'Melt My Eyes See Your Future' opens up Denzel Curry's mature, introspective, and best record to date.
Writing a lot of the records today was quite a learning experience, observing the differences and states that the artist has been through in the past and how they've shed their skins over a dozen records later is a fascinating observation as it allows them to see how much the artist has grown and improved their talents on those records. This gets exciting specifically for the musicians that retain their quality whenever they switch things up every time they make a new record, where the risk of switching styles still makes a lot of crowd noises.
And it's best to discuss Denzel Curry, because for the past decade he has been making music under different lenses on different records that he has put out thus far. The nerdy but banging 'NOSTALGIA 64', the polished yet stomping 'IMPERIAL', the darker and dirgy experiments of 'TA13OO', the freestyle, Miami-celebration album of 'ZUU', and the short but eclectic collab album 'UNLOCKED' with Kenny Beats. Denzel Curry has always spun around different flavors of tones, personas, and production styles on those past records, and they are mostly pretty good records that are helped through Denzel's flexible flows and assured delivery, layered writing, and distinguished hooks. Those past records also showcase parts of Denzel Curry’s passage, where his experiences as a black artist have been a bit more open as his proceeding records after his debut record showcased more depth into it as he’s seen more of the corruption and brutality affect his community as well as his own personal demons that he has been battling for many years, and it’s only a matter of time where the maturity will be there and allow Denzel Curry to open up the discussions even further.
So in this record, Denzel Curry manages to pull away from the facade that comes from his aliases and puts out his mature, expansive, and most timeless project in his entire discography. A record that based on the album title, touches upon sharper insights and touches upon the cruelties and defective system that Denzel Curry and his community have to fall down into time and time again, and Denzel’s measured but captivating flows and delivery certainly show that. It might not show Denzel at his most raw and aggressive, but it’s an intentional choice on his part and allows his message to hit harder and showcases the growth and wisdom that he has garnered, and use it to provide important statements about the cruel situations that he and his community have gone through due to the wretched institutions that target people like him that other people might avoid discussing further on the first half, only for Denzel Curry to open up that discussion on the second half and pens more details on how he will move forward with that insight. What makes it stick even further is the expansive production and features that were enlisted that make this record not only sound cohesive and varied but also create a seamless flow and balance of the sounds of the past and the sounds of the present. Those elements combined with Denzel’s knack for sticky melodies make this record replayable and slink in your head really quickly with impressive results, the thumping drums against the sleek female vocals and piano glides from Robert Glasper on ‘Melt Session #1’, the reflective balance of boom-bap and trap percussion on ‘Walkin’, the breakbeat amidst a meditative soundscape and slowthai’s brawn hook on ‘Zatoichi’, The trap bounce and string swells that elevate Denzel’s singing on ‘X-Wing’, the whirling sound effects and focused percussion on ‘John Wayne’ with courtesy of Jpegmafia, the stomping drums on ‘Worst Comes To Worst’, the soothing female vocals on top of the shuffling drum pattern on ‘Mental’ and ‘Angelz’, the pumping banger that is ‘Troubles’ thanks to T-Pain's contribution and Kenny Beat’s production, the insane posse-cut amidst a stable drum rhythm and soulful sample on ‘Ain’t No Way’, and the choppy but still soothing boom-bap instrumental of the closer ‘The Ills’.
It plays in great spades all throughout that the flaws are only nothing more but sprouts that end up being a solid update of past sounds on past records, like ‘The Last’ with its hypnotic tune that could very much fit on Imperial but only suffers with an underwhelming hook, as well as ‘Sanjuro’ that could nestle in TA13OO’s midsection due to its trap skitters that are produced pretty well. This record could have afforded to extend its length a bit further given that this record already flows so well, which may benefit a few songs here and there, especially ‘The Smell Of Death’ that will definitely expand its haunting percussion sheen and samples.
Denzel Curry’s eagerness to do different has always been a mark for him as an artist, and his wandering and maturity manage to allow him to write and put out the record that he wrote that has a personal focus on himself but is now able to look outside of himself and focus on contributing on targeting the institutions and the corrupt system that has begrudged his community for far too long. And with a record that spans different facets of time, styles, and lives, it presents another tale that Denzel Curry has written, and a tale that may as well not be forgotten, but be remembered on the opening of the imperfections of the world.
Favorite Tracks: Melt Session #1, Walkin, Mental, Troubles, Ain’t No Way, Zatoichi, The Ills, X-Wing, Angelz, Worst Comes To Worst, John Wayne
Least Favorite Track: The Last