Sugar Cherry – “Land of Pine” review

Sugar Cherry a.k.a. Rozey is a rapper, singer/songwriter & producer from Detroit, Michigan now based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who began as an emo trap metal rapper on SoundCloud under his original Lil Rozey moniker & became 1/2 of the duo Plastic Dagger alongside ITSOKTOCRY. He would later drop an electronic ambient EP in 2023 called sugarcherrykisses, going for an indie folk direction for Isn’t It Wonderful? as well as It Was Almost You & the self-titled EP later that same year. Death Trap came out this past spring & Anything Instead of Anything celebrated Halloween with a brief collection of shoegazey goth rock cuts, signing to Quadeca’s very own Virgin Music imprint X8 Music for what has been described as Sugar Cherry’s only studio album on my 29th birthday.

“Every Knife in the House is Mine” begins with a lo-fi indie folk opener singing about missing warm summer days & for people to gather around the picnic whereas “Heaven” gives off a more prominently compositional tone aside from a few occasional lines working in these fuzzy piano chords to wish he was at the pearly gates with the person he has in mind. “It’s Her Moon” goes back to a lo-fi indie folk direction singing about a woman in his life who had passed a week earlier while “Irish” takes the loner folk route wishing that summer would come to an end.

The downer folk influences get amplified on “In a Lonely Place” singing about this person finding a reason to move forward & that he hasn’t just before “I’ve Known for a While” takes the slacker rock route hoping that it isn’t the last time he sees the one he wants to get away with for an unspecified period of time asking if it really matters when he’s already dead. “The Detroit Strangler” blends loner folk & indie rock together for a 91 second single sampling the Paramount Skydance Corporation’s faithful adaption of Revolutionary Road for the outro while the violin-heavy “Flowers (When You Come Home)” sings about blood moving slower his partner’s home.

“Bird Violence” continued with an indie/loner folk crossover wanting his lover to know she’s all he needs & the distancing between them taking a toll on his mental state while “Veins” compares his love interest to heroin, returning to the shoegaze sound that was all over Anything Instead of Anything nearly 6 weeks ago. “I Just Want You to Like Me” would have to be the weakest link if I had to pick 1 mostly due to it’s incredibly receptive approach to songwriting. “Beautiful World” sings about feeling like a ghost for the past 7 days getting fed up with being sick & alone when he awakes in the morning while “If I Come Home” trades off between a chorus & an instrumental breakdown.

As for “Heroin”, we have more elements of wombadelia being incorporated singing about crying for the last time & an individual who he thought was safe until they came his way while “Somehow a Part of Me Still Thinks You’re Coming Home Because In My Dreams I Got to Kiss You Goodbye” addressing someone he wants to see soon even if he can’t. “Surf David Surf” sings about the same old trick he plays on his that he’s been sobering up & doing well when none of those things are accurate while “October Sky” depressingly assures a deceased colleague he’ll join them when it’s time.

“Et Je Vous Montrerais Les Feux” continues the loner folk atmosphere wanting be loved in the midst of him trying to maintain his sobriety while “10,000 Pines” officially wraps up the LP in the form of this an 8 & a half minute ambient outro with a lo-fi edge to it. “A Killer” starts the deluxe run telling a friend named Darren that his life’s been falling apart, buying a gun for the sole purpose of murdering every last one of his friends in cold blood while “Sugar” admits to being unsure regarding whether or not he’ll have the ability of reuniting with a loved one in heaven.

Moving on from there, “Oh God” turns up the shoegaze undertones freaking out on the floor over the realization that he had let down an individual that he wants back in his life while “Scottish” sings about fleeing to the Scotland region of the United Kingdom or the country of Ireland only because he had planned on doing so with a woman who can’t be here with him presently. “Even If the Sky Turns Black” promises his soulmate that he’ll go to rehab again & get clean off drugs for hopefully the last time only for her sake while the slacker rock/outsider folk fusion “Shoobie” recalls seeing his late girlfriend by the Oceanside staring in one another’s eyes.

