Epik High is blessing us with a new album. Today, they released the first part of their two part album ‘Epik High Is Here‘, and as a fan I am delighted to hear new music from them.
Epik High is a group that creates music for the soul, this trio isn’t afraid to touch on sensitive subjects and resonate with listeners, we are always looking forward to the music of these legends. Let’s wait no more and listen to this release.
Epik High Is Here 上 (Part 1)
‘Lesson Zero‘ introduces listeners to this album with a stunning piano arrangement and a track that escalates gradually and becomes powerful in music and verses. With this intro song, listeners are absorbed and placed into a different reality were Epik High is narrating stories, and we are all just attentively listening.
Featuring CL and Zico, ‘Rosario‘ is next, the layering of this track mixes electronic beats, deep bass and Spanish guitar, definitely a very insteresting, unexpected but absolutely incredible mix. CL’s vocals for the pre-hook and chorus are killer, her voice is perfect for the tempo and style of this title track. Zico’s verses as expected were fantastic and so were Tablo’s and Mithra’s.
The music video for this song reminds me a lot of the filming style of their legendary song ‘Born Hater’, however, the color palette and sets are completely different. It felt like watching an old Spanish movie with a touch of modern art.
The second title track of this album, ‘Based On A True Storie‘ featuring Heize is next. The piano and violin instrumentation is breathtaking, and mixed with Heize’s vocals this tracks goes straight to the heart. The accordion acoustics included in the bridge were unexpected but incredible, and definitely a smooth addition for an emotional song.
‘Acceptance Speech‘ follows and starts off delivering killer verses by Mithra. This track kinda reminded me of Epik High’s early releases. B.I. is featured in this song and I am screaming, many were waiting for Hanbin’s comeback and I am glad we get to hear his vocals again in this masterpiece of a song.
R&B vibes take over in ‘Leica‘ featuring Kim Sawol, the mix of saxophone, piano and lo-fi beats is amazing and super rich, it makes this song one of a kind and Kim Sawol’s mellow vocals just makes it even better.
Featuring Woo, Nucksal, Changmo, and co-produced by Code Kunst ‘In Self-defence‘ is next. This song has all the qualities of a cypher with an insane track arrangement, the full vibe of the track was perfect for the features and for Epik High to go off with their rapping.
Miso is featured in the track ‘True Crime‘, this song has a house music vibe that I absolutely adore. It is new and super fresh, another track to over-state what we already know, Epik High can pull off anything and be incredible at it. Miso’s vocals that were included, gave this track a free-spirited and carefree feel, and it blended extremely well with the rapping and the full feel of this track.
‘Social Distance 16‘ plays next, and the only thing I can say is that this song is relatable, raw, honest and direct.
Guitar riffs introduce ‘End of The World‘ and blend flawlessly with beats co-created by the mastermind Dj Tukutz. This song features G.Soul (aka. Golden), and it flows flawlessly between his vocals and Epik High’s rapping.
The outro for this track was rather interesting, I expected the song to end with the same guitar riffs, but instead they added an accoustic piano solo layered with EDM. It’s a very interesting but stunning end to this track.
Closing this album, ‘Wish You Were‘ plays with an underground hip-hop like beat, and Tablo’s verses that as usual were raw, honest and deep.
Epik High once again did not dissapoint with this masterpiece, and we are looking forward to the second part of this ‘Epik High is Here’.
You can listen this album here.
