Spirit World Field Guide: Review

Aesop Rock will blow your mind. It is known. Whether it’s the fast pace flows teamed with rhyme schemes so intricate it would make Eminem blush, or the most wild stories that sound like they’re being recalled from memory but absolutely cannot be true. The last major solo release we had from Aesop Rock came in the form of 2016’s The Impossible Kid. That album was a strong contender for hip-hop album of the year. Every single song on that album was a highlight. We have had four years without an Aesop Rock album, so what was he up to in that time? If this album is any indication, all of the psychedelics; and in my opinion, he should keep it up. Spirit World Field Guide is both exactly what it sounds like, and a completely new and unique hip-hop listening experience. 

Spirit World Field Guide is produced almost entirely by Aesop himself. There are no features on this album. The album’s production is incredible. This is Aesop’s second solo album he has been the primary force behind, on top of the album he produced for Felt. On The Impossible Kid, Aesop’s beats were crisp, a little wacky, and defined by the heavy use of synths, electric guitar, and some of the most fantastic drum sounds and patterns of the decade. All of those components return on this new project, the base lines are better, and Aesop was not at all afraid to get absolutely wild on this. Every track is unique and yet flows into each other so seamlessly, sometimes to the album’s detriment. 

The album begins with an intro track that is just Aesop speaking, letting you know exactly what you are in for. That is quickly followed by “The Gates.” The flows on this track are some of the most buttery smooth I have ever heard. It also seems like Aesop’s take on a slightly more mainstream flow; something we have heard from rappers like J. Cole and Drake. Aesop makes it his own by tying in lines like “A little flea and tick, a little fever dream. A little plead the fifth. Roadkill, I’m off the leash.” This album really does feel like a fever dream. The simple fifteen note, synth intro to this track lulls you into the briefest sense of security before the assault on your every sense begins. 

“Button Masher” follows and Aesop does his best to make you truly feel like you are going through your first trip. The guitars throughout this song are impeccable as the rif that plays throughout the hook ingrains itself in your mind. The trip escalates as we see ourselves going to space, “seeing all sorts of new colors”, and finally finding oneself despite what others may think. 

Aesop’s fascination with animals in his rhymes will be a common thread through the next couple of cuts on the album. “Dog At The Door,” and “Gauze” will continue to escalate both this theme and the feeling of a trip. The former is a short little track about the paranoia you get when your dog is barking at what appears to be nothing. During a trip there may be nothing more unsettling. The beat mirrors this as the synths and deliberate drum patterns clone this feeling perfectly. “Gauze” becomes a warning of all the themes we’ve begun to explore but have yet to fully dive into. The spirit world that Aesop wishes to guide us through is not for the faint of heart. The beat here is as dire as the message Aesop wishes to convey. 

“Pizza Alley” is one of the most personal songs on the album, as Aesop talks about depression and needing to get away from everything by going to Lima, Peru. There is something that can be so therapeutic about just abandoning life as you know it, even for a brief period of time and this is Aesop’s next piece of advice. Personally this is one of my least favorite beats as it makes me feel on edge but not in a good way. It would not surprise me if this was the intent but I can’t comment on that with any certainty. Luckily the beat changes about halfway through to something I can only describe as questioning, or maybe even a bit noir. 

We get a run of three songs next on the album that mark a bit of a turn. These bunch of tracks fully embrace the whole idea of the advice idea of this album. The three tracks, “Crystal Sword,” “Boot Soup” and “Coveralls” discuss the ideas of a physical journal that actually has all of these keys and bits of advice in it, other people affecting the journey, and the fact that sometimes it’s okay to blend in with the scenery, particularly if you are travelling through this new world. 

Then comes the bump in the road. For me the next few tracks seem to just run together. “Holy Waterfall” is a fine track overall, “Salt” is so spacey it belongs on the next Space-X mission to orbit, but beyond that I don’t feel fully engrossed in what I am listening to until we hit the track “1 to 10.” Prior to that we have four immaculately produced tracks that are well written, but the themes don’t connect with me as strongly as on previous tracks. They are good songs. I just can’t say anything particularly unique about them. 

Then we get the vintage, piano driven “1 to 10.” It is not a song. It is basically an interlude and it is impossible to describe without writing more than is actually present in said song. It is 53 seconds long and well worth more than a couple listens. 

“Kodokushi” picks things back up. The production on this is right back to being the brilliantly unique, mood defining stuff we heard on the first third of this album. The song is about being lonely. It is about being in the spirit world and no longer having anyone or anything with you and surviving in that state, and maybe even being the place to create something. The beat is full of these glitchy synths and distinct riffs that trade bars almost as if they are competing for which one will get the most time on this song. The base hits hard, and the main melody has this sense of loneliness in it necessary to make a track like this work. The execution is flawless. 

The next two tracks feel like a come down. They are a little more calm, the second of the next two, “Side Quest,” is a mere one minute-twenty seconds long. Then you get hit one last time with the fast paced “Marble Cake.” We are coming to the end of our journey and, though you may be looking for the big prize at the end of the yellow brick road, you have to understand that the journey you just went on is the thing you need to cherish. This is the realization. We are not here to get some sort of reward. The spirit world is not going to hand an epiphany to you on a silver platter. You went on a journey, what you saw and discovered during, is your epiphany. 

We close out on “The Four Winds.” With that it is time to move on with our lives. You cannot live in the spirit world forever. You have to keep moving forward with life. If “Marble Cake” is the final lesson, then this is the album checking back with you after the journey has been concluded. Just like every song on this album, the beat here matches this tone perfectly. We have an acoustic guitar leading the way, and a simple classic sounding drum kit that reminds us we are indeed listening to music on the planet earth. The hook repeats the line “Okay losing a shoe in the mud,” and finishes later with “Home by twelve o’clock with two shoes.” Sometimes life throws some unexpected things your way. The best way to deal with them is to grab your muddy shoe, wipe it off in some nearby grass, and just get home. Tomorrow provides a whole new world of surprises and challenges, and you have to decide to keep marching through them.

This album is a bit all over the place in the best way possible. Anyone who listened to The Impossible Kid knew this album would be rife with animal imagery, brilliant production, rhyme patterns that are impossible to catch all of without Genius open, and flows that feel so natural they must have been created by mother nature herself. This album is not as good as The Impossible Kid. For starters this album is too long. Twenty-one tracks was, is, and probably always will be too long. Certain songs do act as interludes and the run time is only just over the one hour mark by a couple minutes, but the biggest issue with this album is a few songs getting lost in the shuffle; and maybe that’s okay. Different people will gravitate towards different songs based on what most applies to their lives, current experiences, and their status in journeying through their version of the spirit world. Aesop says so on the opening track. He states, “Users should skip to whatever section most directly applies to their impending scenario.” I did not personally skip any tracks on my listens for this review, but in the future I absolutely will based on my current standing in life.

This album might not be quite as profound as I make it seem or especially as it attempts to be, but everyone who enjoys hip-hop and Aesop Rock will be able to find something they love and can take home with them. 

The Grade: B+