Released: October 6, 2023

Genre: Electronic / Experimental

From: US

Label: Warp Records

Why you should listen: Jasper Marsalis aka Slauson Malone has always been one to experiment with guitar-driven atmospheric soundscapes, while being also experimental with his beatmaking. He’s been one of my favourite artists from the underground hip-hop and experimental scenes that have emerged since 2015 or so. EXCELSIOR is his first release as Slauson Malone 1, putting emphasis on the one, though do go back and explore his other albums such as A Quiet Farwell, 2016​–​2018 (Crater Speak) and Vergangenheitsbew​ä​ltigung (Crater Speak). On it, Slauson Malone 1 navigates through vast soundscapes of electronic synths, drums, disorienting melodies and adventurous compositions. His ability to create and evoke such emotion throughout his music is inspiring and unique. “The Weather” opens the album up with a stunning distorted synth lead that jitters and breaks into these beats, with Jasper’s voice evoking passion and emotion that is also so prevalent throughout the album. The sequencing on this album is phenomenal, because I didn’t even notice the change between the opener and the groovier, more drum-oriented “House Music”. The piano-led ambiance of “Undercommons” leads the album to brief softer direction, but picks up with the playful, adventurous and fantasy-like “Olde Joy”. As the acoustic guitar leads come in, the track grows and grows in emotion, with his vocals pitched down, feeling immersive. This leads to the catchy synth-pop vibe of “New Joy”, with more emphatic guitar leads, atmospheric synths, and fast-paced dance music, just enough to get you to want to groove. With ambient and abrasive interludes “Arms, Armor” and “Fission for Drums, Piano and Voice” pushing the album in continuously disorienting territory, he whispers to you for 2 minutes on “Love Letter Zzz” over a haunting, cello-sounding bass-heavy electronic instrumental. “Half-Love” is the longest track on the album, and one of the defining ones. Playing between indie rock, psych and folk music, he’s able to create this immersive soundscape, with his various voices being the pulse of it all. After the intense drum-heavy interlude “The Great Wedge”, comes the trippy, “I Hear A New World”, with it’s children’s song-type melody. It’s a weird, disorienting track, but perfectly leads the way for the “No! (Geiger Dub)”, a funky, dub track with an incredible vocal delivery. The piano piece of “Destroyer X” is stunning, and one of the more emotive and passionate pieces on the album. “Voyager” is another standout, with atmospheric synths and guitar leads that, with Jasper’s vocal range creating and an entrancing melody, while the sample and synth-heavy, unpredictable and disorienting “Divider” is incredible. The moody and melodic “Challenger” is a lovely moment on the album, while the acoustic and quiet “Decades, Castle Romero” is a stunner, with strings that come in, providing an incredibly powerful moment on the album, while “Us (Tower of Love)” is a beautiful way to close out the album, with a cacophony of string and guitar leads that conjoin and create an intense and powerful closer.

Slauson Malone 1 has created a vast, magical and disorienting musical experience with EXCELSIOR. Throughout the album he tackles issues of self-confidence, learning about and confronting his own masculinity, sharing his vulnerabilities over a stunningly layered and textured production. The way he experiments with both his own voice and creates such an incredibly immersive and transcendent listening experience. I can’t recommend this album enough.

The album: