You’ve probably seen the album cover plastered all over the underground, which is surprising considering SBTRKT’s usual incognito style.
The unsuccessful anonymous behind it all is Aaron Jerome, a London-based musician who prefers his work to be famous instead of his face.
Known for the tribal masks he wears on stage, Aaron has kept the world waiting for his second album Wonder Where We Land.
But all is forgiven when you see a lot has improved since his debut album in 2011. Despite a slight shift in genres, we’re still met with that typically SBTRKT melancholy we know and love.
[pullquote align=”right”]”My girl got a limousine, Got a full time job just to keep it clean.”[/pullquote]
Any loyal fans of SBTRKT will be glad to see the friendly faces of Jessie Ware and Sampha again. But it’s the unexpected artists that give the album something special.
Already out-there New Dorp, New York was played at New York Fashion Week for Victoria Beckham’s catwalk show, proving that he’s already got the thumbs up from the in-crowd.
The track features Ezra Koenig from Vampire Weekend, who delivers some inventive lyrics for an otherwise lyric-lacking album.
It’s a nice surprise to find A$AP Ferg and Warpaint on the album; a song they both feature on, Voices In My Head, is easily a favourite.
Other stand outs include Look Away, Higher and The Light. There are a few average moments like Paper Cuts and two pointless interludes named Day 1 and Day 5.
Overall SBTRKT seems to cover good ground, from the fun instrumentals on Lantern, Osea and Decemberist to the radio-pleasers that are also, funnily enough, my favourites.
The song you should listen to:
Watch the video for NEW DORP, NEW YORK:
Featured image courtesy of Kmeron via Flickr