Hurricane Party is the new group consisting of emcee Bleubird, aka Young Lauderdale, and producer/multi-instrumentalist/vocalist Rickolus. Rickolus might not be as well known, but the Jacksonville Beach artist has been putting out music for over a decade and has produced for artists such as Astronautalis and Noah23. As you can imagine, when you’re making weird music in Florida, you tend to find each other as you run in the same circles, so in a lot of ways it feels like this collaboration was a long time coming. Now it’s finally here, as they release their debut album, Juice.

If you’re familiar with Bleubird’s last album, Lauderdale, you might be a little surprised with what a sharp contrast Juice is, but that’s the difference between working with someone like Mr. Belvedere, who helped Bleubird create some of the biggest bangers of his career, and working with Rickolus, who is pushing him in a much different direction, where indie-rock, electronic music, and hip hop meet somewhere in the margins. This is all to say that for whatever images or sounds names like “Hurricane Party” and “Juice” might conjure up in your head, this project is probably more subdued, experimental, and introspective than what you’re expecting. Once you clear yourself of expectations, though, you’re still left with an excellent album full of interesting and unique music. You get a really interesting yin and yang with Bleubird and Rickolus, in the best way possible. Bleubird has a big personality on the mic and on stage, and he can really drop some scathing social commentary dripping in irony when he gets to rhyming. Rickolus, on the other hand, is more of a woodshed composer with a soft singing voice and a penchant for these really intricate compositions. What makes it work when these two come together is that for their different styles, they clearly have a deep respect for each other and appreciate the way they push each other creatively. You certainly get good chunks of the album that delivers on what both do best, but there are also moments where each artist is pushed out of their comfort zone. In the case of Bleubird, we get more moments of personal reflection and moments of vulnerability on the mic. In the case of Rickolus, we see the music stretched to include portions that reference the Miami Bass sound, for example. The great thing is that it all works in a continuum, and in the end you have an incredibly well-balanced album that pushes the limits of genre, carving out their own unique space in the process.

Juice is a great album that is best result of a collaborative effort like Hurricane Party. You can hear what you like about both artists coming through at different points, but ultimately you reach a place that neither artist would have gotten to on their own.