Album Review: CYNE – Water For Mars

Previous Editions:
1. Slaughterhouse – Slaughterhouse
2. Jay-Z – The Blueprint 3
3. Royce Da 5′9″ – Street Hop

Imagine Blu’s 2007 debut Below The Heavens as a starting point. Blend it with Blue Sky Black Death tinged production. Mix well. Add a dash of chemistry, along the lines of Binary Star/Blackstar (That’s alot of B’s, I know). Add copious, copious amounts of flow. What do you get?

Water for Mars.

A couple readers requested that I review this album, so I came into it with an open mind because I had never even heard of CYNE. After the album? I came away extremely impressed. Water for Mars uses the lost concept of “one producer” extremely effectively. Their production is all handled by Enoch and Speck, lending it both a very cohesive feel and strong creative direction. There are no heavy basslines or handclaps to be found, just subtle use of many different instruments and samples. And it all sounds spectacular – Electric Blue, Boombox, and Pretty Apollo are three of my favorite beats “This Year”. Even the interludes sound great.

Topically, the duo touch on their wishes (“This Year”), interracial relationships (“The Jux”), the seeming hypocrisy and paradoxes of society (“Dazed and Confused”) with remarkable insight in a sweet 20 track effort. That number seems larger than it actually is; the album flies by in a flash, with each song melding into the next. As the title suggests, there is plenty of flow on the album. Lyrics pour out silky smooth on every track, a treat to the ear. This is especially true of Cise Star, who, appropriately named, is the better of the duo. His verses are not only more numerous, but generally shine brighter. While the whole album sounds great audially, I find their delivery and mic presence sometimes lose my attention. Everything on the songs meld together, which obscures the words in their musical backdrops. I don’t mean that in a negative manner necessarily, but its very difficult to catch everything from a first listen.

Despite this small flaw, Water for Mars ranks high as one of 2009’s best releases and a must-listen for its production alone. The otherworldly flow is just icing on the cake.

Rankings Board:
Blueprint 3
Troubadour
Water For Mars
Attention Deficit [Coming later this week]
Street Hop
Slaughterhouse