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The Daily Aztec
The Back Page
Nov. 17 - 30, 2021 Editor: Ryan Hardison • arts@thedailyaztec.com
Review: ‘An Evening With Silk Sonic’ bridges the old school and new school By Ryan Hardison ARTS & CULTURE EDITOR
Nearly nine months after releasing their show-stopping debut single “Leave The Door Open,” Silk Sonic, a kinetic duo consisting of R&B superstars Anderson Paak. and Bruno Mars, released their debut album “An Evening With Silk Sonic” on Friday, Nov. 12. With sky high expectations for a project (especially a debut) it’s nearly impossible to impress everyone, even more so when the bar has already been set so high with their previous solo albums. Additionally, high-profile collaborations don’t always have the best track record, and this superstar formula often produces more duds than thuds. But in many ways, Silk Sonic delivered the “intergalactic funk” they promised. Considering Paak. and Mars’ careers are adorned with old-school homage, it’s not surprising their debut leaned so heavily on nostalgia. The album has only nine tracks, but is prime for many replays. Not unlike their solo projects, Paak and Mars perform much of the album on their own. P-Funk legend Bootsy Collins, an architect of Parliament-Funkadelic’s trademark sound as a songwriter and bass player for the group, hosts the album and gives an authentic sense of ‘70s appreciation. The features were minimal with only Collins randomly scattering adlibs and internal monologues like a better-placed (and actually talented) DJ Khaled on various tracks and jazz fusion god Thundercat, who appears on “After Last Night.” Starting off strong as ever, “Leave The Door Open” is excellent, and an especially wise choice for a first single to lift this already-famous duo to an unimaginable stratosphere. With sex appeal, chart appeal and lasting relevance, it set a high standard for the project due to its high placement in the album and their rollout. However, it set expectations the rest of the project struggled to match up to at times. Many of their songs set ablaze but not with the same fire and passion as the bonfire of “Leave The Door Open.”
Graphic by Em Burgess
Silk Sonic are a soul revival duo who bring back the silk, swagger and singing of the greatest acts from the ‘60s and ‘70s.
Capitalizing off the initial high, the middle section of the album from “Fly As Me” to “Put On A Smile” keeps things groovy. “Fly as Me” is light-hearted and the exact area where Paak. shines — right between the intersection of cocky rap and smooth-talking R&B. “After Last Night” follows a pair of players getting thrown off their axis by a romantic night. Trying to replicate this lustful feeling, they’re in a hazy, desperate mood. Thundercat’s bass-playing and Collins’ creates an intoxicating environment perfect for endless harmonies and loving appeals. Then there’s “Smokin Out The Window,’’ a tune where the duo are finishing each other’s thoughts and are arguably at their most comfortable with chemistry bouncing off the walls. It would be amazing to see it performed in concert, especially if Paak keeps selling the feeling of the line “not to be dramatic but I wanna die.” Mars shines on “Put On A Smile,” a
track right in his emotional pleading wheelhouse. When Mars sings his last “I’m dyiiiiiiiiiiiing,” there’s lots of pain left on the table, providing an emotional core for an album mostly centered on smiling adventures. When Mars is crooning for a second chance and playing the fool, every heartbreak feels like catching a grenade. The album began to teeter as “777” emerged as a shaky part of the album’s winding down. Like the chaotic night out in Las Vegas it portrays, the duo rolls the dice on this track, but instead of coming up big, they throw off the rhythm built up by previous songs. “Skate” strolls in with nostalgia and is too refined to capitalize on its sweet messaging, with a feeling like it was made in a generic hit factory. It’s a bit too resemblant of a tune you’d hear perusing the aisles of JC Penney, but still sounds alright nonetheless. There’s no doubt this will get significant air time in any existing roller rink in the nation. Finishing strong and flying high, “Blast
Off” is both satisfying and gets the oldschool feeling back. It’s a proper outro for an album which treats its audience with care. Despite the big reaction it received, what was supposed to be the release of the year got a bit overshadowed by the release of “Red (Taylor’s Version)” — and both albums will almost certainly get overtaken by Adele’s “30” album releasing Nov. 19. Because of this, “An Evening With Silk Sonic” almost failed to fully capitalize on the hype. For an album this fun, a summer release would have been the most ideal landing spot. There may have been too much reliance on nostalgia, and not enough of their own artistic expression on some of the songs, resulting in an end product that’s a little too tame. The biggest difference between listening to this and a ‘70s funk album is noticing the room for improvisation that’s substituted for a straight edge radio play sound. But even with these flaws, their talent still shines through enough.
Review: Starbucks’ new drink with a ‘latte’ problems By Aaliyah Alexander OPINION EDITOR
Us vegans are used to being the odd one out at parties, events and restaurants. So, we’ve perfected the art of bringing our own dishes to gatherings where being vegan is still unorthodox and we’ve mastered the skill of altering menu items to make them vegan-friendly. As a frequent Starbucks customer, it’s great to see new items such as the “Pink Drink” or Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso be vegan as is. This means not having to ask the barista to replace the milk with a non-dairy alternative or omit the whipped cream. (Not to mention being charged extra for these alternatives.) However, being a coffee lover during the holiday season hasn’t been the best experience due to the limited selection of festive drinks at Starbucks. Luckily, this holiday season is going to be a bit different because the popular coffee chain recently released their new vegan-friendly drink: Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte. According the VegNews, this new holiday drink is inspired by “spritzen”
Courtesy of Starbucks
Screenshot from Starbucks’ Instagram displaying their new sugar-filled vegan-friendly drink
cookies which are German holiday sugar cookies. The latte contains sugar cookieflavored syrup combined with blonde espresso and almond milk, of course. Without any knowledge of the previous information, I went to my local Starbucks and ordered this much anticipated latte.
I was initially disappointed because the flavor didn’t remind me of traditional sugar cookies that are popular in the U.S. However, that didn’t mean it didn’t taste good. The drink reminded me of praline flavored treats instead of regular sugar
cookies, but after reading the inspiration behind the drink, I thought maybe “spritzen” cookies have pralines in them? That thought was dismissed after I found out “spritzen” cookies are basically just flour, eggs, butter and sugar. The Iced Sugar Cookie Almondmilk Latte can be ordered hot or iced and apparently comes with red and green sprinkles (which I didn’t get on mine for some reason) which is a nice touch for a holiday drink. The most important question that remains: does the new vegan-friendly latte get one into the holiday spirit? No. I wanted so badly to taste this new latte and feel the urge to play my Christmas music while wearing a big, comfy sweater as I watched a crappy Hallmark movie, but the feeling never came. If Starbucks finally had their non-dairy whipped cream in all locations and added to the latte while going to town with their red and green sprinkles on the Iced Sugar Cookie Latte, then maybe my holiday spirit would have a different experience. Until then, I will stick with my yearround order of a caramel iced latte with almond milk.
