Just last spring, Antipop Consortium co-founder Beans broke five years of silence with not one, not two, but three albums released simultaneously. And then he threw a novel in just for kicks. Now that that massive undertaking is out of the way, Beans was left to work like a normal human being, who now returns with a shorter project called Nights Without Smiles.

If you’ve followed Beans’ career, you probably know that outside of his voice, you can’t predict the sound of each project he’s going to do. You can guess that it will be challenging and abstract, but even at this point in his career, Beans is still seeking out new collaborators and sounds to push himself as an artist. For Nights Without Smiles, Beans teams up with producer Michael Beharie, a New York artist who has put out several releases with Astro Nautico, and saxophonist Diamond Terrifer, of the Brooklyn band Zs. The result is an EP that is as much free jazz as it is hip hop, which would throw a lot of other emcees for a loop, but works perfectly for someone like Beans, who is always trying to push listeners out of their comfort zones. It’s especially interesting to hear him switch up his cadence and play it off of this combination of off-kilter electronic drums and free jazz saxophone. He does all this while hitting you with lyrics that range from the delightfully playful and absurd, like when he starts talking shit and describes how he’s “Charley-horse crampin’ your style,” to the more serious and philosophical discussion of “the black hole in your brain.” It all exists side-by-side, and Beans is able to guide you back and forth through all of this with ease. He’s also confident enough at this point in his career to allow for extended instrumental moments to set the mood and connect pieces in between his vocal performances. All of this comes together to make a short, five-song EP feel like a much bigger project.

Leave it to Beans to deliver an EP that is more ambitious and challenging than most full-length albums you’ll hear this year. It’s good to have him back, and it’s good to know that he’s still pushing himself and others to create music that’s pushing the boundaries.