Doomtree producer Lazerbeak has been a busy man in recent years, producing for Longshot, Dessa, Shredders, Mixed Blood Majority, Lizzo, and others. While he was doing all of that, he looked up and realized that it had been seven years since his last solo album, Lava Bangers. Well, the good news is that he finally made time for himself again, and we now get the long-awaited follow up album, Luther.

Lazerbeak’s last album was called Lava Bangers because that was his nickname for his beats – they were just so fire, so banging. As much as it might sound like he’s joking around, he’s really not. Listen to anything he’s produced over the past decade, and you’ll be hard pressed to find another producer who is able to layer drums on drums, manage to not make them sound to busy or cluttered, just banging, and then add a great pop sensibility on top of all that. The wisdom has been, if you’re going to listen to a Lazerbeak track, you better turn that shit up. And you can tell right away when Lazerbeak has put his stamp on a project. These are expectations coming into Luther. However, this is not what you’re going to find on this album. As a reflection of a recent step he’s taken in caring about his own mental health, taking time to be mindful and grateful about everyday things in his life, Luther is a decidedly calmer and more peaceful album than anything he’s made in years. While the album is named after his favorite artist of all time, this also isn’t a Vandross tribute album, either. You can make the argument, however, that the spirit of Luther is alive and well, as Lazerbeak channels his ability to create warm, smooth, and soulful compositions that build and envelop you as the songs unfold. While the songs on this album are slower to build and never get to full-on Lava Banger status, Lazerbeak does find a way to still make his percussion extremely interesting and layered so that you never zone out while the music goes into downtempo mode. There’s always something developing and in motion that keep your ears perked, even as the general atmosphere is soothing and laidback. It’s a completely different look than anything else he’s done over the years, but it’s still got his signature all over the project. You just have to look a little bit closer.

Lazerbeak is hands down one of the best producers of the past decade, and he’s really raised the stakes by lowering them with Luther. He slows things down and scales things back, but he still manages to make an instrumental album that never goes into cruise control. It’s always in motion, always in conversation with listeners, always building towards something new. It sounds different and familiar at the same time, which is one hell of a feat to pull off.