Bedroom pop meets trap remixes + ambientcore.
This album is a test. As Stickerbush’s 7th album, ‘Leaper’ is not looking to bring you in - you have to earn it.
‘yupper’, the opening track, acts as a red herring; predictability and safety are set up via falsetto, bedroom pop-esque vocals. The spacey chorus holds your hand into ‘care 2’, where the organs swell in importance, and ambient sounds can be found lurking on the edges of the sonic world. The safety begins to erode as n+huriya’s features vocals kick in; moans, breaths and spoken word poetry join water sounds, introducing the hidden strength of ‘Leaper’ - nothing here is predictable, figure it out or get off the ride.
From track 3, Stickerbush knows that we know what’s happening - the mask falls on ‘open’ as percussion medleys worthy of the free jazz world (including saxophone) meet lyrics worthy of a double take and a puzzled look. The energy is up here!
Stickbush doesn’t slow down; standout track ‘blunts and thrax’ is a must-listen. Sampling Sexyy Red’s ‘Sexyy Red for President’, a ganja-centric anthem is built bar by bar: Stickerbush introduces elements to the song as we go, and the ambient, Terraria soundtrack final form of the song shows the listener just how far this music experimentation can go. This isn’t the last time Sexyy Redd will be invoked on ‘Leaper’ either.
Samples run rife through the center of the work, at sometimes dizzying speeds: that same hand holding effect as we are dragged through a sometimes terrifying audio journey - ‘Naked’ is maybe the ultimate embodiment of this, and it keeps getting better on every listen. Stickerbush’s own vocals also create safe and familiar spaces throughout.
‘bing bong bam’ is the key to this album - for you who might have gotten off the ride, and skipped to the last track. An objectively beautiful, whimsical song of guitar and melodies. For the listener - like me - who was looking for a track on this project to confirm that all decisions were intentional, all discords and anti-listener choices were designed.
‘Leaper’s design is immensely rewarding to those that persist; by reframing what we are expecting of a project, we’re allowed to build a much more complex relationship with the work - Stickerbush will continue to create interesting, cool work, and pick people up along the way.
RIP ugh yoing
Words by Orion Wheatland