Earthee

Genre: space soul, jazz rap, afrofuturism

Cosmic wordplay and wobbly production from this Seattle-based duo. This effort sees them stretch into more expansive ground than their first album. Most of these songs throw away typical soul/hip-hop song structures, sometimes repeating the same mantra-like phrase for the duration of the track. A sister album to Shabazz Palace’s “Lese Majesty” (one of my favorites from last year). Play this for late nights floating through the Milky Way.

Others: Shabazz Palaces, Flying Lotus, Thundercat, Janelle Monae, Hiatus Kaiyote

Favorites: 12, 3, 5, 1, 2, 7, 11…pick any really. FCC: 4, 7

1. (1:41) *** Really cool drum groove with gauzy backdrop. Sultry vocals.
2. (1:57) *** Bright synths. Nice little rap verse before flipping into another soul exploration.
3. (3:21) *** Locked in percussion groove. Really gorgeous vocals and jazzy synth chords.
4. (2:36) FCC :( MMMM this is some nice stuff. Smooth, simple flow and lyrics about others coopting genres. GUEST VERSE FROM ISHMAEL BUTLER awwya.
5. (4:02) *** Muffled deep vocal sample and stilted beat. Cosmic vibes. “My pizzazz”….
6. (4:10) ** Drum machine pastiche…squelchy bass line. Mystical
7. (3:48) FCC. Gorgeous ascending synth. Love the beat on this one. Guest male rapper. Ishmael Butler gets another turn at the wheel.
8. (3:29) ** Odd off-kilter feel. Dark energy and smoky saxophone in the background. A pretty strange track but it grows on me more and more.
9. (3:35) *** Space station synthesizers. Theesatisfaction wax philosophical.
10. (3:38) ** Shaker percussion and more awesome soul vox. Redeem the word “work” (well, WerQ is the track title actually) from Britney Spears.
11. (3:05) **** Creative drumbeat and more of the excellent same. Time to ascend into new galactic planes…
12. (2:39) ****** Oh yes…some awesome mbira and trippy group vocals. More Shabazz Palaces fun. Fluid, exploratory…absolutely brilliant
13. (4:13) *** Nighttime space journey. Great closing track.