Drake 'Views' album review: First impressions of an icy, restrained release

It's short on 'Know Yourself' crowd pleasers, but pretty atmospheric

Drake's new album Views (formerly Views from the 6) has dropped. You can find out how to navigate your way through the always messy release strategy and actually listen to the thing here, and what follows is some very scattered initial thoughts from my first listen, track-by-track.

Keep the Family Close

A sparse, orchestral opening. 'Sparse' isn't right, it's more like stately. Almost Bond theme-esque in its strings stabs. Reminiscent of that 'big' sound The Weeknd went for on his latest album.

Trust issues form the theme, centring around the line 'All of my "let's just be friends" are friends I don't have anymore'.

Made me laugh a little that Drake sings this line with a straight face: 'Always saw you for what you could've been / Ever since you met me / Like when Chrysler made that one car that looked just like the Bentley'. Love a vehicular simile.

9

Oh boyyyyy. This beat. Producers 40 and Boi-1da take a fey shimmer that sounds like a waterfall on some distant tropical planet, riddle it with hi-hats and underpin it with an almost video game-sounding synth.

Track's all about his hometown, ‘I turn the six upside down, it's a nine now’ - Drake saying he’s turned Toronto on its head. A pretty chilled start to the album so far.

U With Me?

DMX sample. Another twisted love song, Drake is anxious about whether his girl is really with him. It's not the dancehall record some expected so far - this track feels like it could be on Take Care or even Thank Me Later.

Listen out for the third verse, which builds from monotone rap into a half sung/half shouted kind of thing. Huge. Expect 'A lot of n*ggas cut the check so they can take this flow' to be slapped on myriad Instagram captions this summer.

Feel No Ways

The most 80s snare I’ve ever heard. He’s still holding off on the usual Drake braggadocio, at least for now, this being another relationship-focused track - in this case about being stuck in a lazy, parasitic one.

Can definitely feel the Majid Jordan influence on the production here. Though I’m not sure I’m down with it, there are a lot more interludes in between tracks than we usually get with Drake.

Hype

Oh lord, a track with this name was only ever going to one way and yep, it’s an ominous beat with pneumatically-drilled hi-hats and Drake going hard. Sounds like there's a deranged music box in the background. Track kind of reminiscent of '10 Bands' or 'Worst Behavior'.

Weston Road Flows

By contrast, much more of a throwback, 90s feel, which is appropriate as it's a song about his past. Drake grew up on Weston Road in Toronto (you may remember him referencing it in ‘You & The 6’: “Do you remember back to Weston Road, Scarlett Road?”). The sample here comes from Mary J. Blige’s ‘Mary’s Joint’.

Redemption

Another slow jam! This is like Marvin’s Room: The Album. I’m fine with that though, If You’re Reading This It’s Too Late and What A Time To Be Alive were filled with enough bangers to fill the clubs for years. Drake’s long-serving collaborator 40 really holding back here, just a wavering synth and simple kick and snare.

The line ‘Relationships slowin' me down, they slow down the vision’ pretty much sums up Drake’s latest excuse for staying resolutely single on this album, which must be weighing on his mind more than ever as his peers all start to settle down.

With You

First proper spine-tingler/head-nodder of the album. Still stripped back but with more of a dancehall-y rhythm and Party Next Door’s heavy reverb vocals over the top. This song feels like it belongs to this summer’s afternoons, setting sun peeking through the trees as everyone makes evening plans.

Faithful

After all the soulful stuff, Southern hip hop legend Pimp C’s more abrasive style stands out. Not a hugely memorable track on the whole, but those pitch-shifted vocals in the background are a nice nod to the Drake of old. A top-down track (or at the very least, sunroof open).

Still Here

Incredibly sinister intro and then comes the BOUNCE. I can already imagine this one being sung back to me in a kitchen at some ungodly hour. N.B. - those unhinged percussion hits at 2:22!

Controlla

Friend who’s also listening somewhere right now: ‘man i fucking love controlla, that beat gets me so happy’. Indeed, such a feel good song that sounds like 'Hotline Bling’s twin. But we already knew that, Controlla having leaked recently.

One Dance

Same goes for this one. We’re getting more up-tempo now, the keys stabs from Kyla’s ‘Do You Mind’ reworked into afrobeat are irresistible, as is that machine gun volley.

Would like to see Drake explore this genre more, if only so we get more dad dancing. This album's heating up.

[*A side note on this. Drake said of Views:

"What I used to tie it all together is winter to summer then back to winter again. It's to show you the two extreme moods we have, because we’re very grateful for our summers but we also make our winters work. And they’re harsh and our summers are hot and it’s a very unique place, you start to value your days more when seven months of them are spent in ice cold…it creates a different type of atmosphere, a different sound in the music, a different type of person even. I thought it was really important to make the album here in winter."]

Grammys

You’ll be hearing this Future collab a lot, as the pair are going on tour this summer. Future kicks off his verse with what is possibly a dig at his derivative, Desiigner, before repeating ‘They gon’ think I won a Grammy’. Kanye was tweeting recently about how the trapper should have been included in the last Grammys ceremony given that he owned the clubs the past year.

Childs Play

Soul clap! This sounds like a grower. Fast beat initially made my mind jump to Kelis and Andre 3000’s ‘Millionaire’ but now we’ve dropped into half-time and it’s a real scrunch-your-face-up-like-there’s-a-bad-smell track. I’m enjoying this record a lot, although there’s been no obviously massive, Vine-ready moments a la ‘Know Yourself’ yet.

Pop Style

We know this one well and it’s really the single of the album. The haunting vocal that sounds like its falling off a cliff is really moreish. Not surprised Jay Z’s verse has been dropped given it contributed approximately nothing (I can’t believe he was allowed back after ‘Pound Cake’) but I miss Kanye’s bars in all their ‘take you to the garage and do some karate’ ridiculousness. [Update: Allegedly Drizzy wasn't happy with Hov being on the track] [Update II: It was more that he just wanted him to actually do more than one line].

Too Good

I always enjoy a Rihanna-Drake collab, and this is a continuation of the vibe of ‘Work’. I like how their four collabs (inc. ‘What’s My Name’ and ‘Take Care’) all have that 'warring couple' setup. There isn’t really a strong hook here, though.

Summers Over Interlude

Haha what the hell is this? Some kind of Smokey Robinson meets The Eagles porn soundtrack? Moving on.

Fire & Desire

Wow. Slow, off-kilter, triplet hi-hats give way to an incredibly smooth jam (sampling Brandy’s ‘I Dedicate’). That’s the kind of intro you’ll want to immediately wheel back.

Views

Title track so I’m expecting big things. Immediately reminded of '6PM in New York,' Drake asking the big questions of himself over a really ecstatic, hopeful beat. There’s more veiled shots at Meek Mill - he really needs to let that thing go - but this is a really invigorating end to the album.

Hotline Bling

…And he really should have left it there. Obviously ‘Hotline Bling’ bangs, and I know it’s only supposed to be a bonus track, but it feels jarring as a finisher.

Overall thoughts:

A lot to take in at 9am in the morning (20 tracks), but a solid album. Definitely less dancefloor-orientated than his recent efforts, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Tracks I immediately want to listen to again: '9', 'Hype', 'Grammys', 'Still Here', 'With You', 'Fire & Desire', 'Views'.

Only gripe - this doesn’t feel like a huge step forward or progression in Drake’s sound. If anything you could imagine Views sitting chronologically between Take Care and Nothing was the Same.