Pro Dillinger – “Dirtwave 3” review

Haverstraw, New York emcee Pro Dillinger completing the Dirtwave trilogy with his 9th LP. A member of the Umbrella collective as well as 1/2 of The Steiner Brothers, he has released a total of 5 mixtapes along with his last 8 albums & even 7 EPs. Favorites include the Finn-produced debut Pray for My Prey, the Machacha-produced Dirt Don’t Hurt, his 3rd EP MOSFoul, the Sting vs. Flair collab EP with Mickey Diamond & the Steiner Brothers’ eponymous debut. Dirty Work celebrated it’s 1-year anniversary earlier this summer & the dirtiest of the Umbrella brought Sean Kelly back to handle production for Reasonable Dirt much like Forever Foul & more recently the Futurewave produced Dirtwave alongside it’s sequel becoming his most acclaimed work to date. To finish the month of August, a 3rd installment arrives with eager anticipation.

“Follow the $$$” was a drumless chipmunk soul intro talking about the battery in his back getting charged up whereas “King” by The Steiner Brothers featuring Big Trip finds the trio coming together for a luxuriously hardcore boom bap track. “Never Going Broke” chops up a vocal sample to talk about the relatable goal of not losing it all financially while “Church St.” reflects on the days of doing whatever he wanted and on the titular street.

Meanwhile on “Scarface”, we have Pro Dillinger talking about how counting money is a habit for him & not needing any friends because he has a whole lot of enemies as it already is over a boom bap instrumental leading into “Road 2 Riches” breaking down the military minded mentality he & the rest of The Umbrella has. “Fentanyl” featuring Estee Nack links the pair up so they can talk about making it to the big leagues just before “Ain’t No Killer” calls out some bluff.

“Old Lungs” featuring Daniel Son nears the end of Dirtwave 3 with a jazzy boom bap beat talking about being the same despite their respective takeovers of the underground while “Dirtmusic” removes the jazzier elements for a dedication to his fam who got it out the mud. “Bread First” closes up shop with 1 last chipmunk soul cut explaining his prioritization of money coming first.

The original Dirtwave & Dirtwave 2 have been rivaling each other for the past 10 months or so in becoming Pro Dillinger’s finest opuses of his career, but Dirtwave 3 maintains the hardcore hip hop/boom bap fusions that made both it’s predecessors so acclaimed except the production leans heavier towards the jazz rap & drumless chipmunk soul styles in comparison.

Score: 4.5/5

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Blood Orange – “Essex Honey” review

Blood Orange is a 39 year old singer/songwriter, producer, composer & director from London, England, United Kingdom releasing his full-length debut Falling Off the Lavender Bridge & sophomore effort Life’s Sweet! Nice to Meet You under the Lightspeed Champion moniker. Coastal Grooves, Cupid Deluxe, Freetown Sound & Negro Swan have all became some of the greatest alternative R&B within the last decade & has signed to RCA Records to make his 7th album his major label debut.

“Look at You” begins with an alternative R&B intro seeking meaning in one’s grace only to find nothing & still searching for some sort of truth whereas “Thinking Clean” sings over some skittering drums & pianos pondering if everything was taken from beneath. Sophisti-pop, bedroom pop, dream pop & jangle pop get fused on “Somewhere in Between” pleading to have the vision of an adolescent again while “The Field” blends liquid drum & bass, art pop, alt-pop & sambass comes across the feeling of the sun keeping us warm daily.

Alt-pop, art pop, bedroom pop, singer/songwriter, indietronica & alternative R&B combine on “Mind Loaded” feeling like everything means nothing to him & unable to think straight leading into “Vivid Light” finding himself in rage & not wanting to be alone because the more you hide, the smaller you become. “Countryside” collides dream pop, alt-pop & sophisti-pop singing about wanting to be taken away from the broken lights & seeking comfort in Epping Forest while “The Last of England” melancholically remembers his late mother who passed away last winter.

