D&D by VHS Midnight Style and Dreeks

As internet hip hop takes a turn for the dark and esoteric, a wealth of fascinating opportunities open up for interactions between this new smoky, dusky style and the bright, bubblegum aesthetics of cloud rap. D&D by VHS Midnight Style and Dreeks nails this combination, using emotionally confusing, intimate vocals to heighten each of the album’s stylistic twists and turns. In warmer moments, we float on the wings of airy synth flourishes and fuzzy percussion, allowing the whispery vocals to continue our ascent into the bright pink unknown. As our flight encounters turbulence, unsettling repeated arrangements, uncomfortable synth sounds, and uneven glitchy percussion instead give the vocals a dampening effect, increasing our anxiety on the back of their ambiguity. As we near the record’s conclusion and emotional climax, these aesthetics swirl together ever tighter, building tension through this bizarre mixture before leaving us on an emotional release that sheds intensity without cleanly chosing one of these emotional paths, encouraging us to allow our own emotions to resolve without finding succinct, simple closure in every situation.