Culture

Rating: 2/5

When their new album Circus in the Sky materialised in the Critic office, I hadn’t the faintest idea who Bliss N Eso were. However, I fell hook, line and sinker for the ludicrously shiny packaging the CD came in, making me just curious enough to find out.

For a long time I simply admired the artwork; planets, stars and angels with rainbow wings, all presented in a rare-Pokémon-card-like sheen. This paradisiac imagery, combined with song titles such as “Sunshine” and “Animal Kingdom,” had me expecting something along the lines of The Lion King soundtrack in space. While I would have loved some massive Technicolor world music, Circus in the Sky proved instead to be an album of overproduced Australian hip-hop. Oh ... okay.

Needless to say, it took me some time to digest the chasm between what I had hoped for and what I received. Now that I’ve properly listened to it, I can safely say that Circus in the Sky isn’t for me. Beyond the music not really appealing, I take issue with how insincere Circus in the Sky feels. Bliss N Eso spend half the record asserting their own intelligence – look how cultured we are, look how socially conscious we are, look how politically aware we are – and yet not once does it feel genuine. Whether they’re sampling Charlie Chaplin’s famous speech at the end of The Great Dictator, referencing Hunter S. Thompson and Bill Hicks mid-rap, or dedicating songs to certain late astrophysicists (“Pale Blue Dot”), it all rings a bit hollow.

If Bliss N Eso had any confidence in the calibre of their music, surely they wouldn’t feel the need to dress it up in such hip name drops, or such lustrous artwork for that matter. It’s curious, as Circus in the Sky does have a lot going for it: heavy beats, colourful production, big guest appearances (including Nas), and even bigger choruses. For a certain group of people out there, this will be as good as it gets. Is it my own cup of tea? Yeah, nah.