Sonic Space: Onoe Caponoe
I don’t know if I have the words to describe Onoe Caponoe’s work. His album “The Staircase to Nowhere” (2014) consists of spacey overlays and intricate verses. The effect is almost entirely novel, if a little disorienting. The album is an exercise in fantasy, and it all feels a little unreal.
The vibe may be complicated, but it’s expected from Caponoe, a psychedelic British rapper. Another of his albums, “Voices from Planet Cattele” (2015), used interesting and esoteric samples to great effect. The spacey washed-out synths that permeate “The Staircase to Nowhere” are a progression, though Caponoe still enjoys playing with samples. The Game of Thrones audio clip in “Tale of the Buble Lord (Lurk of the Tiny King of the Shadows)” is subtle but effective. Submerged under the heavy beat, the clip grabs your attention and engages you in the track.
Caponoe is intricate. His verses are tight, but not designed to aggressively show off his speed. Most impressively, Caponoe knows his strength — his production. His verses are catchy and well-structured, but his tracks attain a level of complexity and richness that is rare.
That being said, not every track is a homerun. “Sexuup (Sex Gang 169)” is messy. The entire song comes off like a crass, randy 12-year-old with Auto-Tune and a new synth.
On the other end of the spectrum, the first track of the album, “Visions from Holysmoke,” is everything Onoe Caponoe can be. The thrumming harps in the background, the classic beat and the drawled verses come together to create a harmonious, multi-layered song. This might be my favorite track on the entire album. The harps come as a real surprise the first time, but Caponoe makes the soft sound work with the roughness of the other components of the piece.
Caponoe’s experimentation normally yields definitive results, but in some cases, I can’t tell how I feel about a track. “Sweet Jane (Catpiss Remake)” is a weird song for this album. It’s all swelling strings and orchestral synth arrangements. The track has almost no bump to it. On some other album, it would be perfectly acceptable, but in this context, it seems out of place and distracted — a last minute addition.
The most contemporary rap song on the album is “Purp Frog (Dreaded Spirit Mist) ft. Jae Genius (PoshGenius).” The track is verse-heavy with simpler, more common production. The subtly morose background synths add the Caponoe touch.
This is not the best album for everyone. The layers of instrumentation make the tracks heavy. It’s not the ideal post-Green Key hangover album, but it’s by far one of the more unique albums out there and is definitely worth a listen.