Last week my brother sent me a text telling me to give this new album SCRAPYARD a listen. Although I was originally intrigued upon receiving the message, I was immediately captivated upon playing the opening of this track “DUSTCLUSTER” featuring this unique and catchy beat that captures such an interesting sound that meshes perfectly with his raw and simplistic lyrics. This opener set up positive expectations for the album and a precedent for what is next to come. As I continued on with this listen I found myself pleasantly enjoying the wide array of sounds and genres that this album is able to capture. He begins to explore themes about love within his lyrics that discuss this all or nothing mindset that I can heavily relate to in the second song on the track, “A LA CARTE”, as well as this more intimate song, “EASIER”.
I found myself particularly gravitating towards these heavier rap songs like “I MAKE IT LOOK EFFORTLESS”, “EVEN IF I TRIED” and “GUESS WHO?” which encapsulate this energy of just feeling yourself and knowing you are all that within his lyrical choices. Additionally, Quadeca took another vulnerable route by focusing more on intrapersonal themes in his more moodier songs like ” U DON’T KNOW ME LIKE THAT”, “PRETTY PRIVILEGE” and “WHAT’S IT TO HIM?”. Quadeca really challenged the boundaries with this album by experimenting with such a large range of polished sounds, by even including a more strange and unsettling song, “U TRIED THAT THING WHERE UR HUMAN”.
Perhaps its just the fact that my brother has slowly been accustomed to my developing music taste, but this new release manages to tickle that certain section of my brain and I would have to argue that this indeed is a worthwhile listen. It is clear the artistry that has been poured into the making of this album and I really do think that it’s able to encapsulate such a wide range of genres while still being able to remain consistent throughout the piece as a whole. This album feels unique to anything else I’ve listened to, although I can recognize some sources of inspiration that Quadeca could have pulled from for certain songs. The additionally cherry to top it all off are the special features from Kevin Abstract closing off the album and brakence in track 2. If you are on the lookout for a new album to get to listening to, then I am quite certain there are some hidden gems tucked into this album that resonates with your personal taste in music !