This Kennedy bloke has been loitering in my in tray in one form or another for the last couple of months. Firstly in the form of some mysterious press releases, then finally with the strangely infectious single (Your Mama). Finally I have in my hands a copy of his album ‘Kennedy For President’.
Quite frankly folks this is something of an oddity, Kennedy is something of a sexually charged tongue in cheek song raconteur who likes nothing better than to divulge us with his tales of how he spreads the love interspersed with some light hearted social commentary. Its all intended to be exceedingly tongue in cheek, but here’s the rub…
The songs bypass the novelty factor you might be expecting and are actually pretty damn good. Kennedy sprawls across the club genre with a leaning and bias towards a silky string drenched set of disco offerings. The production is first rate and before you even start digging into the little lyrical nuggets he leaves behind you find yourself impressed with the overall tune quality.
Songs like ‘Going Insane’ name check a lot of today’s social ills like reality TV, size zero models and our obsessions with myspace. While elsewhere he takes an almost De La Soulian approach to faux Daisy Age hip hop with ‘Sleep Talking’ with its nursery rhyme raps, chunky beat tracks and cheesey organ (I’m sure that’s a description he would no doubt find titillating).
Kennedy might have set out to entertain the masses with a laconic sense of humour but by accident or design who can honestly tell he’s come up with a set of well produced mid tempo dance tracks that should provide for the dancefloor and home listener alike.
Definitely worth a listen.
