Nashville-based multi-talent Namir Blade made his Mello Music Group debut with Aphelion's Traveling Circus, a self-produced 2020 full-length filled with introspective narratives that drew from science fiction and Afrofuturism, yet felt remarkably down to earth. His next album was produced entirely by the elusive North Carolina beatmaker known as L'Orange, and it feels like a slight change of pace for both artists, but one that entirely connects. While L'Orange has been known to craft beats from vintage jazz records in the past, here he goes for more of a psychedelic blues sound, somewhere in between Electric Mud and Hendrix with a sprinkling of Stax, and it's both gritty and intoxicating. Blade's delivery is more urgent than on his last outing, and his lyrics are more bluntly honest (and sometimes starkly violent, as on the opening title track), but he also mixes fantasy with realism on tracks like the heist scene "Corner Store Scandal," or others where he expresses determination to earn millions and win awards. Blade's ice-cold yet heavyhearted hooks effortlessly blend with L'Orange's swirling, swampy rhythms on early standout "Nihilism," and the smoked-out production on "Murphy's Law" perfectly matches the dread of Blade's lyrics. His verses on the Quelle Chris-featuring "Point to Point" contain some of his knottiest, most abstract wordplay yet, and it's just as deadly as the crime-themed tracks. Near the album's end, he sings about the pain of dealing with a crumbling relationship over lush, weightless guitars on the tender, heartbroken "I Can Change." The closing "Pipe Dream" is more upbeat and optimistic, with Blade at his most confident and Solemn Brigham (L'Orange's partner in the duo Marlowe) playing a steady support role. ~ Paul Simpson, Rovi

1		Imaginary Everything
2		Lyra
3		Nihilism
4		Point to Point
5		Out East
6		Corner Store Scandal
7		Gassed Up
8		Shotgun
9		Somebody's Anthem
10		Late Nights Early Mornings
11		Murphy's Law
12		I Can Change
13		Pipe Dream