A duller artist would have reacted to the death of his mother and the loss of his girlfriend with a slew of saccharine ballads. Instead, urban magpie Kanye West has forsaken the rococo hip hop of his last album and embraced a hermetically sealed electro so minimal it hardly sounds like West. Effects-laden vocals and ancient drum machines abound on this mesmerising album. Sadness informs 808s & Heartbreak but it is shrink-wrapped into pristine nuggets like 'Love Lockdown', purposely playing emotion off against robotics. Lyrically, West isn't up to his College Dropout best but his musical audacity makes up for it.
(Roc-A-Fella)
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