An immense spoken-word groove.
Spoken-word music can be a tricky business to navigate. It puts all the focus on the lyrics and the cadence of the words, which need a rhythmic approach to fit within the instrumentation. On “Kid Stuff,” Sinead O’Brien makes this look effortless, melding her vocals to slip in-between the spaces in a rising post-punk pulse. Building up slowly into a danceable, kinetic tune, the music allows O’Brien to keep her voice steady and powerful, the core of the track’s construction.
“There’s something alive in it which cannot be caught or told. It is direct but complex; it contains chapters. This feels like our purest and most succinct expression yet,” O’Brien said about the song. “I am in my finest hour,” she accurately says at the start of the track, delving to the distractions and forces that drive her, and what she can ignore compared to what she should meditate on.
“Kid Stuff” is out now via Chess Club Records.