Yung Lean - Starz (Review)
Yung Lean provides his most consistent and personal album to date, and potentially a gamechanger for the subgenre...
15th March 2020
YEAR0001
My Rating:
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9.3
/10
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REVIEW
Yung Lean returns for his fourth studio album, proving once again he's a force to be reckoned with in the hip hop landscape, and one who seems to be continually ahead of the curve. Here on Starz, not only does he prove that he can excel when it comes to introspection and writing emotionally jarring tracks, but that he can do all of that whilst retaining his signature experimental, atmospheric beats and high production standards.
From the suspenseful opening on "My Agenda", we're introduced to the album's most hostile and aggressive track, the harsh synths, juxtaposed dynamics and Lean's growling flows providing an invigorating experience that is perhaps a perplexing choice of song to open things given how different the rest of the album is. To me, this choice is perfect, offsetting the more accessible atmosphere of the rest of the album with something more abrasive in order to show the honesty and openness of the bulk of the project.
In fact, this is an album often characterised by its contrasts, particularly between its atmosphere and experimentation, both of which are at their most clear on album centrepiece and titular track, "Starz", this track featuring psychedelic pop artist Ariel Pink. The first minute of this song is spacious, swirling dream pop, that is until the beat comes in and the instrumental begins to build. Now, whilst Ariel Pink might not bring his usual psychedelics, he certainly brings his knack for peculiar textures and layering, even coming through with something of a jangly, tropical beat that works alongside piercing synths and a mournful melody to elevate this into perhaps the most structurally interesting song in Lean's career.
With many more standout moments across this tracklist and a consistency I don't think any of his previous projects share, this is easily my favourite of Yung Lean's albums and mixtapes and a definite highlight of the year, a show of what made Yung Lean's best work great and a huge improvement in the writing and delivery from what came before, even showing off some of his best sung vocals too. If you're into it, you've probably already heard it. If not, you're probably Pitchfork.
TRACK RATINGS (/10)
1. My Agenda - 9
2. Yayo - 8
3. Boylife In EU - 10
4. Violence - 9
5. Outta My Head - 8
6. Dance In The Dark - 9
7. Acid at 7/11 - 8
8. Starz - 10
9. Hellraiser - 8
10. Butterfly Paralyzed - 8
11. Dogboy - 8
12. Iceheart - 9
13. Pikachu - 7
14. Low - 8
15. Sunset Sunrise - 8
16. Put Me in a Spell - 8
BREAKDOWN
Ambition: 8
Atmosphere: 10
Catchiness/Enjoyability: 10
Content/Ideas: 10
Emotion/Engaging: 9
Execution: 10
Production: 10
Structure: 9
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Lyrics: 9
Vocals/Flows: 8
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Total: 93
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