With a tinge of the blues and a solid base of instrumental abstractness, the four-track EP This Thing of Ours, released by The Alchemist, is a gateway to a colorful and anomalous musical enterprise.

Included in this EP, the artists Earl Sweatshirt, Navy Blue, Boldy James, and a couple of others showcase their contributions through individual songs. Although there are only four tracks—which is slightly too short for my liking—each artists’ unique and individual vocals are showcased to a pinnacle of transcendence.

In regards to Earl Sweatshirt specifically, both of the songs he appears in happen to be my front-runners of the EP. “Nobles”—being the opener of the album—packs quite an upbeat and innovative punch. The first beats introducing the song immediately equip catchy textures and tones which then are followed by the sound of a seemingly childlike articulation; they go on to express, “Everyone knew that whoever let the sadness overtake him would sink into the swamp…and the same time, elsewhere in fantasia, a creature of darkness also began his quest.” 

My possible yet somewhat inexplicable interpretation of this quote is that when an individual lets poignancy override them, a new characterization of this pain converges into another timeline, therefore creating a new cycle of ache within the world. Moreover, the subsequent bars rapped by Earl and Navy Blue convey a similar message by construing the mundane tasks and roadblocks of worldly life. And, once again, the child’s voice enters back in a seamless manner and mends together the beginning phrase to a similar final phrase to conclude the song. Altogether, it is a culmination of musical ecstasy that feeds my taste with flavors of thoughtful placements of detail and existentialism.

As the EP trickles down further, it lands upon the two median songs “TV Dinners” and “Holy Hell.” The combination of the laid-back verses and mellow melodies of this pair of tracks adds a necessary yet nice length to the entirety of the EP. Within the nature of both of these songs, it is fair to say that they chose to rely upon a more smooth and soothing approach. I noticed that these songs in specific seem to have less flowery and more fateful undertones, but I definitely appreciated their addition to This Thing of Ours’s ambiance in general—plus, their soft style only makes the other two songs more sunlit and profound.

The final track titled “Loose Change” is without question, my top pick of the EP. With robust trumpets and the juxtaposition of rolling and rapped vocals—by Mr. Earl Sweatshirt as I mentioned beforehand—is a conglomerate of all the abstract intentions planted throughout the lyrics of the album. This song bleeds power and versatility and is easily suitable for a potential soundtrack for a range of movies—at least I personally think it has the capacity to do so. Its instrumentals and vocals cultivate the EP and display its vibrancy in all senses.

Not to mention—despite the four short tracks that compose This Thing of Ours—there are an additional four purely instrumental versions of the original songs mirrored in the back half of the EP. While it does not naturally add to the diversity of the EP, these additions do provide extra length making the overall listening experience marginally more complex, which is something that I can see to be a helpful thing for some.

Although This Thing of Ours is a shallow exhale of an EP, I relished its contemporary and vivid complexity. The twists and turns throughout the instruments contrasting the vocals is a remark of ingeniousness that I highly acknowledge in music. It glistens in gaudy beats and verses and serves as a cosmic companion to abstract hip-hop.