After releasing A Badly Broken Code last year, Dessa has spent a lot of time on the road. After changing her live configuration from a deejay to a trio of standup bass, drums, and guitar/keyboard, she began to see the songs take on a new life. The fans noticed as well, and began to ask if these versions of the songs were available. With this demand, they went into the studio to capture her new sound and came out with Castor, The Twin.

Lest you were worried that this was going to simply be a track by track remake of Code, the album opens with three tracks from her False Hopes EP released in 2005 and ends with a brand new song, “The Beekeeper.” Castor, The Twin does reveal itself to be a much more intimate recording, leaving Dessa’s vocals and lyrics more exposed. Fortunately, she’s quite strong in both regards, so this turns into one of the best features of the album. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself catching more nuances within her lyrics, discovering references and turns of phrase that passed me by the first time. The instrumentation is fleshed out with strings and vibraphone and mandolin, and while this arrangement does lend itself to bring out the gentler side of much of this material, there are a few moments where Dessa reminds you of the other side of her spectrum, like when she starts spitting in a fast staccato style on “Mineshaft,” or at the end of “Mineshaft II” when the drums become heavier and are supplemented by timpani, to bring the song to a emotional swell. Then there’s a song like “Into the Spin,” which actually gets a livelier treatment than the original version, with pizzicato violins played against the long, drawn out bow work on the bass. The most natural transition occurs with “Dixon’s Girl,” which was always a bit of a torch song.

Often we’ll see hip hop artists realize they’re taking a while in between albums, and they’ll release an EP or some remixes. And there’s nothing wrong with that. However, few artists working under the umbrella of hip hop have the wide range of material at their disposal that Dessa possesses. She had already laid such a solid foundation, that when combined with the high standard that she holds herself to, reworking it with a live trio doesn’t sound rehashed. Instead, I’m as engaged with this record as much as I was with the original material.