“Life” expresses his desire for watch somebody he cares about making it on their own & gaining waves of daisies while “Westerberg” homages “Alex Chilton” by The Replacements alongside it’s former frontman Paul Westerberg, who embarked on a successful solo career following the band’s demise almost 35 years ago. We get hints of bedroom pop on “The Train (King’s Cross)” singing about feeling as if the worst has yet to come for the first time in his life while the somewhat jazzy “Scared of It” vents over the difficulties of always looking & in out of the end suggesting one’s likelihood of being better off on their own.

Nearing the final moments of Essex Honey, we have “I Listened (Every Night)” embracing a more smoother tone becoming unable to find anything soft in between accompanied by an alternative bedroom pop instrumental & “I Can Go” featuring Mustafa finishes to the LP with both of them singing about how what you know is something that they can hold during nights that flow into lows.

Conceived during a period of grief & reflection on his upbringing in Essex intertwined with the ways music has inspired & healed him throughout his life, Blood Orange takes the world on a personal exploration of grief & his roots by stylistically emphasizing an alt-pop & bedroom pop sound with secondary sophisti-pop, dream pop, art pop, singer/songwriter, indietronica, alternative R&B, liquid drum & bass, sambass and jangle pop influences.

Score: 4.5/5

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Vybz Kartel – “Heart & Soul” review

Vybz Kartel is a 49 year old DJ, singer/songwriter, entrepreneur & businessman from Kingston, Jamaica who’s widely crowned as the King of Dancehall subgenre of reggae similarly to roots reggae icon Bob Marley becoming recognized as as the symbol of the entire genre that he helped pioneer. For over 3 decades, the Adidjahiem Records founder has released over a dozen EPs & full-lengths including during his decade long prison bid for Clive “Lizard” Williams’ murder. Literally a week after A John John Masterpiece & we already have another album from the Worl’ Boss.

“They’re Outta Love, We Aren’t” opens with a tribute to his fiancée Sidem Öztürk whereas “I Know” sings about her love for the Teacha makes him feel like no other women exist to him. “You Walked Away” takes 153 seconds to address everything that happened with his ex-wife & Short Boss Muzik founder Tanesha Johnson leading into “11:45” continuing to sing about his fiancée.

Ishawna joins the Worl’ Boss on “Bad Bad Bad” blending dancehall & house so they can discuss what women truly like in men just before “Ghetto Girl Chosen” jumps over a bashment beat only for him to beat it out of order. “Can’t Leave You Alone” continues the dancehall vibes singing about praying to God that he & his lover live forever while “In Too Deep” talks about his favorite city name being toxicity.

The title track begins Heart & Soul’s final moments by promising to give the Apple of his eye the time of her life as long as she trusts him with those 2 things while “Cinderella Ballroom” sings about him continuing to be here for a long time for a fun time. “You Know G.O.A.T.” finishes up the LP with 1 last reminder of why he’s called the King of Dancehall.

I’ve already covered Spice’s last album Mirror 25 & Shenseea in the past, so it isn’t my first rodeo when discussing dancehall. Other artists whose music I’ve enjoyed in the past include the late dub pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry, the entire extended Marley family from Stephen & Ziggy to YG, the late Peter Tosh & his son Andrew, the late Bunny Wailer, the late Gregory Isaacs, Jimmy Cliff, Buju Banton, Mavado, Popcaan, Koffee, Bounty Killer & VP Records to name a few. Heart & Soul however has to be one of the most passionate LPs Vybz Kartel has put out since being freed taking heavy inspiration from his engagement.

Score: 3.5/5

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D Smoke – “Wake Up Supa” review

This is the 4th studio LP & Death Row Records debut from Inglewood, California emcee/producer D Smoke. The older brother of R&B singer/Top Dawg Entertainment signee SiR, he made his full-length debut in almost 2 decades ago with Producer of the Year & re-emerged in 2019 off his debut EP Inglewood High & the Grammy nominated sophomore effort Black Habits. His last album Wars & Wonders broke down what it was like for him growing up in the City of Champions & has returned almost 4 years later for Wake Up Supa.

