch this or, don’t touch that or, don’t trust this”, Gavsborg deadpans (with a smirk) on the intro to his sophomore album (and debut vocal album), about the counsel he received as a young 17-year-old upstart from “yes-men, henchmen, (and) studio-militant, hypervigilant” industry gatekeepers. An Honest Meal is the story of his own voice, “bumbaclot ignorance”, “in the studio” obsessions and sense of adventure triumphing over this army of detractors and circumstances, resulting in Unkle G (the artist and the album). And that voice, both literally and figuratively, is central to An Honest Meal. Throughout the album, his musings are held together by his firm and sonorous voice, with an almost-imposing Vybz Kartel quality to it.
Despite the candour of there being no “RZA character” within the group, Gavin "Gavsborg" Blair seems to be at the center of Equiknoxx “polyhedron sound”. Starting with 2016’s Bird Sound Power, the Jamaican collective (a duo at the time) has released three critically-acclaimed albums, breaking down their dancehall and Jamaican roots and casting the pieces back together (along with other influences) on a fresh sonic canvas. With time, the more skeletal sound of their early albums has shrubbed outwards towards varied, multihued nooks. Blair’s own brilliant debut from this year “1 Hour Service” (released on new his label Cassette Blair) is a tour-de-force in what the scope of beat music could be (or should be), stretching the riddim towards psychedelia (and perhaps where the cinematic yet scorching “Popcaan Said My Riddims Aren’t Good” was first conceived).
Gavsborg is a curator’s curator, with an ear for sound, a feel for cinema, a vivid stylistic sense, and seemingly effortless knack to put ideas and personalities together (and make them work). The tracks on An Honest Meal are more structured and accessible, but don’t give it away that easily too, slowly burning their gameplan into you with extended build-ups and repeated listens: the horns on the title track extends for just that extra length. The junglist riddims, drunk 4-4 excursions and multitude of guests that make up An Honest Meal, hardly veer from the sonic slant and unhurried pace of the LP. When the sanctified hook by Equiknoxx’s Shanique Marie takes hold of standout “Looking for a Shining Star” alongside rejuvenated bells and chords, all the absurdity and shitfuckery that underpins music making, as Unkle G humorously lays bare throughout An Honest Meal, feels like it’s all worth it.
December 2023