This album title speaks to me. Sadly, Earl’s monotone often
sleepy vocal delivery doesn’t. Admittedly, there does seem to be a newfound
grit in the Odd Future rapper’s voice on some tracks such as ‘Mantra’. However,
there are other points where he gets so lethargic I’m surprised he doesn’t nod
off mid-verse (the backend of ‘Grief’ being a prime example).
Fortunately, Earl’s engaging rhymes and oddball imagery have
always made up for his lazy flow, and this record sees him continuing this with
humorous examples such as ‘fifties in my
pocket falling out like fucking baby teeth’. I would have liked to have
seen a few more individual song themes on this album, which Earl seems to have sadly
scrapped in the pursuit of rawness. In fact, Earl has stripped away a lot of
things on this record including the number of guest stars and any signs of a
hook. The record is all bars and beats – which will please a few hip hop
purists I’m sure. A lot of the songs feel very stream-of-consciousness, Earl
rambling whatever depressed thoughts enter his head. It makes the record freer
and more intimate, but without any hooks or song themes to tie it all together,
it can also feel a bit unfocused and aimless at points, a beat change being the
only thing separating one track from the next.
Personally, I think Earl’s last effort Doris had more standout moments, due to the fact that tracks like ‘Sunday’
and ‘Chum’ had individual stories and messages behind them, instead of being a
mass of melancholy thoughts. Hooks have never been Earl’s thing, although Doris had a few to give the songs
direction such as the ‘Like its nothing cos
it’s nothing bitch’ refrain on ‘Hive’.
Maybe Earl could improve in these areas, although I feel the
greater rawness on this record may be where the rapper feels more comfortable. In the
end, it’s the self-produced beats that really save this record, and will have
me returning. Consisting of lo-fi percussion and melancholy jazzy chord
progressions, Earl’s attempt at rawness really pays off here. The atmosphere is
beautifully bleak, every instrumental blanketed in grey clouds. No-one does
moody quite like the Odd Future crew.
★★★☆☆
TRACK TASTER: