Review: Moving Forward EP Vol 1 – Sean Tizzle

Review: Moving Forward EP Vol 1 – Sean Tizzle

The debut disc of Sean Tizzle, The Journey is one of those rare finds, a first timer’s pop record that played like a hits factory but managed to secure serious critical acclaim due to the quality of the recordings. His dynamic union with D’Tunes sizzled with intensity and managed to sidestep some of the usual missteps of the first album (Excess length, indiscipline, too many fillers).

The relationship with D’Tunes did not survive the red hot superstardom that followed, and went the way of Sean Tizzle’s earlier flirtation with Sound Sultan. He has struggled since then to connect to the zeitgeist as easily as he used to.

Replacing D’Tunes is Blaq Jerzee who produced all but one of the seven tracks that make up the EP. The outlier, Roll Up (ft. Iceberg Slim) produced by Mr Kamera has Tizzle adopting that coarse croak that has worked out so well, vocal wise for Davido on a mid-tempo beat that rides and falls with the rhythms of its instrumentation. Speaking of, Davido stops by for an uninspired, if pleasant objectification of the female anatomy titled, Dide.

The opener, Thank You is exactly what you would expect from the title and returns all gratitude to the creator for successes recorded so far. Blaq Jerzee seems to have been influenced by Tizzle’s earlier work and dices a busy recording that incorporates Tizzle’s fine vocal work into a pot that updates old school highlife with pleasant sounding live instrumentation powered by drums, and strings that can interest today’s youth.

Arawa Ni recalls those heady earlier days when Tizzle was prince of the block and instantly heads for the dance floor amidst a throbbing mix of drums, flutes and percussion notes. It is awesome stuff that solidifies Tizzles strong suits and charts a course for his ultimate future as an artiste, when the pop charts have no more use for his style of music.

Sean Tizzle is famous for quitting Twitter after a series of ignorant tweets landed him in hot water. He seems to have learnt his lesson and sticks to the telephone to pass his message of infatuation to his lover on the reggae tinged, Telephone Man.

Latin Lover with its Afro-Caribbean leaning is a dud that is more striking considering the brevity and limited time span of this record. Thankfully Alhaji Abass closes the entire affair and brings to the fore once again, what is becoming the go-to Sean Tizzle sound.

There is still work to be done on the song writing level and Mr Tizzle definitely needs to be inspired beyond trite like, You carry pass Nicki Minaj. Kiss Daniel and DJ Coublon may have taken the acute skill of recording live instrumentation to the next level, but if there is any artiste that proved such a formula was workable, it is Sean Tizzle.

Indeed that is ultimately what saves the EP from instantly forgettable status but Sean Tizzle needs to develop a persona and character that can back up his production efforts. Lest he be stuck in reverse.

Album Name: Moving Forward
Artist: Sean Tizzle
Year: 2016
Tracks: 8

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