Apostle of Hustle - National Anthem of Nowhere

I think I had set my expectations a little bit too high for the new Apostle of Hustle release, entitled “National Anthem of Nowhere.” Not that it’s a bad album. On the contrary, it’s actually quite excellent. However, I had only heard the first two songs, and they are undeniably great. The first song “My Sword Hand’s Anger” is still heavily steeped in rhythm, much like many of the songs on the Apostle’s previous release “Folkloric Feel”, but it’s a little bit more pop oriented and accessible. The second song which is the title track of the album, has been test driven at a few BSS shows, and it’s far and away the best track on the album. It has a slightly epic feel which is enhanced by the always powerful BSS percussion style. From there on, the album goes in a slightly different direction than I was anticipating. I guess I was hoping for another Broken Social release under a different name. However, this album is definitely an Apostle of Hustle album, which is still a good thing. What’s remarkable about Andrew Whiteman’s Apostle project is that this music is designed to grow on you. It’s a little bit strange, it sounds like nothing else out there. In a way, Andrew is somewhat inventing his own style. He draws influences from his other projects as well as many Latin influences. The song “Rafaga!” is based on a poem by Frederico Garcia Lorca, and is sung completely in Spanish. The song “Haul Away” was inspired by some sort of word game that he was playing with Feist. Another standout for me is “Cheap Like Sebastien” a decent little number, that has the privilege of vocal additions by Lisa Lobsinger. I think the song deals a bit with privacy, and coping with the decision on what to keep private, and what to make known. Lyrically, this album truly is a step up for Whiteman, with many of the lyrics being abstract enough so as not to be too obvious, but still logical enough to be open to various forms of interpretation. In many ways, this is a thinking man’s release which is why it may take a few listens to fully appreciate.

Apostle of Hustle is playing Lula Lounge on May 18^th.

Download:
My Sword Hand’s Anger mp3
National Anthem Of Nowhere mp3

Visit Apostle of Hustle on myspace
Purchase “National Anthem of Nowhere” on Amazon.ca