Somehow I lost track of Slap Serif after reviewing his debut, 2014s Hoods 1-4. But then I saw on Facebook that his newest effort, Voice Inside The Music, was being released as a very limited edition (of 100) CD and I knew I had to order a copy. And I’m glad I did, because this 15-song album simmers.

Samples and electronics combine to create a range of soundscapes, from the uptempo hip hop delivery of “Straight Shooter” to the more groove-oriented “Lovebird”. The common thread holding it all together is the dense layer of cool (both in terms of coolness and temperature), dreamy rhythms enveloping the listener in a cocoon of pulsing sound waves that seem to come from everywhere at once. For my money “Blue Train” is Voice Inside The Music‘s high point, a chill jam with understated male and female vocals with that quality of sounding modern but old-timey at the same time, the seeming dichotomy of eras disappearing right before your ears as you’re left with a piece that is more than simply the sum of its parts.

CD copies of Voice Inside The Music are available on Slap Serif’s Bandcamp page HERE, and you can also stream his songs both from there and on Spotify, so you have no excuse to not check him out.