Much like the exposed bone that peeks out from the colorful flowers on the cover of her debut album Overgrown, Charlotte-born, Philadelphia-based rapper Ivy Sole doesn’t shy away from the darker side of both environmental and human nature in her verses, instead proving that vulnerability can also be gorgeous in its own way, indicative of the concept of eventual detachment but simultaneously in the chance to grow again, perhaps more beautifully than before. Sole has explained that Overgrown at its core is about love, and through its atmospheric, addictive beats, seems to convey just about every variation of the idea – platonic (“Bloom”), romantic (“Rollercoaster”), as well as a lovely track on self-love (“Achilles”) that we just can’t stop playing due to its bouncy, addictive beat. But it is ultimately the slower track “Bones” we keep coming back to, mainly due to the way it combines imagery from the darker parts of nature with the simultaneous feelings of love into one wonderful, fantastical mass, beginning with the bird songs that flood in after the first few seconds that later blossom into Sole’s poetic, introspective vocals. She explains that “one day our bones will feel the breeze/ and make a home for smaller beings,” replacing the dismal thought with one heavy in romantic sentiment directly afterwards: “If I’m lucky they might take me next to you.” It then erupts into a charming, feel-good love ballad that never falters in both its honesty or its soothing, calming energy, something that courses throughout the rest of Overgrown as well. The futuristic synth flourishes give the stable beat whimsy while the vocals float above, Sole’s repeated reassurance of “we don’t have to be alone, my love” growing more and more thoughtfully adamant each time its uttered.
Overgrown is out today.
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photo by Araba Ankuma
kid with a vinyl 