Qire Snow — Call on Me — Album Review
By: Joe Boothby
Tags: Album Review, New Music, 2020 Music, Music, Music Review

Alternative | Hip-Hop

Listen on Spotify | Listen on Apple Music

Now that we are climbing into the last month of this very extraordinary year, I reckon there would be no better way to start off December 2020 than with an extraordinary album review.

What makes this album review a unique one, is that New York based abstract rap artist Qire Snow actually got in touch with me to raise awareness of his independently released debut album, Call on Me.

I was pleased to find that Snow had been enjoying some of my past reviews, namely my review for MIKE’s latest album weight of the world. Rappers who vouch for a more abstract style of production to accompany their bars, such as MIKE and many others, have apparently been big influences behind Qire Snow and his craft. And upon giving Call on Me a brief skim-over for the first time, that was made glaringly clear.

I feel that it would be necessary to set the record straight, and note that the primary reason I was truly compelled to write a review for Call on Me on my Medium page, is that this debut album was clearly up my street. The creative integrity oozed through the framework of this project. I definitely saw a strong potential just from the snippets I had heard from this record, and I was excited to give it a full-fledged listen.

I must also give praise that this album brings a near-perfect atmosphere for this time of year. The simultaneous blend of colourful and mellow ambiences give me an almost identical feeling as what I felt towards Earl Sweatshirt’s Some Rap Songs, which came out around this time two years ago.

The first listen indeed felt solid. But I found that it was the following listen of Call on Me which really had my attention. I was beginning to recognise more of the beauty within the production and lyrics, and I could really feel the album grow on me.

I also really like the narrative of this debut, which is both easy for many listeners to understand and relate to, as well as a heartfelt and genuine telling of Qire Snow’s journey to finding happiness. In times like these, I can only imagine that many people are still on that journey. And with that being said, this album is a great way to give those listeners something they can use to push forward.

The only slight issue that I sensed with a very small amount of tracks on this album, is that the production felt a little repetitive at points, and could’ve done with a few more switch-ups or twists and turns here or there. But this is something that applies to almost every album within the subgenre of abstract rap, and aside from that, this debut album is more than solid.

In conclusion, Call on Me is glistening proof that there is a bottomless amount of talent beneath the many layers of the mainstream. I would honestly argue that Qire Snow goes toe-to-toe with many of the well-crafted albums within the realm of abstract hip-hop. I indeed feel very privileged to have an album like this simply come to me, and I am very excited to see where Qire Snow goes from here.

Favourite Tracks: So Many Tears | Home | Babyboy

Least Favourite Track: Break Even

Qire Snow

8/10