With a Hammer

Half of rage is confronting the sorrow that births it and watching it metamorphize. Witnessing the chrysalis is With a Hammer’s most generous gift.

This 13-track album is a more emphatic, even angry work charting her emotional evolution [than mixtape What We Drew].

It traces Yaeji's emotional development, coming to terms with anger and resentment she had suppressed as a child—a period that she channels into her charged and surprisingly bracing new LP.

This debut album stands on its own as an artistically daring personal statement.

She has made the excavation of her feelings around freedom, identity and channeled anger into a record that embraces fun and surprising musical juxtapositions.

Even though With a Hammer is Yaeji's most cathartic work to date, it's still playful and optimistic, preferring joy, comfort, and creativity over rage as a form of release.

Injecting a familiar formula with a justified newfound seriousness, With a Hammer further cements Yaeji’s place as one of the most valuable producers active in electronic pop today.

The result is a record that is kinetic and dynamic, paralleling its lyrical explorations.

Thorny and tangled, this is dance music for drifting home from the club on deserted pavements; the moment of reflection after the euphoria fades.

But for each jagged, dissonant song that Yaeji hurls into the mix, there’s a smoother, more melodic counterpart, showcasing the artist’s intuitive sense of balance. The album’s more straightforward tracks, like “For Granted” and “Done (Let’s Get It),” serve as a testament to Yaeji’s ability to craft infectious hooks without sacrificing her distinctive experimental edge.

The artist’s love for effortless aesthetics may have ironically been brought into a confident big room setting on With A Hammer, but successfully merging thoughtful pop, trip hop, house and everything but the kitchen sink is surely anything but effortless.