On Humanimal, North Vancouver’s The Beatroot Road double down on their reputation for fearless, borderless creativity, delivering an album that feels less like a genre exercise and more like a statement of intent. Conceived as a global collaboration with musicians from everywhere from Austria to Venezuela, the record succeeds by keeping its focus firmly on what it means to be human in an age increasingly shaped by division and digital abstraction.
Spanning ten tracks, Humanimal thrives on contrast. Experimental textures and mismatched instrumentation collide with danceable rhythms, and the unusual rhythm section gives the album a consistent pulse, even as the songs roam freely across post-genre territory. There are echoes of Massive Attack’s shadowy atmospheres, Gorillaz’s frequent collaborations and playful eclecticism, and Björk’s willingness to embrace the left-of-center, but The Beatroot Road never sounds derivative.
The title track frames humanity through an ironic lens, imagining an AI’s appraisal of our flaws and contradictions. Songs like “Underground Roots” merge dance with world music in a manner similar to Kid Creole while others like “Arlington” have a slower, jazzier feel reminiscent of Sade. Lyrically, the album avoids taking sides, opting instead for empathy and curiosity, and that restraint can feel refreshing, particularly in a dandscape often driven by division. Ambitious and sincere, Humanimal is an album that invites listeners to dance, think, and reconnect.
