"At the record's best, the array of producers, from Saba himself to fixtures like Mejiwahn, FELIX!, cam.yh, and Ben Nartey, keep the atmosphere zippy, like they're passing [untitled] beat folders back and forth in real time. "don't be long" and the sputtering beat switch that powers "itachi" nail the exact balance between fleshed-out song and laidback recording session where C0FFEE! thrives."
"At its worst, the something-for-everyone aesthetic skirts into songs being little more than glorified demos. "supplier interlude," gorgeous as it sounds, is a passing idea more fit for an Instagram Live leak than an album. It's fitting that "LOOKING FOR PARKING," the worst offender here, is in the middle of the tracklist, because it feels like filler, a half-finished idea taking up space."
C0FFEE! pairs a diverse roster of producers with loose, car-recorded atmospheres to create a zippy, laidback sonic palette. Several tracks achieve a balance between fully realized songs and the feel of a casual recording session, notably 'don't be long' and 'itachi.' Other moments drift into underdeveloped sketches and filler, with interludes or mid-list tracks feeling like demo leaks rather than finished compositions. The project functions as a transitional stopgap for Saba, allowing experimentation with old and new sounds and recurring car-centered narratives—police searches, early romances, cold mornings—that foreground comfort and reflection.
Read at Pitchfork
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