Ooh Rap I Ya

The instrumentals of "Ooh Rap I Ya" are a feat of surrealism in songcraft, with ebbing waves of synths and overblown drums soundtracking much of the runtime in increasingly abstract ways. It isn’t long until the mastery of the pop form displayed in the first half of the record devolves into the spare parts of a song: 90s hits deconstructed and remade in the most obtuse yet enjoyable ways. Bittersweet melodies echo out with no discernible form unless they are expressly sought out in lyric sheets; when listening, this highlights the attention to melody in which Clanton is supernaturally gifted. It’s as if Grouper had taken her knack for harmony and collaborated with Max Martin for the loneliest hits 1998 had ever seen. There is much to brace for on "Ooh Rap I Ya"; the opening of “Everything I Want,” and nearly every chorus on the project for that matter, understands that uniquely 90s obsession with starting on spare drum hits before thrusting the listener headfirst into the auditory blender: the “Only Shallow” school of starting an album. The heatwave haze of “Justify Your Life” and blistering fuzz of “F.U.M.L” have an equally attuned grasp on tension and payoff, making an earworm out of decaying soundscapes. “I Been Young” is the type of watershed song in an artist’s career that parts the fog surrounding their career trajectory and reveals the point of every stumble and misstep it took to get there. For Clanton, the point may have always been a moment of uncertainty, a hopeful brace for some unknown impact beyond the murky instrumental, and then a guiding voice bellowing out their own road to maturity. It’s more overwhelming than can be reckoned with, and then we wait for it again. For a moment, it’s more than perfect: it’s my reward for the embrace. And then I get to hear the rest.

GEORGE CLANTON - OOH RAP I YA

RATING - 9/10

FAVORITE TRACKS - Everything I Want, Justify Your Life, I Been Young

GENRE - Chillwave, Neo-Psychedelia, Baggy, Dream Pop, Hypnagogic Pop