They Left Me With The Sword: A Paris Texas Album Review

The rap duo Paris Texas (Louie Pastel and Felix) have been bending the hip-hop genre for a few years now after queitly stepping onto the scene in 2021. Their most recent album They Left Me With The Sword brings a similar energy to their previous album MID AIR with most of the tracks being guitar heavy. They Left Me With The Sword is only eight songs but although it is small it is still a heavy hitter. There is not a single low point on the album and it takes its listener through a mythical story of sorts.

Listeners are taken through the album with the narration of what sounds like a magical wizard of sorts who is talking directly to the group. With the album being only 20 minutes, it is surprising that they decided to have interludes mixed in with this mystery character. It works well however letting the album flow in a unique way that makes us wonder what this narrator is there for. The album begins with the track The Sword where the narrator is telling the boys to get up and that "the dark sky is filled with chaos, destiny calls" as if to say that they are about to embark on some kind of journey. That is exactly what these punk-rap tracks feel like. It feels like the duo is going through several stages of an epic journey.

The second track, "Dogma 25" begins the journey and seems like the power packed beginning to the epic journey where they are encountering enemies and battling them with unique wordplay and heavy hitting repetitive choruses. Thirdly, "Red Eyes & Blue Hearts" starts with the narrator saying the "journey has just begun" leading into a much more toned down track compared to the previous. This sounds like a more personal love story where the duo is asking if they will see their lover on the other side of this quest and if they will return as themselves or be changed forever. This leads into the fourth track "Tantrum" which starts out with a more traditional beat that has hits of rock guitar that makes the track seem angry. This track has some of the most out of pocket wordplay of the whole album with references such as the infamous star wars character Jar-Jar Binks. The second hald of the songs is led by guitar and drums and is where we see some of the craziest verses that will not soon be forgotten. Track five, "Boyz II Men" is an interlude of our narrator saying that they have become men, they will sip upon the blood of their enemies and strip their confidence. "Holy Spinal Fluid" the sixth track on the album is the beggining of the second phase of the journey where they have become men and are taking down the opposition. It is another somewhat angry track that gives us the feeling they are in somewhat of a fight and are using their verses to fight of anything they are faced with. Track seven "infinyte" is my personal favorite because of the backing guitar track that carries the song. This is a catchier anthem type song that sound like the boys are heading back home after succesfully completing their quest and are prepared to celebrate. Although some of the bars seem to tell us that the quest is truly never over and that they will be remebered forever. The final track "El Camino" sounds more like a jazz track and they deliver some of their verses in a whisper of sorts. It symbolizes the return home and what reality is to the group. Although they have returned home they do not necessarily like what they are returning to.

I would suggest watching the music video that goes along with the album because it is almost like a movie and changes the way you listen to the album as a whole. The groups music videos are like watching an indie movie that adult swim created and have a very unique feeling to them. This video helps to understand the narrator character who is heard throughout the album and is a very strange but entertaining watch. It encapsulates the short ride that this album takes us through that is very absurd and quick switching.