soil is a crucial psalm; crucial for its queerness, crucial for its catholicism, its pagan roots protruding into sidewalks, crucial for its purity of heart, crucial for how it avoids imperative.
There is a case to be made for soil, the debut album by serpentwithfeet, to be sensibly understood as seminal before even being granted the benefit of hindsight. It’s incredibly rare that a creative talent of this magnitude arrives at all. It‘s astounding that they would also succeed in presenting a vision of such striking lucidity across their first major work.
It’s destructive in how personal it is.
Sharing his wisdom, serpentwithfeet teaches us to be ourselves, to endure and be happy and love each other, and it’s rare to hear these simple, well-known things being delivered with a power and strength that can transcend the medium of music itself, turning it into a pure magic.
With soil, serpentwithfeet deeply engages with the complex membranes between the self and a loved one, the self and the world. Few albums attempt this much nuance in articulating love; Wise’s success in his ambitions feels like a gift.
It's this need to share so much of himself -- with his listeners as well as the ones he loves -- that makes Serpentwithfeet's music so compelling, and Soil captures a passionate, complex artist coming into his own.
soil is an album that delves into the dirt of passion, be that artistic, romantic or religious. For every moment of ecstatic energy there’s another equal moment of debilitating disappointment, for every igniting of love, there’s wilting relationships. It’s a deeply personal album, but one that is often relatable.
Since his 2016 EP, blisters, Wise has evolved from histrionic oversharer to keen songwriter with a sharp wit. On his debut album, soil, those qualities bloom on tightly written pop songs that probe his innermost fears, neuroses, queer insecurities and desires.
For soil, serpentwithfeet creates a baroque sound palette to match his intricate tales of love and loss.
soil is the gospel/R&B blend with enough space-age imagery and hallucinatory asides that both Young Fathers and TV on the Radio would dance in approval.
serpentwithfeet's debut album adeptly presents love in a simultaneously sweet and unsettling light, only occasionally being held back by some uneventful instrumentals.
Overall, soil is a courageous effort where serpentwithfeet's bravery pays off.
To describe this album in one word: annoying. I can't stop coming back to it and I'm constantly humming the choruses. It's a stupid earworm of an album but I just can't help but love it. Don't check this out if you're in the slightest irritated mood.
beautifully expressive experimental r&b that leave a lasting impact long after its first listen
Now I love this record. I listened to it all the time when it came out and kind of fell off of it for a while, but every time I revisit, I'm thoroughly impressed by the song concepts and excellent vocal control.
1 | whisper 4:21 | 86 |
2 | messy 3:31 | 91 |
3 | wrong tree 3:43 | 76 |
4 | fragrant 3:14 | 81 |
5 | mourning song 3:19 | 84 |
6 | cherubim 3:38 | 88 |
7 | seedless 3:29 | 77 |
8 | invoice 4:01 | 81 |
9 | waft 2:48 | 73 |
10 | slow syrup 3:20 | 74 |
11 | bless ur heart 4:23 | 86 |
#2 | / | Vinyl Me, Please |
#3 | / | The New York Times: Jon Pareles |
#5 | / | Bandcamp Daily |
#5 | / | PopMatters |
#6 | / | Norman Records |
#12 | / | Dummy |
#12 | / | FACT |
#19 | / | Dazed |
#20 | / | Tiny Mix Tapes |
#24 | / | NPR Music |