Arriving swiftly off the back of a remarkable Chromakopia, Tyler suddenly drops this fun fast and loose record. A surprise release, Don't Tap The Glass clocks in as one of his shortest albums under the thirty minute mark. Consequently, this pays without a dull moment, perfect for its restless energy, expressed through quirky tone and playful mood, something familiar of Tyler yet spun again, lively, renewed and fresh.
Working
with layers of punchy instrumentation, rhythms and melodies overlap in a
subtly dizzying frenzy of crunchy sounds, orchestrated with a stroke of
class. Jolting grooves rumble with snappy and sporadically off kilter
percussion. Plenty of instruments jive in with stabs, strikes and
momentary contributions that stack up. It can be quite fun to pay
attention and see how many sounds you can single out.
Too
my ears, the big influences at play are 80s Hip Hop drum machines and
90s Southern Hip Hop melodies, often piano led. Not exclusive, but
struck me as part of the approach to many of these tracks, the last
three taking on Soul and R&B colors in its temperament. Of course
its no surprise, central to it all, written in his name, a ceaseless
thirst of creativity flows again. Fresh off a deep, introspective
record, Tyler marvelously pivots into a playful avenue with this lively
record I'll be enjoying for weeks to come.
Rating: 7/10