Wandering. Though I may have one in mind, I don't think that I have ever reviewed an album from someone who was almost entirely devoid of talent. Maybe a particular release isn't something that I enjoy but there is something within all of them (almost beyond a matter of opinion, you could argue) that puts them on a level that is worthy of our appreciation. This is true even amongst just songs. You take a 'one-hit wonder' who may've climbed the mountain once and then, seemingly, lost their boots (and their ability to walk altogether in some cases) and even that individual has demonstrated themselves to be of a certain class, despite their inability to replicate it (or, maybe, our inability to see it again). This is important at its most basic of levels because it begins to build several other things; with some of the most important being a measure of prominence -- they have to pay the bills after all -- and a legacy. Who knows where your music can end up? You can inspire a literally endless line of followers who will someday grow up and attempt to do what you did having been inspired by your music along the way (I am WAITING for the day when I read some random interview with an artist who said that they grew up a massive fan of someone like Reemah... because you know they're coming). Another interesting thing that is birthed by the demonstration of talent is EXPECTATION and while this won't be the main topic of this review (I still haven't figured out what this thing is going to be about since this album is SO DAMN difficult for me to write about for some reason) (actually, the fact that is so difficult to write is probably going to be the theme for this one, in a sorta/kinda way), for those who have, even further, managed to distinguish themselves from an already gifted pack with their abilities, expectations can be downright ridiculous at times. Personally, I have a very strong and reliable group of individuals from whom I expect greatness because they've shown themselves capable of producing such quality with a certain amount of consistency (not going to name any names, because I always do.... but you know I want to). Of course I'm always open to add more names to that lot and I'm just as open to removing names when it's been shown that they're no longer as dependable; though I looooooooong for the days when I can re-add them to that batch (biggup Siz... I said I wouldn't name any names). With great ability comes great responsibilities.
On top of that, the argument could well be made that we look towards the bona fide stars of any given musical era to do special things. That responsibility isn't solely theirs and theirs alone (if you have a time that doesn't produce its fair share of 'one hit wonders', you have a problem... whether you want to admit or not, they're kind of a healthy sign) but it is heightened for them and you're sooner to hear whispers of "fell off" when someone achieves a level of stardom and isn't necessarily the quickest to follow up on it or, if they dare to demonstrate that they are human beings, and take some time off. These days, in my opinion at least, Reggae music is not only pretty healthy on multiple levels but we're also fortunate to have a line of extremely gifted and GENUINE stars in the genre.
2014
Let's take, for example... oh, I don't know, let's just take a look at someone like Chronixx for a minute. I can remember some of the very early press concerning Chronixx; literally, labelling him as "the next Bob Marley" (which isn't as horrible as it seems because that same ridiculous distinction has probably been given to a few dozen or so individuals at this point) (wouldn't be surprised if there's even been one or two females in there). This goes to show a couple of things, the first being music of a very high quality and a definite amount of popularity and within some of his earlier hits, people were hailing an actual generational shift, partially powered by Chronixx. Together with a very talented group of his peers such as the brilliant Jah9, lyrics torch Kabaka Pyramid, Protoje, Koffee and a handful of others, Chronixx would help to usher in a new age of Roots Reggae music, one which was going back to and gluing itself to more traditional Roots values but in a very fresh, neo style. Personally, while I haven't spent much time talking about Chronixx over the years (largely due to our hiatus) that man had some early songs in him, such as 'Odd Ras', which were just genius. 'Odd Ras', in particular, where he presented himself as being proudly 'strange' for adhering to very basic principles (like wearing a belt) in a criticism of the state of the times was off the charts level brain work in my opinion. Some of the work from that era (oddly, excluding 'Odd Ras') would compile his GORGEOUS "Dread & Terrible" EP (not an album) from 2014. Chronixx' style, at his best, is one which is both lyrically deep and challenging and also it just SOUNDS GOOD which, I think, has a great deal to do with just how widely he is appreciated. I think Roots music is often looked at as being kind of rigid and stuck in its ways, that's not what Chronixx' music is. As I've said, I'm going to refrain from naming certain individuals for the sake of comparison (because that's what I always do) but Chronixx was looked upon as taking over the lead from several names who mention around here quite frequently. Following "Dread & Terrible" was 2017's Grammy nominated "Chronology", his legitmate debut album, and that was his last album to date. I can recall, as recently as 2024, reading an article where people were critical of the Spanish Town native for inactivity to which he, essentially, responded that creativity was not a thing to be rushed and that his next musical move would be ready when it was ready! He had canceled another album back in 2022 or so and was enjoying being a new father with, seemingly, nothing new in the works. All of that changes in the latter portions of 2025 with the release of his loooooooooooooong anticipated and expected sophomore set, 'Exile". 2025 has been pretty good to us as far as Reggae albums go and wouldn't a BIG new album from Chronixx only go to make it better???
