UK-CRAIGIE - I Can’t Sleep
Pictured: I Can’t Sleep Cover Art + Craig Anderson - UK-CRAIGIE
Photo by: Ben Newton
All Art and No Ego
Written by: Brenton Realph - Independent
Some people make art for money, others for the pursuit of fame and the lifestyle it brings. The best artists make their art out of a compulsion, a need to express themselves that is only sated by creation. There is no doubt that UK-CRAIGIE in the latter camp – a poet making music because there is something inside of him that needs to write. Thankfully he is benevolent enough to share it with the world. I Can’t Sleep is his second LP, and maintains the formula of a simple instrumental backing track overlaid with rapid-fire lyrics spat out from a deeply personal space. The result is an immensely human album that is a hip-hop autobiography of a man unashamed of his past, coping with his present, and working out his future with his words. This is an album about the artist, but refreshingly devoid of ego.
Pictured: Craig Anderson - UK-CRAIGIE
Photo by: Ben Newton
The Review
The scene is set with the first track, Thing I’m Afraid Of. A breathy vocal sample slides over a melancholic piano as an open hand extended to invite you along for the journey. This track is a powerful opener, and the raw honesty of UK-CRAIGIE as he spits out his personal fears and doubts is almost painful, mercifully tempered by the backing track. As the piano of the opener fades and the synth guitar of the album’s title track kick in the poet continues his story. “I can’t sleep” is the refrain of a man in-between – looking back at a past that is no longer relevant, but still finding the path to the future he wants to make. The refrain echoes after the lyrics and music stops, before an acoustic guitar takes over and introduces one of the strongest tracks, Anxious.
The title of this track says it all, and the accompanying video accentuates the fragility of the artist, his words washing away as quickly as they appear on screen. This song is a gentle onslaught, the intensity of the emotion belied by the calmness of the guitar and the measured pace of the vocals. The tempo picks up for Mockery, which is a showcase of UK-CRAIGIE’s skill as both a lyricist, rapper, and musician. This is his coming-of-age story told with frankness and great self-awareness, without censorship. After he spits the second verse he leaves the backing vocals to carry the song to fade, giving the listener a chance to absorb the latest chapter of the poet’s story.
I Am, which may easily be called Fuck You, is a fantastically wrought track that uses a restrained anger to great effect, rather than cheapening the sentiment with false aggression. This time the audience is not intended to be the sympathetic listener of the other tracks so much as the people who have tried to drag him down. The message here is simple: “I am too strong to be affected by haters”, which is a profoundly optimistic sentiment juxtaposed against the self-doubt that underlies the other tracks.
Pictured: I Can’t Sleep Album Art
The next track, Only Now, takes a break from introspection and shows the poet’s true nature – a good person trying to make the world a better place. One way to do this, apparently, is by ordering a doner kebab with no salad. I can think of worse ways to carpe the diem. This track is ethereal and meditative, and a damn good fusion of sublime music and smart lyrics. Making Memories, which follows, is a lot of fun to listen to, with mellow backing guitar, a catchy rhythm, and lyrics that make everything seem good. There is a 180-degree tonal shift for Funeral, but this just had my head nodding harder to the beat and fractured rhythm. This is a catchy tune with lyrics that punch the feels in all the right ways.
The Other Side takes us to a darker place still, as the artist contemplates his struggles. This track is haunting, with an onslaught of staccato from the rapping and backbeat, with a long outro that holds like my breath, as I listened to the painfully raw lyrics. The following track, Here With Me (Redux), is lighter than air, and one of my favourite tracks on the album. The music sounds like it was lifted from a Japanese RPG, supported by heartfelt lyrics, and the whole song is bubble-gum in a way that is genuine, not pop-y. This is a love song, and a real feel-good track with clever lyricism that shows another side of the artist.
The album continues with Underdogs Assemble, which pulled me down by the ankles after being left floating by the previous track. This is another collaborative effort, and is imbued with the energy of a group of skilled rappers bouncing their lyrics off each other. This track is a banger, and a fitting way to draw to a close an album that is at heart optimistic, despite the struggles it describes. The final track, We’re Supposed to Live (This Isn’t How), brings the rapid-fire beat to a complete stop, and the characteristic acoustic guitar pick up gently, caressing rhymes that build up in intensity through a verse that is short but powerful. The guitar carries the album into the ether, ending with an aural-ellipsis that says that there is more to come. And I am looking forward to it.
The Verdict
This is not an album to share with your mates at a party: it is much better than that. It is an album that deserves your full attention when you want to hear brutal honesty. To listen to this album is to feel as though you know the man behind it as a close friend.
8/10
Download
Listen to I Can’t Sleep exclusively on Spotify
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