The Numb Project: Definition

Back in April, Portland-based producer, The Numb Project released Transmissions From a Troubled Radio, an 18-track album filled with study beats, lo-fi hip hop, and idm jams. Six months later, he just released Definition. At only 11 songs, it is a short album but no less dense and atmospheric.

It all starts with “New Direction.” The song begins with echoing bit-crushed synth before a slightly disjointed boom-bap beat is added. Later, ambient vocals pass in and out of the mix giving the track a haunting melody. “New Direction” works well as the album opener because it showcases techniques that The Numb Project returns to throughout the work.

Similar bit-crushing effects are used on the album’s final track “Lasso” while you hear melodic ambient vocals again on “Piper.” The disjointed boom-bap beat is something that is present on almost every track. On “Morning Kidz,” the beat backs lush synth pads and dissonant bells that recalls 80s David Bowie. On “Broken Time,” there are more ambient vocals but this time of the hip hop variety which are accompanied by jazzy trumpet. The trumpet also makes an appearance on the following track, “Marty and the Penguin.”

There are some tracks on Definition that feel more like beats awaiting a rapper to lay down verse but when The Numb Project has trumpet and ambient vocals working, it creates a full and interesting sound. For the most part, Definition is an album to put on and chill to but it is layered and complex enough that close listening can be fulfilling.

Rating: 7.0/10

Listen on Apple Music

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