The song takes a turn away from the direct worship of the previous songs and hits on the sensitive topic of racial injustice. Braille returns for a much calmer rap verse, bearing his soul and bowing before God in humility: " It's when I'm broken that I'm standing open-handed reaching out to my Father, knowing you understand me, in You arms I can safely rest, You're the God who gives life from death." The last song to feature a rapper is "Playing With Fire." An interlude with a sample about the dangereous types of people you encounter in life leads into the song, which starts with Propaganda dropping some rhymes that, stylistically speaking, almost remind me of his work with Tunnel Rats back in the day. "Safe Retreat" reminds the listener of Proverbs 18:10 the song is much tamer song than "Alive," but Chad's passion is still present, as he sings about the safety found in Jesus. Listening intently to the song is sure to give goosebumps to believers: " Don't you get that I'm defended, I will never die, it's a battle that you can't win, it's love that keeps me alive, and I won't ever have to die a death, my final breath will birth a life, and I will rise up resurrected, my past and future in Christ!.Till I rise up resurrected, I'm right here right now alive!" It's a truly victorious moment, and it makes for a highlight of the album. The music slowly builds up and hits a triumphant climax as Chad shouts about our freedom and life in Christ. The second half of the song switches gears a bit, as Chad takes the reins once more. Braille immediately follows Beleaf's verse, feeling just as at home on the beat as the first two. Derek Minor and Beleaf come in right after an introductory chorus, stealing the show with fast-paced rhymes over a hectic, yet controlled beat. "Alive" follows, which is a bit more frenetic in nature. The transition is a real testament to the band, as Mineo sounds right at home on the track. For the second verse, instead of Chad Gardner continuing the song, we're introduced to the first guest rapper, Andy Mineo. The title track eases us into the album with a track that almost sounds like "Happy" by Pharrell Williams (in the vocal melody, anyway). The songs flow very well, with not one thing sounding out of place. It also feels a lot more cohesive than the band's previous outing, even when some of the mixtape elements or genre-switches come into play. In some ways, The Beauty Between feels like a continuation of their Tooth & Nail debut, with gorgeous arrangements, catchy melodies, and an insane amount of different sounds and instruments. Of course, they aren't the first band to combine alternative and rap (we can discuss rapcore some other time), but Kings K shatters expectations of what it means to make alternative music to begin with. What Kings K has to offer here is something very unique, and something that I feel like very few bands would be able to accomplish with the same level of quality. Never content to present the same kind of album twice, Kings K is emphasizing their hip hop influences on their new "mixtape," The Beauty Between. The band furthered their experimental tendencies on last year's Beyond Control, which felt a little less cohesive, but featured plenty of exciting moments and strong musicianship and songwriting. The gigantic Becoming Who We Are was a masterpiece that mixed alternative, indie, rock, pop, hip hop, electronic, and more - on a worship album, no less. In 2014, when Kings Kaleidoscope made their major label debut, one could tell that this band was something special. Movie Reviews (Main) > Movie Reviews (Main).Indie Reviews (Main) > Indie Reviews (Main).
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