I ran through the rain to get to the private listening session for Bliss N Eso’s new album, Circus In The Sky, at Sydney’s State Theatre early last week. Rushing down the stairs, thinking I was late when I was actually early, I was met straight up with Bliss (Jonathan Notley) and Eso (Max McKinnon) and DJ Izm (Tarik Ejjamai), who offered me a beer, some popcorn, and as many brownies as I pleased. I took a seat in the mini movie theatre where we were going to be hearing selected tracks from the new release, and Eso kept everyone entertained by commentating the Apple TV screen-saver as the rest of the press trailed in.
We started by watching the promo video for the new album, which is up on youtube at the moment, before heading into a selection of 12 of the 17 tracks that make up Circus In The Sky. The boys are clearly excited about this release, with each track accompanied by Bliss and Eso giving us as much background as they could fit in before their manager started the clip.
There are a wide variety of tracks on Circus In The Sky, with a mixture of heavy themes and more playful tracks. The album opens with ‘Unite’, featuring Charlie Chaplin’s famous speech from The Great Dictator. This acts as an introduction to the rest of the album, citing themes of free speech and a united front against oppression.
The album also contains a wide range of collaborations, with the group clearly enjoying working with a mix of international and more local artists. ‘I Am Somebody’ features the American rapper Nas in a track that the boys were clearly very excited about, having had the chance to work with the internationally famous artist, and someone that they had grown up listening to. Further along in the album, ‘Can’t Get Rid Of This Feeling’ features Daniel Merriwether in a Motown-flavoured jam, ‘Act Your Age’ samples the Bluejuice track of the same name, and ‘Next Frontier’ makes great use of Sarah Blasko’s ‘We Won’t Run.’ One of the tracks the boys seemed most excited though is ‘Reservoir Dogs,’ which is basically a who’s who of Australian hip-hop, featuring 360, Pez, Seth Sentry, and Drapht. The boys couldn’t help but nod their heads along to this track, clearly still excited about teaming up with other Australian hip-hop artists.
The boys are clearly enjoying their success but without ever coming off as pretentious or obnoxious, instead infecting everyone else with their sense of excitement and fun. There seems to be a real brotherly bond between the MCs, a friendly rivalry coming out when the track ‘Bomb Like Banksy’ came on, with Eso pausing the track before Bliss’ verse, pointing out that Bliss sounds “like Daryl Braithwaite coming in on a golden horse” after his own verse.
Never having really been a fan of Australian hip-hop, the boys managed to convince me that it might be worth giving them a chance. This new album looks set to be another hit, with something for everyone in the wide variety of tracks. So look out for Circus In The Sky set for release on June 28, only a short wait now for what will certainly be a crowd-pleaser for Hip Hop fans.
Reviewer: Louisa Bulley