'No Point In Wasting Tears' - Ironik (album review)

Want to listen to a load of sloppily-sick love songs from a UK MC backed by production consisting muchly of higher-than-chipmunk vocals and basic synths? Yeah? Bag yourself a copy of Ironik’s ‘No Point In Wasting Tears’. If not then steer way clear.

Seriously, that’s all there is here – a poor attempt at R’n’B rap from a grimey/garagey angle. Yeah so Sway’s just about to blow big time with something similar but where Sway has style and individuality Ironik just has nothing but a London accent to make him stand out. And that’s not enough.

The production here blurs the edges between grime, R’n’B, garage and dance – the first track, the awful on the ears ‘Stay With Me (Everybody’s Free)’ even samples the Rozella track ‘Everybody’s Free (To Feel good)’, a track made famous again to the dance scene by Angel One. And guess what the other track that’s sampled is? WESTLIFE!!! WESTLIFE??? ‘Written in the Stars’. That is sampling taken two steps too far.

Obviously Ironik has an obsessively one track mind – he may as well have just made one track – I’m serious, all he talks about is his version of ‘love’. It’s so ridiculously all-I’ve-ever-listened-to-is-the-radio that I am absolutely astounded. This is like 18 attempts at writing a first song – from experience, a first song is always about love and is always full of clichés stolen from other love songs. Ironik the least rounded artist I have ever listened to – did he seriously think this is what people want to hear?

‘If they’re all about love, then at least one must be alright?’ I hear you ask. Well to be honest, the ‘Stay With Me’ remix (without the horrible intro of the original that greets your ears as soon as you play the disc) which features better MC’s Wiley and Chipmunk isn’t too bad (it still has a Westlife sample) but really I can’t listen through again to find one that might stand out.

In short, don’t buy this - 'No Point In Wasting Money' is more like it. Don’t download this. If it something suspiciously like it comes on the radio, turn it off. Protect your ears, they are precious.