Jesse Abraham – XS [Mixtape]

Jesse Abraham, (who alongside Spills, recently released Alphabutter) has returned with XS, a mostly-solo project, aside from a couple of collabos from the likes of other NY names popping up at shows and showcases, such as the too-young-to-drink YC The Cynic (“Just In Time), and Spills, Top $ Raz and Pete Colon (“Between The Bars”). From the beginning of XS, it’s clear that Abraham is the experimental and creative kind (“The Sit Down”), which history has shown can go either way in terms of listenability. (He does warn that some songs are as much as five years old, which explains slightly different sonic quality…) In any event, what he says is often a touch stronger than the actual delivery (“When”), but overall he’s a cautious and clever wordsmith. It may take a few of tracks to land on something that speaks to you, or you may have to pick and choose your particular brand of JA flavor, but generally XS is an enjoyable, if exploratory type of project.

Tracks we particularly dug include the aforementioned collabs, “I Can’t Quit You”, ” and my favorite (being a producer/remixer and all), the giddy instrumental-only-flip “Softly”.

Not bad Spicoli.

Jesse Abraham ft. YC The Cynic – “Just In Time”
[audio:justintime.mp3]

Download/Listen: Jesse Abraham – XS