Sylvan LaCue‘s 2014 release Searching Sylvan stands as one of the best hip-hop projects of the last few years. The incredible storytelling, deeply personal lyrics and overarching narrative made it both a personal and critically acclaimed favourite. Since it’s release a lot has changed, from his name (formerly QuESt) to his departure from Visionary Music Group and his personal relationships. The past year and a half has been a whirlwind and his latest project Far From Familiar encapsulates it all. The project encompasses an overarching narrative but from a different perspective than his prior work, “When people listen to these records, I want them to listen to it as they are right there with me going through what I am going through.” The resulting body of work is more about the emotional journey and experiences than the telling of each event.
One the most apparent changes from Sylvan’s earlier work is his transition into becoming a more well-rounded artist. The project sees him expanding his vocal range with new flows, a wealth of singing, spoken word and of course, some fierce bars. The production and resulting song structure is also his most experimental to date. “When you’re building from the ground up or building from scratch it’s kind of like the Matrix, where you become Neo. You are no longer fighting within the bounds of this world and having to set certain limitations and certain rules. We can go anywhere.” And they do go quite far. Standouts like ‘Cruel World’ and ‘Crosswinds’ have progression and disregard for typical song structure that would make Kanye proud. From beginning to end Far From Familiar takes you on an emotional expedition that serves as a worthy follow-up to Searching Sylvan while showcasing Sylvan’s evolution as an artist. Like most great work, it’ll take time and several listens to truly appreciate and evaluate but there’s definitely something special here. Stream the project below and grab it on iTunes.
