Pressure Points

At first, it seems the American-born, Cork-based and very Irish rapper Exile Eye isn’t blessed with the greatest ‘voice’ in the world – but that’s probably because Irish hip-hop is largely unchartered territory. Three tracks in, you begin appreciate his honesty – plus he’s got a great gift for what you could argue is a forgotten talent in contemporary hip-hop: storytelling – witness the affecting ‘Mary O’Reily’ for proof. He can do the party cuts too: ‘Wreck The Gaff’ is lively and entertaining, riding a delightful skanking beat. And he’s certainly not short on ideas – ‘Juggernaut’, ‘Heavyweight’, ‘Forward On’ and ‘Everyday Thing’ are excellent. The beats are tight, original and innovative too – minimal and electro-influenced, but balanced with elements of dub, reggae, soul and straight-up hip-hop. At 17 tracks, it’s probably three tracks too long – ‘Into The Infinite’ and ‘Finn McCughal’ don’t quite reach the heights of the others. But these are minor complaints - it’s definitely the best hip-hop album to come out of this country. A benchmark and a bit of a landmark.