“Forever young” is a classic; and that song would not have been a classic if Benjamin Hudson aka Mr Hudson did not add his unique vocals in the delivery of the chorus. Although he is not a musician that is really rated as a global hit maker, one cannot disregard his contribution to pop music. When the machine stops is just one other album that a real music lover will like to jam. It is a cool but a class collection of songs that discusses life issues as they come. A cool blend of RnB, Hiphop and pop flow; Mr. Hudson and Khalid are two musicians that one can mix together when one is trying to have a good time with cool rich music.
THE THEME
Mr Hudson as stated before made music of real life events. He shares music that discusses what people feel and how peoples change due to their pursuit of dreams. “Your Religion” is one song which talks about devotion to ones lover. Teaming up with Schae they sing about bein religion figures to each other hence asking for total trust and faith in each other. “Antidote” talks about having a lover who is like medicine. He sings about having a lover who he left temporarily and as a result, feeling funny like someone who was sick. He describes this feeling as an illness which only his lover can fix. Taylor Bennett teaming up with Hudson, sang a song to appreciate a city they have lived all their life. They discuss about leaving a city that they love. “Chicago” which is one of the best song and arguably the best song in this album discusses the unsorted issues of the heart between him and his lover. “Chigaco” just sounds right to the ear especially when Vic Mensa adds his fire vocals that sounds like Kanye West in his prime. “Closing Time” is a song which is very emotional and speak volumes about the life of any body. It talks about what happen when life when the noise and glory of the moments ends. He and Goody Grace explains that everyone ends up being all alone; and as a result we will have to deal with the reality of life which is pain. Mr Hudson made a good album and just like every good piece of musical art does not have fluctuating theme.
THE PRODUCTION
Unfortunately cillacritic.com could not get valid info on persons that worked with Mr Hudson on this project, it can be said that the production was simple sound. And just like all simple songs, is quite hard to make. The percussion line were kept basic with some hooks but nothing super crazy. The beats of this album can be recreated in a life performers. More attentions was only given to noise reduction, clarity and flangers used to effect the vocal of Mr Hudson.
The vocal arrangement and engineering is another element of the album that is pretty cool. The use of phaser, flangus, and robotic sound fx in Black Mirror was done with some very smart care. Normally using phaser add some level of noise to any song but that was defeated because the sound remained pure. Mr Hudson has a great voice and using these effects the way it was applied makes his naturally rich vocals to remain the focus of any person’s ear.
POSSIBLE HITS AND FLOPS
“Chicago” is the best song in this album and has the potential to become a major hit. The reason for this assumption is the fusion in sound and genre of music. The song which begins with a power vocal from Hudson give almost same effect like the “forever young” intro which is great.
Another song worthy to mention is “Your Religion”. Apart from the quality love content, it is cool and can be enjoyed anytime of the day. Mr Hudson makes good music and labeling a song a flop in this album will be a sin. This is because all off the songs could mean something to somebody.
