- "eight mnths later, I'm wlkn again," Veronica Lauren tweeted in June. The Harlem resident had been stuck in the hospital after complications from a debilitating spine issue left her bedridden and barely functioning. "My spine is partially separated," she told Paper. "My pituitary gland is fucked." During her long and painful ordeal, Lauren, a classically trained pianist and budding producer, feared the worst but planned for the best, and evn is a result of that planning. This collection of delicate beat work and rich, foggy ambience was created during periods of recovery, but you don't need to know the music's backstory to enjoy its simple and striking pleasures.
After vhvl's self-released 2013 album, this second solo outing finds Lauren refining her palette of basic digital synth tones and punchy hip-hop beats. But even with the added finesse, each arrangement is draped in a thin veil of prickly distortion. Tracks like the sing-songy "0006" and the stuttering "0008" recall Shlohmo's early standouts, albeit with a more pronounced sense of melody. Bookending the EP, "0000" and "0010" are symphonic and largely beatless, their light, fluttering harmonies like transposed phrases from Richard D. James Album or the tender side of With Love. It's actually surprising just how many ideas are crammed into these tracks—the hallmarks of everything from modern classical and drone to grime and R&B—given how pared down they are. With time back on her side and a companion EP on the way, Lauren seems to have only started exploring her potential.
Tracklist01. 0000
02. 0002
03. 0004
04. 0006
05. 0008
06. 0010