Shrimpnose is a producer from the Twin Cities that has been releasing music for about the last five years. In that time, he’s worked with artists like K.Raydio and CRASHprez, along with releasing his solo material. 2020 has been a busy year for him, having already released an EP as part of the Outlaw Ocean Project, along with two full length albums. He’s not done yet, though, as he returns at the end of the year with another EP, Small Wonders.

While Shrimpnose was making some big statements with his two full-length albums earlier this year, Small Wonders is enjoyable in that it feels free of expectations. It’s like he made his artistic strides and processed some emotional turmoil with those projects, and now he has freed himself just to make some pretty downtempo music that you can sit with and just enjoy it and feel at peace while you listen to it. Granted, Shrimpnose has really made some technical and musical strides in the last few years that helps set him apart in terms of the complexity of his arrangements and just learning some clever ways to subvert listeners expectations, so if you do pay closer attention, you’ll quickly realize that these gentle compositions are not as simple as they seem. At the end of the day, though, this is just a really gorgeous EP built around samples of acoustic guitar, electric piano, and then fleshed out in such a way that will really set your mind at ease and find a moment of peace in whatever this year is.

Shrimpnose has been quickly and steadily rising to the top of the list of producers doing interesting things in hip hop and electronic music over the last five years, and he’s really reached the next level in 2020. Small Wonders is a wonderful coda to a great run.