Ray Angry and Katherine McMahon’s Public Domain project covers Xmas classic “Toyland” making it an unrecognizable rock and soul ditty that has nothing to do with losing childhood innocence. The video looks like a soul-tugging LSD trip challenging those present to embrace personal transformation. The single has a collective of distinct voices including Black Thought, Questlove, Liv Warfield, Pino Palladino, Marcus King, and Dap-King band horn players Dave Guy and Ian Hendrickson Smith. Angry is a Grammy-nominated producer and pianist and McMahon is a writer and multidisciplinary artist. Public Domain’s music seeks dialogue around intellectual property, identity and the cycle of things within a contemporary context. The “Toyland” remake pushes adults to address the state of their vulnerability and awareness instead of children. The Seven Deadly Sins are referenced as another checkpoint of spiritual awareness as Angry walks through hallways of littered consciousness. “Toyland” is Xmas 2021 because it stylistically reflects the kinds of difficult truths we continue to grapple with in a world pandemic.Â
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