AGENCY - Philosophies


Anticodon Records

Agency plays neo-soul layered between fun-loving, message-filled hip hop grooves on this brand new album. Agency is making an impact on the music scene, hitting number one on Traxsource and winning two Indaba Music contests. Agency’s sound encompasses indie, rock, acoustic, electronic, house, and alternative hip-hop, along with funk, soul, pop, and jazz flavors.

Coming off more like a funky, non-rock version of Lenny Kravitz on the vocals and the ‘60s-‘70s vibe of the album, I was really not prepared for what I heard. I thought it was going to be more rap/hip-hop oriented, and yes, there is that feel to an extent, but the funk…the funk. There is a modern sound on this album, especially on “Joyride,” but the first two tracks are more old-school sounding and really grabbed me right away. This is a very mixed bag that hits so many different styles, think going to a club and hearing different artists, that’s what this is, something new on every song. The cover of The Classics IV’s “Spooky” is fantastic, with such a great vocal and delightful playing. The production is clear and gives you a chance to hear everything in the mix with nothing fighting to be heard.

This is the kind of stuff that I would normally never listen to, mostly because of the way that it has the rap/hip-hop terms added to it in the description, but that is such a small part of this. This is funky, fun and a delight from start to finish…grab this one!

-Rick Ecker

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