Description

If Quelle Chris and Chris Keys’ Innocent Country 2 sounds like an antidote for a moment of surreal anxiety, the same could be said of it a decade from now. It’s an album best understand in a dialogue with the first volume of the series. Released in 2016, the initial Innocent Country focused on isolation, pessimism, and the notion of finding peace within pain. At a time when those feelings convey the mood of the moment, Quelle and Keys have responded with a soundtrack that offers soothing light in a bleak timeline. A hopeful record in a hopeless moment, precisely when it’s needed most. The cast of collaborators is as impressive as any record in recent memory. Earl Sweatshirt, billy woods, Homeboy Sandman, Pink Siifu, Cavalier, and Denmark Vessey all kick indelible laser-eye guide raps. Two of the funniest people on earth, Marcella Arguello and Josh Gondelman (a writer and producer on Desus & Mero) perform skits. Merrill Garbus of tUnE-yArDs, Starr Busby, and Melanie St. Charles contribute beatific hymns and eternal soul. Behind the boards, Keys channels the spirit of Dilla with a level of vitality and imagination that transcends the millions of bedroom imitators who think it’s only a matter of chopping samples with an MPC. The truth goes much deeper. – Mello Music Group

• full-length concept album produced by Chris Keys, feat. collaborations w  Earl Sweatshirt, Homeboy Sandman, Pink Siifu, Tune-Yards + more
• fuego brown marble colored vinyl
• single LP edition
• limited edition
• original release year: 2020
• music label: Mello Music Group 2022