The first noticeable thing about 's tenth studio album, , is its mass. With 27 tracks, a running time of an hour and 48 minutes, and a dense list of contributors including , , and many, many more, is poised to be an epic statement, an all-out event. The music itself tells a different story. Still bearing the religious overtones of 2019's assembles the sprawling from minimal, often eerie arrangements. This is perhaps most apparent in the conspicuous absence of drums from many of the tracks. The hooky "Jail" sounds like a rocked-up version of something from , with Auto-Tuned vocals swimming happily around crunchy guitars. It's a banger with no bang, though, waiting until the last seconds of the song to bring in a brief, stilted drum pattern. "Tell the Vision" also lacks a forceful rhythm track, stitching together a stumbling piano loop with fragmented hi-hat skitters to hold a ghostly verse from . Traces of the old show up alongside this new subtractive approach. "Junya" is upbeat and confident, with a cheery church organ sample and another skeletal rhythm track serving as a backing track for lively flows. We're reminded of 's production mastery when he cuts up a sample for standout track "Believe What I Say," while "Lord I Need You" carries diminished echoes of the grandiose pop magnitude of , and the thick bass and abrasive rush of "God Breathed" would fit in on . isn't without its highlights, but taken as a whole it's both confused and confusing. The album is purportedly a tribute to 's late mother, Donda West, who died in 2007. Donda's presence is felt throughout the record, in particular during moments like the somber beauty of "Jesus Lord," and more directly on the song that bears her name and includes audio of her speaking. ~ Fred Thomas