Lushlife – “Body Double”

Lushlife – “Body Double”

Hazy Philadelphia rapper/producer Lushlife aka Raj Haldar has announced his new album Ritualize will be out 2/19 next year via Western Vinyl. Back in 2012 he picked up a Mixtape Of The Week honor, so Haldar is definitely one to keep your eye on. Add to that his laundry list of incredible collaborators here: goth-folker Marissa Nadler, rap’s dad Killer Mike, LA freak-popper Ariel Pink, fellow unfairly underrated Philly rapper Freeway and lowkey production legend RJD2, gauzy indie rock Swedes I Break Horses, and North Carolina rapper Deniro Farrar. The sheer depth of style and talent gives Ritualize a whole new sheen. Not that Lushlife isn’t enough on his own — he definitely is — but this is a totally different direction for him, and bold moves like this tend to pay off in dividends. His last two releases have been self-produced, so enlisting this host of talent marks a turning point, as he told Pitchfork:

After toiling over two self-produced LPs in the last half-decade, I felt compelled to bring on an outside production team for Ritualize. Not only did I want to broaden the musical palette, but I felt like the group production effort would give me a depth of focus on lyrical content and emotion that I hadn’t previously been afforded.

Still, it’s fitting that the first release off the album is “Body Double,” a song without features. Which doesn’t mean Haldar’s friends weren’t involved — Ezra Koenig debuted the track on Time Crisis, his Beats 1 radio show. Listen below:

Here’s the full Ritualize tracklist:
01 “Totally Mutual Feeling”
02 “The Waking World” (Feat. I Break Horses)
03 “Hong Kong (Lady Of Love)” (Feat. Ariel Pink)
04 “Incantation” (Feat. Deniro Farrar)
05 “Undress Me In The Temple”
06 “Body Double”
07 “Toynbee Suite” (Feat. RJD2, Nightlands, Yikes the Zero)
08 “Strawberry Mansion” (Feat. Freeway)
09 “This Ecstatic Cult” (Feat. Killer Mike)
10 “Burt Reynolds (Desert Visions)”
11 “Integration Loop” (Feat. Marissa Nadler)
12 “Ritualize”

Ritualize is out 2/19/16 via Western Vinyl. Pre-order it here.

more from News