GoldLink has always had one foot in the club and the other somewhere harder to place. Since 2014’s The God Complex, the DC rapper has ducked in and out of genre, building a following through unpredictability as much as output.
Now, after a relatively quiet few years, he’s back with ENOCH, a new 12-track album that draws from everywhere he’s been in the meantime.
According to the press notes, the album’s shaped by years of global travel, though in GoldLink’s case that doesn’t only mean “some amapiano and a reggaeton rhythm”. He still raps like he’s racing a time signature, but the production, courtesy of Kaytranada, Juls and others, swings between Jersey club, slanted psychedelia, and the sharp percussion of UK dance music. ‘GLOCK HEAVY’ nods to his time in London, while ‘LIMPOPO’ goes harder, faster and sweatier than almost anything he’s done.
There’s a feature from Fat Trel, a surprisingly sweet turn on ‘RED STRING’, and the unhinged highlight ‘AVENTADOR’ which finds Kaytranada’s low-end rumble giving GoldLink room to pace the floor like a man unbothered by genre or sense.
It’s the sound of someone enjoying himself. Less preoccupied with reinvention, more concerned with making something that hits in a crowd. And with that in mind, he’s heading out across Europe this autumn for a run of headline dates, including London’s Hammersmith Apollo on 29th September.
GoldLink’s ‘ENOCH’ European Tour Dates:
October 31 – FOMO, Sofia, Bulgaria
September 29 – Hammersmith Apollo, London, UK
October 3 – Crane, Bristol, UK
October 5 – O2 Institute, Birmingham, UK
October 6 – SWG3, Glasgow, UK
October 7 – Academy, Manchester, UK
October 9 – Elysée Montmartre, Paris, France
October 12 – Amager Bio, Copenhagen, Denmark
October 13 – Live Music Hall, Cologne, Germany
October 15 – Frankhan Main Room, Istanbul, Turkey
October 16 – Progresja, Warsaw, Poland
October 17 – Flex, Vienna, Austria
October 19 – Muffathalle, Munich, Germany
October 20 – Zoom, Frankfurt, Germany
October 21 – Astra, Berlin, Germany
October 22 – X-TRA, Zurich, Switzerland
October 23 – Gamla Bio, Reykjavik, Iceland
October 25 – Kägelbanan, Stockholm, Sweden
October 26 – Vulkan Arena, Oslo, Norway
October 27 – Ancienne Belgique, Brussels, Belgium
October 28 – Vicar Street, Dublin, Ireland
Editors’ Picks
- ENOCH
- European Tour
- Fat Trel
- future bounce
- genre fusion
- global sounds
- GoldLink
- Hip-Hop
- Kaytranada
- Live Music
- Matt McGhee
- new album
- Paco Panama
