Several years ago, it used to be that Twin Cities artists Guante and Big Cats were thought of as a duo, with four releases that spanned from 2009-2012. After that, they got caught up working on other projects, and before you know it, it’s been six years since their last release as a duo. That all changes with the release of their new EP, War Balloons.

If you’re familiar with these two, you’ll be happy to know that even though they’ve taken an extended period between releases, they haven’t skipped a beat. It sounds like they’ve picked up right where they left off with their last album, You Better Weaponize. Big Cats tends towards a down tempo style of production, but he tempers that with influences of house, jazz, and R&B to make a style that’s all his own. It has an incredibly warm sound to it, and the beats are always evolving. Big Cats is never content to just find a groove and then just loop it. Guante, of course brings the political activist poetry to the table with his raspy delivery and knack for interesting turns of phrase, and he certainly hasn’t lost that edge in our current climate. We also get a few guests, including the vocals of Lydia Liza and Eric Mayson, the rhymes of Tony the Scribe, and the saxophone of Nelson Devereaux. It all works really nicely, but no where better than on the standout track of “Dog People,” which uses a clever hook about pet preference to examine the slice of our American population that stubbornly holds on to outdated views. On top of the six new songs, you also get two remixes of older songs, “You Say ‘Millionaire’ Like It’s a Good Thing,” and “Riverbed,” which both sound just as relevant today with the help of some new beats.

War Balloons is short and sweet and straight to the point. Guante and Big Cats have great chemistry together, and it’s nice to have them back together and making music like this again. It’s urgent and angry, but it also finds room to have a little fun and get really musical as well.