The Mountain Will Fall

Once the onslaught of ideas becomes less disorienting, however, it just feels impressive in its inventiveness.

There's a slow burn to many of the tracks, movements building like waves, and when they crash, it's glorious. When they fail to, it's all the more frustrating. But those high points are as high as any artist alive.

The repetition of the word “mambo” over another messy beat fails to do much. There’s too much going on to really make much sense of what’s happening. Shadow quickly makes up for that with two of the most alluring tracks on the record. “Ashes To Oceans” features British jazz composer and trumpeter Matthew Halsall, providing a gorgeous contribution to the already haunting composition. On “Pitter Patter,” rain-fall piano notes permeate the track while producer Bleep Bloop and Nite School Klik associate/trap producer G Jones give it an ethereal feel.

What the record lacks in the main part is a sense of urgency and excitement. Too often the songs wash over you, making no serious appeal for your heart or mind.

There are a few tracks (including the two straight-ahead rap tunes and haunting closer ‘Suicide Pact’) where he does actually let the groove unfold naturally, but that just makes even more frustratingly clear how much better the rest of this record could be if only Shadow would just ease off on the tinkering and fidgeting.