It's a strange thing that such a good album could come out of such unofficial collaborative circumstances. Jean Grae, rapper with a dark, subdued style, and Blue Sky Black Death, trip hop gone post-rock producers from San Francisco, are releasing this album outside of their authorized canon (BSBD's Late Night Cinema and Jean Grae's Jeanius were both "official" releases earlier this year) but don't have some catchy name to acknowledge the team they've created (e.g. Deltron3030). The resulting music finds Blue Sky Black Death producing music that is notably truncated, chill, and reserved, which puts it at odds with the cathartic and epic content of Late Night Cinema. The production sounds like it's been reduced to complement Jean Grae's coy but depressed flow and lyrics. The sound slays on the lighter, placid tracks like "Take It Back" and "Lights Out," and only falters on the bombastic opening track, "Shadows Forever."
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