Album Review: Bob Vylan - 'Humble As The Sun'
“Come Shine With Us”: Bob Vylan Invite Us To Celebrate Revolution.
Legendary duo Bob Vylan release their third album ‘Humble As The Sun’, parading boisterous anti-establishment passion and an influential powerhouse of revolutionary rhetoric.
Bobbie and Bobby (‘Bob Vylan’, collectively) return after the immense success of their award-winning and chart-topping album ‘Bob Vylan Presents The Price Of Life’ with an energetic revolutionary anthem album. ‘Humble As The Sun’ takes Bob Vylan’s ethos of equality, peace and freedom whilst experimenting with new sounds and musical techniques. They maintain their staple ‘street sound’ - aka a combination of punk, grime and reggae - and delve into sounds synonymous with house and pop-punk to create high-energy anthems and encourage acculturation.
Bob Vylan’s poignant anger and urgency has been masterfully controlled by wise, methodical lyricism. ‘Humble As The Sun’ not only addresses England and its violence upon its people and immigrants, but also calls out the history of racism and discrimination within the music industry. As expected, Bob Vylan don’t let any abuse or discrimination fly and expertly use their musical talents as a form of protest and revolution.
Their third album preaches self-confidence, self-worth and, ultimately, power. Over the past couple of years since their previous album, there has been an abundance of violence and human rights violations across the globe. Now, more than ever, seems to be the time for Bob Vylan’s music to truly resonate with people and instigate action against injustice. They project their feelings of confidence and worth onto the listener with affirming and supportive lyrics in light of the prejudices they call out.
Bob Vylan are the loudest voice in music right now - no other band compares to their tenor - and their use of music as a method of protest is unparalleled. Bobby dedicates ‘Humble As The Sun’ to listeners, saying “This album is for the underdogs.”
Bob Vylan comment on the foundational messaging of this album, saying:
“The hardships of life can’t be ignored, but what shouldn’t be ignored is our power to change things. / Throughout this album, it always comes back to the response to the way the government makes you feel.”
The duo have recently featured on the April 2024 cover of DIY Magazine with the accompanying title ‘Seeds of Change’. They also recently performed on BBC Radio 1’s Future Sounds show with Clara Amfo, which included live renditions of ‘Hunger Games’ and ‘He’s a Man’, as well as a cover of Kano’s ‘Three Wheels Up’ (watch a snippet here).
Bob Vylan have already announced an abundance of upcoming live shows including Bearded Theory Festival 2024, Slam Dunk Festival, 2000Trees Festival and more. A full list of upcoming live shows can be found via the Songkick website.
Words by Erin Hill
