Browse some of the current profiles of 21-year-old singer-songwriter Ekkstacy, and two particulars seem again and again: First, his greatest track, the ethereal “i stroll this earth all on my own,” has a lot of streams. Second, though he started his profession in highschool making SoundCloud emo rap, he’s now proudly an indie rocker. Neither style interprets nicely on his new self-titled album, one of the assertively generic releases in current reminiscence. These thickly shellacked songs lack the disaffected-but-exciting undercurrent that Ekkstacy’s influences share; additionally they ignore the magnificence of his increased vocal register, which resonated on his early self-releases. The result’s a clinically impersonal report that reveals practically nothing in regards to the artist for which it’s named.
Initially, Ekkstacy modeled his sound after the misty, arpeggiated ennui of late-2010s grunge rappers like XXXTentacion. His early releases—“the unhappiness in my smile” and “uncomparable”—obtain a tidy, if by-product, model harking back to the late Florida rapper’s 2017 album 17, whereas “damaged/emotions 2” performed with the drawn-out syllables and massive hooks of predecessors like Juice WRLD and Chief Keef. A remark on one in every of Ekkstacy’s first SoundCloud tracks sums up the lovelorn resentment of that period of his sound: “confirmed him this now he play it for different bitches.”
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When Ekkstacy took a acquainted flip from emo rap in direction of rock, he did some homework, dutifully embracing a Misfits-lite sound and naming a vibrant, uncharacteristically energetic monitor on his 2022 album distress after ’80s goth rock pioneers Christian Demise. His newest album is a set of underpowered, faintly grungy power-pop that washes up alongside mid-aughties seashore bands like Wavves or Seaside Fossils. These tentpole inspirations stand on both aspect of a challenge that appears to exist on the expense of Ekkstacy himself, a younger musician whose pursuits have been chemically weather-treated for business success.
At barely over half-hour lengthy, EKKSTACY looks like a slog. The temper is one in every of obscure unhappiness that drowns out his delicate voice each actually and figuratively. Cliché lyrics (“I don’t wanna smile/I simply need to cry”) run collectively unconvincingly over foamy manufacturing from Deb By no means collaborator Apob and the Contra Gang producer Manget$u. Their easy touches solely soften an setting that’s already determined for some thrown elbows, out-of-nowhere synth breaks, or full-throated guitar solos.
As a substitute, each riff is dulled down till the small print bleed collectively like a blurred Zoom assembly background. A Trippie Redd characteristic on the beautiful earworm “issues” barely registers. The Child Laroi, whose polished vocals present a minor jolt to the in any other case forgettable “alright,” fares higher. However it’s practically not possible to pinpoint particular moments of curiosity earlier than they’re quelled by the nameless room tone of the album. A track a couple of nondescript however stunning woman titled “bella” will not be the antidote.
Ekkstacy does eke out some respiration room amid the suffocating same-old. The crashing two-part climax on “the headless horseman misplaced his manner” achieves some gratifying catharsis on both aspect of its muted, bedroom-pop vocal loop. “fuck” is enjoyable in a dopey manner, most likely as a result of it entails quite a lot of yelling “fuck” with the occasional “yeah!” However these flashes of uncooked vitality are swallowed by the encompassing chaff, and a jerky riff that thrilled for 20 seconds on TikTok fades into tedious wallpaper punk. EKKSTACY winds up feeling as diaristic as a cue card.