Yeah it would... unfortunately that isn't what we have here. Well, it is "NEW" but there is nothing AT ALL "big" about "Exile". Typically, when I write a review of an album that is somewhat popular, I try to avoid taking in too much in the way of the opinions of others, so I won't just follow along (and, actually, it has been a reason why I've avoided writing some reviews for really popular albums in the past). I will take a brief scan to see what the general reaction is but I won't really focus on details. In this case, however, because I WAS SO DAMN CURIOUS if I were the only one hearing what i thought I was, I wanted to see what others were thinking and I WAS ABSOLUTELY FUCKING SHOCKED! I've seen "album of the year" types of praise heaped onto it and... I don't get it. I alluded to Chronixx taking a break and saying, effectively, that he was allowing the creative process to do occur organically and I get into this album and what I hear sounds like someone just decided to make an album. It was time to make one (the album's official release date is Chronixx' thirty-third birthday) and it just sounds rushed and.... bad. "Exile" is a bad album in my opinion. YOU almost certainly disagree with me, and that's fine, but I'm going to attempt to tell you why I feel that way, while also attempting (unsuccessfully. I'm not going to be able to do that. Nope) to ignore the fact that someone so ridiculously gifted should be doing better than this, in general.
The best thing I can possibly say about 'Exile" is that it's music, it's instrumentation is solid for the most part. It never quite rises to the point of being what I would call exceptional but a credit does go to producer Inflo for what he does for the backing of the album (as well as to Chronixx, himself, who plays a number of instruments here). An example of that would be the very first and title track on "Exile", which, rather easily, ranks amongst its very best, 'Exile'. I would imagine Chronixx hearing the riddim for the song and seriously enjoying what he heard to the point where he didn't really want to.... hinder it much and he... doesn't. Far and away the star of the show for the title track is the music with Chronixx' bits being more skeletal and/or an aide for the song. And I don't want to be too hard on it because it is, inherently, the type of song that I would give credit for, were it on better album. There's nothing wrong with it at all. Next up is something that definitely caught my attention with its more old school delivery and sound, 'Market'. It combines a Dancehall style of delivery from yesteryear (think Supercat) with a... an almost kind of Jazzy type of feel to the vibe. This song goes in so many different directions that it would be difficult to believe that it isn't a vibe. Clearly it's something that came arose organically, which is fine, but it's unexceptional BUT still one of the undeniable highlights from "Exile" (and it's probably the type of tune that'll work better in a live setting). 'Sweet Argument', on the other hand, is most certainly not a highlight from "Exile" or anywhere else you might bump into it in the future. The kind of golden aged Lover's Rock piece (it's almost 'doo-woppish', which isn't necessarily a bad thing) never really goes anywhere or makes an impact for me and, while Chronixx isn't Jah Cure (Jah Cure probably wishes he wasn't Jah Cure these days) in terms of voice (and no one is), he has much better vocals than what you'll hear here (at his best, Chronixx sounds a little like Jah Nyne (Jah NYNE, not Jah9)). Go and listen to... virtually any other song (from 'Skankin Sweet' to a WICKED tune by the name of 'Champion') and you'll get a finer singing voice from him. 'Survivor' serves up another fine piece of instrumentation, via the 1970's. This song has a zenith -- right near the middle -- where the chorus seems to click and it gets very lively... but then the second half gets crazy, perhaps attempting to make up for its kind of odd nascence. What results, ultimately, is pretty uneven and.... then it just drops you off after nearly five and half minutes. 'Family First' is very pleasant, it's nice to listen to and probably one of the best songs on this album but it is entirely average. Again, it is the type of song that would... You know what? I was about to say that it would have more of a place on a better album, but I don't even think that's the case. If you stuck it on the back of "Dread & Terrible", it wouldn't be a standout and we probably wouldn't pay much attention to it. I said a similar thing in regards to the title track but I stand by it in that case because on a better album, it would be that nice changeup tune. That is not the case with 'Family First'.
