It finally dropped. $not’s third and much anticipated studio album, ‘Ethereal’ was released last friday on all major streaming albums and it did not disappoint. This was his first major project since 2020 when he dropped ‘Beautiful Havoc’ and it was much different than its predecessor.
The first single to drop off the album was ‘Go’ , followed shortly after by ‘Doja’ featuring A$AP Rocky. Both songs had similar sounds and were energetic songs over a heavy bass, but this was a different side of $not that we didn’t see on Beautiful Havoc.
The album consists of 14 songs and while the intro started out with a slow guitar loop and singing, it quickly progressed to very different, bass-driven songs. A number of them really reminded me of Trippie Redd’s album ‘Trip At Knight’, with lots of synth carried melodies. 5AM, ALONE ft. Trippie Redd, Go, and Euphoric all had this same feel to it and seemed more melody than lyric driven. Meanwhile, songs like BENZO and Doja feel like the perfect hype songs to be blasting at a concert or music festival making the crowd go crazy. If you’ve been around the community you know I like to center on music that is lyrical and invokes emotion, and although most of these songs are not that vibe, there are a few really well put together songs on the album that fall under this category.
My World is the intro to the album and almost feels like a continuation of Beautiful Havoc. It’s a very slow song over a gentle guitar loop, and this gives $not the freedom to speak his truth and put his heart on his sleeve. It centers mainly on feeling sad and that feeling following him wherever he goes, uttering the words, “What you know about sadness”, and “Everywhere I go it’s a magnet”. Another song I really enjoy is BLUE MOON featuring Teddi Jones. Again, this is a guitar driven song which is more of a ballad about a girl he misses. He’s lost in his thoughts recounting good times and bad times they’ve had, but doesn’t know if he wants to go down that road again of make himself vulnerable. This is probably my favorite song on the album, being one of the most emotional songs he has written and I can’t emphasize enough how beautiful and relatable it is. Even the piano outro of the album is emotional, and sheds a more positive light on the heartbreak he’s experiencing saying “I’ll find you when it’s time/ When all our demons die”.
Overall, I really enjoyed the album and can’t wait to see how $not develops as an artist. It had a really wide variety of music on it perfect for every occasion. Wether you’re pre-gaming for a party or in your bag about someone, there’s definitely a song for you on the album.