The title track with co-production from Terrace Martin drumlessly talks about people not listening to correction & shining when it comes to connection whereas “Na Na Na” featuring LaRussell finds the pair feeling like no one can tell them shit over an instrumental from both Larrance Dopson of 1500 or Nothin’ & Turbo. “No Passes” works in a heavy sample courtesy of Mike & Keys to drop some gas on these bitch asses leading into “Chin Up” talking about not letting anyone smaller than him outbox him.

“Fire” moves forward with a self-produced reflection on choosing a path different from the bloods & crips just before “Biscuits” featuring Nana & WWE Hall of Famer Snoop Dogg asking God for Him to bless their visions & carry them from insanity. “Count Cha Blessings” featuring Jane Handcock takes a smoother approach instrumentally talking about focusing on the Ws more than the Ls while “Energized” refuses to let anyone steal his energy & dismiss them in the coldest fashion.

Lucky Daye joins Smoke on the soulful “Frequency” talking about needing love, support & encouragement along with asking why they keep getting declined whilst seeking a silver lining while “Jackie’s Triumph” strips the drums again so he can tap into his storytelling abilities lyrically. “Stomp” featuring Miles Minnick continues the sampling to talk about stepping on Satan while “Proud of You” produced by DJ Battlecat tells the individual it was written towards that he’s been watching them & that he’s pleased of them.

“Good Morning” nears the conclusion of the LP by stating that he doesn’t think anything will get the attention of those sleeping on him if Wake Up Supa doesn’t & the final song “So Good” ends the Rhythm + Flow season 1 winner’s inaugural release through Tha Row with a funky drumless outro talking about looking around & refraining whenever he feels like complaining because he’s ok as long as he’s still alive.

If you preferred Black Habits over Wars & Wonders by a slight margin like the majority of people, you’re probably gonna like D Smoke’s highly anticipated debut under Death Row Records as much if not more coming exactly 2 years since he became the 4th artist to sign with the most controversial record label in history’s current incarnation. Primarily because I feel like the conscious hip hop & R&B fusions that made him break out a month prior to the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic are being purified as he opens a window to his self-aware perspective.

Score: 4/5

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Wildchild – “Child of a Kingsman” review

Oxnard, California veteran Wildchild hitting us with his 5th album. A member of the Lootpack alongside DJ Romes & one of my top 10 producers of all-time Madlib, his first couple solo efforts Secondary Protocol & Jack of All Trades under Stones Throw Records & Fat Beats Records respectively, although T.G.I.F. (Thank God It’s Funky) & Omowale would be received more moderately in comparison. Regardless, I still went into Child of a Kingsman hoping for it to be his best since Jack of All Trades.

“A Kingsman’s Flowers” begins by take everyone on a trip down memory lane in order to explain the definition of a kingsman whereas “Season of Kingsmen” produced by Nottz talks about preserving hip hop since he like many holds it dearly to his heart. “Change for My 2¢” heads for a jazzier direction instrumentally to make some powerful social commentary just before the synth-heavy “Wing Chun” talks about remaining undefeated.

Things take a funkier turn on “Multiverse” feeling as if the boom bap in him has been restored whenever his feet touch the floor leading into “Bat Signal” talking about how he don’t play. The beat Nottz whips up on “Mr. Pinocchio & Positive People” feels reminiscent of the late J Dilla touching base regarding crooked cops while “Freedom Riding” talks about the late John Lewis.

“Black Man Blues” turns the jazz influences back up so he can break down the hardships of being an African American feeling as if his glory is trying to be silenced & after the “Where the Poem Lady?” interlude, MAYAH takes over a good portion of the vocals during “Kingsmen” for a neo-soul jam continuing the themes of preserving the culture’s 4 elements & the overlooked element of knowledge.

The song “My Utopia” brings a drumless guitar beat into the picture describing what a perfect world would look like to him & after the “Brown Identity” interlude, “Welcome Home” ahead of the Antwone Fisher outro officially completes Child of a Kingsman by recapping a trip that Wildchild took to Soweto, South Africa with the MC/producer superduo Liberation.