Let's talk about 'Genesis'. If you look down the tracklist of "Exile" (at least one with times on it), 'Genesis' will definitely stick out due to its length - it's nine and a half minutes long. I heard this song and something very strange crossed my mind (and it actually got me to thinking about some of the other selections on the album): I thought about Ninjaman. Yup. Ninjaman. Why on earth did I think of Ninjaman when listening to 'Genesis'? I'll tell you why. Ninjaman has a talent which is virtually useless when recorded. You make random riddim and put Ninjaman on it, you'll have to search high and low for lesser talents to ensure that his tune won't be the absolute WORST on the riddim. HOWEVER, were you to take the Ninja's trash tune and put it in the scope of a live performance, then it would absolutely glow. He'd change it in some clever way and, suddenly, the worst song would become the far and away champion. That's what I thought about 'Genesis'. It does very little for me in this capacity but I could see this song destroying in front of an audience (more on that in a minute but you can see where this is going). Despite its length, you pretty much don't hear a thing from Chronixx after the third minute or so and 'Genesis' becomes this musical experience which I would suggest, again, is probably best appreciated in a performance. The musicianship, the backing singer/s and the VIBE are all top notch and, although it doesn't hit me in such a way, I could see people being lost in this song given the right set of circumstances. And I listen to it and I... see lights and people socializing and such things, it doesn't translate the best in this format though. There's the woefully unfortunately timely 'Hurricane' which is a chant and it's harmless. I've actually grown a bit in respect for this one since first hearing it but I still look at it as fairly average though, I will keep working on it. There's a spiraling sound found on 'I Know What You Feelin' which confuses my brain into ENDLESSLY thinking that Bob's 'Waiting In Vain' is about to jump in (I'm sure someone, somewhere has already made that mix happen). This song is almost invisible. It just isn't there. There is a brief verse but maybe 90% of the lyrics of it are:
"I know what you feelin"
And that's it. The music is on the minimal side but just fine, the vocals aren't great but they aren't terrible either and that's about it. I'll push to 'Keep On Rising', briefly, because it's somewhat similar to 'I Know What You Feelin' (although slightly better, in my opinion). It just doesn't make an impact on me at all. It sounds fine, not exceptional (sound familiar?), and it's written, largely, by piecing together banalities and the song's title.
"Keep on rising to the top now
Keep on rising to the top
Keep on rising to the top now
Keep on rising to the top
Keep on rising to the top now
Keep on rising to the top
There's a burning fire in your heart, yeah
Fight with everything you've got
They know they're afraid of us
There's levels to greatness
When you feel you're in darkness
You just remember Jah light is shining"
That's why I say 'Exile" feels rushed and hurried along and almost feels like Chronixx is going through the motions at times because this man is INFINITELY better than what you hear on this song and... pretty much ALL of this record. The very straightforward riddim on the back of 'Saviour' was candy to my ears when I heard it, initially and while it still is to some degree, it did become concerning to me when it dawned on me that, about a minute into the three and a half minute selection, it pretty much hadn't moved at all. THANKFULLY, 'Saviour' does pick up and though I don't love it (more on that in a second), I might go as far as to call it my favourite song on the whole of 'Exile'. I also don't have much of a problem with 'Don't Be Afraid', which does come in with a nice old school Roots type of a vibes to it (there's some old riddim this one well reminds me of but I cannot think of the name of it and I'm tired of looking for it) and does blossom some. It does end up being a strong display of music (the end of it is, literally, Dub) but not a GREAT song in my opinion. There's also 'I And I' which isn't quite as strong as 'Don't Be Afraid' but does have a pleasant vibes to it. These are all ('Saviour', 'Don't Be Afraid' & 'I And I') tunes that you would have just expected more from out of Chronixx. They're fine. I don't dislike either of them but they're just kind of there. There's nothing remarkable about them at all and when I've exhausted this album I probably won't remember any of them (and remember, I just called 'Saviour' THE best song on this album).
The album's final quintet of offerings do not serve up a single shout in the way of anything of significance in my opinion and it's really too bad because you do hear nice things that either never quite fully flesh out OR, in one case, they stick so closely to something else you hear within the group that it doesn't distinguish itself at all. FOR EXAMPLE, first you have a remastered version of a tune from a few years ago or so, 'Never Give Up' (biggup Jah Mason), which is chased by the lover's-ish 'Pain in Your Heart'. The latter is in a tough spot because it follows a song that is not only better than it is but is also somewhat similar in terms of sound. 'Pain In Your Heart' also isn't sung very well and it's just... kind of flat. My favourite aspect of the song is its backing singing which isn't anything special but is very timely in for the vibes of the song. For its part, 'Never Give Up' is EASILY the best of the final five and one of the best of the entire release but it's average. It's an OKAY song and though the melody was stuck somewhere in the back of my head and I thought I recognized a piece of it, I wasn't totally sure. Not quite reaching the nine minute mark like the aforementioned 'Genesis', the acoustic 'Resilient' does check in at a very hefty seven minutes and twenty seconds with there being, essentially, two halfs of the song. I actually prefer the first which is just Chronixx alone (and I'll make the point that I do not like this song and the vocals are not great but you can take this song as an example of Chronixx' vocals being at least slightly better than on some of the other offerings on "Exile"). The second half of 'Resilient' is damn near BRUTAL! There is a stretch of about FORTY-FIVE seconds where NOTHING happens. It's the exact same chant (from ~4:50-5:35) over and over again. Eventually it develops into chaos (which isn't a bad thing and is, in fact, MUCH better than what comes ahead of it) but 'Resilient', shockingly, I know, just isn't for me. 'Scheming', by comparison (and only by comparison), is considerably better than 'Resilient' but it is pedestrian in every single way. Also quite healthy at six and a quarter minutes, 'Scheming' is ordinary and would be fine were it shorter by three minutes or so but listening to it THAT much definitely wears on you after awhile. I hesitate to call its latter portions 'ANNOYING' but it is headed in that direction looooooooong before it actually ends with Chronixx, himself, being constant but never really adding anything to the song after awhile. FINALLY, 'Love Is On The Mountain' is about as fine of a ending as I could have hoped for. The song does have some SPICE to it (a good thing) but it doesn't glide us home with the last minute or so being the same thing -- the title of the song -- being said over and over and over again basically...
