- Lunice keeps it brief but explosive on his latest LP of inventive, ahead-of-the-curve hip-hop.
- Lunice, along with his TNGHT collaborator Hudson Mohawke, is one of the most quietly influential people on the sound of EDM and rap music. In the world of EDM-inspired "trap,"whole careers have been launched off the heaving, pneumatic sound popularised by the Canadian artist and his Scottish production partner. On his own, Lunice makes music that is even wackier, loaded with head-turning sound effects and sudden halts. It's a jerky, but ultimately funky, groove exemplified by his infamous dancing behind the decks. OPEN, his latest album, is a brief and explosive LP with an improvised, let's-see-what-happens flair. It's comfortingly familiar in its Whac-A-Mole cartoonishness, but it also pushes the envelope of hip-hop with inspired guest appearances.
OPEN avoids the sometimes tricky pitfalls of the hip-hop producer album format, where voices and perspectives collide and quality control is nonexistent. By making the rap songs about as strange as they can possibly get, Lunice makes sure that OPEN is all about him. The record is split between Lunice instrumentals and MC'd rap songs. The beginning is something of a feint. "Last Time," with rapper Zach Zoya, is a sweet ocarina instrumental that wraps around an R&B vocal like snug skinny jeans. "Winnebago" pits electro duo DAGR against Lunice's outsized and brash kick drums, and eventually twists the singer's voice into a demonic subterranean pitch. On "Walk," hyperpop rapper Cali Cartier whines an absurd hook—"wa-wa-wa-waaaa"—that would be grating if it weren't so funny.
The album's possibilities feel endless. Most impressive is the title track, where Yuki Dreams Again's creamy vocals veer between crooning verses (atop some of Lunice's most gentle production) and unhinged choruses that stretch a screaming noise into uncanny syllables. The push-and-pull exemplifies the distinctive stop-start motion of Lunice's trap beats, placing it in a pop context instead.
Still, for the rest of the LP, Lunice sticks to business as usual, or whatever that means for him. "Red Congo" is dangerously chaotic, while "Life Happening," which would please fans of horsegiirL with its donk-ish kicks, has a breakdown that hints at a pop hook that never comes. Just when you think Lunice is giving you something to grasp onto, he snatches it away.
Any sense of normalcy is shattered by the return of Cali Cartier on the album's final track, "No Commas." Employing a voice that makes Playboi Carti's infamous baby voice seem well-adjusted, Lunice lays down a track so confusing, so offensive that it's hard to listen without a visceral reaction. (The detuned lullaby chimes and kick-in-the-door bass drums only add to the confusion.) This is the Lunice we know and love—the one that toys with absurd drops, zany effects and odd vocals. The music sounds so silly that it's easy to think it's a joke. But this is precisely why, for over a decade now, Lunice's forward-thinking hip-hop has been so alluring—what can sound silly at first becomes normal disarmingly fast. Once again, Lunice is ahead of the pack.
Tracklist01. YAYAYA feat. Stargate
02. Last Time feat. Zach Zoya
03. Red Congo
04. Walk feat. Cali Cartier
05. Winnebago feat. DAGR
06. Make Face
07. Open feat. Yuki Dreams Again
08. Life Happening
09. Rube Boii feat. Drtwrk & Jay Century
10. No Commas feat. Cali Cartier