Sir Sly has been slowly building a following for the past couple of years, but it's only now that we're finally treated to a full-length album of theirs. They've already worked with some great names like Vic Mensa, RAC, and MS MR, but it's about time they get the spotlight all to themselves, because the LA-based three-piece is well on their way towards their own lasting status. To date, Sly's had their fair share of hits, and their music is relatively well-known, but the accession to stardom has been more akin to a slow-burn than an explosion. For Sir Sly, though, this will serve them well in the long run, because not only is the album good enough to catapult them onto a much bigger stage, but it's built off a foundation that the band has put together over an extended period of time. The album is comprised of twelve tracks, and while there is a good handful of songs that any Sir Sly fan will have already heard, there's plenty of new stuff to go around as well. The track list as a whole is very strong, and each and every effort within does a good job of reinforcing Sir Sly's signature dark-pop sound while still keeping the project from stagnating too much. Of course, any highlight reel would be incomplete without mentioning both "Gold" and "Ghost", and while we're pretty stoked about the newcomers, these two tracks were responsible for putting the band on the map (when you give them a listen, it's easy to understand why). With that being the case, it's advisable that you let them run all the way through, because even with fresh context from the new tracks, both "Gold" and "Ghost" still hold up nicely against the newer and more shiny offerings on the roster. From there, you should move on to "Inferno" and the album's title track, "You Haunt Me". "Inferno" features Lizzy Papinger of MS MR fame, and it's just an all-around winner if you're already a fan of Sir Sly's take on experimental indie-pop. The dark, brooding, textures are still present and accounted for, but there's an expansiveness to the song that lifts the mood ever so slightly, and by the time you've arrived at the meat of the track, you'll notice that Sir Sly is far from a one-trick pony when it comes to production work. "You Haunt Me" is also another winner, and it's well-deserving of its flagship status. Even though it's not the most well-known single on the album, it's probably one of the strongest, and it certainly does a good job rounding out the complete package. Sir Sly seems clearly to have more depth than most of their contemporaries, so we'd recommend that you get your hands on the entire tracklist if you can. If you were at all a fan of the band before, too, then take heed, because these guys aren't going anywhere if they keep this level of artistry up. You Haunt Me is available on iTunes now.
Sir Sly