Eleven tracks make up No Dead End, and these are all full tracks, no interludes or anything. Each track is loaded with deep grooves and introspective lyrics about love, relationships gone awry, and men and women overtaken by their emotions who simply can’t live happily ever after for one reason or another.
Clearly one of the best songs on this Zenglen album is “I Miss My Ex”. The song hits hard! It’s karma baby. It takes being in a miserable relationship with his new “love” for a man to realize that it’s really his ex who’s the love of his life.
The ex is snickering at the shenanigans that his new woman is having him endure. He thought his last girlfriend was bad! But this new chick is the worst!
“Girl, you make me miss my ex”, the narrator sings, his voice clearly sounding afflicted. Does Sanders of the group Harmonik have something to do with this song? Is that him singing background vocals? Sounds like it.
“If I compared you with my ex, you’d get the first prize in putting me through ish,” the lead singer sings. I can truly see this song becoming an anthem among the love-worn. Many will undoubtedly find themselves relating and groaning over the lyrics.
“M Swete’l Danse” (Hope She Dances) runs as smooth as silk from the singer’s voice to the sweet melody. This band truly has some original grooves, and unique song topics. After a a while, there can only be so many situations covered in a love song, but Zenglen seems to find a way to approach them in an original way.
The song is dedicated to a lost love who’s being appreciated at last, except well, she’s no longer around. She was the long-suffering women who did everything from funding her man’s studio time to hanging in there during tough times.
He hopes she hears this song and that she dances to it. This song can be placed alongside “I Miss My Ex”, and follows this theme of the woman who’s only appreciated after she’s exhausted and drained from being underappreciated.
If there’s a song on No Dead End that’s in a category on all its own, “Dark Flower” is definitely the one. The hooks and choruses are infectious. Wid, the lead singer on the track, truly takes ownership of the track.
The song is about the endless war between the sexes, and the lyrics plead for both parties in a relationship to block out external, and possibly negative influences, on their relationship.
“Kafe Anmè” (Bitter Coffee) exemplifies difficult love. As the title indicates, this love is bitter, but has the potential to be as sweet as the coffee many look forward to drinking in the morning to start out their day.
“Kafe Anmè” is about that person who you can’t quite get along with 100% of the time, but you stay entangled because they seem to be cut out for you, in spite of all the emotional spill, endless trials and tribulations.
Who can keep up with “Ponponp”? I can imagine people speed-dancing to that one. It’s fast and frantic. It’s an ode of sorts to konpa music. Lots of trumpets and heavy instrumentation, and even some heavy rapping as the song concludes.
“Mèt Kay La” (The Master of the House), comes off as intriguing. I listened to the lyrics and could not quite make out the metaphors. The song is a mystery to me. On one hand it seemed to be talking about a woman vendor, and then the lyrics directed elsewhere, as if it has some sort of cryptic meaning.
Last Updated on November 10, 2023 by kreyolicious
