"It's my party/You're invited/Don't be shy/Just get excited/You ain't gotta be a stranger to me."
Tunde Olaniran's breakthrough album, 2015's
Transgressor, was full of bold statements of inclusion and confidence, sometimes in the face of long odds, and there's plenty more where that came from on his 2018 follow-up
Stranger. Lyrically,
Olaniran is an optimist who also lives in the real world, which means he clearly knows about the uphill climb the fates often put in our way, as "Dead Last" and "Forgiveness" make clear. But when he declares "Can't forget that I'm a miracle," he sings for us all, and while
Olaniran isn't exactly Flint, Michigan's new
Norman Vincent Peale, there's a lot to be said for his philosophy that there's place in this world for everyone and he's here to help you find it. Of course, what makes
Olaniran's work especially striking isn't just what he says, but the way he says it. When singing, his multi-octave voice slides over the melodies with grace and a keen sense of style, and when he raps, he blends a cool and measured flow with a quiet intensity that adds weight to every word.
Olaniran pairs his vocals with lean electronic soundscapes, the rhythms and keyboard lines often punctuated by samples of found sounds or vocal bursts, and the contrast between the emotional warmth of
Olaniran's voice and the chilly mood of the beats favors his messages, keeping his positivity up front without seeming treacly. And
Olaniran certainly has a well-developed sense of his own cool, as his celebration of style in "Celine Dion" and the financial declaration of "Coins" clearly demonstrate. And judging from "I'm Here," he knows how to fill up the dancefloor. If you're looking for a life coach or a role model,
Tunde Olaniran isn't a bad choice at all, and
Stranger finds him sharing some compelling music along with valuable life lessons. ~ Mark Deming