Conceived during his time away from making music to focus on being a father, Child of a Kingsman stands out as potentially the finest example of Wildchild’s ability to make room in his songs for other artists to shine. Blending jazz & neo-soul together, he makes it a commitment to unify cultures through music & paying homage to all of hip hop’s veterans with intricately powerful songwriting.

Score: 3.5/5

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Offset – “Kiari” review

Atlanta, Georgia rapper Offset returning after 22 months for his 3rd studio LP. Starting out as 1/3 of the Migos with Unc & Phew, he released a fantastic collaborative project with 21 Savage & Metro Boomin’ on Halloween 2017 called Without Warning only to make his solo debut Father of 4 the best of the 3 compared to QUAVO HUNCHO & The Last Rocket. Set It Off wasn’t too bad either, but Kiari has been shaping up to be his most personal since Father of 4 & had me anticipating it.

“Enemies” produced by Metro Boomin’ & Honorable C.N.O.T.E. begins by asking for God to protect him from his friends whereas “Pills” featuring YoungBoy Never Broke Again samples “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” by Nina Simone to talk about drug usage “Professional” mildly boasts of him getting bitches like it’s a skill leading into the underwhelming “Back in That Mode” featuring YFN Lucci talking about them getting in their bags again.

Gunna joins Offset on “Different Species” bringing an acoustic guitar & some hi-hats together so they can discuss the baddies they stole livin’ the dream just before the WWE’s official Elimination Chamber XVI there song “Bodies” featuring J.I.D paints poignant imagery of the gangsta lifestyle combining trap & chipmunk soul thanks to Vinylz, FNZ & BoogzDaBeast or trap metal if you include the remix from BNYX of Working on Dying. “Love You Down” by Ready for the World gets smoked during “Love You Down” courtesy of London on da Track telling his new chick that he’ll start trusting her while “Run It Up” featuring Key Glock talks about having money on their minds over.

“Set It Off” oddly enough ends Kiari’s first leg with a demo quality title track that didn’t make his previous album while “Folgers” references my 2nd favorite basketball player of all-time Kobe Bryant & refusing to trip since he’s been bettering himself. “All of My Hoes” incorporates these psychedelic guitar licks & hi-hats talking about his hoes stealing each other while “Calories” flexes that he made $20M from his sound this summer.

As for “Checkmate (Smooth)”, we have Offset talking about making it onto the news because he’s a fashion week killer & flooding his new bitch out in the pool while “Backends Fasho” boasts of him making finer materials out of the regular things. “Prada Myself” talks about how everything he has makes him the person he is now while “Never Let Go” pays homage to Takeoff.

“Favorite Girl” counts down the final minutes of Kiari with a dedication to the most special woman in his life & “Move On” ties it all up by reflecting on his marriage to Cardi B, explaining that she’s happy for her moving on & asking why she doesn’t feel the same way about him. He even touches base regarding their little back-&-forth convo on Twitter at the beginning of 2025, rightfully explaining that it made them look foolish.

Starting the deluxe run, “Athlete” cloudily talks about getting geeked up on ecstasy on a boat while “History” mixes some horns & hi-hats to give game for free. “How Did We Get Here?” takes full accountability for his divorce from Cardi B while “Swing My Way” links up with Turbo for a cloudy pop rap/trap hybrid. “Style Rare” featuring Gunna shows off their senses of fashion & the final bonus track “10” was a weaker pop rap attempt.

Putting his artistic persona aside, Offset or in this case Kiari looks at himself in the mirror to see how far he’s come & what he’s done whether it’s good or bad. Soul-searching without sacrificing the technical precision he’s been known for, the ex-husband of WWE’s SummerSlam XXXVIII hostess gearing up for her comeback next month peels the layers back & gives the audience a better look at himself as a person.

