Mercy

The second collaboration between visionary rap duo Armand Hammer and super-producer the Alchemist isnt a mere retread of the disorienting beats and conscious verses of 2021s Haram, but it does feel more in the vein of that album than the eclectic, collaboration-heavy 2023 effort We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. E L U C I D and billy woods continue to deliver sharp, quotable lyrics while the Alchemist provides hazy, abstract loops. The opening track is named after new age icon Laraaji, and the poetic verses dart between references to 3D printed guns and gentrified schools to statements like "Grandmaster Flash gave me a job," while a crashing psych-rock breakdown continually spirals beneath. The jazzier "Calypso Gene" (featuring Silka and Cleo Reed) explores spiritual as well as political themes, both using water as a metaphor. The woozy, nightmarish hallucination "Scandinavia" and more optimistic "Dogeared" (featuring Kapwani) both make reference to facing starvation and struggling to stay fed. The downwards-falling synth, trudging drums, and stark, noir-ish lyrics of the Pink Siifu-featuring "Crisis Phone" feel as haunting as anything off woods harrowing GOLLIWOG. Like that album, however, Mercy inventively illustrates grim situations and addresses serious, sometimes brutal subject matter in an engaging and intellectually stimulating way. The last two tracks on Mercy arent exactly comic relief, but they feel a bit lighter and more relaxed in tone, somewhat offsetting the unflinching dread of much of the album. Earl Sweatshirts effortless flow kicks off the drawling, flute-driven "California Games," and a comforting, swaying synth loop fits the nostalgic lyrics of "Super Nintendo" like a glove. ~ Paul Simpson