Shlohmo’s patient shift from the earthy, weirdo hip-hop sonics of his sophomore masterwork, Bad Vibes, to the trap-indebted dystopian pop he’s currently producing has yielded mixed results. The Los Angeles producer’s current interests haven’t resulted in anything quite as interesting or unique as the sounds of his last LP, but with “Don’t Say No,” opening track from Shlohmo’s upcoming EP, Laid Out, the producer offers up perhaps his most promising work since 2011 with a little help from outsider R&B singer, Tom Krell aka How To Dress Well.
“Don’t Say No”‘s success lies in how both Krell and Shlohmo build the song from its skeletal beginnings to the mammoth, skyscraper peaks in its latter half. After a soggy, rainy-morning intro, Shlohmo kicks things into double-time and the whole track is slowly drenched with heaven-sized synth melodies, Krell going off on a wordless falsetto tear. And that’s just the first couple minutes. “Don’t Say No” sounds like something more befitting The Weeknd than How To Dress Well, but the track is still pure Shlohmo in its ability to deliver the biggest, world-sized emotions.
Laid Out will be released March 5th via Friends of Friends and Wedidit