Score: 3.5/5

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KiD CuDi – “Free” review

Cleveland, Ohio rapper, singer/songwriter, producer, actor, fashion designer, model, director & filmmaker KiD CuDi making another stylistic departure with his 11th LP. Blowing up in 2008 off his debut mixtape A KiD Named CuDi as well as his songwriting credits on his mentor Ye or the Nazi formerly known as Kanye West’s 4th album 808s & Heartbreak, his profile from there would increasingly grow off his groundbreaking debut & sophomore albums Man on the Moon: The End of the Day & Man on the Moon II: The Legend of Mr. Rager. But following the self-produced & overlooked Indicud, CuDi would leave G.O.O.D. Music amicably to form his own Republic Records imprint Wicked Awesome Records. Satellite Flight: The Journey to Mother Moon though was mediocre at best & who could forget when CuDi attempted to go alt-rock on the critically panned Speedin’ Bullet 2 Heaven? Luckily he would redeem himself on his next effort Pain & Demon Slayin’ in 2016 along with the self-titled album from him & Ye as the duo KIDS SEE GHOSTS couple summers later & even Man on the Moon III: The Chosen the day after my 24th birthday despite it’s blatantly heavy Travis Scott influence. Entergalactic was released mixed reviews as was INSANO, but I enjoyed how both LPs took it back to his roots along with mixing old & new sounds together respectively. INSANO 2: NITRO MEGA continued the energy of its predecessor & is staying on Republic to drop Free fresh off his appearance in Happy Gilmore 2 with the longest reigning AEW World Champion & current CMLL Mundial Peso Semicompleto Campeon MJF and the current WWE Women’s Intercontinental Champion Becky Lynch.

“Neverland” after the self-produced “Echoes of the Present” compositional intro fuses pop rock, alt-pop, stomp & holler and synthpop to sing about love & embracing life whereas my favorite single “Mr. Miracle” culminates in pop rock, alternative rock & power pop feeling like he’s found his way back home. “Opiate” spaciously sings for the city to turn the lights off leading into “Deep Diving” finding himself having enough of no love.

Pop rock & alt-rock cross paths once again on “Truman Show” referencing the classic Jim Carrey film of the same name just before “Submarine” sings about feeling like he’s to deep into this psychedelic dream he’s having. “Ashes” goes for a moodier direction in sound wishing this person would lie to him & tell him they still mean something while the emo-pop rock single “Grave” sings about life eating him alive.

“Past Life” vents over the dichotomy of simultaneously being a winner & a loser in the same mind over a synthpop instrumental while “Picnic in Paris” sings about a soulmate waiting his whole life from him mixing the positives & negatives. “Stargazing” considers himself lucky if freedom was garden & sending love letters to this woman for eternity while “Salt Water” produced by BNYX of Working on Dying ends by singing about calling his life 1 hell of a ride.

The idea of KiD CuDi foraying into pop music doesn’t sound bad at all on paper, but Free as an attempt to provide the world with hope in the midst of our country’s current political climate leaves me a little torn. I have no issues with his vocals or songwriting & I’m proud he’s the happiest he’s ever been. My main criticism here though is that the production doesn’t grab me the same way INSANO 2: NITRO MEGA or the original INSANO did.

Score: 2.5/5

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Ghostface Killah – “Supreme Clientele 2” review

New York veteran Ghostface Killah of the almighty Wu-Tang Clan with his 17th solo LP. One of hip hop’s most prolific storytellers & easily the most consistent member of the Clan exemplified by Ironman, Supreme Clientele, FishScale, Apollo Kids, 12 Reasons to Die & Sour Soul just to name a few. Ghostface Killahs in the fall of 2019 stands as one of the only few duds in his discography along with More Fish & the Mass Appeal Records debut Set the Tone (Guns & Roses), continuing the Legend Has It series with Supreme Clientele 2 finally seeing the light of day.

