“Get A Life!” By Curtisy & Owin: A Surprising Double Whammy Of Introspective Wit And Adventurous Sounds

Hearing the term “Get a life” being said to you is usually a very insulting thing, while also probably being the hard-hitting truth that you needed to hear. In Curtisy’s mind, however, the saying carries a more versatile meaning.

It can be a promise, a statement to want to live life to the fullest, but it will always carry a certain weight behind the words. The rising star has returned with a commanding mixtape of the same name in collaboration with Owin, a fellow Dublin native who has carved his own intricate path in the producer scene in recent years. The new project from Curtisy showcases his wordplay and effortless flow on an ever-shifting musical landscape courtesy of Owin, who always seems to have a few tricks up his sleeve.

In the press release, he expressed his distaste for being boxed into a certain type of hip-hop sound or as he puts it: “hippity hoppity Ice Cube Today Was A Good Day type rap music.” With this desire to break out of that box, it’s where Get A Life! absolutely shines. ‘Talk Of The Town’ kicks things off with jittering percussion and thumping bass, complemented with auto-tuned choruses and sharp contrasting verses from Curtisy and Lil Skag. It’s full of braggadocio and glee, while the lyricism, with its strong sense of wit, elevates the track beyond a fun single. ‘Sonny’ opens with trumpets and string flourishes that inspire a certain hopefulness, as Curtisy lyrical waxes about promises made to his mother, and whether he can be a good role model to his nephew: “Through the mud and the thunder, I wonder could Sonny give fucks that his uncle is here, don’t think I’m the perfect example”. Halfway through the track, dreamlike synths kick into full gear with the strings on full cinematic display as he declares he’s the “son of god”.

More grandiose elements are on display here, while never straying from the amount of fun that seemed to be had making this tape. Both musicians are truly on the same wavelength throughout, with Owin’s adventurous nature complementing the punchy bars that are being laid down. Warped vocal samples, a bouncy take on drill, complete with soulful guitar licks and piano chords that all come together spectacularly, ‘The Instigator’ is a fantastic display of skill. Curtisy is one of those gifted songwriters in which the verses feel like a chance conversation with a stranger over a pint at the pub. He lays his anxiety and doubts all on the table, while working the choruses into the story, as the track slows down its bpm with more lurching drums and reverb on the vocals as he declares: “I swear to god it hurts when I smile because I’m faking.”

Lil Skag returns for not one, but two more collaborations. ‘Yesterday News’ is a headstrong display of Irish culture, with many lines from Lil Skag that will have non-native listeners heading to Google, mixed with chibi-like synths and bright hi-hats; it’s a bubbly triumph. In a contrasting vein, ‘Bones’ has a more melancholy energy to it, with the use of droning synths, drill-like drums and scattered hi-hats. Curtisy and Skag are both on full steam here, keeping up the breakneck pace of the beat with a leisurely ease to the delivery with the usual weight behind it: “Me and me head not mates sometimes, Have to learn to follow me soul, Follow me soul, follow me heart, follow me gut too.” Owin’s use of liminal emptiness in the track, with only the droning sounds to be heard just before the second verse kicks in, is additionally a nice touch, really allowing that beat to bounce back in from its absence.

The best in show on this tape lies in its penultimate track: ‘My friends’, which in turn proves to be one of the most rewarding tracks. Delicate acoustic guitar backed with pop-trap elements, as Curtisy croons about his self-doubt, with the beat never letting up, until it unfolds into a shoegaze-influenced soundscape of reflection, complete with fitting guitar chords and an angelic verse from Wicklow-born vocalist Emily Beattie. Tracks like this prove that the whimsical wordsmith will never be limited to the boxes many have attempted to label him with, and it’s glorious to hear it being put to the test so successfully.

Although there are times when the lyrics don’t stick the landing, “Baddie so bad, shes porn” and tracks like ‘Knotting’ seem to pack less punch than the tracks surrounding it, these are minor gripes that don’t bring down the experience, because this is a project born from being surrounded by the right people, choosing to live life, to make mistakes, to be vulnerable. Curtisy has proven that he’s taking the music he makes as seriously as he can while also still having fun with it. In the tape’s last moments on ‘Couch Springs’, a sixties noir mentality bleeds through its production, offering a sultry goodbye to a punchy and gutful mixtape from two of Ireland’s strongest up-and-coming artists. Words from the man himself seem to prove that: “I’m finally fucking flying cockpit.”