Kenna, ‘Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation is Suicide’ – EP Review
Following his plan despite losing his music due to a hard drive failure, Ethiopian-born singer Kenna keeps pushing the boundaries with the second installment of his ‘Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation is Suicide.’
The second of his three-part series, MySpace’s Chief Vision Officer decided to fuse sounds from different genres including rock, EDM and hip hop with the help of the Neptunes' Chad Hugo. The result is creative and eclectic.
The EP begins with ‘Wild, Wild Life,' which sounds similar to a Daft Punk track. You get a little bit of 1980’s rock with some present-day EDM here. It's a bit reminiscent of some of the dance music you would hear in the early 2000s.
The different sounds put together sound like something from the future, and it comes at a perfect time where artists such as Lady Gaga are exploiting the art pop genre.
On ‘Relations,’ the instruments immediately transport the listener back to the 1980s. The single shows some flare with a bit of Rick James-influenced in the bass line. This track takes you to a place where Rockwell was claiming to have someone watching him and Thomas Dolby was being blinded with science.
The track expresses the difficulties in having an interpersonal relationship these days because of societies' addiction to cellphones and social networking. Kenna puts those feelings in words as he sings, “I think it's crazy, we've never met before / I'm wondering if we were supposed to meet in another life.”
Kenna sprinkles in some Gucci Mane for his final song on the EP, ‘Get In Closer.’ He uses the same ‘Lemonade’ sample while sprinkling some influences from the Cure to create this song. Here, Kenna pleads to his girl: “Only you can make it alright, you can make it better.”
Overall, if you're looking for a project that pushes boundaries and provides an alternative to standard radio tunes, this EP deserves a listen.
Listen to Kenna's 'Land 2 Air Chronicles II: Imitation is Suicide'