Review: Freedom Finger (Music from the Game) - Aesop Rock

I may have mentioned before on this blog my fondness for Aesop Rock. I think you’d struggle to find a rapper today who’s as talented as he is, and who consistently puts out material of such a high quality. It’s undeniable that his lyrical abilities are effectively unparalleled, and any fan of his will likely recognise him as being up there with some of the greatest. His latest release is rather different in terms of function, acting as the soundtrack for Freedom Finger, a newly released video game – and is presented as a 10-track EP, comprising of three actual songs, three instrumental mixes of those songs, and four short bonus beats.

The first is ‘Play Dead’, which immediately begins with some disconcerting synths; everything in this piece – the sounds, samples, lyrics – all seem designed to make one feel quite deranged, and this works exactly as planned. Aesop demonstrates his typical fantastic flow throughout this, as well as displaying his abilities as a producer too: there’s some interesting contrast between the different sections of the piece, and the beat during the chorus is absolutely solid. The next song, ‘KOWP’, then begins with a slow, rolling beat, which continues for the piece’s duration. Whilst this beat isn’t so engrossing itself, and could easily get stale after a while, the rapping is so outstanding that he maintains interest for the whole thing. Again, his signature, complex lyrics are presented here to their full effect. And then by far the best of the three tracks is ‘Drums on the Wheel’, whose fast, driving beat keeps the energy at the perfect level, feeling as though one is being pulled along, with the beat always remaining slightly ahead. Aesop’s rhymes continue to be unequalled, managing to pair words and phrases you never even realised could be placed together, whilst never making anything sound remotely forced. One could spend hours analysing his lyrics, and still not even determine a fraction of everything he expresses.

Following these three tracks we have the instrumental versions. Whilst these do seem slightly unnecessary, I presume that they feature heavily throughout the game, and so their inclusion is justified. ‘Play Dead’ is engaging enough, whilst ‘KOWP’ gets a little monotonous after a while – although there are a few things that I didn’t notice in the original version. ‘Drums on the Wheel’ however works perfectly, and indeed, could have been released as an instrumental and I’d still be as enthusiastic. The final four mini-beats are obviously not intended for individual listening, although I can imagine that they keep the game interesting, and can tell exactly the setting that each of them is trying to convey.

Overall, it’s a nice little release. I always love hearing new music from Aesop Rock, and this certainly doesn’t disappoint. All three tracks are great, and especially ‘Drums on the Wheel’, which I’d now place alongside some of his best songs. I’m keen to start doing some more reviews outside of the scene that I’m generally known for writing about, and I’m very happy for an EP like this to serve as the first of these. We could all do with plenty of new music in these trying times, and even if it’s just a few tracks as we find here, when they’re as good as these are, the perks are undeniable.