Another year, another incredible Ivan Ave project. The Norwegian rapper comes through with a new album titled Every Eye on Jakarta Records (a big shoutout to Mutual Intentions, the Oslo-based label who helped discover and support Ivan since day one).
With production from the likes of Kaytranada & Dâm- Funk on one of the lead singles ‘Singles,’ Kiefer & Like on ‘Running Shoes,’ Mndsgn, Fredfades and DJ Harrison, the sound on this album is so pure with rhodes keys, groovy basslines and bouncy drums. A lot of excellent soulful hip-hop albums have come out this year, but none have a production quality like this one. If this was released as an instrumental project, I would think it came out in 1975. But Ivan Ave is still centre-stage on Every Eye as usual. He uses his smooth voice to sing from the heart and spit some introspective lyrics about self-consciousness, love, experiences that have shaped who he is today, and thoughts about his future self.
Every Eye is a sublime body of work with layers upon layers of funk, soul and introspection. It has exceeded all expectations, because there has been so much growth with Ivan Ave the last couple of years. I recommend you guys check out his collaborative album with Mndsgn called Holding Hands, as well as his project with Fredfades titled Fruitful. They are both excellent projects, but this new one right here just raised the bar.
Listen to Every Eye below via Bandcamp. Released on Jakarta Records.
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