Nosebleeds Always is a compilation of sorts, documenting a year’s worth of withheld demos born between the walls of the Brooklyn-based artist’s apartment. The rough, brilliant sketches found on the late 2018 release demonstrate Rachel Brown’s remarkable prolificacy and melodic prowess, further proving their place as one of the most important budding songwriters right now.
Earl has always had something to respond to and Some Rap Songs is no exception. Despite the fact that most of it was written and recorded before the death of his estranged father, South African poet Keorpatse Kgositsile, the beauty and pain of Earl’s music has never felt more apparent, more on his sleeve, more honest.
Tompkins says he made this record “hunched over a 4-track, recording this music to damaged tapes that had been stored in my hot garage for over a decade and were always threatening to self-destruct.” Ocean Pines sounds like a record where a songwriter rediscovered the creative process. It’s an intimate record, made from the pure joy found in writing songs.
