So this has been a long time coming. It really took me a while to form an opinion on this album, mainly due to its depth, but also the differences between it and its predecessor, Doris. Earl has been a favorite rapper of mine for a while now, mainly due to his mastery of flow and highly personal material. While I enjoyed Earl, his debut mixtape, I can't say I didn't have reservations about its pretty violent subject matter, which thankfully was not the case with Doris or this project. Though both are very dark, they show a more mature side of Earl Sweatshirt.
Earl is a very troubled person, and he definitely expresses that in his music. He really can paint a picture with his words and production, of which he handled on all but one track, and that picture is one of self imposed isolation and an inability to deal with fame or identify with others. I enjoy how he did the production for the most part here, as he seems very comfortable rapping over the beats, and I can respect and artist who knows what sound they want and goes the extra mile to bring it to life themselves. You can almost picture him in a darkened basement making the album. This album is also short on features, which I also like, thus adding to that feeling of isolation. The features are good (especially Vince Staples, as always), but they don't add too much, and I think a project with just Earl would have fit the lonely mood a lot better.
As for lyrics, they are a lot more straight to the point here than on Doris, and the production is dark, depressing, but also quite airy. It's kind of like stepping into a fog, like the beginning of Silent Hill or something to that effect. 'Grief', the lead off single, almost has a William Basinski like style to the loop, which I thought was great. The album ran a pretty concise 30 minutes, which was good, as there was no time for it to lag, and therefore held attention and kept the mood the whole way through.
As a whole, I like this album a pretty good deal. The wordplay here is not as flashy as on Doris, but the raps here are subtle and very enjoyable if you pay enough attention. This album is a little more slow paced, but the intensity shines through on tracks like 'Mantra' and 'DNA'. Earl definitely delivered an album that will challenge his OFWGKTA fan base, but I think if you give this album enough time for it to click, it's definitely worth your time.
Out of a total of five stars, I give this:
Later I'll be sharing my opinions on the new album by Fred Thomas, All are Saved, as well as Tyler, the Creator's new album, Cherry Bomb.
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