Sub Pop Records just released the new Porter Ray EP, Eye of the Beholder, and it’s hypnotizing. I tried listening to it multiple different times while trying to do chores or work on other articles. But, every single time I found myself stopping what I was doing to listen closer.
This is the kind of album that completely absorbs you in. The kind of album that has me lying down on the floor in the middle of my room with my headphones on like — “Not sure, but I’m sleeping on my mama floor. Waking up sore, listening to the Commodores.”
New Porter Ray EP Eye of the Beholder
Pressing play feels like the atmospheric beats are gently picking you up as you float into a musical dream. Porter’s smooth whisper-like flow drifts through your ears, then your eyes begin to close and you start to envision his stories. Time slows down until the last song finishes and you snap out of this hypnotic-like state. It’s almost as if you never listened to it at all.
“My mind is the jewel
My body is the temple
The tongue is my tool
The pen is my pistol
Pointed at your heart
Spread love when it hits you”
Hook from “The Diamond That Cuts Thru Illusion”
You only know it was real later on when a hook comes knocking on the back of your head. The lyrics aren’t quite there, the beats are dim and vague in the distance. It’s not just one stand out track from the album that lingers. It’s the overall cohesive feeling that entices you back in.
The feeling of the first notes hitting your ears. The comfort of Porter’s effortless cadence swirling around the beat like blunt smoke. Like lullabies, the songs hypnotize you into a dream and it’s not until later you realize the impact that they had on you.
After running through the new Porter Ray EP, Eye of the Beholder, I compared it to his previous 2017 release, Watercolor. The development in his artistry is very apparent on this new EP. Porter Ray’s voice sounds more refined, smoother and more charismatic. He has burrowed deep into the pocket, setting up camp and fluidly moving with the beat.
Slap That Track!
“The Diamond That Cuts Thru Illusion”
“MultiColourSexLoveFrquency” Ft. Nate Jack
“Sapphire” [Gleam Eyes]
“Beyond the Mirror” Ft. JD & Bruce Leroy
