In Praise Of Shadows
by Puma Blue

From Mercury 04/19/2021 16:42 | #268731

(A VERY nocturnal alt R&B album with lots of somewhat trip hop beats and tracks and a certain austere, fragile sound. It is cool in theory, but I'm not a fan of the style or sound enough to buy in. Probably just me and my taste, though. And I respect its sound and execution.)

Okay, I made my opening, paranthetical statement too long and almost all my points are covered there. Not a lot to add. This album is kind of cool, sounds like 3am in your living room, coming down from whatever revelry you were just engaged in, contemplating the fragile loneliness that eats at you whenever you're alone. Some of the tracks are actually really quite cool, and are subtly soulful and have a deep groove that sound amazing. Especially like "Already Falling".

I am not a fan of this style of vocals, this whispery, wheezy, indoor-voice sound. It is just a personal preference, and sometimes that style works with the trip hoppy beats, but mostly I find myself unimpressed and bored with it.

The back half of this album features some really solid tracks that express that sad, sorrowful, self-pitying mood quite well. Most notably on "Is it Because". Great song.

Overall, this isn't really my thing, my style, whatever. But it is generally quite well made and I am glad I heard it.