Far more collaborative and variegated than his 2017 album
Jardin
,
Gabriel Garzon-Montano
's return, released through an association between
Jagjaguwar
and earlier supporter
Stones Throw
, is a kind of marvel. Similar to
in its modest runtime, it seems to cover twice as much lyrical and stylistic ground. Take the last three songs. They shift with ease from spectral folk to prowling Latin trap and finish with a musical box-like lullaby. Delicate vocals, acoustic guitar, and strings give way to looming menace and magnetic swagger, and then
Garzon-Montano
, aided by vocal looping from
Theo Bleckmann
, lets loose a ballad with gently shuddering rhythms and pearlescent baubles recalling
Vespertine
-era
Bjoerk
.
wistfully delivers poetic lines like "Tilt into expectant rooms/Melting hot and gone too soon" (regarding plant life, or maybe a fling), just as comfortably raps with humorous multilingual wordplay and phonetic acrobatics, and ponders feelings of omnipotence and insignificance. There isn't the slightest suspicion during that or any other stretch -- whether swashbuckling again on the reggaeton jam "Muneca," or grieving over an ex who bails after using him for oral sex on the funk wobbler "Someone" -- that
is dabbling. Rather, it's evident that the multi-instrumentalist and vocalist is simply displaying various facets of his artistry, as if he wanted his second album to glimmer like a cut gem. ~ Andy Kellman