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Angel's Pulse
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Angel's Pulse
Current price: $15.99
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Barnes and Noble
Angel's Pulse
Current price: $15.99
Size: CD
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Two or three years tend to pass between
'
LPs, so it was a surprise when
arrived only 11 months after
. Upon this set's release,
said that he often writes and records immediately after the completion of each project and keeps the material to himself or a small circle of recipients. In this case, he chose to publicize his supplemental work, terming it a mixtape yet (accurately) deeming it consequential enough to make available on physical formats.
indeed plays out like a tape, one consisting of 14 deliberate vignettes and full-blown tunes squeezed onto one side of an imagined C60. (As it's 32 minutes in length, consider it a slightly expanded edition.) Flow is minimal, consequently making it come off like a hurried dub for an unplanned ride. The sequence is most disjointed when a distressed visit to the scene of the 1963 Birmingham church bombing -- with disoriented
and wailing
as parents searching through debris for their children -- is inserted between bittersweet and temperate numbers concerning self-esteem and a faltering romance. Elsewhere,
, supported vocally on occasion by
and the especially well-placed
and
, articulates a lot more heartache and anxiety with his weeping vocals. He's at his most hollowed-out sounding with "Ice around my wrist, my touch is cold," a sharp flip of "money can't buy happiness." He's also stressed by the passing of time, citing his age (more than once) and grieving over the loss of loved ones; he even uses a rare energized moment to accept that "happiness will fade." Welcomed levity is left to
, Memphis rap legends who carry "Gold Teeth," and online character BennY RevivaL, whose unremitting verses whip across the lo-fi hip-house of "Seven Hours, Pt. 1." Production-wise, this roams around with some abrupt switches, supplying slow-motion and spaced-out grooves, low-profile boom-bap, and wayward guitar scrawl with highest frequency.
' downcast disposition and the return of several
collaborators --
,
, and
-- provide the continuity. ~ Andy Kellman