This extended play was released on January 25th this year. I don’t really have much to say in this preamble before getting into the body of this review, but I will say that if you haven’t read my review of “this is how i win” you should check that out before continuing with this one. I feel like this is kind of a sequel to that review since both of the EPs are by the same artist, with the same number of tracks, and released in the same month. I think I’m gonna love this though. Most of these songs are older beats that Illingsworth has been playing in sets for years. I don’t really think that’ll have any effect on my enjoyment of them, but I thought it was worth mentioning.

1. messier

This beat is awesome. The vocals on this track kinda sound like they were recorded by Illingsworth himself, similar to the way he did “I Don’t Wanna See U Again,” which I talked about after the first week of 2020. I’m pretty sure he did the same thing for a song called “started on koala now we here,” which was on his trenches EP. It might actually just be a sample here though. I don’t know. The vocals sound great though. There seems to be a strange effect on them, which makes for a kind of paranormal sound. I don’t know if that makes sense, but it’s really cool. Basically, what I’m tryna say is that the vocals sound like they’re being sung by a ghost. Anyway, the synths that eventually come in sound glorious. I feel like this would be perfect to listen to while eating a bowl of cereal as the sun rises. I love this track; I think it’s dope af.

2. won’t be found

This beat is even better than the preceding instrumental. The guitar sample sounds legitimately beautiful, and the synths are the perfect complement for it. It also sounds like there’s a harp in the background. I’m not really sure who the artist sampled in this song is, but their vocals are pretty good. The fast paced percussion here is gorgeous too. I was admittedly a bit apprehensive when I saw that this track was over three minutes long because sometimes producers will just extend a boring loop for way longer than they should, and the song gets old very quickly, but that isn’t the case here at all. This is a full-fledged song that evolves as it progresses, and the relatively long runtime is absolutely justified. This might actually be my favorite Illingsworth song ever. I think this shit is amazing.

3. asked myself

I was a bit nervous when I read that this song had no samples, but as soon as the track started my fears were extinguished. This is basically just a really nice Synth-Funk song. It kinda reminds me of DāM-FunK, except less boring. I don’t really have as much to say about this song as the previous couple since it’s shorter and there are less elements coming in and out, but it’s still really great to me. I think this track is dope as hell.

4. sweetey petey

This track sounds like happiness in the form of music, although it’s not quite [oppy enough for someone like Chance the Rapper, TisaKorean or D.R.A.M. to rap over. The loop here is pretty cool, even though the beat doesn’t evolve as much as the other tracks do. It’s the most repetitive song on the EP, but it’s thankfully under two minutes long, so it doesn’t really overstay its welcome too much. It’s my least favorite song on the project, but I still like it quite a bit. This is dope.

5. wishful thinking

The sample on this track is really nice. I feel like this is probably the most danceable song on the project. It kinda reminds me of that music video in which KAYTRANADA dances with the little robot guy. I can’t remember what that song was called, but it was on 99.9%. I think it had a number and the word “dance” in the title. Anyway, this track is also pretty repetitive, much like the preceding instrumental, but for whatever reason it doesn’t really bother me. I think it’s just because I simply like this loop a lot more than the previous one. It’s not my favorite track on the EP, but I still like it a lot. This shit is dope.

This project is awesome. This is an early contender for EP of the year for me honestly. I love this thing. Every single beat here is really good; these are some of my favorite tracks from Illingsworth ever. I’m not sure if this is my favorite overall project from him though. It’s either this or his trenches EP from December of last year. Both of them are amazing to me. He’s released 6 extended plays—one of which I haven’t heard yet—in the past 6 months, so it’s entirely possible that he’ll surpass this project by the end of the year, but for now this is easily one of the best releases I’ve heard in 2020. I love it.

Favorite Song: won’t be found
Least Favorite Song: sweety petey

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