Minneapolis vocalist K.Raydio had been going strong a few years ago, with excellent albums made in collaboration with producers Psymun and O-D. She recently broke a period of silence with a series of self-produced demo collections she’s calling the “Sync” series, but right now is the time to debut the project she’s been working on over the past couple of years. She teamed up with producer Shrimpnose, and after a couple of years of hard work, they now present …And The World Weeps.

Shrimpnose is a producer who as emerged in the last couple of years as someone who’s working outside the box, creating some really inventive downtempo beats, whether they be on his own instrumental projects or producing for other artists. He connected with K.Raydio a few years ago, and they not only bonded musically, but as two people who were dealing with some difficult crossroads in their lives. As a result of their working relationship together, they’ve come together to make an album that is both abstract, but also incredibly heartfelt and moving. Shrimpnose lays down some lo-fi, abstract, psychedelic beats, with little concern for traditional pop song structure, taking listeners through all sorts of interesting twists and turns along the way. K.Raydio is a talented enough and flexible enough vocalist that she actually uses this opportunity as a moment of freedom, to eschew the normal limitations she might put on her vocal lines. She has an incredibly strong tone to her voice, along with great control, so while she might be trying some more unusual melodic choices, you never feel like she’s really taking a risk, because there is so much certainty from her that she can make it work. Ultimately, though, what makes this album work is the emotional content, and how these two artists are able to connect to their listeners. Over the course of working on this album, Shrimpnose and K.Raydio were dealing with everything from romantic heartbreak to the loss of loved ones, to professional uncertainty. In channeling the thoughts and feelings that arose through that turmoil, they were able to make an album that despite its abstract structure, it’s fairly easy to connect to. This is an album about adversity and healing, and K.Raydio and Shrimpnose put their all into making it.

Sometimes life pushes the right people to find each other. While these two were both going through some difficult times, they found each other and were able to channel all of that adversity and make some beautiful music out of the situation. It’s an album that requires a little bit of patience to listen to, but it’s also one of the most rewarding listening experiences you’ll have this year.