This album was released on June 7th this year. Unless I’m forgetting someone, I believe Pastense was my favorite discovery of 2023. He instantly won me over with the Good Will Cutting EP, and the rerelease of his Paper Cuts & Aged Spirits LP was my favorite album of December 2023. I went on to enjoy the collaborative album with DJ M-1, Vintage Colors, and the lead single for this new project here catapulted it to the top of my “most anticipated albums of 2024” list. I was also happy to see that the entire record was produced by Uncommon Nasa. I genuinely don’t think there’s a single producer out there who I’d rather see Pastense work with. They complement each other’s styles perfectly. I had every reason to believe that this would be my favorite Pastense project yet, and that thankfully ended up being the case.

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The album begins with Meshes of the Afternoon. The first voice you hear is that of Nasa, who kinda introduces the record and the idea of the journey being greater than the destination itself. This is a small detail that I’m not sure will really be notable to everyone, but I absolutely love the way Pastense just comes in saying “NASA.” His gravely voice really cuts through the instrumental and demands your attention. It sounds awesome. I of course love Uncommon Nasa’s signature unorthodox production, and Pastense fits over it perfectly. A lot of the beats on this record have this kind of chaotic tension to them, which I feel like matches the primary theme and tone of the lyricism incredibly well. The opening couplet immediately made me imagine a father preparing his child to witness something ghastly.

Stand by me, we're gonna see a dead body
Gotta cross that bridge before the train comes

I was hooked. I am a huge fan of Pastense’s writing, even if I am not always sure how to interpret it. It always makes me think, and as someone who tends to come to rap music for lyricism first, I love how he never has any filler or purposeless lines. He’s not the type of rapper to just say shit to say it. There’s always intention behind his word choices and syntax.

Memories penned on feathers given back to the birds
So when the backdrop's the sunrise, they're the flyest rhymes in the world
Let the moon and the stars rejoice, here's an offering from Earth
The flowers plus the dirt, the roots cascade
Inert matter reassert, energy current dispersed
Megahertz essential, like Red Alert radio
I'm never lonely, but alone a lot; a suitable ratio
Flights of the angels sing thee to thy rest, Horatio

I feel like the lyricism just gets more and more interesting as the song progresses. I really loved these lines…

Does the dark hug the light or is the light invasive?
Doesn't matter when the shadow of the candle embrace both
That's that gray space reaching for the ceiling
Stops the dance when the breeze push the flame
I heard the leaves applause, the wind whistled back
The train passed by and reciprocated
I agreed and didn't give it a second thought
I was watching the cracks in the sidewalk

Just to be clear, I may be getting some of the lyrics slightly wrong throughout this review, but I believe most of them are accurate. Anyway, I don’t know what I love more between the rapping and the production. They go together like peanut butter and jelly with granola in the middle. The song’s dope as hell. It’s followed by another highlight entitled Quantum Whispers. This track probably has one of the most traditional-sounding instrumentals on the record. It’d be the most unconventional beat on most rappers’ albums, but here it feels relatively straightforward. Pastense fucking killed this shit. As always, I was hooked by everything he had to say. I feel like there was more of an emphasis on rhymes from a technical standpoint here than on the preceding track.

Wistfulness, quantum whispers, listful
Listening to the wind, blissful
Sinful hymns written for kinfolk whose wings broke
Twist oak, light green, thick smoke, is this all just a sick joke?
The peephole the size of a pinhole
Looked out, seen the people, back to my cave, I don't like evil
And never could behave like a sheep do
Don't mind the solitude, or if I seem null I'm regal
Today was better than yesterday, but still I'm fearful
Tomorrow could be wicked, it gets wicked quick
But it won't kill us
Survive rocky terrain like an African amaryllis

This song might have the best rapping on the whole project to be honest. The second verse is somehow even better than the first one to me. I feel like every single line is a quotable in this song.

The here and the ever after
"Fear," the title of the last chapter
Never more, so better make room for the laughter
Letter wars on brick, the boom bap rapture
The part where we break windows
I feel the bleeding hearts shaded by weeping willows
We sleep in limbo
Many rivers to cross, it could all be so simple
Dance like no one's looking
Write like no one will listen anyways
Blank stare, heavy glaze
Eyelid curtains, thinking, blank page

This is actually one of my favorite verses I’ve heard this year. He slaughtered this one. It’s absolutely relentless. I love it. The song’s dope as hell. Track 3 is The Ills, which I covered when it was released as a single.

Since I’ve already written about this track I’m not gonna say too much here, but it’s definitely one of my favorite songs of the year, and a major highlight on this album. This instrumental is absolutely nefarious. It sounds like black Air Force 1 activity in the form of music, and there’s not a single MC I’d rather have over it than Pastense.

