Given the nature of his his recent experimental hip-hop album, Portals & Compasses, it should come as no surprise that 10th Letter’s new video is a surreal kaleidoscope, a nonstop visual bombardment, which floats between entrancing and disturbing.
Like the rest of his album, “Song of the Asterite” is the sonic equivalent of a mountain stream. The syncopated strings and elusive vibraphone (performed by Saira Raza) flow smoothly but restlessly throughout the entirety of the track, and the listener is simply carried along to an unknown destination.
Jeremi Johnson, the magician behind 10th Letter, designed and created the video. The result is a perfect marriage of sounds and images throughout the entirety of the experience. Maybe the cuttlefish and dancing figures flitting across the screen allow the listener to understand Johnson’s creative process or maybe they just allow us to escape our own reality for a few minutes. Either way, it’s well worth checking out.
Portals & Compasses is available now via Harsh Riddims.
10th Letter will perform on Sunday, October 18 at the Masquerade in support of Oddisee & Good Company. Doors open at 7 p.m. Admission is $17.
More Info
Web: 10thlettermusic.com
Bandcamp: 10thletter.bandcamp.com
Facebook: @10thLetterMusic
SoundCloud: @10th-letter
Twitter: @10thxletter