Bleep

Badbadnotgood’s fourth solo album is their most collaborative release to date. IV follows 2015’s team effort with Ghostface Killah and as 2014’s III arrives via LA label Innovative Leisure. Not only did the jazz group from Toronto enlist saxophone virtuoso Colin Stetson and XL beat producer / previous collaborator Kaytranada – the album also includes a number of guest vocalists such as Charlotte Day Wilson, rapper Mick Jenkins and Future Islands' Samuel T. Herring. The latter stars on the blissful single ‘Time Moves Slow’, with the group’s spacious arrangement of guitar chords, bass line and subtle drums leaving enough room for Herring’s husky voice to take centre stage.

The dreamy ‘In Your Eyes’ featuring Toronto singer Wilson has a similar effect: feathery strings by new group member Leland Whitty complete the mood, while on other songs, it’s Whitty’s saxophone melodies that tell their narratives, from the faster-paced title track to the wonky ‘Chompy’s Paradise’. This is Badbadnotgood’s great achievement on IV: each song retains its own identity, making this their most diverse album, while still developing their BBNG sound that perfectly blends together jazz traditions and contemporary hip hop, making their music so fresh and so clean.