After the Redman intro, the first song “Iron Man” opens with a boom bap instrumental talking about having Wall Street bugging over helium stocks whereas “Sample 420” featuring M.O.P. sees the trio coming together for a fly gangsta rap cut. “Curtis May” featuring Conway the Machine & Styles P talks about their bars being prescribed out here like it’s medicine while “4th Disciple” dustily tells the story of a homie of his losing his life in a shootout.

“Windows” embraces a more soulful direction stylistically talking about his crew mobbin’ & him dartin’ but after the “Pause” skit, “Georgy Porgy” exuberantly clarifies that he ain’t here to play no games. After the “Force MD” skit, “Break Beats” jazzily flexes that he can get right with God & go back to Hell just before the funky “Beat Box” talks about a shawty who happens to be in her own lane.

Scram Jones producing the lead single “Rap Kingpin” sampling “My Melody” by Eric B. & Rakim for a sequel to “Mighty Healthy” while “The Trial” featuring GZA, Method Man, Pillz, Raekwon & Reek da Villain after the “Sale of the Century” skit vividly portrays themselves in a courtroom with a judge. Nas joins Starks for the soulful “Love Me Anymore” talks about how foul people can be while the crooning “Soul Thang” featuring DriZ, Iceman, Pillz, NEMS, Reek da Villian, Supreme-Intelligence & Sun God finds everyone going back-&-forth with one another.

“Metaphysics” was a tight remix to “Typhoon Rap” by Meyhem Lauren featuring Action Bronson while the soulful “Candyland” unpacks tons of candy & drug wordplay. After the “Lenny Green” skit, “The Zoom” samples “Zoom” by the Commodores for a passionate love ballad & the final song “You Ma Friend” featuring Method Man ahead of the “Knuckles” outro finishes with an ode to friendship.

The 3rd entry in the Legend Has It saga & the Yapp City Records founder’s 2nd offering under the Mass Appeal umbrella redeems Ghostface Killah from the mediocrity of Ghostface Killahs & Set the Tone (Guns & Roses) by presenting itself as an echo of a chamber that never dosed although I’d prefer both Only Built 4 Cuban Linx…, Pt. II & Muddy Waters 2 when discussing sequel albums. One of hip hop’s greatest storytellers who’s seen it all & lived it twice feels more like his vintage self than his last couple albums except he’s sharper, looser, freer & finding new ways to flip the script.

Score: 4/5

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Earl Sweatshirt – “Live Laugh Love” review

Santa Monica, California emcee, producer & singer/songwriter Earl Sweatshirt surprise-releasing his 6th LP. Beginning his career in 2008 under the name Sly Tendencies as the son of Cheryl Harris & late poet Keorapetse Kgositsile, he posted a handful of tracks for a mixtape called Kitchen Cutlery on MySpace, but the tape would never be released to this day. Then he formed a rap trio with 2 of his friends called The Backpackerz & planned to release a mixtape together titled World Playground, but they disbanded sometime in 2009. Shortly after, he joined Odd Future & appeared on their 2nd & final mixtape Radical that May. 10 months later, he put out his only mixtape to date Earl with OF’s de facto leader Tyler, The Creator producing a bulk of it. The tape received a lot of buzz, but Earl’s mother would send him to a therapeutic retreat school for at-risk boys in Samoa sometime after until February of 2012. He was then granted his own Columbia Records imprint Tan Cressida Records & released his full-length debut Doris a decade ago to critical acclaim right before I started my junior year of high school for his clever rhyme schemes & the gritty production from The Neptunes to even the RZA. He then formed the duo Hog Slaughta Boyz with OF affiliate Na’kel at the beginning of 2015 & released his sophomore album I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside. a couple months after. Many of which consider to be better than Doris for its darker aesthetic. Some Rap Songs not only wound up being my favorite album of 2018, but also bastard child of one of my all-time favorite albums: Madvillainy. Feet of Clay the year after marked a new distribution deal Tan Cressida signed with Warner Records was a cool collection of SRS outtakes preluding his full-length debut on the label Sick!about 3 & a half years ago, coming off one of my top 10 producers of all-time The Alchemist for the flawless Voir Dire to drop Live Laugh Love almost a week since the listening party.

