Earl Sweatshirt - Solace (2015)
Normally I don't review singles, because they'll just end up on an album, but this is looking like it won't appear on a future Earl project, so whackity schmackity doo, y'know? Or actually, NOT "whackity schmackity doo" because that phrase takes me back to 2010 and puts me in my feelings, but HEY! Earl sounds like he's pretty in his feelings during this ten minute song, almost like he's at the end of his rope. I can honestly say I've related a lot to nearly everything this song says to the point where it hits -too- close to home, and it fuckin' SUCKS! The song is a great look into a depressed mind, with lyrics delivered so fucking weakly (in a good way, believe it or not) that it genuinely sounds like Earl's about to do some horrible shit to himself. The song goes through numerous beat changes, and it seems like the lyrics only get more and more depressing each time. Fuck. Do you know how relatable the lyrics "I hope it's a monsoon, my face in the sink. I'm seeing my mom soon, I'm faded, I stink. Stay in it.." are?! Good God almighty that hits so close to home it might as well be a nuclear bomb dropped in my fucking backyard.
This definitely ain't something to listen to on a sunny day (unless you've locked yourself in your house and are peering out through the blinds) or with friends, or hell, even for a good portion of Earl's fans, but this is just.. Crazy. As much as I love "Wool (feat. Vince Staples)", I really wish this could've been the last track on "I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside" to really end everything on a depressing as fuck note as opposed to the unexpected gangsta note that it DID end on. This, by all means, isn't some legendary track (to me, of course) but damn, it really has its time and place, and when it's perfectly aligned with your moments of sadness, it hits like a knife going directly through your chest to your broken heart. Feel free to steal that sentence for your metalcore band, but I'll also feel free to somehow sue the living fuck out of you for it.
"To tell the truth, I'm at a loss of friends
Well time waits for no man and death waits with cold hands
I'm the youngest old man that you know
If ya soul intact, let me know"
7/10