The full moon reflects yesterday's sunrise
Sun doesn't set, it pulls tomorrow's tides
Lays waiting on the other side shining
Soul code, divine science, hindsight blind iris

The song’s incredible. Track 4 is called Broken Statues, and I wanna say it has the most “danceable” beat on the record, but that would be a misleading term to use. It does kinda sound like it borrows some flavor from 80s Pop music to me though. It’s mainly the synths that give me that feeling. Lyrically, this is another incredible performance from Pastense. I was mesmerized by the descriptions of pure anguish in the opening verse.

My river's the muddiest, the gulliest
The "nothing's funny"-est
Where is the love and the bliss?
All I see is ugliness
Cloudy, colorless, comfortless
Hung heads still waiting for the mothership
Another six pack, another trip
Muttering something, suffering in silence, subtle hints
Cut my wing while flying, all of a sudden a sudden dip
But what it was doesn't exist
A thought bubble with a grungy twist
It's all good, it's all love, I'm the sun in this
Shine bright, but just right here
A little bit of light lost in the abyss
Looking for diamonds to amplify the gift
Nasa, loop the thunder and sample seismic shifts

This song grew on me after multiple listens. I already loved it, but it became one of my favorites on the album after I really digested the lyricism. I love these lines in the second verse…

A moth attracted to the fire wouldn't know what to do with it once he caught the heat
I'll show you how to harness it if you lend me your wings
Time's blurred, infinite solitude, drifting, subdued by the city light's hue
Sitting on the steps with the right brew
No conversation, barely any eye contact
The fence is now high enough, only the birds talk back

Pastense killed it. I love this shit. The song’s dope as fuck. It’s followed by Beautiful, which I believe is my favorite track on the album. I really can’t imagine a more fitting title for this song. This shit is amazing. I was deeply moved by the opening words from Pastense here.

I think I'll stick around a while
It's beautiful

I recently discovered a YouTube channel called SECRET HOUSE AGAINST ALBUM REVIEWS, and they immediately became some of my favorite creators on the platform. I’m in a few Discord servers with one of the members, who goes by the name grand MEGA flowers. About a week ago he sent a message that really stuck with me. “I only love rap because words explode with meaning.” It’s such a simple statement that I’m sure plenty of people can relate to, but sometimes things that feel obvious need to be said out loud for them to really sink in. That’s at least the case for me. The lines I just quoted might not be particularly notable to a lot of listeners, but for me this was an example of a set of words that “explode with meaning.” I recently recovered from an intense depressive episode. Thankfully it never reached a point of suicidal ideation, and that’s something I haven’t suffered from in years, but it used to be constant for me. All throughout high school and up until maybe early 2021 I was unbearably depressed. I have a lot of experience with self harm, and I even attempted to take my own life in 2017, just a few months before my 19th birthday. I had a lot of ups and downs throughout that time period that shaped who I am today. I mention all this to say that deciding to survive and witness life’s beauty is a very powerful, liberating feeling, and those words from Pastense reinforce those emotions for me. It epitomizes acceptance, perseverance, growth, and recovery to me. It’s like storm clouds dispersing to reveal sunshine. The production from Nasa matches it perfectly too, especially the parts with those piano keys. When I first heard the song, I thought the opening lines of Pastense’s verse referenced a boy named Keaton Luster, who went viral for a video that shows him putting on glasses and seeing his mother clearly for the first time in his life. It’s actually a reference to an actor named Buster Keaton though. What’s funny is that no matter how you hear it, both interpretations make sense.

Hard luck, Buster Keaton
Bus fumes underneath wings
No leniency for the flight pattern
Clemency for what matters
Optics natural, sights actual, camera stills
Wistless mother, our brains fit in gray and black
Profound from negative exposure, dilapidated animal
I heard a whisper in a dream
I couldn't make out the voice, could've been the botanicals
Gardens like perpetual peace, understanding Eden
Figments of thoughts cadence puts in the air like water ripples
Pen and ink philosophies, never argue issues

I absolutely adore everything about this song. The second verse is performed by Guilty Simpson. I’ve never really been able to get into his music outside of that one Random Axe record, but I actually thought he sounded excellent here. I especially love the final quatrain of his verse…

Chip with a ring is fit for a king
Descriptive with schemes while I zip through extremes
My nightmares turn into a pen full of dreams
Made profit, as sinful as it seems

Honestly, the more I listen to his verse the more I love it. Unless I’m forgetting something, that’s likely the most I’ve ever enjoyed a performance from Guilty Simpson. He killed this shit. This might actually be my favorite song I’ve heard all year to be honest. Obviously meet the grahams had a very visceral emotional impact on me, but in kind of an ugly way. On the other hand, this song here is much more reassuring. I think it’s incredible. It’s gotta be my favorite song I’ve heard from Pastense. There’s also a remix of this song at the very end of the album produced by Samurai Banana, which is also phenomenal. It’s obviously got a different vibe than the original song, but it doesn’t sound out of place at all. I love it. Track 6 is called Save the Lanternflies, and it features Guillotine Crowns. This song has one of the darkest, hardest beats on the album. Lyrically, they seem to be describing the wickedness of mankind.

