Angel Haze - Dirty Gold

For a few brief moments in 2012 the whole idea of an Azealia Banks/Angel Haze feud seemed exciting and worth watching. Then came the diss tracks, which seemed to just focus on each other's hairlines and who came first. Basically, it's been a long time since either of them put out an EP, mixtape or single that was remotely interesting, let alone good, and I'm now in the position where anything released by either of them is about as exciting as the prospect of an Ashanti album.

Her stubbornness and steely grit has definitely made her an exciting prospect though, and while half of that attention will filter into the whole "leaking her own album" aura of petulance about her, some of it trickled into her music and the devastatingly personal cover of Cleaning Out My Closet - in which she details her sexual abuse at the age of seven - made listening to her an uncomfortable mixture of awe and awful. On Dirty Gold, unfortunately, the latter rings truer.

The problem may lie with the production: Greg Kurstin and Markus Dravs are well-known and accomplished indeed but for work with the likes of Lily Allen, Kelly Clarkson and Mumford and Sons. Their influence leads to a hell of a lot of safe, commercial sounds that just make Wilson's blistering delivery sound like the ravings of a mad woman over some Rihanna beats. Both of the first tracks - 'Sing About Me' and 'Echelon (It's My Way)' - have clearly been built up to be palatable pop songs by Dravs with a series of buzzing hooks and clear, distinct choruses, but this just makes Haze more hazy. On the latter, she's desperate to prove herself, claiming "I'm running everything with a motherfuckin' sprain", but on what basis? Because of what she's wearing. It's a little boring. Again, Dravs concocts a rather listenable pop tune in 'Deep Sea Diver' that might work with someone like Katy B, but Wilson is far less convincing with her romantic woes and it just sounds dull.

Somewhere between these two sets of songs, Angel Haze takes a spoken intro on 'A Tribe Called Red' that sounds mightily corny but serves as a subtle warning of what's to come. Here, she's in full flow and incendiary. "Head is on straight so I'm gunning with aim/ no more fucking with bitches who stunting for fame" certainly isn't a vague assertion and you needn't take two guesses at who she's referring to, but here she's able to prove her dominance. Its modern production and minimal intrusion on Wilson's abilities is really where the rest of the album goes wrong, and it's a shame because she builds up a strong row of good tracks; 'Black Synagogue', 'Angels and Airwaves' and 'April's Fool' all riff fascinatingly on her Pentecostal-cult upbringing and suicidal thoughts (although her tendency to introduce tracks with "this is for..." segues can grow a bit tiring). Both Malay productions in fact stretch her singing voice and at least offer up variances on what to expect from an Angel Haze track.

The one exception to Dravs' nadirs is 'White Lilies / White Lies', a kind of Pyramidsesque tale of the origins of a stripper set to a deliciously groovy beat, but its counterpart 'Black Dahlia' sounds like Eminem's rants about his mother set to a Coldplay melody. The persistently irritating Sia pops up on 'Battle Cry' to further cement Haze's feet into blandness, doing her standard "melancholy piano song with lots of shouting" contribution that's turning so many of this generation's stars into interchangeable turd. 'Planes Fly', too, sounds startlingly like the kind of safe shit ("planes fly high enough to take us anywhere/ and we'll go, we'll hear no, breathe no, see no fear"? How precious) that finds its way into Radio 1 playlists and Grammy Awards for "Hip-Hop" (come at me, Macklemore). It's fitting, really, that on the closing title track she displays both her strengths (her flow, her compelling storytelling) and the album's weaknesses (its dreary plantiveness, its safety).
 

The problem with Dirty Gold is that Angel Haze is capable of forest fires. Here, she's little more than a lava lamp.

Rating: 5/10
Highlights: A Tribe Called Red; Angels and Airwaves; White Lilies / White Lies; April's Fool; Black Synagogue
Avoid: Echelon (It's My Way); Sing About Me; Battle Cry; Deep Sea Diver

Artwork Watch: Not the most effective waxing method.
For fans of: Eminem's least tolerable work
Up next: Warpaint