Given her focus on the internal world she’s created, Night CRIÚ arrives feeling something like an emergence. Indeed, the emotions on display are still furtive and inscrutably personal, yet the music here is the most tangible Woods has offered to date, the most vivid.
In The Earth Again holds the extremes of their sounds simultaneously. It allows Pedigo to channel his craft into something more sinister and evocative, while Chat Pile indulge in sample and tape manipulation, exploring a tenderness and depth of sincerity surpassing that of previous albums.
The symbolism of this album, poetic and interconnected, is vital and immense, while the sonic background is (for the most part) disquieting and unnerving. More so than Haram and even the spectral Test Strips, Mercy captures a world that is slowly embracing the unbearable evil of switching channels that morph to dead static.
Despite the diversity of collaborators, the album does have parts that sounds a tad samey and perhaps certain sections could have been left out. However, Stardust is a victory lap for Brown capped off with “All4U”, featuring a selection of perfectly atmospheric sounds programmed by Dariacore creator Jane Remover and a relentless onslaught of words from hip-hop’s UNCexpected innovator.
Even rapping alongside a ghost, Hav’s chemistry with P hasn’t lost a step and they feel as natural a pair as they ever did. Prodigy’s verses don’t feel awkwardly sandwiched in, instead naturally befitting each track, with each beat carefully curated to match his flow and tone.
Okay, they may never reach the heady heights of Between 10th and 11th again, but we should just be grateful that they still exist and are still looking to move their sound forward in ways that many of their ‘peers’ seem incapable of. It doesn’t always hit, but when it works it’s a glorious thing.
While its predecessor certainly offered glimpses into her private life, nothing could prepare her most ardent fans for the completely unvarnished, beautiful, hot mess that is West End Girl.
They’ve expanded their scope: synths creep in, melodies swell, and the hooks land so big they feel like catharsis stumbled into, punchy like the loud headers on a brochure for a new treatment center — you know, the one that’ll finally do the trick this time.
