2017 Belongs to The Arsenal
By: Connor Lenahan
It’s been 2017 for less than a week at this point and the brilliant collection of creatives of The Arsenal are already making a statement that this is going to be a big year for them. The Arsenal features a number of different creatives spanning from music videos to marketing and top-notch songs from artists that have been featured on Unbreakable before: Jean-Luc and King J.
Thursday night saw the release of Jean-Luc’s latest single, “Fade Out”. The track lets Jean-Luc test out a different part of his vocal range to similar success as his previous singles, including 2016’s “FMLYD”. “Fade Out” is a song that is almost exclusively designed to be played at night, and is hypnotically inviting. I’ve now had the song on repeat for roughly 15 minutes and find myself falling more in love each time it begins anew. As previously mentioned, Jean-Luc reminds me a great deal of The Weeknd, but “Fade Out” sounds less like Starboy and more like Trilogy. I couldn’t mean this as a higher compliment because Trilogy is likely in my top 10 albums/collections of the past decade. Although I haven’t had a chance to drive around with “Fade Out” late at night just yet, I know it’s going to be a longtime favorite for such an occasion.
And then there’s “Only 1”, the long-anticipated collaboration between Jean-Luc and King J that quietly premiered back in December at Boston University. I snuck my way into an MP3 roughly three weeks before the official release on January 1, but I’ve had the thing stuck in my head for the entire time. The happiest thing I can share is that these guys are immensely talented and getting better. King J, Jordan Carter, remains a sharp lyricist with a Kendrick Lamar-esque tempo control, and Jean-Luc is starting to knock out infectious hooks like we haven’t seen since Drake’s early career.
Am I biased? Of course I am, but I’m not wrong. We are a paltry six days into the new year and The Arsenal has thrown down the gauntlet. Trust me, you want to buy stock in them now.