“GSW vs. SAC” starts with a throwback to the Some Rap Songs era talking about how he’s always been a slow roller whereas “Forge” hooks up a Middle Eastern sample advising to stick along for the ride. “Infatuation” goes for a drumless chipmunk soul direction referencing the Bessie Anderson Stanley poem Success leading into the funky “Gamma (Need the <3)” giving a nod to the late Roy Ayers’ biggest hit “Everybody Loves the Sunshine”.

The strings that Navy Blue heavily samples during the course of “Well Done!” reminding us that he already said nobody could get a rise out of a real one just before the 2-parter “Live” produced by Black Noi$e cautions not to get beheaded with only a month left of summer. “Static” drumlessly references WWE Hall of Famer Muhammad Ali at the beginning & later Jean Dawson at the halfway point of his verse while “Crisco” continues to strip the drums to talk about his upbringings.

“Tourmaline” counts down the final minutes of Live Laugh Love by coming to his senses while “Heavy Metal aka Ejecto Seato!” recalling a dream he had in 2016 vaguely similar to a scene in the movie Trainspotting where Renton began hallucinating as a result of him detoxing from heroin. “Exhaust” lastly sends off the album sampling a flute advising that it’s really just you & whatever you think at the end of the day, to which he’s not entirely wrong about.

If Some Rap Songs had a sequel that bridges the teenager we were formally introduced to 15 years earlier & the family man Earl Sweatshirt has become presently, you’d get Live Laugh Love. The production is a little more experimental than Voir Dire’s was 24 months previously & it brings a smile to my face knowing that the most skilled lyricist to come out from the OF camp is in a better place mentally.

Score: 4.5/5

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Mac DeMarco – “guitar” review

Mac DeMarco is a 35 year old singer/songwriter, multi-instrumentalist & producer from Edmonton, Alberta, Canada who I became a fan of during my adolescence off the debut EP Rock & Roll Night Club, his debut album 2, my personal favorite Salad Days & his 2nd EP Another One. I highly enjoyed This Old Dog too, although I can’t really say the same for either Here Comes the Cowboy or 5 Easy Hot Dogs with all respect to the guy. 1 Wayne G on the other hand was actually a pretty decent compilation despite it’s 9 hour runtime, clinging to the expectation of his 6th album surpassing both it’s predecessors in becoming his strongest material since forming his own record label.

“Shining” starts with a bedroom pop/indie folk crossover singing about his love possibly being broken & trying to figure out what’s going on whereas “Sweeter” acoustically observe that some things don’t ever change. “Phantom” continues to head down the prominent bedroom pop direction singing about the ghost of a person that he still lives sitting besides him when he’s by himself while “Nightmare” suggests maybe this individual would’ve stopped lying had they known they’d be in tears later.

Meanwhile on “Terror”, we have Mac singing about him being the type of person that reeks of annoyance or problems in addition to opening up regarding his fear of death while “Rock & Roll” breaks down the dichotomy of screaming in excessive joy & feeling down on himself mentally. “Home” finds himself preferring to be alone because of a dissolving friendship & his welcome with this former colleague becoming worn out leading into “Nothing at All” observing a spiraling relationship.

“Punishment” reaches the final leg of guitar by singing about his mother teaching him that those of us who don’t what we were made to do are gonna get what’s coming to them while “Knockin’” takes a more mature approach to his songwriting. “Holy” blends bedroom pop, slowcore & folk rock together so he can sing for a miracle to reveal itself to him while “Rooster” finishes off by optimistically rising up despite the future looking dimmer with each day.

Offering a close representation of where Mac DeMarco’s at in his life today, guitar feels like a step in the right direction for the jizz jazz pioneer & it’s easily the most I’ve enjoyed something from him since This Old Dog almost a decade earlier. His production is more minimal than 1 Wayne G’s taking the styles of bedroom pop, indie folk, folk rock, soft rock & slowcore to be more emotionally open than he has been in the past.

Score: 4/5

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