On GRIP, R&B and electronic songwriter serpentwithfeet aims to draw a throughline between the club and the bedroom. The Baltimore-born songwriter unites the feeling of closeness, community, and catharsis that exists in both spaces, building a sonic template inspired by rap and R&B production from the early 2000s to create this cohesion.
Whereas serpent’s 2021 LP DEACON was filled with ballads — odes to love and love lost — the songs here are more sultry and personal. GRIP consists of reflections instead of memories. Deeply personal and yet endlessly inviting, serpentwithfeet shows a deft ability to make the communal seem like a whisper between lovers and a shared secret inclusive to everyone.
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Though the record isn’t as electro-tinged as past serpentwithfeet albums, the songwriter also known as Josiah Wise begins the record with a club-ready banger. “Damn Gloves” features Ty Dolla $ign and Yanga Yaya and accents the more sexually charged aspects of the record. “Kiss you longer, longer than a opera,” serpent sings before adding: “I don’t need no weed/ I don’t need no liquor/ I just wanna keep grind grindin on my n-gga.”
The album is almost divided between moments of love and lust, with Wise moving back and forth between what he desires. In this sense, the two locations of the album — the club and the bedroom— act almost as opposites. In one, ecstasy and hedonism reign, in the other, deep connections and complex feelings loom large.
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“Spades” sounds like it could have been featured on a Justin Timberlake album in the mid-2000s; the drums have that signature Timbaland knock. On the cut, serpent croons: “Loved you since I was 17 years old/ I’m not ashamed that these feelings won’t go.” These feelings turn into statements of gratitude as the singer adds: “So glad life ain’t turn you to stone/ Got a new zip code/ But boy, you still feel like home.”
Elsewhere, serpentwithfeet trades in these intimate recollections for delightful narrative driven slices of life. On the Mick Jenkins-assisted “Black Air Force” he cues up another early 2000s R&B beat, big dawging an anonymous friend, lover, or simply anyone looking for some positive affirmations. “Got everybody in your pocket/ I’m hoping that you clocked it/ You’re not broke if your spirit ain’t/ Pants might be torn but your heart ain’t,” he spits.
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Whether singing for a lover down in the dumps or a fan 3,000 miles away, everyone deserves to have a champion like serpentwithfeet. On GRIP, the singer-songwriter has a voracious appetite to be loved, but equally apparent is his capacity to give love, too. This is an album of romance and sexuality, but in these general terms is a symphony of emotions and feelings. serpentwithfeet has an unbridled want to love, however, he wishes to be celebrated and not judged for these desires.
RELEASE DATE: February 16, 2024
RECORD LABEL: Secretly Canadian
Listen to GRIP below:
