While I do have a significant back log of albums to review, I haven’t waited so long to get to the last entry of Maggz’s Soundscape series that I missed the season completely - Maggz himself didn’t release this volume until the end of September. As a result, we don’t get to enjoy his latest EP as a soundtrack to the current season. Instead, it has to serve as a reminder of a warmer and brighter time as the brisk weather and gray skies become more and more familiar.

In case you haven’t been following the series, the Columbus producer has put out an EP for each season, starting with the fall, creating a collection of down tempo instrumental hip hop tracks to capture the feeling that particular time of year. It’s not the easiest task in the world, but Maggz has done an admirable job of communicating how each season feels with his music. My favorite way to experience each EP was to go jogging while listening to the music, and letting it become the soundtrack to the weather and the landscape of my city. Granted, I haven’t been able to do that successfully with this particular EP, since it’s already pretty brisk outside, but through the power of imagination, I can recall what it was like back in August, and place the music against that backdrop. It works well, as does the whole series. My particular favorite comes in the last two songs of the EP, “Humid Haze” and “Neon Nights” which, through layers of synthesizers, heavy reverb, and sparse drums, brought to mind all of the wonderful hot summer nights I experienced growing up in Texas.

It’s been a wonderful series, and I really appreciate the subtlety that Maggz has demonstrated as composer, arranger, and producer. Instrumental hip hop and electronic music is incredibly difficult to keep interesting and communicate ideas with listeners, but Maggz drew me back with each season, slowly unfolding and revealing himself through the seasons to his listeners. I’m excited to see what comes next.