Theophilus London has to be doing something right to have Kanye West as his executive producer, soul legend Leon Ware as creative co-producer, and the Force M.D.'s, Devonte Hynes, and Jesse Boykins III as guest collaborators.
Additionally, Karl Lagerfeld serves as art director and photographer for Vibes!, London's second proper album.
Timez Are Weird These Days, the artist's debut housed in a Ware-emulating cover, lacked focus and was mostly surface with little depth.
This offers measurable improvements across the board.
Even when London muddles quasi-philosophical gibberish and pro-fellatio sentiments on "Water Me," the hooks and basslines dig deeper.
It's more creative, too: "Neu Law" cleverly overhauls a decade-old droning synth-pop vignette by John Maus and is enhanced by Miri Ben-Ari's gently cutting strings.
London continues to craft frivolous tunes about playboy escapades.
On "Do Girls," where he performs his version of orientation conversion therapy on a woman, he cannonballs into a wading pool of inanity.
Well above that, there's the bopping "Need Somebody," powered by help from Ware and the Force M.D.'s, and a chorus that oddly recalls that of Eric Burdon & War's "Spill the Wine." It casually lays waste to everything on Timez.
The best bid for commercial radio play, however, is "Can't Stop," an adroit production from Club Cheval, Brodinski, and 88 Keys that features West in top lewd form.
Best of all is the finale, "Figure It Out," produced by Ware.
Hynes and the Force M.D.'s also join in to make it one of the year's finest slow jams, akin to an update of a top Ware ballad (like "Rockin' You Eternally" or "Words of Love") with sinewy low end.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Water MeTheophilus London, The Force M.D.'s, Soko, Leon Ware | Theophilus London | Play | 05:08 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 2 | Neu LawMiri Ben-Ari, Theophilus London, John Maus, Adam Pavao, Andrew Watt | Theophilus London | Play | 02:38 | 6 MB | 16 MB |
| 3 | Take and LookBrigitte Balian, Theophilus London, Catherine Loy, Mike Moore, Adam Pavao, Alain Seghir, Andrew Watt | Theophilus London | Play | 03:10 | 7 MB | 18 MB |
| 4 | Can't Stop88-Keys, Brittany Barber, Miri Ben-Ari, Brodinski, Club Cheval, Norman Feels, Theophilus London, James Smith, Kanye West | Theophilus London | Play | 04:51 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 5 | Get Me RightTheophilus London, The Force M.D.'s, Adam Pavao, Soko, Leon Ware | Theophilus London | Play | 03:14 | 7 MB | 21 MB |
| 6 | HeartbreakerTheophilus London, Adam Pavao, Sarah Ruba | Theophilus London | Play | 02:51 | 6 MB | 18 MB |
| 7 | Do GirlsTheophilus London, Andrew Watt, Kanye West | Theophilus London | Play | 03:39 | 8 MB | 23 MB |
| 8 | TribeBrodinski, Club Cheval, Jesse Boykins III, Theophilus London | Theophilus London | Play | 02:30 | 5 MB | 18 MB |
| 9 | Smoke (Interlude)Theophilus London, Adam Pavao, Soko | Theophilus London | Play | 02:42 | 6 MB | 15 MB |
| 10 | Smoke DancehallTheophilus London, Adam Pavao, Soko | Theophilus London | Play | 03:40 | 8 MB | 24 MB |
| 11 | Need SomebodyTheophilus London, The Force M.D.'s, Mike Moore, Adam Pavao, Soko, Leon Ware | Theophilus London | Play | 03:23 | 7 MB | 23 MB |
| 12 | Figure it OutMason Betha, Brodinski, Sean Combs, Devonté Hynes, Theophilus London, The Force M.D.'s, Curtis Mayfield, Nasheim Myrick, Sarah Ruba, Keisha Spivey | Theophilus London | Play | 04:07 | 9 MB | 25 MB |
| 41 mins | 96 MB | |||||
| 41 mins | 269 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 88-Keys | Composer, Producer |
| 2 | Virgil Abloh | Creative Director |
| 3 | Pierre Baigorry | Producer |
| 4 | Brigitte Balian | Composer |
| 5 | Brittany Barber | Composer, Vocals (Background) |
| 6 | Miri Ben-Ari | Composer, String Arrangements, Strings, Violin, Violin Arrangement |
| 7 | Mason Betha | Composer |
| 8 | Jesse Boykins III | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 9 | Brodinski | Composer, Producer |
| 10 | Cid Rim | Producer |
| 11 | Club Cheval | Composer, Producer |
| 12 | Sean Combs | Composer |
| 13 | Paul Falcone | Mixing |
| 14 | Norman Feels | Composer |
| 15 | Jeff Fenster | A&R |
| 16 | The Force M.D.'s | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 17 | Devonté Hynes | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 18 | Anthony Killhoffer | Mixing |
| 19 | Karl Lagerfeld | Art Direction, Photography |
| 20 | Theophilus London | A&R, Composer, Creative Director, Creative Producer, Lyricist, Primary Artist, Producer, Vocals |
| 21 | Catherine Loy | Composer |
| 22 | John Maus | Composer |
| 23 | Curtis Mayfield | Composer |
| 24 | Jack Minihan | A&R |
| 25 | Mike Moore | Composer |
| 26 | Nasheim Myrick | Composer |
| 27 | Adam Pavao | Composer, Producer |
| 28 | Kyle Ross | Mixing Assistant |
| 29 | Sarah Ruba | Composer |
| 30 | Alain Seghir | Composer |
| 31 | James Smith | Composer |
| 32 | Soko | Featured Artist |
| 33 | Soko | Composer, Featured Artist |
| 34 | Keisha Spivey | Composer |
| 35 | Leon Ware | Composer, Creative Producer, Featured Artist, Producer |
| 36 | Andrew Watt | Composer |
| 37 | Kanye West | Arranger, Composer, Executive Producer, Featured Artist |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |