Blackbear's new album, The Afterglow, dropped yesterday, and it's already building up some major buzz despite its rather stealthy release. The continuous stream format is a little unorthodox, but the six-track play list is absolutely superb, and blackbear's particular style of effortless experimental R&B is out in full force on the release here. Each track melts perfectly into the next, and because of the subtlety in his sonic implementations, there's a strong sense of continuity to the project that works well with the uninterrupted listening format. In fact, after you've given it a once over, you'll realize that breaking it up into sections just wouldn't do justice to the story that blackbear has created. Like blackbear's previous singles and freshmen EP, this is some of the most finessed music out right now, and even though he incorporates a lot of popular pop and indie sounds, there's no question that he's using them in totally different ways on this project of his. The presented vocals are straightforward and honest, but there's nothing kitschy about the way he folds them into the musical backdrop. When you listen to the whole project from beginning to end, you'll realize that it's really more than just that: it's a narrative. So don't try to differentiate between one song's ending and another's starting up; just hit play and let the whole thing work its magic. You won't be disappointed.
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