A House With Many Rooms
Posted May 12, 2015
By MarkRyan_NRT, Staff Reviewer
I had the pleasure to review NF's self-titled EP back in August and honestly, I was surprised to see a full length album so soon after. The latest offering, Mansion, is a house filled with many rooms. One room contains hard hitting beats, another contains melodic hooks, a third contains metaphoric melancholy and a fourth is filled with rage. These rooms define the artist that is NF, each room a side to his delivery.
The title track takes us to each of these rooms. We hear the pain and anguish of a young man who has lived more life in his first 24 years than most of us would care to live in our entire life— from physical abuse to a mother who was taken from him at a young age by a drug overdose. Walls have built up over the years compartmentalizing his life to stay safe, to avoid being honest and real, but now he is opening the doors to let the grace of God overcome the fear.
The new album contains two track from the EP, "All I Have" and "Wake Up." The production ethics of these tracks along with the lyrical content and the beats/instrumentals used make it fairly clear that they were intended for this album all along.
Perhaps the most impressive part of this album is the ability for a young man to be brutally honest. In a culture where the vulnerability of men is frowned about, NF covers topics such as broken relationships in "Wait," depression and fear in "Face It," and the real motivation behind the man in "Motivated." Each song is a doorway into another room in the mansion.
The most worshipful moments in the album come as the rage resides and rest and faith are explored in "I'll Keep On" and "Can You Hold Me." "I'll Keep On" is an acoustic guitar driven, melodic song featuring Jeremiah Carlson of The Neverclaim. The song builds throughout and ends in a worshipful chorus singing "I'll Keep On." On "Can You Hold Me," NF flexes his vocal muscles alongside the haunting tones of Britt Nicole. This is the end, the moment of surrender on the album.
Closing Thoughts:
When I first received the album, I was somewhat disappointed that only 7 months after the self-titled EP Mansion only had nine new songs. However, I was pleasantly surprised that the two repeats fit so well within the storyline of the album. The album is a step in the right direction for the young artist and bodes well for future projects as he grows both lyrically and spiritually.
Song to Download Now:
"I'll Keep On (Feat. Jeremiah Carlson)" (Get it on iTunes here.)
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