Just at the beginning of May of this year, we got an album from former Panacea member Raw Poetic called Paging Mother Earth. The album saw the debut of Raw Poetic not just as an emcee, but as a multi-instrumentalist, producer, singer, and everything else. It also marked a bit of a departure in style, as the album saw Raw Poetic move his sound more towards rock and soul. He now follows that album up with a companion release, Hemlock.

If you spent the time with Paging Mother Earth, you’ll have a good sense of what to expect from Hemlock, which is to say more singing than rapping from Raw Poetic, and a style of music that’s more experimental rock and soul than it is hip hop. Whatever you want to label it, though, it’s really good. Raw Poetic has always been an interesting lyricist who was able to strike a nice balance between intriguing imagery, philosophical questions, and some very honest and personal confession. As a singer, he’s got a really nice resonant low voice, which reminds me at times of Bill Withers in quality, but with more of Serengeti’s sense of phrasing. As a songwriter and arranger, you can hear Raw Poetic growing in confidence as he seeks to integrate more afro-pop rhythms into his soul-rock compositions and make the production fuller without becoming crowded. He’s also giving himself space to really explore each song and it’s possibilities, and by that I mean that he’s taking the time as a songwriter to develop his melodies, countermelodies, and harmonies, and to let things build and break them down. The whole release is only eight songs long, but Raw Poetic takes you on such an emotional and sonic journey, it feels like a really complete listening experience.

Hemlock is the perfect follow up to Paging Mother Earth, further cementing Raw Poetic as not just an emcee, but a multi-dimensional artist who can do it all and refuses to be pinned down. On top of all that, Hemlock is a lot of fun to listen to, and will sound great as you enjoy some sunny summer weather.