deadroses

Blackbear made his name penning hits for the likes of Machine Gun Kelly, but the Californian’s soulful side emerges on his debut full-length. The album pulls shards of spacey alt-R&B, hazy synth-pop, and L.A. noir hip-hop into a dark, emotive sound. On the bitter “Ain’t Love,” he decries a failing relationship over swirling, hollowed-out keys, while “Idfc” is underpinned by a sci-fi synth loop that links ’80s nostalgia to a dystopian future. It all showcases Blackbear as a daring R&B forward-thinker.