is positioned as the closing chapter of a trilogy begun with 2019's , the final installment in a series of records where fully embraced the possibilities by radically expanding some compositions originally written as film cues for a joint. Where its immediate predecessor, , lingered and brooded in a way that echoed the work of , whose figurehead is a noted fan of 's, is bright and lively in its form and rhythms, its electronic beats and processed voices percolating cheerfully and impishly, his pianos interweaving with spectral voices to create shimmering waves of melody. 's mischief extends to the scatological refrain in "The Hound" and a hip-hop-informed revision of 's "Too Much Monkey Business," tracks that would've been jarring on but point to the weird, off-kilter heart that pulsates through . That sense of adventure is evident even on such relatively straightforward numbers as the lovely ballad "Days Ahead," where plays a supporting role, but the record perhaps reaches its apex at its beginning, when and help elevate the elliptical pop melody of "Sidelines" onto an astral plane. This sense of lightness was missing on the otherwise worthy , which makes an uplifting and unexpected coda to this restless trilogy. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine