new music: producer/songwriter haasan barclay breaks out with ‘heaven is your last dream’

For those who have truly kept their finger on the pulse of Boston music (specifically, that of an urban variety), the name Haasan Barclay would be a very familiar name. That’s because Haasan produces beats for some of your favorite young local rappers from Original Kadeem to Michael Christmas to OG Swaggerdick. (waits for reader to stop laughing) With Heaven is Your Last Dream, Haasan gives you in one album an idea of what Haasan Barclay is all about, which includes using the mixboards to create his own adventure. Needless to say, some of those who have heard his music or his beats before would never see such a thing coming. I know I didn’t.

By Lightning Pill, AFROPUNK Contributor *

Beginning with “Rains”, the track turns quickly from darkwave in the first few seconds to peacefully psychedelic. Usually, saying something is spacious would be a mixed cliché to use, but in this situation, it fits. “Creatures Like Us” itself sounds like a musical equivalent of taking life-affirming drugs the way it turns from sedated (and also melancholy) to bright and distorted at the end. Not to mention his occasional use of autotune, which when used in his case adds to the near-druggy sound of such a single. Normally, songs about taking drugs would stop at phasing chords, but Haasan takes this track and flies it towards the moon. But where “Creatures Like Us” sounds like drugs just kicking in, “Fly With Me” may as well be the sound of the trip at its most surreal. When listening to “Fly With Me”, you get reminded of when R&B was as romantic as it was “avant-garde”, but rather than keep it as simple as it was before, “Fly” again takes that extra mile during the chorus. The very first half of the album asserts Haasan as his own artist not afraid to explore ideas that break out of ideas of what music could do.

This isn’t to say that throughout the whole album, he completely ditches his hip-hop side. On the second half of the album, the rappers he has worked with becomes co-stars to Haasan’s adventure. This includes up-and-comer Khary (who sounds truly at home on “Rumble Pak”) and Michael Christmas himself (“Yoshimitsu”). The last three songs all showcase his ability to create creative beats, but never make it seem like the artists he works with overshadows him too much.

The funny part about Heaven is Your Last Dream is the way the album ends with “There Will Be Blood”. It feels a lot like there is more to be had right after this track. Perhaps, this is on purpose. You got a taste of what Haasan can do. Now, all you got to do is wait for the next fix.
The record at once feels like another true dreamy progression within the alternative R&B genre and, for those just tuning into Barclay’s work, just the beginning.

Heaven is Your Last Dream can be downloaded through Fanburst.

* Lightning Pill is a blogger, poet, singer-songwriter, composer, Aspie, etc. from Dorchester, MA. You can reach him at www.twitter.com/LightningPill or visit his Afropunk website. His Soundcloud can be found here and his main Bandcamp found here. Also here for the new agers.