“When we were younger
We made some tapes
Now they’re a double album.
Could be the best music we’ve ever made.
Who knows?
Who cares?
Fuck off”

This is what Young Fathers have to say about their latest release Tape One/Tape Two on their website. These are the reissues of their EPs from 2011 and 2013 respectively which have now been re-housed as a double album. Originally, both of these tapes took roughly a week to record with a track being completed each day and being available two weeks later. Tape Two won the Scottish Album of the Year (SAY award) back in 2014.

This is in fact the third time these tapes have been released. The question is, are these justified for a third release? They’re deep, rich and soothing EPs and deserve to reach a wider audience. They’ve not been released as one collection before which makes reviewing it as one difficult, its intention clearly isn’t as an album and there’s a clear change of pace and mood between the two. Tape One is more ambient, more subtle. Tape Two is far bolder in its intentions. Both are brilliant, but in different ways.

Cast yourself back to 2011, no one knew of Young Fathers and then they drop this. Something of this level of richness as a first release is outstanding. It showed that they were incredibly musically literate and full of ideas. On reflection, Tape One which takes up the first 22 or so minutes of the album is bold and subtle, with sounds in the vein of Massive Attack, a band which they would later go on to support.

Both tapes don’t link together all too well, but they weren’t conceived with that intention in the first place. They are both crafted so well individually that they flow very well, just not together. There’s a clear cut off between the two and it does feel like sticking on another record. But, as I say, this wasn’t imagined as an LP in the first place.

Their music has elements of soul, jazz, hip-hop and pop in there. They pull off a great trick of writing incredibly layered and rich music whilst keeping it completely accessible. These tapes came out of spontaneity it would seem, and it’s an incredible achievement.

Tape One ends and Tape Two begins. I prefer the pace of Tape Two, its intentions seem clearer. Songs like ‘Queen Is Dead’ really stand out, it's strong, very bold and almost catches you off guard. Keeping in mind the context of these tapes is extremely important but easy to forget. This was only the second release from the group. They hadn’t had a full album at this point, yet it still won the Scottish Album of the Year over artists like Churches, Biffy Clyro and Steve Mason. This was the starting point for Young Fathers and the material they had made apparently in a week was already making its mark.

Both these tapes are very much justified to have a reissue, and I’m glad to see that they have. A lot of people will be familiar with the sounds of Young Fathers by now, recognising songs which they didn’t realise who they were by. Hopefully this time these tapes will get the adoration they deserve.
Chris Middleton

Facebook: facebook.com/youngfathers
Twitter: twitter.com/Youngfathers
Website: young-fathers.com