In what was shaping up to be, in my opinion, an uneventful month for music, Slauson Malone quietly dropped his sophomore solo project. For those that are unaware of the Standing on the Corner member, Slauson Malone is an extremely talented producer and musician hailing from Los Angeles, California. He and his Standing on the Corner partners have been leading a quiet genre-bending revolution. In 2019, Slauson released his breakthrough album A Quiet Farwell, 2016-2018 which was personally one of my favorite albums of last year. It was glitchy, off-kilter, and wholly original. It meshed jazz, hip-hop, plunderphonics, and sound collage. When I saw that Slauson quietly released Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak), I was expecting an even more odd and bizarre journey. However, Slauson Malone dazzles again in 2020, not through wild experimentation but instead through heartfelt balladry.
Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak) is very much a musical companion album to A Quiet Farwell, 2016-2018. It revisits similar sound loops, chords, and melodic elements. Interestingly though, this project sounds almost entirely played by Slauson himself, as opposed to sampled loops. The weird sample splicing and glitch elements are still in full effect, but they take a significant backseat to real instrumentation. The somber piano that looms sadly across “I’m tired” sounds as if it was recorded live off a microphone in the room. Similarly, the acoustic guitar playing on “THE MESSAGE 3: Blood” is downright breathtaking. This album reminds you that behind Slasuson’s exceptional sampling is a genuinely talented musician.
On A Quiet Farwell, 2016-2018, Slauson rarely sang or rapped, and if he did it was buried under layers of production. Alternatively, Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak) shows Slauson’s captivating vocals and writing. Whether talking about being stuck in life, personal identity, issues with drugs, or his identity as an African-American man, Slauson’s abstract delivery is refreshing and poetic in a sense. On “Smile #6”, Slauson’s words bounce as he details himself as being “stuck in a joke” in reference to his position in life. His feelings of anxiety and concern are relatable to all people especially during times of crisis such as now. Slauson’s concluding statement on the project is “Darkness in my smile, shadows in my speech/Thunder in my tongue, lightning in my teeth” which is also perhaps a reference to the storm that brews inside his inner psyche. Although the main focus of Slauson’s music is the production, his poetic lyrics and delivery cannot be understated.The Verdict: For its genre-bending instrumentation and abstract lyrics, Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak) is September 2020’s Album of the Month.
Slauson Malone
Vergangenheitsbewältigung (Crater Speak)
8.6/10