ALBUM REVIEW: Polearm – Therapy
By Billy Bugara
Artist: Polearm
Album: Therapy
Genre: Hip-Hop, Trap, PC Music
Rating: 7/10
Release date: 1/24/2020
The essence of contemporary hip-hop has been under serious construction at the hands of the underground scene for roughly a year now, with its gradual foray into electronica-influenced sonics that feature high-pitched vocals and glistening instrumental palets — not too unlike instances of PC Music and primitive EDM.
One act who embodies this notion in full is Los Angeles’s own Polearm, who kicked off this year with a 12-song album entitled Therapy — a project that undoubtedly embodies this aforementioned evolution and cohesive trend as it is playing out at this very moment.
With the ever-increasing popularity and influence of this trend taking place at the dawn of not only this new decade but its corresponding new era for hip-hop as a whole, Polearm is looking to set himself up to be known as one of the trend itself’s earliest adopters and purveyors all at once. If anything were to confirm this sentiment at all, it would have to come in the form of a project that is equally full of quality as it is with nuance in regards to defining this particular sound moving forward.
After digesting Therapy for even the slightest amount of time, it is unquestionably reasonable to say that Polearm accomplishes this goal in its fullest effect.
The project convincingly sets the mark for what could very well be the future of how both current and future acts in his liking approach this type of music from a thematic and even purely musical standpoint in a plethora of ways.
The album’s length certainly makes this fact apparent with its minuscule 12-minute runtime over a set of just 12 tracks. With each song being limited to 1 minute each, this concept offers a great deal of intrigue as to what really can be artistically accomplished within these borders.
With this project in particular, Polearm indulges on this concept by coming through with 12 different offerings that flow seamlessly into each other — working to create something that could genuinely serve as its own medley of sorts.
This instance is just one of many that could be explored inside the realms of this concept, and because of how well the young act pulls it off on this project, its validity is all but confirmed in every sense of the word.
From a purely musical standpoint, everything that defines this rising trend is presented in full force here and with such quick succession at that. That is not to say that other new ideas and slight artistic departures are not also present as well; Polearm’s dynamic vocal delivery – with its rapid-fire flows and blatantly addictive accents – proves this fact with great clarity.
As this trend continues to pick up its pace and increase even further into the grander music landscape’s point of view, projects like this will be seen as the earliest examples of primitive benchmarks for whatever movement comes about as a result. In saying this, Polearm has sufficiently leaped ahead of the game without much trouble at all, and that substantial lack of trouble will unquestionably carry through as he emerges as one of the new decade’s most promising stars.