Corrupt the wiser with lies so that no one can trust their old minds
This heel is of a massive size, underfoot until it all divides
Evil on the rise like it's 1935
I'm screaming, "I'm alive," but I can't afford to die
My enemies won't outlive me, and I will not leave my city
To put it simply, if it's you or me, it's me with no pity
Ground Zero was the heart of terrorism tourists
A moment of silence before we hit the chorus

His verse grew on me a lot. Nasa has always been the type of MC who rewards multiple listens, and same goes for Short Fuze. I really think they make perfect sense as a duo. I really like the hook here as well.

You can't make me evil with diseases of war
We keep the good alive with the beers that we pour

I couldn’t tell if they were saying “diseases of war” or “diseases or war.” I think it was the former though. Anyway, the closing verse from Pastense is definitely my favorite part of this song, mostly because he has a much more accessible flow.

Stresses, senses, camera lenses, weird stills
You wouldn't wanna train your brainwaves to see the scenery I'm seeing
Though I'm feeling peaceful, couldn't let the tears spill
Is time relative or years killed? The fear's real
Beers tilt from here 'til
Plant the seed in the pod here in the sill
Watch it reach for sun, sheer will
Tearful epilogues, masterful earful

Overall, I really like this song, although I wouldn’t personally consider it a highlight. I do like the lyricism a lot, and I think it’s cool how the beat kind of evolves throughout the runtime of the track. It just doesn’t really stand out much sonically to me. I do think it’s dope though. It’s followed by Journey Back to Reality, which I kinda felt the same way about at first, at least sonically. The production is cool, although far from my favorite on this record. The main appeal of this track is definitely Pastense himself for me. Lyrically, this song heavily reminded me of the psychosis I suffered from in late 2017 and early 2018. Even the title alone kinda reminds me of what it was like trying to get a grasp on my own perception and wrestling with hallucinations and delusions.

I used to think it was unordinary
Or maybe one flew over
The nest I rest is colder
Maybe I'm just gettin' older
Or maybe it could be purgatory
The lines blurred, faded to edges, bent frame
Do not attempt to adjust the picture
Dissect the scripture
Not the one that man wrote, broken like what man built
The pendulum pitched at a ridiculous tilt
The pattern's imperfect, scraps to patchwork
The mind merchant, time's urgent
Clock's ticking

The lyrical content here really resonated with me because I know how it feels for nothing to be real. When the tangible fourth wall starts breaking, it’s a very distressing experience. I think I have a soft spot for art that depicts what I felt during that time in my life because I struggle to articulate it myself. This track really grew on me once I digested the lyricism. I think it’s dope as hell. It’s followed by Bees Pimp the Flowers. The main piano melody that serves as the primary loop in this track kinda makes me think of Charlie Brown for some reason. I really fuck with this beat. This is technically the shortest song on the album, but it doesn’t sound undercooked at all due to the robust song structure. There are two full verses and a pretty good hook. The second verse in particular is probably my favorite part of the song.

A poet talk with lingering ghosts
Seem to find the sinners and the hopeless
Captured in a notebook, hidden in catacombs
A bag of bones, live on time, emit no evil, a palindrome

I also really love the lyrics in the hook.

Stop and listen to the birds sing
We're all just hurting
We're all just earthlings
Fall, get up, and birth wings
Fly as can be
Treetop, high as the leaves
Let you reach
I still remember the bees
I still remember the breeze before the bombs
At least now it's calm
Infinite's here
So on and so on

Once again, the theme seems to be appreciating the blessings in life despite all the atrocities in the world, which is definitely something I can get behind. It’s not so much about being oblivious to all the wickedness, but more about coping. This isn’t really a highlight for me sonically, but I definitely like it a lot. I think it’s a dope track. It’s followed by Oil Paint. This song has one of the most eerie instrumentals on the record. The hook on this track doesn’t really stand out to me much, but I really love the verses. Once again, Pastense explores ideas of recovery and moving on.

