Plan B – ‘Prayin’
Plan B is a hard man. He wants us all to know this. And if you don’t know it, he’s going to go to extravagant, sweaty lengths to prove it.
He might sing ’60s soul music in a high voice, but in case you may conclude that this makes him a wuss, he does it with maximum, throat-tearing intensity, as if his larynx doesn’t wanna do the job, but he’s gonna FORCE IT.
He might perform his songs on a stage for everyone to see – just like JLS do – but in case you are under the impression that he NEEDS the approval of an audience, he does it with what the Arctic Monkeys call “the face on” – glowering and furious.
He might wear a suit, but this does not mean he has sold out, to other men in suits – and anyway, his one is tailored to look as if he could rip it off and stuff it into an enemy’s windpipe, should the situation arise.
You’d be a fool to mistake him for a banker: he looks like The Accused.
(Here’s the video. It’s literally a riot.)
And there’s more: He might have created a soul concept album, but in case you think this is a pretentious, bookish, swotty thing to do, he has filled it with street-level details which take in murder, bad love, wild nights out, prison, swearing, and redemption. A bit like that album by the Streets, only without the broken telly (and with more murder).
He might have a song in which a character he has created is praying to God because of the awful things which have befallen him, but in case you think that it is weak that he, Plan B, could ever show that kind of frailty, he’s singing as if he is praying HARDER THAN ANYONE HAS EVER PRAYED IN THE HISTORY OF FAITH. Those prayers are like press-ups, maan.
The song may contain more spiralling horns than a tornado in a moose enclosure, but in case you associate brass with parping, cheeky, Mark Ronson indie-remakes, they are massively punchy horns. The kind of horns Joshua would’ve used to give the walls of Jericho a good seeing-to. MAN HORNS, in other words.
And if all of that sounds awfully tiring, well sometimes it is. But he can take it, and why? Because he’s a hard man, Plan B.
So long as we are all aware of this, he don’t need NUFFINK, GOTTIT?
Download: Out now
www.time4planb.co.uk
BBC Music page
(Fraser McAlpine)
Indie London says: “Another fine example of Plan B’s accomplished storytelling ability.”
Clash Music says: “In the distance, the haters continue to grind their teeth…”
The Reverend Garibaldi McFlurry says: “Obviously praying should be our first resort, our Plan A, rather than plan B or further down the list of priorities.”
View full post on BBC – Chart blog
