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Soon. Soon there will be a massive break out of avant folk/hip-hop. And the indie kids will once again be friends with the hip-hop heads. Aesop Rock and Kimya Dawson released their first album as The Uncluded entitled Hokey Fright last year, and now after an EP in Sisyphus is here with their new self titled full length debut album. Sisyphus, originally s/s/s/, is a trio of folk artist Stufan Stevens, alternative hip-hop emcee Serengeti, and producer, Son Lux. Despite Stufan being a folk artist, there is a complete lack of folk influences on this album, and according to him he is there for singing ballads and backing vocals, melody, and "chords".
The first song 'Calm it Down' is divide into two main parts, the first being a catchy drum driven hip-hop song. During the first half Serengeti raps with a flow slightly reminiscent of the ghost busters theme song. After the chorus we are reintroduced to the 8-bit world for a brief moment before goes back to anti-mainstream hip-hop ideals and tells us to calm down instead of jump up or throw your hands up in the air. Stufan takes over the second half accompanied with atmospheric beats with an array of synthesizers. The next track, 'Take Me' took one from 'Calm it Down' and, calmed it down. This is an electro ballad with drums that sound like they came from the Future Garage scene. Stufan Stevens takes the place of sole vocalist with doubled, reversed, and heavily reverb laced vocals. This track is definitely the highlight of the whole album.
Flying Ace is a song that's hard to pin down. It changes it's rhythm and time signature drastically within its 3 minute run time. It begin with a slow paced beginning discussing the tragic loss of a whole town's truffles, the bass comes in then the tempo picks up and changes again to a modern electronic influenced beat and then once more to a light string section which seems as if it would be found in a Lana Del Rey song if she were on uppers. With no chorus in the song it give the opportunity to have more varied production because it adheres to no specific song structure. 'I Won't be Afraid' is another slow song with only Stufan Stevens on vocals. The song is mainly driven by a somber synth with horns serving as backing vocals.
Although Sisyphus is making headway into a new region of hip-hop, unfortunately the one thing lacking is diversity. and the whole album seems to be divided going back and forth between Stufjan's electro ballads and Serengeti's abstract hip-hop. While Stufjan does contribute good backing vocals the songs are more split between the two vocalists such as in Dishes in the Sink where the song completely changes to fit each vocalist's abilities and style. It would be a better fit if Stufjan Stevens continued to work with Son Lux as a duo and vice versa. It almost seems like a split album than one artist.
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