There’s Absolutely Nothing Like...Something Like A Fairytale
Hello there!
This is your friendly neighborhood Geno speaking.... and as a lover of music and all things creative, I am here to share my personal opinion/review/feedback on the new Aurway album “Something Like A Fairytale” written by none other than thee Lawrence Dandridge Sr.. Word on the street is.... he wrote this at the age of 17?? I mean writing a full song is a feat within itself at that age but a whole musical? That’s oddly....impressive. I know a lot of work has gone into this project from the numerous studio sessions to getting people together and getting this coordinated with an engineer (Chemaly Desir) and producer (Shaquan Welch) and I’m honestly getting angina just thinking about it.....Anywho, we have 18 tracks ahead of us, about an hour runtime... I should probably get a snack... Sorry...not important. Let’s dive into this, shall we????
Off to a strong start with a little bit of everyone’s voice from Aurway contributing to this grand commencement of a story with Nothing Like A Fairytale Pt 1. and painting this picture of Windtropolis and I think just off arrangement alone, this could rival some of Broadway’s greats....foshizzle.
So yea, people get invited to the royal ball , and then Aurway spins the block with a more concise part 2 to double down and assure you that there is indeed NOTHING like a fairytale.
“Secret Place” is a duet that I feel (in regards to the vocal performance) isn’t too ostentatious and kinda just serves the purpose of being a lighthearted, playful, “easy on the ear” listening experience.
Now, “Let The Good Times Roll” is the Pre Game/Turn Up for the Royal Ball. Another track highlighting the collaborative efforts of the Aurway ensemble. Definitely can hit a mean Cupid Shuffle to this.
At this point, I just have to emphasize that this is all curated very well. Lawrence really utilizes all of the voices in the Aurway arsenal appropriately. Knowing when and how to make things sound really grand and then knowing when to kind of tone things down a bit or just a song like “Maybe it’s You” where although it’s mainly a solo effort from Mr. Dandridge, he still makes use of the other artists vocals but not in a way where anyone seems to be interfering....just in a way where it complements and emphasizes what’s going on. Keeps the listener interested and I don’t feel like people pay much attention to the genius in that.....It’s the little things.
Making “Making This Hard” two different songs and having two different meanings is uhhh.... (for a lack of better terms) HARD *fire emoji*.
The first oneisg this groovy duet, with a nice back & forth exchange, that makes use of a clavinet pretty well. Adds a nice little funk element to the album but doesn’t stray too far away from the style, theme, or anything. Then it gets paired with the next “Making this Hard” that’s almost like the polar opposite of the last track. It has more of a sultry, sensual feel to it as we hear this exchange go from contempt to temptation. I do like the usage of reprises here. “Hey remember that song that we did earlier in the album? WELL GUESS WHAT BUDDY ....IT’S BACK.”
The Reprise for “Maybe it’s you” might be my favorite. Marcus Beckett and Lawrence Dandridge (Donovan and James) attack this song like Kobe and Shaq in ‘02 or MJ and Pippen in ‘95, Salt and Pepper, PB & J, Mac & Cheese with candied yams. A dynamic duo if you will. I also do appreciate how certain parts they were able to sing different things at the same time and it just blended really well and not just for this song either, throughout the entire album there’s a great job with that but yea... Nothing else to say about this... 10 outta 10 would recommend.
“Today Is The Day” has some gospel elements that I really appreciated, praise Jesus. I also admire the callbacks to other songs in the “I’m Sorry” cut. A really impressive job, making everything cohesive and making everything make sense. “Who Will It Be”???? Is nuts...Destiny’s Child who!??? Probably one of my favorite records off the album. I don’t think I’ve mentioned Aza D (Alyse) yet but she is doing a spectacular job throughout this entire project. I’m almost angry at how well she is vocally delivering these songs. Like what is her problem!? Who told her to go this hard? Is she okay!? I’m sorry, anyway... moving on!
“Everything To Me” the notion that
“They can give everything to me but that means nothing if they’re not.... Everything To Me” Eughhh *Fire Emoji*. Love the concept, and love the use of the word “Everything” ...if that makes sense. The blend of every character singing their take on the meaning of the song really adds depth to the story.
The use of background vocals during “The End” monologue is unnecessarily brilliant. Once again, it’s the details guys... this was structured really well.
“A Place Inside of Me” I think conceptually has to be my favorite track off this album. A nice take on “the one that got away” that ties everything together. It also resonates kinda heavy for some reason, even if you can’t relate.... you’ll understand, ya know? Sidebar: Why would shawty compare her child to the man she was supposed to be with to his face? Knowing damn well they were supposed to have that child together.... that’s a different type of pain I hope to never experience. That’s not a fairytale, that’s a nightmare #JusticeForJames.
No but seriously, that really just shows you that this album is captivating enough to evoke real emotions and it’s not just a bunch of nice-sounding songs that someone slapped together which I can do nothing but praise and admire about this.
Now most people treat fairytales like fantasy and stories that don’t actually happen in real life. In Something Like a Fairytale, they will tell you “in life there are Fairytales happening every day.” Subsequently giving us songs with some relatable topics. As far as harmonies, how it’s structured, the instrumentation, a cohesive story with the ability to paint the picture of what’s going on through just music and no visual aid I mean it just marks off everything criteria-wise to be a quintessential musical and/or body of work. Wonderfully sung, easy to digest, a great story, I mean what else would you want at this point!? Okay, I’m done lol... I’ve run out of words. Stellar job Aurway, and if this isn’t on stage by this year you will all be hearing from my lawyer.
Until next time Windtropolis!
Geno Five is an emerging hip-hop artist from New Jersey. His style takes the lyrical prowess of hip-hop's golden era and infuses it with a fresh modern flair. He’s known for his raw, gritty and emotional vocal delivery; as well as his ability to really tell a heartfelt story through song. He’s been rapping since he was sixteen and has released countless projects over the years. His brutally honest rap anthems have seen him grow a steady following worldwide and he aims to continue releasing music on his already blossoming road to rap stardom.