“The Way You Live” somberly sings about being unable to live without his partner as evident when she walked away while “The Great Big Fire in the Sky” likens his love for this woman to the usage of heroin, becoming self-aware of her hating the person he’s become & injecting her in his veins if he had the opportunity. The indie rock-flavored “Change (It Must Be)” sings about something in his life needing to be switched up while “Smiley” could’ve easily been combined with the previous cut serving as more of an interlude from my perspective.

Influences of loner folk bleed heavier during the single “On October 14, 2021, I Visited Lake Michigan & Saw My Own Reflection Staring Back at Me Drowning in the Water” confessing that he doesn’t know whether he’s in Hell or something closer to it while “I Can’t Feel You When You’re High” addresses a person he doesn’t recognize anymore, hating their own body as much as he hates his own. The final bonus track “Dog Food (Fall Time)” suiting for the season of autumn expressing true hatred for a junkie’s new friends.

With the exception of 3 newly recorded tracks, Land of Pine most likely concludes Sugar Cherry’s music career by making his own version of Minor Threat’s complete discography compilation after 6 years in the making & I say that because most of the full-length’s material has already been previously released as singles or originally appearing on Rozey’s earlier EPs like Isn’t It Wonderful? or self-titled. You might’ve also noticed almost all of his previous output has been scrubbed off the internet and it only makes this collection of singer/songwriter, indie folk, loner folk, tape music, slacker rock, shoegaze, dream pop & bedroom pop songs more poignant slowly pulling the layers back of his artistic growth from the late 2010s to now.

Score: 4.5/5

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Quadeca – “Vanisher, Horizon Scraper” review

Quadeca is a 24 year old singer/songwriter, producer, YouTuber & rapper from Los Angeles, California whose early mixtapes Work in Progress, Nostalgia for the Now, Bad Internet Rapper & Out of Order were all received negatively as was the full-length debut Voice Memos. His sophomore effort From Me to You proved to be decent, with both I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You & Scrapyard under deadAir Records garnering widespread praise for artistically reinventing himself. Recently starting up his own label X8 Music distributed by Virgin Music, the founder is making his official debut under the imprint in the form of his 4th album a month after Kevin Abstract signed with him to put out blush.

Chico Buarque gets sampled during the post-rock, modern classical, chamber music, neo-psychedelia, totalism, progressive folk, folktronica, art pop, avant-folk, choral, MPB & capoeira intro “No Questions Asked” repetitively singing about being there when no one else is just before “Waging War” gets split up into 3 different sections built around neo-psychedelia, art pop, folktronica, glitch pop, glitch hop, progressive pop, post-rock, chamber folk, deconstructed club, experimental hip hop & experimental rock as he tries to calm himself down & attempt to take his own advice. The lusciously gentle “Ruin My Life” carries forward by talking about an existential crisis leading into art pop, jazz pop, folk pop, Bossa nova, chamber folk, lounge, progressive folk, jazz rap, progressive soul all culminating in the lead single “Godstained”.

“At a Time Like This” continues the first half of Vanisher, Horizon Scraper talking about keeping his soul on high alert centered towards experimental hip hop, neo-psychedelia, art pop, glitch pop, glitch hop, cloud rap, alternative r&b, abstract hip hop, post-rock, wonky & progressive pop while the 2nd single “Monday” combines folk pop, baroque pop, art pop, chamber folk, chamber pop, folktronica & Waltz reflecting on a relationship that didn’t last. “Dancing Without Moving” has gotta be the catchiest moment on the entire LP balling pop rap, experimental hip hop, neo-psychedelia, art pop, alt-pop, alternative r&b, jazz rap, nu jazz, neo-soul, boom bap & chamber pop into 1 looking at the night sky to copy what he does until “That’s Why” speaks of life not getting any better than it is at this very moment.

