Thorts and Kady Starling are a husband and wife duo from Australia who have both been part of the alternative hip hop scene there for years. For their latest release, they take the split EP approach, with each artist contributing a complementary collection of five songs. The result is the compelling Come What May/Waiting To Expire.

Split EPs are always interesting projects to approach, and some work a lot better than others. Some will have a connecting theme or overlaps in musicians, and sometimes you’ll come across one and wonder why they didn’t just release it as two separate EPs. With Come What May/Waiting To Expire, the project couldn’t be released in a more appropriate format. Thorts and Kady Starling are both talented artists who have made some really thought-provoking, moody, introspective hip hop, but it’s really when you put the two sides of this record together to do you get the interesting conversation between the two. They are both taking on subject matters dealing with mental health and conquering demons, but their approaches and styles are different enough both lyrically and musically that you get this bonus of having two different perspectives to absorb and consider in one sitting.
On Come What May, Thorts works with producer Zoen, and gets guest appearances from Ceschi, David Ramos, and Tommy V, all which help give his side this melancholic folk/hip hop style that will immediate sound familiar to any Fake Four fans.
On Waiting To Expire, Kady Starling works with Haunted Days & Witch’s Teat, who help her develop a sound that is somewhere between shoe gaze and trip hop, which combined with her poetic descriptions of personal relationships and the effects of society on mental health, deliver a really haunting five songs. Together, you get a collection of hip hop that is best listened to alone, where you can really pore over the lyrics and dissect all of the nuance that Thorts and Kady Starling have packed into this project.

Come What May/Waiting To Expire isn’t exactly a “fun” release, but it’s a collection of really smart and thoughtful hip hop from a very talented husband and wife duo. They give you a lot of food for thought and interesting musical choices that rewards with repeat listens.