On the back of Bad Vibes , Los Angeles producer ‘ Shlohmo ’ ( Henry Laufer ) set out to explore dirty, psyched, mild hip hop beats across five tracks, in a collective he’s called Laid Out .
A slow drumbeat and cries of “separate and stay with me, I don’t wanna go” from How to Dress Well ’s ( Tom Krell ) soothing RnB voice start off ‘ Dont Say No ’. Dramatic synth builds into a clapping drop whilst Krell’s pitch perfect cries continue. The clear RnB love song twists small builds and drops and is an insight into what Shlohmo would sound like if he had one singer throughout all his work.
‘ Out of Hand ’s’ distortion of echoing vocals over dark bass builds up in signature Shlohmo style and changes direction in the last 30 seconds where all layers slowly sweep away. ‘Out of Hand’ and ‘ Later ’ juxtapose each other’s tone, for while both use similar distortion of vocals, ‘Out of Hand’ provides a softer vibe whereas ‘Later’ builds into a dirty free-for-all.
Each track in Laid Out has its own personality and ‘ Put It ’ captures a dark, complex identity with layered sounds that shift back and forth, creating a soft, dark atmosphere. The concluding track ‘ Without ’ shifts into an East Asian sound, full of deep drum and bass that chops and changes till a chiming marimba brings you to an exit.
Shlohmo’s capability to bring various layers together to a upbeat halt and to constantly mix up the direction each track is heading in provides an ultimate listening experience in Laid Out .
WORDS BY Blake Creighton
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