This is the 8th full-length album from Vallejo emcee Larry June. Since dropping out of high school, this dude has been steadily grinding his ass off with his last 7 studio efforts along with a total 14 EPs & 7 mixtapes. My favorites of his ever-growing discography include the Lex Luger-produced Trap Larry, the Cardo-produced Cruise USA & it’s sequel Into the Late Night, the Harry Fraud-produced Keep Going & more recently the mobb music-influenced Jay Worthy collab effort 2 P’z in a Pod that came out this past spring. So considering that Jay just dropped his full-length debut a couple weeks ago, it’s only fitting for Larry to follow suit in the form of Spaceships on the Blade.
After the “Free Uncle Herm IV” intro, the first song “Private Valet” is a symphonic opener produced by Jake One to the album talking about how nobody has love for you when the sky gets cold whereas “I’m Him” takes a more spacey yet funkier route thanks to Cardo to boast. “Things You Do” has a more luscious tone to it featuring co-production from DJ Khalil telling this woman he knows she’s trying to make that move, but then the DJ Fresh-laced “Don’t Check Me” mixes some pianos & synths to advise to check a bitch before him.
The sequel to “Another Day in SF” is pretty cool from the lyrics picking up where the predecessor left off to the 80s-inspired instrumental & after the “Tools of the Game” interlude, “Corte Madera, CA” comes through with a jazzy tribute to the titular city in Marin County. 2 Chainz tags along for “Still Boomin’” to get back in their mobb shit just before “Brand New Machinery” has a more melodic flare to it over a synth-heavy beat from Chuck Inglish talking about the whip he just copped.
Meanwhile on “I’ll Make Time”, we have Larry over more sensual production acknowledging this chick wants to get to know him more while “For Tonight” refines the romance vibes of the last cut from Syd’s hook to the verses & instrumental. “In My Pockets” weaves the synthesizers back in to talk about the bread while the Curren$y-assisted “5.0 Chronicles” has a more syrupy feel to it delivering a late night cruiser’s anthem.
“Breakfast in Monoco” is a string-laced prelude to Larry’s upcoming album with The Alchemist spitting that fly shit while “Larry’s Diner” goes full-blown drumless thanks to Sean House delivering some vivid storytelling. “Organic Adjustments” dives into funkier turf talking about wanting to be with this chick even when he’s on the road while the song “Spaceships & Orange Juice” is atmospheric trap ballad rightfully flexing that he’s been doing numbers.
The penultimate track “Extra of Um” with one of the 2 hottest artists in Detroit right now Babyface Ray amalgamates some pianos, synths & even a couple strings so the pair can talk about have extras of everything pretty much with the Turbo-produced “Appreciate It All” ending the album with a genuine open letter to the public expressing his gratitude.
Although I don’t think it’s as great as Into the Late Night, I’m not gonna sit here & deny that I enjoyed a good portion of what I heard throughout Spaceships on the Blade. The overall sound of the album is admirably diverse, the feature list is pretty consistent & Larry is stepping up his pen-game tremendously. At this rate, his album with Uncle Al could be a future classic.
Score: 3.5/5
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