Okay, I have a few things on my mind that I have to mention before I wrap this up, some of which I alluded to along the way. The first is how I think "Exile", potentially, would be best appreciated. There're several songs carried here that I think would definitely work in a visual medium. I listen to this and I can see Chronixx just loving the music and enjoying himself, even in the studio. I'm sure you've seen that happen either in concert or on video where a performer will lose themselves in a moment (you've seen a rapturous Bob Marley on stage struggling to sing his song and maybe even Vaughn Benjamin in a trance in the middle of a tune). THAT most certainly is exciting but pretty much none of it, in this instance, translates well to a medium that is strictly audio. LISTENING to "Exile", as much as I hate to say it, is kind of boring. I'm not someone who needs to be punched in the face in order to be entertained (although go right ahead if that's your way) (...biggup Soca) but the 'subtleties' presented by "Exile" are just not for me. Another thing that really stands out in regards to this album is just how poorly it is written. I'm someone who, happily (for the most part), combs through lyrics. You'll find some of them in here but I usually do much more in my reviews. The two examples in this review were only used to point out how little is being said and I don't recall hearing ANYTHING done in a clever way. Everything is very plain and straightforward and, again, for someone who, just last year, said that they couldn't rush creativity, it sounds like maybe that particular aspect was rushed in order to complete this album and that is so damn unfortunate because Chronixx' talent is in the stars somewhere. In a live performance/visual medium you can overcome such a thing without great difficulty and I'll be shocked if MANY people don't enjoy hearing him perform these songs but just LISTENING to them, at least for me, is tough work.
Overall, while I'm sure my opinion is in the minority, after putting a reviewer's ear to "Exile" I'm even firmer in it. The absolute best material that the album has to offer is somewhere in the range of mediocrity. That's a problem for anyone and it is magnified when you consider the immense power of its star. I also found listening to it to be quite frustrating at times because you do hear potential in some of these songs with some of the instrumentation and, were Chronixx in a finer form, you could have really had something here and, even if it didn't turn out to be GREAT, "Exile" could have been a very fun and interesting listen. This isn't fun; it isn't colourful and, ultimately, "Exile" shows a version of Chronixx, one of the genre's reigning world champions, punching at a level WELL BELOW what he is capable of.
Wandering. Though I may have one in mind, I don't think that I have ever reviewed an album from someone who was almost entirely devoid of talent. Maybe a particular release isn't something that I enjoy but there is something within all of them (almost beyond a matter of opinion, you could argue) that puts them on a level that is worthy of our appreciation. This is true even amongst just songs. You take a 'one-hit wonder' who may've climbed the mountain once and then, seemingly, lost their boots (and their ability to walk altogether in some cases) and even that individual has demonstrated themselves to be of a certain class, despite their inability to replicate it (or, maybe, our inability to see it again). This is important at its most basic of levels because it begins to build several other things; with some of the most important being a measure of prominence -- they have to pay the bills after all -- and a legacy. Who knows where your music can end up? You can inspire a literally endless line of followers who will someday grow up and attempt to do what you did having been inspired by your music along the way (I am WAITING for the day when I read some random interview with an artist who said that they grew up a massive fan of someone like Reemah... because you know they're coming). Another interesting thing that is birthed by the demonstration of talent is EXPECTATION and while this won't be the main topic of this review (I still haven't figured out what this thing is going to be about since this album is SO DAMN difficult for me to write about for some reason) (actually, the fact that is so difficult to write is probably going to be the theme for this one, in a sorta/kinda way), for those who have, even further, managed to distinguish themselves from an already gifted pack with their abilities, expectations can be downright ridiculous at times. Personally, I have a very strong and reliable group of individuals from whom I expect greatness because they've shown themselves capable of producing such quality with a certain amount of consistency (not going to name any names, because I always do.... but you know I want to). Of course I'm always open to add more names to that lot and I'm just as open to removing names when it's been shown that they're no longer as dependable; though I looooooooong for the days when I can re-add them to that batch (biggup Siz... I said I wouldn't name any names). With great ability comes great responsibilities. 
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