Dua Saleh's 'Of Earth and Wires' Review: Ambitious Themes, Cautious Execution
This review from The Guardian examines Dua Saleh’s second album, 'Of Earth and Wires,' released under Ghostly International. The Sudanese-American artist, known for roles in 'Sex Education' and collaborations with Travis Scott, constructs a post-apocalyptic narrative addressing climate collapse, AI dominance, and the civil war in Sudan. While the opening track, '5 Days,' is praised for its intense mix of poetry, screamo rap, and falsetto vocals, the reviewer argues that the rest of the album feels somewhat underbaked and cautious compared to its urgent thematic premises. Tracks like 'I Do, I Do' and 'Flood,' featuring Bon Iver, offer glimpses of narrative through warm but brief compositions. However, songs such as 'Firestorm' are criticized for lacking emotional heat despite their high-stakes settings. The review concludes that while Saleh possesses a unique artistic voice, the album misses opportunities for greater tension and release, preventing the heartfelt hope of the closer, 'All Is Love,' from fully landing. Ultimately, the album is seen as an ambitious but restrained confrontation of global catastrophes.
Editorial responsibility
- No named human review is recorded for this page.
- Reports are grouped by semantic similarity and deterministic rules. Language models may assist titles, summaries, translation and cross-source analysis; the page itself is projected from evidence records.
- Current automated evidence projection