Pitch 92 - Third Culture - OLS Review

It's time to get lost in an ocean of funky waves in the most appetising sharer plate to come through your speakers over the last year. Pitch 92 produces a variety of loud but easy-listening beats for the bases and gathers over twenty vocalists of varied styles to lay down various poetic, lyrical, and melodic bars to provide the toppings. 'Third Culture' is Pitch 92's debut full album and it’s definitely one to leave an impression!

Showing his versatility, Pitch produces Hip Hop, Grime and R&B tracks that all bring a different feel. No track on this album is too much like another, yet all consistently hold that Pitch 92 sound. Which is able to hold true throughout songs that are almost entirely synthesised, featuring subtle samples from the analogue world to serve purely as the salt and pepper on an electronic main course. And also in tracks where this arrangement is reversed to allow a sax or soft-voiced electric guitar to take centre stage. Pitch never goes completely digital or analogue - they are always working together with varied proportions throughout the album. The constant adjustments song-to-song are guaranteed to keep your curiosity stoked.

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The elements are a small number of carefully chosen stems. A minimalist bass builds the foundation and the rest of the elements reside mostly in the high-end leaving the mid-range wide open - allowing lots of space for the vocalist to stretch in, or DJ to scratch in. And this simple formula is competent for bringing the big and loud sound for Jehst in '3rd Culture' that takes me right back to watching a Jehst set in 2018, the heavy sounding stamp-tracks such as 'Drama Ft. Sparkz, Foreign Beggars & DR. Syntax', and 'Overly Fresh Feat. Fliptrix', and the softer, lighter feeling tracks like 'Criminalised Ft. Coops' and 'Wise Man Ft. Confucius MC and Lyamah', the lyrics in which carry a more rhetorical message. And of course, Verb T comes in on a couple of tracks to include the sound that worked so well in 'Good Evening'. There's something for everyone in this album, and if you're like me every track is for you for a different reason.

Though this album serves primarily as a demonstration of capability and is in no way a concept album like that which we have grown to expect of Ramson Badbonez or Fliptrix, it's not one I can see myself cherry-picking from for everyday listening. Every track, though different, shines bright in what it's aiming for. I would say the overall feel of the album is generally chilled. It does have tracks with enough energy present should any of it be played live and need to get a crowd moving - certainly some songs are better than others if they're to be played at parties. But for a BBQ, meeting friends over beers, having on in the background while I work or to compliment an end-of-the-day wind down, I would let the whole album play from start to finish!

'Third Culture' is available for Pre-Order on Vinyl, CD, Tape, and Digital over at the High Focus store, and you will not regret grabbing a copy for yourself when it drops on 28/02/2019!

- Fire@Will - OneLion Sound

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