A.M. Breakups is a producer formerly based in Brooklyn, now in New Orleans, who has worked in groups like Cult Favorite and We Are Not For Them, as well as a solo artist. Last year, he released an instrumental album by the name of Out of Four Came Many Soldiers. As it turns out, while he was working on the album, he was also meeting a lot of new collaborators, and some of them started to write and record with A.M. Breakups to the material on the album, never intending any of it to see the light of day. What initially felt like a few throw-away recordings led to a full-length reinterpretation of the album with guest vocals, now simply titled Soldier.

Over the course of the album, we get guest spots from SKETCH185, Vordul Mega, billy woods, MC Eleven, Shortrock, K-the-!???, Junclassic, DJ Zesto!, LoDeck, ELUCID, TMFSE, Teddy Faley, Buddy Leezle, DistantStar, and MC K-Swift. That’s a lot of talent, and it’s a lot of aggressive and deliberate deliveries on the mic as well. This is to say that this album is certainly not for the faint of heart. A.M. Breakups does his best to provide some moments of respite of reflection in between the big moments on the album, but the overall sound of the album is one that hits hard and pushes you out of your comfort zone. This could be due to a murderer’s row of emcees presenting with harsh truths about our society as they’ve experienced it, or it could be A.M. Breakups pushing the distortion and noise, forcing the tension with dissonant musical elements, or bring in some big drum hits that serve to emphasize the urgency of the music. It’s not a “fun” album, but it is a really good album that doesn’t allow you to get comfortable on purpose – this is about examining what makes us uncomfortable, and what we can do about it. My personal favorite on the album is “Higher Level,” featuring MC K-Swift, which features some of A.M. Breakups’ wildest production, building tension between tight drum patterns, horn hit, and synths as Swift delivers lyricism that finds a good balance between abstract imagery and concrete observations about race, class, and society. It’s got a very I, Phantom tone to it.

Soldier is an interesting album, especially if you do a compare and contrast with Out Of Four Came Many Soldiers. However, what it ultimately comes down to is how well the album works on its own, and the good news there is that it comes together really well. It’s not an album for casual listening, but for those looking for something more challenging and a little darker in tone, this is the album for you.