Deportation by LAL

LAL "Deportation"
LAL comes strong with their 3rd album - Celebrating 10 years.

Downtempo and urban soul artists aren't known for releasing concept albums. But if the artist is LAL and the album is Deportation, one listen should get heads nodding to the beats while getting a fresh perspective on the immigrant experience. Written and recorded over several years in the U.K. and Canada, Deportation continues to push the musical and lyrical boundaries that begun with 2000's Corners and 2004’s Warm Belly, High Power.

Consisting of singer/lyricist Rosina Kazi and producers/arrangers Nick Murray and Ian de Souza, LAL's sound has evolved over the past ten years building their reputation on blissed-out, introspective downtempo music, phenomenal live performances and a commitment to social justice. Deportation explores traditional LAL topics of ethnicity, class and equality in greater depth while keeping the music at the forefront.

Though LAL feels Deportation's message is important, it wouldn’t transmit without the music, which expands upon the group’s classic downtempo sound. Standout track "How the World Began" has a slinky groove with soulful Brazilian vocals courtesy of Luanda Jones. "Erase me" features drifting hip hop with a heavy-key chorus, while "Wide Open" has a nice off kilter beat. And of course label boss Moonstarr lends a hand on the bossa-infused “February”.