The chaos, so sad it's beautiful, or is it so beautiful it's sad?
The color of water, a little voice calls me "Dad"
My mother's love loves regardless
Long quest, I'm lost, the scotch tastes like Scottish moss
The imperial nimbus, Bill Murray clock radio, rise and shine
Might complement the skyline, but there's rain in the clouds
Silver lining is that's good for the flowers
Mind collapses, I'm captive, time lapses, raptures the last chapter
Plants been uprooted tryna settle into soil, satisfactory
And watch familiar bees' wings flap, good days will bring back
Fractured, but the love is intact

This is another track that grew on me heavily after I took some time to digest the lyricism. The beat actually grew on me a lot too. I really love the heavy percussion. The song’s fantastic. It’s followed by Hell of An Atlas, which features junclassic. This was a really cool collaboration to see because both of these MCs have some of my favorite voices in rap. It probably has my least favorite beat on the record, but the production is still very solid. The rapping itself is what sold me on this track though. It might have my favorite opening lines on the whole album.

I spend most of the day tryna convince myself that I'm okay
The clouds look odd, the flowers bouquet
Arranged strangely, the people faceless, but still frowning
It's sometimes sunny, but it rained last night, so the flight's muddy
The wing's missing feathers, we fly gully
Cap wool, speak silky
Time lost, numbers scratched, too filthy
Chrome, civil war letters home
Dear love, it's cold here
Send prayers, a warm coat, and cold beer

I really love the lyrics in the hook too, which reinforce the theme of overcoming hardships.

A few moments that were treacherous shook me to my essence
Thorns, seeds sprout tender blessings
The reasons that we fear are disappearing

The second verse from junclassic is outstanding. That may be my favorite feature on the album. It’s definitely between him and Guilty Simpson. I just feel like junclassic really nailed the subject matter. He fits on this album perfectly.

I learned to walk behind backstabbers
The raw go to war 'cause they grind ass backwards
My only competition sittin' in the mirror
Got high in IMAX, saw the bigger picture
Too many dark clouds to find the silver lining
Human error got Mother Nature on different timing
Grindin' 9 to 5, from six to six flippin' scripts
25 years, same snares, different kicks

Again, this isn’t one of my favorite tracks sonically, but I still enjoy it quite a bit. It’s a dope song. The penultimate song is a highlight called Peaks & Valleys. I feel like this song encapsulates all of the album’s themes the best. As the title indicates, this track is all about the ups and downs of life. I really like the beat on this track. It’s not as chaotic and maximalist as a lot of the other instrumentals, but it still maintains that level of tension that permeates the record. I love this line in the hook…

The peaks, memories to hold me
The valleys fold me

Pastense’s flow is really great on this song too, especially right at the beginning of the first verse. As always, I was hooked by his lyricism as well.

Monk on a mountain, still considered a sinner
Nowhere like space, cold Winter
Silverback gorilla drinking from a poison fountain
Blink back the tears of a dying world that's been shouting
Lorax, a tree fell in the forest, word it beautiful, the birds heard it
No churches, but worshipping light, services and sermons
The birth of us is uncertain
But the death of us is concise

This track is just under three minutes long, and there’s only one verse, but it doesn’t feel undercooked at all. I think it’s really awesome. The closing song is one last major highlight entitled The Notion of Pushing Up Daises, and it has a feature from Uncommon Nasa. They really closed the album with a bang. This beat is crazy, and I love the opening verse from Pastense. This song just gets better and better as it progresses though. The second verse from Nasa is one of the best verses I’ve ever heard from him. He really stood out here.

You will pay, lay claim to the insane
History figuring mentally
Injuries entering separately
Stray lanes resulted in missed pain
The truth touches all, it's just like rain
The dirt washes off, but it clogs the drain

However, the best part of the song is the last minute and a half in which they go back and forth on the final verse. I feel like this is the most aggressive rapping I’ve ever heard from Uncommon Nasa. It’s like Pastense really fired him up. The way they were rhyming here was crazy. Their flows are excellent too. This is definitely another one of my favorite songs of the year. It’s wonderful.

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^{This album is amazing. I think these are the best beats I’ve ever heard across an entire project from Uncommon Nasa, and Pastense fits over them like a glove. I also really love the lyrical themes of this record. To me, this is an album about the vicissitudes of life. I love how Pastense is constantly juxtaposing the marvels of existence with the world’s ugliness. It’s an exploration of love and horror. The production, which I perceive as grotesque, yet beautiful at the same time, matches this content perfectly. There’s not a single track here that I don’t think is dope, and all the features came through with great performances, including artists who I don’t typically enjoy that much. I think everyone involved knocked this LP outta the park. I have no consistent gripes. This is easily one of the best releases of the year, and my favorite project from Uncommon Records. Do not miss out on this record. It’s dope as fuck.}

Favorite Song: Beautiful
Least Favorite Song: Save the Lanternflies

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