These two gents, Hospice Crew frontmen and, moreover, integral cogs in the wheels of the Broken Tooth record label have labored long and hard on other projects. After 6 years spent working around the music, they’ve got together to put out A Tale of Two Cities, a moniker indicative of the fact that although they’re Canberrans both, they’re currently split, with Ciecmate in Melbourne whilst Newsense mans the fort in our nation’s capitol.

With such a large thumb in Australia’s hip hop pie I was intrigued to see what they’d bring and was pleased, though not surprised, that this is a record well worth repeated listens. I don’t think either would claim to be top of the rap game on purely linguistic ability but boy, they more than make up for it with lyrical shrewdness, and above all clarity. Barely a word goes by that’s even vaguely incomprehensible, which may sound a little patronising but is none-the-less a treat and here’s why: the lyrics on this record are mad.

With a savage wit, irony, a capacity for pun and entendre, these guys rip through to the core, exposing unpleasant truths as they go, every shovel called a shovel. If you’ve ever smoked a joint then Spliff Politics cuts straight to the bone, accounting for every variety of bud stealer, pulling no punches in exposing the strange land of weed politics. This is hilarious, but more importantly so wryly observed and accurate it leaves a chill, saying things we all know, but never say.
A similar knack for laying bones bare comes in on They’re Watching, a dissection of politics and media, the control on our lives from above – it’s not just paranoia!

Because of the heavy sampling (and beyond the normal pale, we’re talking chorus’s from other tracks) there’s times where this does sound a bit like bedroom session, stripped tracks with new MCing but I don’t think this takes away from the album, the rawness is intimate and the honesty shines through. Besides, cut and pasting is no crime when it’s done well and Men Still Moving is a the perfect example of this. With Seel Fresh’s bassy chat popping in and out, the recounted tale of a bender through the world again, hitting so many true note’s it’ll leave a smile on your face.

This is not your usual hip hop record, but that’s for the best. Some rappers are all about the lyrics and production is then all about giving them space to work. This pulls that off and I’m impressed. And make sure you keep listening for the bonus track too!