When he isn’t playing guitar with Technicolor Lenses, Sam Eckstein puts his mind to his solo project, Esseks. Today he released his fifth solo album The Profound Whatever on the Smokers Cough label. The album is a nine track collection of songs allowing us our most complete body of work by the man from Brooklyn since Artifice was released last year. I first heard of Esseks on a collab he did with Space Jesus called “Mom’s Spaghetti”, a dubstep tune with a ridiculous Italian vocal sample and dynamic drop. From there I continued to dig into his music and he’s drawn me in with his futuristic hip-hop bass sound.
His latest endeavor, The Profound Whatever, continues the 24 year old’s solo musical journey. From Hair and Nails in 2012 to TPW he has continued to evolve his music. He has managed to maintain the elements and style while still innovating, no easy feat for an artist that has put out five albums in a little over two years. Where other genres in electronic music tend toward the generic, simple, and repetitive, Esseks produces the creative, original, and unique.
To expand on this point, the album artwork is a sort of tongue-in-cheek reference to the current state of the scene. The symbolism of plugging his ears shows that Esseks, in a clever way, is saying that he isn’t listening. Sam says, “It’s kind of poking fun at how seriously a lot of producers/djs take themselves and their image but the reality is, they’re just beats. There’s nothing meaningful about them besides the fact that they sound dope.”
On to the album, “Divided Plunder” is the first song featuring B Riddimz, the drummer for Technicolor Lenses. It sets the tone that this album is going to be a dark, weird journey through Esseks’ mind. “Schmesseks” ft. Brian Schmatz is one of my favorite songs off the album, with a groovy electronic guitar riff and lighter tones. It doesn’t make me feel like I just turned the lights off and now have to run up the stairs in the dark. He finishes off the album with “Wanderer” another sultry guitar based tune with just the right amount of underlying wobble. I picture him writing this song standing on top of a mountain in desert with one guitar and he’s just pouring his soul onto the strings. I also love that this song provides some closure to the album, a “final page turn” sort of groove that doesn’t leave me wanting more.
Check out the album below on SoundCloud and Bandcamp. Eckstein releases all his music for free, so if you enjoyed the album and want to support smaller artists feel free to donate to his Bandcamp so he can continue to supply us with dope beats. You can catch him, Space Jesus, and Technicolor Lenses this weekend at Farm Fest if you’re in the Tri-State Area. Tickets are still on sale here
Bandcamp:
Connect with Esseks:
Facebook | SoundCloud | Twitter
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