After the “I Dream About Sinking” instrumental, we have the distortion gradually increasing over the course of “Natural Causes” suiting the increasing paranoia while “Thundrrr” blends hardcore hip hop, industrial hip hop, deconstructed club, funk mandelão, glitch hop, grime & wonky. “The Great Bakunawa” featuring Danny Brown makes for a breathtakingly industrial hip hop, hardcore hip hop, neo-psychedelia, illbient, abstract hip hop, post-rock & horrorcore collab while the final single “Forgone” divided in 3 parts speaking of remaining through it all. “Casper” by Maruja frontman Harry Wilkinson ends with a melting pot of post-rock, experimental rock, post-industrial, art punk, post-hardcore, space rock revival, nature recordings, totalism, noise rock, poetry, chamber jazz, jazz-rock & noise to talk about death.

“Learn to Swim” starts the deluxe run by throwing it back to the I Didn’t Mean to Haunt You era while “A Little Too Much” puts his range on display with him singing the first couple verses & rapping the final one. “Touch the Sky” feels it it could’ve been placed between “Ruin My Life” & “Godstained” as an interlude but after the “Horizon Scraper” compositional piece, we’re treated to a “Forgone” prelude subtitled “Not Enough” & the “Sundown” instrumental cut. “Burns Down” uses a flow similar to Lucy Bedroque’s except it feels reminiscent of brakence’s stuff aesthetically & the final bonus track “Wind Catcher” excluding the “Godstained” demo happens to be another composition.

Conceptually focused around a lone traveler sailing into the ocean alone pursuing freedom & cosmic understanding with his own self-destruction subconsciously motivating it, Quadeca’s musical evolution in recent memory continues with the most ambitious entry in his discography thus far & the finest of this redeeming trilogy arc. His masterful production goes outside of the box showing influences of art pop, folktronica, jazz pop, folk pop, Bossa nova, chamber folk, lounge, progressive folk, jazz rap, progressive soul, baroque pop, chamber pop, Waltz, singer/songwriter, progressive pop, neo-psychedelia, post-rock, psychedelic folk, experimental hip hop, ambient music, hardcore hip hop, industrial hip hop, deconstructed club, funk mandelão, glitch hop, grime, wonky, illbient, abstract hip hop, horrorcore, experimental rock, post-industrial, art punk, post-hardcore, space rock revival, nature recordings, totalism, noise rock, poetry, chamber jazz, jazz-rock, noise, modern classical, chamber music, totalism, avant-folk, choral, MPB, capoeira, nu jazz & neo-soul coordinated in ways to pull you deeper into the story.

Score: 4.5/5

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Kevin Abstract – “blush” review

Here is the 6th solo LP from Corpus Christi rapper, singer/songwriter, producer & director Kevin Abstract. Making his debut over a decade ago in the form of MTV1987, he followed it up 2 years later with the fantastic American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story & rose to stardom as the de facto leader of the now defunct BROCKHAMPTON collective the year after. Both of Kevin’s solo efforts since then ARIZONA baby & The Family were solid although I liked the latter more for it’s chipmunk soul heavy sound. Blanket went for an indie rock direction to quietly end his RCA Records tenure joining X8 Music & Virgin Music, finally putting out blush after teasing it for months.

After the “Introduction” intro, the first song “H-Town” featuring Ameer Vann as well as Love Spells & SoGone SoFlexy finds the quartet over a boom bap instrumental thanking God they’re all still alive today prior to “Copy” featuring Love Spells & SoGone SoFlexy giving off a bit of a psychedelic rock vibe praying their lovers come running back to them & “Danny’s Track” by Danny Brown referencing the inaugural IWGPヘビー級王座, former 12-time WWE world champion, WWE tag team champion, 2-time WWE Hall of Famer, Real American Beer founder & Real American Freestyle Wrestling (RAF) co-founder Hulk Hogan.

