Scottish indie pop band Young Fathers (“Cocoa Sugar”) released their fourth studio album “Heavy Heavy” on Feb. 4.

The band sounds very happy. This is not atypical of a Young Fathers record, but on “Heavy Heavy,” the band sounds like they have overcome something heavy-heavy. It could possibly be them surviving the pandemic, or enjoying the commercial success of their last effort “Cocoa Sugar,” or something else entirely that manifests as universal. 

All three members of the band have African heritage (Kayus Bankole, whose parents are native Nigerian, spent some time in Africa prior to recording the album). The record’s defining trait is its influence of traditional West African music, such as the hand drum rhythms or the fact that the track “Ululation” is entirely in Yoruba. Add in the political undertones and mellow emotions and you get a more authentic version of whatever all those new wave artists thought they were doing by appropriating “world music.”

The lead single “Geronimo” is a tender meditation advising the listener to “Get on/Get off.” The song feels like a sunny morning walk with sounds accumulating into one big joyous parade. The trip-hop beat sounds like a Tricky (“Maxinquaye”) feature but eventually gets drowned out by a chorus of atmospheric synths, optimistic piano keys and the rapturous voices of a gospel choir. 

A friend of Bankole sings the lead on “Ululation” with jubilant, yodel-ish chants. Similar to “Geronimo,” the track gets denser and louder as it goes on, though now we get some fuzzy guitar in the mix. The track’s lack of structure feels more like an extended interlude than a proper song on a tracklist of verse-chorus pop, but this really only justifies its inclusion as diversifying the album’s tracklist.

The track “Tell Somebody” sounds like it belongs in a film score, a moment when a UFO arrives or a character metamorphoses into a beam of light. The synths feel orchestral, symphonic even and eventually they lead into slow bursts of drums, all accompanied by pleading falsetto vocals. Yes, pleading, because while the production is massive, the lyrics are personal and intimate. It is a sudden shift from the energetic “Drum” before it pleas for the listener to tell somebody about what is hurting them. The track feels very post-rock for a record whose experiments had thus far been constrained into indietronica. Still, it does not feel out of place. In fact, it feels ripe for a record about survival and giving thanks.

If anything hurts this record, it is that what makes it feel universal can also make it feel vague. Many of the tracks feel good, but they can also feel “feel-good,” like they are less of an expression of happiness but an enforcement. This bleeds into the production as well; “I Saw” ends with commands to “Brush your teeth/Wash your face,” but the rest of the mix buries the vocals in what seems like an attempt to make everything as loud as possible without being grating.

“Heavy Heavy” is an album that we need. Young Fathers want to lighten the mood, whether you are feeling down or want more evidence on feeling up. 

Image from YOUNG FATHERS via YouTube