After releasing his debut mixtape at the beginning of the year, Safari Al is back again with a new EP. The Milwaukee emcee works as an engineering student by day, and this release takes inspiration from a trip to Guatemala he took as part of the Engineers Without Borders program. Listening to Highlands, it seems like it’s been a long time since Hermitage Academy, just in terms of growth, even though it hasn’t been a full year. That’s just how quickly Safari Al is growing as an artist.

With Hermitage Academy, Safari Al established himself as an artist that blurred genres, and it was apparent that once he found the right balance, his voice as an artists was going to be strong and unique. With backgrounds in jazz, folk, rock and as a percussionist, Al features a great singing voice to compliment his skills as an emcee, and he has a very expansive vision when it comes to his music. With Highlands, he faces the difficult task of communicating a transformative experience in his life while doing his best to not make the EP sound like the sort of musical tourism like you’d hear on Starbucks compilation. I’m happy to say that the EP comes across very well, and finds just the right balance of incorporation without seeming distasteful. The key is that Al never tries to make the EP bigger than it is, keeping the lyrics within the bounds of his own experience, and not trying to make any sweeping, generalized statements with the music or his lyrics. On the flipside, Al has also established himself with this EP as an emcee that pulls off the feat of using big words and complex imagery without coming across as unnecessary and pretentious. Instead, it sounds very natural, which I think comes in the delivery. It’s kind of like a Ted Leo song in that sense. There are actually several phrases and lines of Safari Al’s that really stick in my mind, and work so well, it makes me wonder why no one else used them before. One such example is the hook to the last song, “Between the Trees,” in which he declares, “Tribal jubilee, and it would behoove me to my feet!” This song also includes some great descriptive lines that come across with just the right touch of humor, irony, and self-deprecation, such as when he states “I told her in the right light I’m an aphrodisiac, and she responded with a forceful knee-slap, and a chortle,…My dance moves don’t impress you? Then I guess I’ll get a deeper V-neck than the next dude.” In fact, my biggest complaint about this song is that it’s far too short, clocking in under two minutes. Other songs on the EP are more serious, with some really beautiful imagery, such as the opening lines to “Windswept,” which beautifully describe the feelings that overcame him as he flew into Guatemala on a plane. The gentle atmosphere created by Eliot recalls anticon.’s Baths, and it really opens up and allows room for Al to become introspective and explore what the trip means to him, and what he can take away from it. “La Mula Sabe,” (which translates to “The Mule Knows”) produced by Tom Bombadil, does the best job of incorporating traditional Guatemalan music without being too obvious or over the top, as Al relates the experience of traveling to a remote village by mule, and being forced to place his trust in animal to find the way when the humans did not know. “Steppes” has the best potential for breakout single, which features a great uptempo beat laid down by Tom Bombadil and Breakfastsquid, which recalls some early ‘90s jazz/R&B hip hop. Safari Al is very confident on the mic, seamlessly moving from rapped verse with a very playful delivery that transitions to the sung chorus very naturally.

All in all, I couldn’t be happier with this EP. When I first heard of this project, I was interested, but I couldn’t quite picture how it was going to work. I’m thrilled to say that Safari Al found a great balance between all of the different aspects to his sound to make this a very intriguing and enjoyable release. One of the great joys of discovering young talent is seeing the artist realize their potential. Listening to the leap between Hermitage Academy and Highlands makes me very happy to see just how much growth has occurred in less than a year, and how Al has figured out how to get the most out of himself.