List of Demands

Albumbeschreibung

No matter the political affiliation ascribed to List of Demands, Damon Locks believes what nearly everyone believes: "We have found ourselves in an impossible situation." The opening track to his newest multi-genre opus repeats that phrase over samples of radical artists and thinkers—notably Angela Davis and Gil Scott-Heron—reminding us of the ultimate rule of power: those who take it are usually not of the mind to relinquish it, no matter the cost to those without it.

That idea permeates throughout List but this isn't inherently or only a political record. Locks derides the idea that love, distance and fondness are irrevocably intertwined on "Distance." He uses his poetic license on "Holding the Dawn in Place (Beyond, Pt. 2)" to keep a vague yet decipherable message of collective indifference and the consequences therein. "Isn't It Beautiful" pushes a cataclysmic sound while Locks expounds on humanity's relationship with our surroundings and the unknown forces we claim to understand. Locks is clicking on all cylinders to make sure we cannot pigeonhole human thought—his or others.

Musically, this record provokes messages with a myriad of techniques—hip-hop beats, jazz-laden instrumental meanderings, the aforementioned samples of noted thinkers, spoken word poems and speeches, funky bass licks and dazzling backing vocals. "The Signal Is Hot" combines them all and builds to an abrupt stop with Locks declaring the song's title. "Click" presents a wild swirl of instruments—sampled and performed—as Locks uses simple sloganeering to illuminate that "we" are and have always been in control. The looping "Reversed, Pt. 2 (Something to Love)" ends the record on a warped note of samples and synths that provide a psychedelic turn to an otherwise simple melody.

Like New Future City Radio, his 2023 record with Rob Mazurek, there is an apocalyptic note on List of Demands—as if Locks' voice is the only one left on the airwaves telling us we can resist and rewrite our collective plights. His use of historical voices is a clever reminder that we aren't the first to live through a dark time; his use of modern techniques keeps us grounded in the present. As for the future? It's ours to control if we can remember that nothing is, in fact, impossible. © Jeff Laughlin/Qobuz