After teasing with releases of singles ‘Change’ and ‘Abundance’ over the past couple of months, Egyptian-Irish musician Malik Polo, who doubles as a singer and a rapper, has released his Echo Chambers EP on Abu Recordings, a project years in the making.
The versatile artist is known for heart on his sleeve lyrics and a dulcet flow and delivery. Producing most of the EP’s songs is Abu Recordings founder and Congolese producer Ibn Itaka, who provides the melodious beats to blend different genres and styles to adapt to Malik Polo’s range.Echo Chambers can be described as a heavily R&B influenced project with hints of other genres including drill and trap, especially evident in ‘Change’, where the arrangement of hi-hats and snares are in drill formation but are accompanied by a flute and violin for the melody alongside typical mellow percussion.
‘Good Hood’ follows in the steps of ‘Abundance’, but the use of one-step hi-hats gives it a bouncier feel, while the only track in which Ibn Itaka is not involved is ‘Newskool’, which offers a beat over which Malik Polo lays out his reflections on modern life and the world in which we live. He closes off in awe with ‘Wonder’, featuring Saveya to offer a heartfelt chorus, while Malik Polo wonders what could’ve been.
