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Photographer: Jonathan Mannion.
One of the mixtapes from this Brooklyn MC/singer, I Want You, featured a title track that took almost as many liberties with Marvin Gaye as a Hennessy ad campaign. Here, with his debut for Reprise, Theophilus London playfully swipes imagery from the man who wrote "I Want You," Leon Ware; the cover of Timez Are Weird These Days mirrors that of Ware's self-titled album from 1982, just as his other releases referenced older album covers. It indicates that Timez might not be that much different from those releases, rather than the crossover-aiming overhaul one might expect from major-label involvement. Sure enough, Timez is no shake-up, rooted in impish party-soundtrack material. While this is the most concentrated and focused London release, boasting a relatively tight set of productions from John Hill (Santigold, Amanda Blank), Jocko (Robyn), Foreign Born's Ariel Rechtshaid (We Are Scientists), and TV on the Radio's Dave Sitek, most of the tracks have the same effect provided by the mixtape material. On the surface, the album is pleasurable, largely upbeat and bouncy -- a rock-rap hybrid inspired by the pop appeal of new wave, occasionally sweetened with flashes of early `80s funk. London is most charming when he's given some space and sings, as he does very sweetly in the chorus of "Why Even Try," featuring Tegan & Sara's Sara Quin. ~ Andy Kellman
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