Variex is a producer and emcee from the Bay Area, who has worked with labels such as Milled Pavement and is a founder of the New Cocoon collective. The last time we heard from him was two years ago, when he teamed up with Seattle emcee Rawbeartoe to drop the album Always Something. With his next solo album coming around the bend, he now gives us a teaser EP, The Bread Crumbs EP.

Variex is handling production and rhyming duties on the EP, and as he gets into a G-Funk-inspired sound for the project, he also debuts a new skillset on the talkbox. That G-Funk sound means that in addition to the talkbox we also get plenty of laidback beats, smooth basslines, and just a warm West Coast feeling. The big difference here is that while plenty of artists have used this style of music to lean heavy on gangsta lyricism, that’s not who Variex is. He’s a nerdy white guy, and he stays true to himself over the course five songs and one remix. By staying true to himself, we get songs about relationships, music, getting older, and other everyday life occurrences, filled with an emotional honesty and cratedigger’s obsessive knowledge about music that makes the EP very easy to listen to. It also helps that the whole thing will sound awesome blasting out of your car stereo, but it’s also something that you can really form a personal relationship to as you listen to it in a more intimate setting.

It’s just five songs and a remix, but Variex delivers more than enough to get you interested in not just this EP, but what’s coming around the corner. You get that great G-Funk, the talkbox, and all that great production, but then Variex really flexes his skills as an emcee and turns this teaser EP into a standout release.