Hi, everyone. Doubtthony Ittano here, the internet's busiest music nerd. It's time for a review of Timeless from Grammy Award-winning producer, KAYTRANADA. This is his latest full-length LP. He is now nearly 10 years deep in a successful and collaboration-heavy career. In 2016, he dropped his breakout record 99.9%, and since then, his profile among the music community has grown exponentially. He went from grinding it out on numerous beat tapes to doing tracks the likes of Pharrell and J.I.D. and Freddie Gibbs, and dropping albums with eclectic and star-studded feature lists. I also love he continually uses his talents to showcase and support new faces who are making waves in the industry like Victoria Monet as well as PinkPantheress.

And over the years, he's developed an instantly recognizable style that you can clock from a mile away at this point. KAYTRANADA's beats are as indebted to hip hop as they are RnB and a wide variety of dance music styles. So of course, there are loads of interesting musical reference points placed throughout the instrumentals of this record. Some tracks feature the loose grooves and textured instrumentation that you might catch on a J Dilla piece, while also bringing the driving kicks of a classic house jam. KAYTRANADA is also known for a funky bass line or two, and his use of psychedelic effects as well as slightly lofi mix techniques usually bring a chill vibe to his songs as well.

I'm loving the way communicates with rhythms on the tracks from this record, too. The way these off-kilter snares and hi-hats bounce off of consistent kicks on the track "Seemingly", or the more punchy and punctual grooves and break beats featured on the song "Drip Sweat" that also has some neat hi-hat variations. Also some vocals from kindred spirit, Channel Tres, who you should also recognize as a pretty big and creative force in this lane of artists that create music that's not just adjacent to rap music, but house and dance music, too. There's also the clutter and controlled chaos of banging, clanging percussive hits all over the song "Please Babe", over which we get these heavy rushes of incredible bass and trippy synth arpeggios, too. Let's also not forget to mention the bold and epic intro that kicks the entire album off, where KAYTRANADA is going for something big and orchestral in his own way, with these dramatic rolling drum fills, epic chord changes, and fiery horn hits, too.

There are moments on the record where I wish on some of the solo tracks, he went the distance a bit more, went for something more grandiose and ambitious, maybe branch out beyond some of the lofi aesthetics that he very much embraces, as I think they keep the vibrance of his mixes lower than they need to be. "Dance Dance Dance Dance" is certainly guilty of this. but on this record and on past efforts as well, I've also felt like here and there, KAYTRANADA songs have been held back by some relatively weak vocal performances from his guests, too. I would also say there are issues sometimes in how he frames out the songs his guests are performing. Take the song "Still", for example, featuring Charlotte Day Wilson. The vocal melodies on this track, as well as the lyrics, are actually pretty hard-hitting; heart-wrenching, in fact. But the way Charlotte's vocals are spaced out and the groove and pacing of the song doesn't really emphasize any one part over any other part, specifically the chorus. So the whole thing just plods along with little to no variation. It makes the tune sound more one-dimensional than it actually is.

Meanwhile, Dawn Richard's vocals on the track "Hold On", to my ears, are just merely okay. She sounds mostly like a placeholder on the track. Structurally, the song "Call U Up" is much were impressive, colorful too, with its crazy drum loops and very tense, persistent piano cords, but KAYTRANADA's brother, Lou Phelps, who features on the track, isn't exactly a lyrical phenomenon. I mean, his flows are fine and he more or less does a decent job of telling the story about a woman who he desires and wants to get close to, but simultaneously, he's afraid of falling in love. Along this narrative track, he drops generic bars about beating that pussy up, putting it in a cemetery. Also, "she spends her days on Co-Star / My life is a movie, come be my co-star".

There are some tracks that hit a weird middle ground on this record where either a guest is not giving a killer performance or KAYTRANADA doesn't seem to fully be setting them up for success with songs that just end up sounding a bit too wallpaper, too washed out. Most notably, I would say this is the case for "Spit It Out" featuring Rochelle Jordan, and I would be remiss if I did not mention the surprisingly forgettable "Witchy" featuring Childish Gambino, which not only has tedious pacing, but the sound of it is even worse. I don't know if it's the compression, the vocal layering, or the delay effects, but the whole thing just sounds off and cluttered, and every element of the song is at war with itself.

That being said, though, I think there are more bops than total flops along the tracklist with some of the solo cuts I mentioned earlier, as well as "Weird" featuring Durand Bernarr, which is this zany, camped-up funk throwback with hilarious lyrics about somebody who is weird and annoying, someone who you don't want around and yet they think they're your friend. Meanwhile, you're saying, "Hey, back off, chill." There's also "Video" featuring Ravyn Lenae, a track whose subtlety and breathy vocals actually become a strength as it ends up being the most entrancing and alluring song on the entire record. Then there's "Do 2 Me", which is a pretty bold, fiery, sexy, flirty, funky cut featuring SiR as well as Anderson .Paak. This song lays the grooves, raunchy lyrics, and the harmonious layers of bass, synths, and horns on thick. Again, some really good, undeniable highlights in every pocket of the album, but the flow of the record overall just feels like a bit of a compilation. Nothing too intensive in terms of things connecting from track to track or creating any momentum or vibe from one end to the next.

I think KAYTRANADA continues to show undeniable talent as a producer, but on this record, he's also wearing a lot of other hats, too, be that arranger, curator, or songwriter. It's on these fronts that sometimes we are seeing shortcomings that usually lead to tracks on this record sounding bland. Plus, there's a second disk of tracks on the album featuring some pretty big names; PinkPantheress as well as Thundercat, which are fun and make for neat little additions on the back end, especially considering how much of a goofy piss take the Thundercat track is. But considering the talent and collaborative cohesion that KAYTRANADA has had with these artists in the past, their contributions to a record such as this should have made for at least a couple of the biggest bangers on the album.

With all that being said, though, I do think this is one of KAYTRANADA better releases so far, even if the difference in quality from this and his past works isn't like night and day.

I'm feeling a light 7 on Timeless.

Anthony Fantano. KAYTRANADA. Forever.