4am has done more than enough to cement his place as one of the most influential figures that the rising wave of young artists working today has in store. Though many may not realize this fact as fully and completely as they should, the point still remains as true as ever when taking a detailed look at his own discography, and certainly the work he has put in for others day in and day out over quite the longest amount of time.
But even in saying all of that, 4am had yet to truly come through with a tried and true full-length project that would theoretically work to solidify his solo work as being as complete as it possibly could be — even placed to such close contemporaries in his equally-influential Novagang collective. That is, until the recently-released Hallow’s Eve EP dispelled any and all doubts that this ever-prolific mastermind of a creative could impress just as much as his fellow acts on a project-based scale.
The 6-song EP only spans just over 10 minutes in length, but it absolutely does all it needs to in creating an experience that is just as unforgettable as it is utterly impressive. The given tracks here are dense, entertaining, and incredibly impactful in their own respective beings — all contributing to the brooding and ominous feeling that the project’s Halloween-themed demeanor calls for.
4am certainly took this theme and ran with it himself, as he brought together a number of different producers other than himself to create the sounds and styles heard on this project from an instrumental level; they all work to bask in those dark tones with their work that is just rich with atmosphere. They mostly accomplish this through the submerging low ends that these songs carry with them, and also by how the soaring synths work to contrast with them in such an artful fashion.
But it is truly 4am himself who puts in the most star-studded on this project, obviously, but perhaps even the most impressive all-around performance of his entire career thus far. His work on the mic has developed more and more over time, eventually culminating now in an unmistakably unique delivery that sees its unorthodox, yet completely gripping rhythmic elements go hand-in-hand with its understated but completely confident tonal facets.
This performance makes itself apparent on each track on the EP without a single break in sight. From the exhilarating and captivating intro track “Stalk” – which sees both Tgwog and Twoprxducers create the most optimal opening instrumental for a project like this – to the concluding, Peking-produced “Blowmeaway” and its slow, yet driving manner, 4am makes it a point to flaunt his one-of-a-kind presence on the mic by coming through with verses and hooks that only he could ever imagine constructing in the first place.
Even more baseline and standard tracks like “Headspace” and the Wifi and 30nickk-produced “Failed” benefit from their respective places in the tracklisting, as they work to balance out the project’s more upfront and direct offerings in the process. A perfect example of the opposite type of track here is the Kuru-assisted “Hocus Pocus,” which sees the two craft together two unique verses all to their own over the ideal instrumental produced by Ahtrent and Maxvon.
What all of these tracks end up accomplishing in the end is a plain and simple statement once it is all said and done: no matter what lane he finds himself in within this scene, 4am will outperform, outclass, and simply outdo anyone that stands next to him, and this sentiment is beginning to become more and more consistent with each successive piece of content he drops. It makes it even more apparent as well when he can do it for 6 straight songs as artfully as he did with this project in particular.
https://soundcloud.com/1vessel/sets/hallows-eve