It seems we get a new CocoRosie album every five years or so. The band of sisters Bianca Casady and Sierra Casady have always delivered what we all might believe are delicate songs but these two are far more durable than we’d originally thought. With the band’s eight full-length release, Little Death Wishes (Joyful Noise), CocoRosie allows us further in, to see a fiery version of itself. While I may use the word “delicate,” it’s a reflection of the vocal delivery, the song’s timbre, and its projection. It’s reflected in songs like the opening  “Wait For Me,” the dreamy “It Ain’t Easy,” or even the closing “Unbroken,” but Little Death Wishes seems… different from what some of us may have heard in the past. There’s a lot more pep in CocoRosie’s step. “Cut Stitch Scar” is a glitchy track that evolves into a catchy pop song while “Paper Boat” takes on the form of an upbeat children’s song, without conforming to its one-track mindset. It’s beautifully performed and composed. While it might be a collaboration the due wanted there’s no merit on “Girl In Town” with the addition of Chance The Rapper. He’d probably be best left on the cutting room floor. In all though, Little Death Wishes is astounding.

ODDATEEE – RABBIT SEASON

Ay, things are never certain or set into stone considering this isn’t the second coming and Moses had those tablets a long time ago. Now we’ve always found the Bronx-born, NJ-raised, ex-pat emcee Oddateee moving through a plethora of sounds, never steady-ready confining himself as one particular thing. I think we’ve all lost count as to how many albums, singles, and E.P.s he’s released but he’s just dropped his new album Rabbit Season. While the playful album title might be a nod to the Brooklyn-bred Bugs Bunny, there’s nothing comical revolving around it, but Oddateee might be just as animated.

With Rabbit Season, Oddateee never sits still from track to track. On the bouncy “What’s The Cause,” he trades off verses with Dev One blending verses between fantasy and reality where everything is out of control. Both emcees ride & caress the wave of the bass and drums taking them on a fantastic journey. They continue on the darkly-tinged “Never Saw His Face,” again sonically intense only here lyrics are filled with cynicism and comparisons with the devil and Hitler. We can only assume Dev provided the beat since Odd takes control of the mic here. But it’s the much starker “Protect Yourself” that might have you reminiscing of emcees of old, as Dev’s backdrop is wickedly controlled with just a few notes allowing Oddeteee the freedom to do what he does best. Dev One is a large part of Rabbit Season, whether it’s production or trading verses, and on the stormy “Give Love,” both emcees wax poetic with indirect urban tales that allow you to feel the grime surrounding it.

Oddateee has no issue sharing the mic with others and on “5 2 10 Stretches” Skalla (deadverse massive) is deliberate with his words here. When he says, “I wrote the illest verse ever with my other hand/I’m the man/It’s on demand, it’s on demand/I’m the man/Why don’t you sell me what’s the plan?/Do you understand we’ve been reprogrammed?” You feel it through his melody and even has me thinking I’ll never fit in. Odd’s delivery and word phrasing is something we should pay more attention to as he compliments Skalla’s. But it’s when he gets into another style altogether, that’s when you have to stop and take notice. Nothing is ever the same with Oddeteee, and “Dumb Shit” featuring Junior Robinson is that proof. Sounding more like a 90s shoegaze track, with spacey guitars and all, Robinson’s double-tracked voice opens the track, over a heady beat before Oddeteee comes in with words of like and lust. And then… the beat totally changes with just 3 notes and other keypunches ringing over it as the bassline drips around it. Two songs in one but still rallying around the same subject matter. This is insane. On “SpiKKKS” they both share verses here, instead of Robinson playing the background, as she does on “The Plane,” where Robinson comes hard and direct fresh out the gate! There’s no pause for games and this is probably the strongest where both emcees compliment one another from what seems opposite sides of the spectrum. It’s almost visceral.

Mickalo’ is featured on the closing “Choose Wisely,” and it fits right in with the rest of the rich and resonant album. Throughout Rabbit Season, it’s shadowy imagery is deep while Oddeteee and his cohorts strike first and strike hard every single motherfucking time.

KINGDOM KOME & ONAJE JORDAN – ALCHEMY II EIN SOF

There’s no question, Florida’s Kingdom Kome is as prolific as they, um, come. I had to question if there was a recent release by Kingdom Kome and realized he released Malbec 2 back in July 2024. Since then he’s released about 20 more releases and it seems he has no qualms about quickly releasing collaborative efforts. 20 releases, I jest and it’s complete hyperbole but that’s just the way it seems and feels. But if anything can be said about Kingdom Kome, it’s how prolific he is.

This time around he aligns himself again with Onaje Jordan for Alchemy II EIN SOF. The album follows 2022’s Alchemy and here? There’s no pause and no chill. The album seems like a melting pot of Boom Bap rhythms that, while they may hark back nostalgically, it’s firmly footed in 2025. There isn’t any doubt that Alchemy II Ein Sof is an attempt to reach for something greater than oneself, and “Hermetic Order Of The Golden Dawn” sets the tone with its balanced beat and Kingdom’s thoughtful lyricism. The movement is laidback but still shows eloquence in verbal delivery. The vibe changes on “When The Metal Hits,” and he shouts out, “We done brought the symphony out for this one” which isn’t wrong. Onaje loops those strings and wind instruments here over a distant beat, barely audible but it’s there. Kingdom is boastful here but I’m not sure how much of his opening line is lost in time when he rhymes, “I give my life on these tracks like Ramo in Beat Street/Put you in a deep trans and same flow when he speaks/And they know it’s hot science like Plato and Galileo max stay on repeat…” While many of us certainly understand, the next-gen might get lost with the Ramo reference. But again, I’m with it though. His comparisons throughout are cleverly worded and GOTDAMN, “I’m as dope as the crystals in meth” resonates.  

There’s chaos all around but the music and Kingdom’s words are the clarity and the soundtrack to the burning world around us all. It’s captured on “Esoteric Wisdom Of The Hexagon (Ft. Sean Links & Che Uno)” and we can all hear it when he says “Look at how they’re raising your kids to think/To spell America with a triple K as I stare my youth’s face/Had to school him on this fucked up world and how the news’ fake/By truth’s grace my dues paid/In this race I never lose pace.” There’s an ideology here and we’re all caught up in the plasticity that surrounds us all. Sean Links and Che Uno take that ideology and run with it, making their own way. The album is littered with collabs throughout the album, some names familiar and others not so much. That doesn’t make these tracks any less powerful though. “Mind, Soul And Body” features Kenyattah Black and while he isn’t a name I’m not familiar with, he kills it here alongside Kingdom as they expand themselves in every aspect, an important aspect of their lives. When Big Brother is watching, disconnect and deal with self. Period. But it’s “The Smokers Club” featuring Daniel Son, Hakim Green, and Lyrik’l that’s pretty entertaining. A chronic journey as each emcee takes smoking seriously with their own stories. The whiney-bending guitar string looped is fitting, atop the repetitive rhythm but it doesn’t languish into something repetitious.

One thing about Kingdom Kome is he doesn’t take any shortcuts and everything about what he does, this time with Onaje Jordon on Alchemy II Ein Sof, is deliberate and moves with clarity. Yes, this one is worth its weight in gold.