This album review may become a shock to those who only view me as a head banging rocker, which I am at heart, but my ears have evolved over my 32 years of life and I appreciate genuine artistic music, such as BLK ODYSSY.
Now this may be BLK ODYSSY’s debut album, but frontman Sam Houston has been preforming and touring years before this blessed our ears. I first experienced Sam Houston & BLK ODYSSY back in 2019 while he was on tour with songwriter, Shawn James, and I was immediately amazed with the raw talent him & the band had. I was actually bummed a bit afterwards to see they had no music on streaming platforms yet.
Fast forward into mid 2020, him and I reconnected and did a special IG Live Interview to talk about his music career and how he transplanted himself from the east coast into the heart of music Mecca Texas: Austin. Also that year, I flew out for one of his few performances him and BLK ODYSSY did and got to see them shine for a hometown crowd.
BLK VINTAGE, their debut album, is an absolute blessing to your ears. Even when looking at the song titles, I already knew which ones would be my favorites. Sam Houston is such a creative lyricist and I was pumped to hear his final creation.
The album starts its journey with title track BLK VINTAGE, and is the perfect warmup song for the rest of the ride. Songs such as ‘BIG BAD WOLF/SOBER’, ‘MURDA’ and ‘GHOST RIDE’ offer more upbeat fast tempo vibes and maybe get dressed up for a night out.
While others such as ‘DRINKING BLOOD’, ‘YA NO PODIA SALIR’ and ‘NINTEEN EIGHTY’ completely reminds me of Jay-Z’s 4:44 album: relaxing soul vibes, lyrics that mold right into the beat and a tone that just leaves you warm.
From a deep and empowering album artwork, to lyrics that echo long after you’re done listening, BLK ODYSSY debut album is an absolute soul banger.