“Yoko Ono” featuring Love Spells & Makana XO goes drumless with the help of Kiko Merley so the trio can ask what a classic is without a b-side or The Beatles without the late John Lennon’s widow whereas the chaotic “Nola” by Ameer Vann, Drigo, JPEGMAFIA & Love Spells produced by Quadeca references WWE Hall of Famer, 6-time WWE world champion, WWE Intercontinental Champion, WWE United States Champion, WWE Tag Team Champion, WWE Hardcore Champion, IWGPヘビー級王座, the inaugural 6-time TNA World Champion, TNA X Division Champion & 2-time TNA World Tag Team Champion Kurt Angle.

Love Spells sticks with Kevin on the Glue outtake “Post Breakup Beauty” that Romil Hemnani co-produced looking back on a relationship that only lasted a mere 9 months & wanting to feel like as if they’re untouchable just before “97 Jag” featuring Love Spells once again finds the pair wishing they would’ve followed their instincts instead of crashing out. “Text Me” could very well be the only song without a guest verse singing over a Sekuo sample of recovering from a breakup for 2 years while “Geezer” marks the new superduo’s introduction with their own eponymous single built around pop rap, indie pop, bedroom pop & boom bap

“I Wasn’t There” by DERBY lets his indietronica/bedroom pop styles flourish for a couple minutes on their own & after the “blush” interlude, “Maroon” by Dominic Fike finds the other half of Geezer asking if his partners can remember a time where he made their face turn brownish-crimson. “Pop Out” by Ameer Vann, Drigo, E Bleu & Love Spells brings an experimental trap flare to the table talking about the bad bitches coming out now that it’s summer, but then “Girlfriend” by Drigo & surprisingly Dr. Dre’s daughter Truly Young links the 2 up talking about having each other.

Kevin jumps back on the mic for “Bloom” featuring Ameer Vann & Love Spells to cook up a melancholic trap cut wanting their lovers to know they’ve been waiting their whole entire lives for them to come in the picture while “Abandon Me” by Quadeca tries to figure out why the individual he has in mind stays by him instead of turning their back on him like everyone else in his life. “Red Light” featuring Ameer Vann ends blush with both BH alumni delivering a perfect fusion of pop rap, alternative R&B & neo-soul limiting their growth for the love of their lives.

“Everybody Plays to Win” featuring Ameer Vann & Love Spells starts the deluxe run asking how they can be forgiven & not fall astray while “Medicine” by Ameer Vann, Drigo & Love Spells links up the 3 over synths & hi-hats feeling like their partners were sent from heaven above. The title track featuring Love Spells talks about fiending for love & others not knowing what they’ve been on while “Fall” gets Kevin handling verses by himself over a cloudy trap beat getting to the bottom of as to why a former friend turned his back on him.

AJ, Ameer Vann, Devanmanleyy, Drigo & Love Spells all clique up during “Don’t Ever Ask No N***a for Some Change” talking about flags they ignore by choice while “Oath” by Ameer Vann & Love Spells rides around town with heaters in their pockets. “MenOnTheMoon” sticks out as another Kevin solo cut jazzily feeling like he’s the only one left of himself while “Moonlight” by Ameer Vann & Love Spells talking about being painted as demons since that’s the way they’re viewed.

“On My Son” reflects on the lessons Kevin’s learned taking another moment all by himself hoping to move the way his family did soon as he wakes up the final bonus track “T.W.N.D. (That’s What N****s Do” featuring Ameer Vann & Truly Young caps off the extra batch of music with them puttin’ these snakes in on their asses if they wanna spaz out getting this money backed by horns & a repetitive Memphis-like vocal flip.

2001 was the first album that I listened to start to finish growing up in the early 2000s so when I heard blush was gonna be Kevin’s answer to that, it immediately had my interest. The final product however has a tad more highs than flaws. I love that the production goes from hip hop to alternative R&B, neo-soul, drumless, experimental hip hop, alt-pop, indietronica, bedroom pop & pop rap in a cohesive manner although the lack of Kevin performances make it feel more like a compilation.

Score: 3.5/5

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