The bleary production of
Earl Sweatshirt
's sadly dreamy 2018 album
Some Rap Songs
was unexpected to the point of feeling revelatory. Ever creatively restless and enigmatic, the once edgy and detached
Odd Future
graduate all but abandoned his previous styles for a new world of washed-out soul samples, fragmented bars, and songs that were gone as soon as they arrived. The album centered around themes of social reclusiveness, complex family dynamics, and a generally bleak observational vantage point, all delivered in wide, abstract brushstrokes. It was one of the year's most exciting releases and less than 12 months later, the similarly brief
Feet of Clay
adds a post-script to the statements made by
. Clocking in at just 15 minutes, the project's seven tracks mostly remain in the jagged delivery style established on
. Unlike the bright, bittersweet tones of that album,
is dark and uneasy. The set begins with the foreboding "74," where
Sweatshirt
builds an intricate flow over the blunt instrumental. His grief over his father's death is reflected in the looming sonic presence of
as much as it becomes a lyrical focal point. The drony "OD" has abstract mentions of family anguish and vague memories,
pondering how he made it to the age of 25 over a chopped and mostly drum-free beat.
Mavi
shows up as a guest with a scattershot verse on "El Toro Combo Meal," a song that leans into the doo wop-sampling of
. The project is more varied and psychedelic in different ways than the more fully realized album that preceded it, but takes new risks over the course of its brief running time. Closing track "4N" almost reaches the five-minute mark and has a discernible chorus aided by guest emcee
Mach-Hommy
, making it sound more complete than the rest of the songs. All the same, the backing track is entirely backwards and
's verse is lo-fi and fuzzy, interrupted occasionally by noisy samples. The seven tracks represent different, curious branches extending out from the seeds planted by
, each reaching for new ideas and switching gears when another thought arrives. It continues
's streak as an innovator and as one of the more compelling artists of his time. ~ Fred Thomas