T8PES, T8PES - album review

Birmingham's T8PES has long been working with others, writing for them or helping them produce their own creations for release.

So perhaps it is long overdue the alt-electronic hip hop MC - who counts Ed Sheeran among his fans - hit the studio to put his own thoughts on record and his own name on the front of the album sleeve.

The DJ and producer, real name Jimmy Davis, has released his first solo collection via Soulfire Records today, and it's full of big beats and guest vocalists with a local flavour to entertain us.

Eight tracks long, it neither outstays its welcome nor forces too much on us at once. Clubland, rave culture, garage and grime all get represented in his melting pot of styles and it means each track feels different from the last.

While he takes on the vast majority of the vocals, touching upon some pretty deep and honest appraisals of his own life choices, he has friends along to help out. Birmingham's Laura Jane, Luke Truth from Redditch, Wolverhampton's Joy Bacerdo and Cannock lass Holly Fitzgerald all feature, as does Ricardo Williams who has moved to the area in recent years.

Birmingham DJ, producer and MC T8PES, AKA Jimmy Davis

The latter features on Not Ready To Say Goodbye, a strangely hopeful track given the lyrical content. Rising piano and frantic beats combine with strings to give a hopeful look to the future which can help us turn our own lives around.

Wulfrunian Joy lends her vocal talents to Gotta Believe. Sounding like a late 90s/early 00s dancefloor classic its laid back style evokes memories of the early part of those nights out in our younger days - getting ready and pre-drinking with friends before the big one.

Holly appeared on T8PES' recent single release from this record - Hope & Pray. Another piano-led track, it's also a reflective look at life that sees T8PES spitting out his anguish at the world around him before Holly's soft voice croons through the chorus like a siren calling us to ruin.

There's upbeat fun too. How Much Do You Want It? is one of the funkiest tracks here with its deep bass and sampling of classic club tracks punching it along nicely into 'banger' territory.

There's a lot here to discover and have fun with. And with so much local talent on show, it's a cross-section of the more electronic realms of the local music scene.

Rating: 7/10

T8PES' debut album can be heard and bought digitally at iTunes. For physical copies, head to his website.