London, UK based emcee/spoken word Artist/educator Christian Foley is back with his brand new album HAPPY HOUR

Hip Hop and Spoken Word talent Christian Foley has just released ‘Happy Hour’, the follow up to his critically acclaimed debut album ‘Excommunication‘.

‘Happy Hour’ is exactly sixty minutes. It’s not a happy album. The hour passes in a haze of bitter and blurred introspection. Like the lone drinker at the bar, stirring problems in a shot glass, and searching for solutions.

The lyrics are rich and heady with Foley’s intelligent wordplay, sometimes caustically funny or sardonic, though the subjects they tackle are bleak and broken. Broken homes. Broken families. Broken relationships. It becomes clear the title is very ironic. Yet, like the album before it, Happy Hour appears to be therapeutic for Foley, amidst all of the sertraline, uncertainty, and suicidal swerves.

“It’s all a learning curve / I turn to verse for self-care / my suicidal tendencies
Meant tenancy in health care / my mind was Tennessee / meaning it was elsewhere / Farewell to my welfare at the bottom of the well / fair enough….” – Uppers and Downers.

There a range of guests on the 18 track album. There are star turns from UKHH veterans, Benny Diction & Solocypher, as well as the raw energetic talent of Alex Mike the Mic, Sixty Grand & Ben Lacey the Brand. One of the most effective moments is a Spoken Word monologue from Foley’s close friend, Rashid. Whose story sparkles with a rare ray of sunny optimism, amidst the other clouds of depression. This is also true of the two children who narrate a poem throughout. Meanwhile… the bipolar music itself swings between moods, from scattered, melancholy piano chords, to the joyous horn arrangements of the title track.

The beats are old school Hip Hop in flavour, with scattered soul samples and vocal riffs. Musically, this album is not broken at all. But refined. It has a clear vision that everyone on board buys into. That is one question, that apparently Foley asked all of the guests.

What makes you happy?

Christian Foley – Happy Hour via iTunes/Spotify

Also, check out Urban Vault Interviews – Christian Foley

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