Listen To The Shades of PartyNextDoor On ‘Colours 2’
‘Colours 2’ marks the second instalment in PND’s Colours series, and his first project since 2016’s ‘P3’. With the help of OMO’s G. Ry, PND creates a short but nonetheless conclusive journey, framed in his euphoric alt R&B aesthetic. The four tracks seem to run with the OVO head honcho’s ‘Winter, summer, then back to winter’ vibe, staying true to his frosty brand of R&B, and throwing in a afrobeat heater for good measure.
G. Ry sticks out most notably on the tape’s geography, and serves as an exec producer alongside PARTY. This isn’t their first outing together, though; the pair link up for ‘Let’s Get Married’ on ‘Colours’, and ‘Problems & Selfish’ on PND’s acclaimed opus ‘P3’. More recently, however, G. Ry landed a placement on ‘More Life’ in the form of ‘Nothings Into Somethings’ and ‘Since Way Back’, the latter of which featured PARTY. This, I imagine, prompted the pair’s reconnection – and their chemistry is undeniable. Both share a penchant for rigid drum patterns and muffled snares, while G. Ry’s accent synths complement PND’s punchy vocal layers perfectly.
The first half of the tape proceeds in typical PND fashion: two back-to-back trundling ballads concerned with longing and lust respectively, with the two concepts becoming rather blurred as PARTY ponders on past and present flames. As ‘Freak in You’ fades, poignant chords and pulsing poly-rhythms signal the start of ‘Low Battery’ – PARTY’s answer to the rising mercury. The beat, for the most part, is pretty skeletal, the highlight being an ever popular pan flute which glides wistfully over PND’s passionate croon.
The tape concludes with ‘Rendezvous’, a let’s-link-again effort to follow last year’s ‘Come And See Me’. PARTY’s bitter affection is palpable, here, partly because it seems to be grounded in a public reality: namely, his fling with Kylie Jenner. Although he never mentions her by name, there are various vocal hints: ‘I’m not fooled by the money that you got / You’re still Jenny from the motherfuckin’ block’.
It should be noted that PARTY and G. Ry whipped this up in five days, and serves a little warm-up to his third studio album which, if we’re lucky, might drop before he starts touring with Halsey in Autumn.
Listen to ‘Colours 2’ here.
