If I’m completely honest, I’m still reeling from Midlife. Eugenius’ 2020 release was an epic piece of experimental hip hop that gathered comparisons to Death Grips, Clipping, and Childish Gambino while injecting plenty of punk ethos from Phil Smith’s background playing in hardcore and metal bands (include Boysetsfire’s Nathan Gray’s backing band). It gathered him a ton of attention—including a spot on our 2022 Ohio Artists to Watch list.

So when I got word that he was releasing Crisis, the only thing I could do was take a deep breath, do some stretches, and quote the old GTA meme, because here we go again.

If there was any suspicion that Midlife was a flash in the pan, it’s demolished within the first two tracks. “The Turning Tides” starts off as a glitching bit of ambient R&B, but halfway through it picks up into an almost emo chorus. It’s followed by “Stuck,” a bit of post-genre alchemy that makes Midlife seem tame.

And the record doesn’t calm down after that. Smith’s production has somehow become even more expansive than the anything-goes, hyperpop of the previous record. Glitchy drum machines, synths, and samples are aided by acoustic guitars, saxophones, violins, pianos, and more. He brings in a handful of collaborators, including Nathan Gray, who appears on both tracks (“Pain/Joy” is particularly brilliant). The fact that he brings in all these sounds is impressive enough, but the fact that he does them all well is almost flabbergasting. The best examples of the album’s polarities is the gut-punchy title track and the glistening ballad “Moment in Time,” which are separated by a laid back interlude. One track makes you want to fight, the next makes you want to cry.

The production alone is enough to make it impressive. But his skills as an MC are in lockstep. His delivery is just as varied and hyperactive as the composition, abruptly adjusting flow in the middle of a verse, shifting between rapping and singing (or a mix of the two) without warning. It’s a fitting instrument for the prism of emotions he casts throughout the record.

As I struggle to find the words to describe the record—and I have been struggling—I can’t escape “baffling.” It’s baffling that someone would even think to put these sounds together. It’s baffling that someone could have all of these feelings inside themselves and have the clarity to put them onto tape. It’s baffling that someone can be this good. Crisis is a staggering statement that encapsulates both the personal and social calamity that just about all of us have been experiencing through pandemic and political upheaval. We might not all have identical experiences to Smith, but this record is multifaceted enough that everyone could find a reflection of their own feelings in it.

Crisis is out April 15th on Friend Club Records.

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