Chasing Summer is the third LP From Top Dawg Entertainment artist, SiR. Since signing to TDE in early 2017, the Inglewood singer has been busy releasing two EP’s and his second studio album November. While November was a solid album, there was room for growth artistically. On Chasing Summer, SiR takes that leap coming through with a mature, smooth soundtrack for the end of Summer.
Chasing Summer kicks off with the lead single “Hair Down” with label-mate Kendrick Lamar.
The dark, spacey instrumental accompanies SiR’s vocals well. The song has a cool psychedelic vibe. Kendrick adds an entertaining guest verse where he is talking to a potential lover changing voice inflections multiple times with some funny lines:
“Calabasas’ ain’t the move that’s where everybody live” and passionately singing about how he’s sweating out edges. On the following track “John Redcorn” SiR delivers one of the best vocal performances on the album. His voice adds plausibility behind the sweet neo-soul instrumental as he sings about a struggling relationship.
This album boasts great production. The funky chord progression on “LA Lisa” is phenomenal, while tracks like “Fire” have a cool mix of soulful guitars paired with trap drums making the song appropriate for a turn up or something to vibe to in the background.
The song ‘Mood’ has a very pop-like sound, Zacari’s simple but catchy hook makes this track another potential single.
There are a few standout guest appearances throughout the project. Smino has a great verse on “LA Lisa” and Sabrina Claudio teams up with SiR on the sexy ballad “That’s Why I Love You”. Jill Scott is great on “Still Blue” as well. I felt every featured artist had a decent contribution with the exception of Lil Wayne on “Lucy’s Love”. No memorable lines paired with a lazy auto-tuned performance just felt meh.
Chasing Summer—in my opinion—is one of the best produced albums of 2019 and a very easy listen at 45 minutes of run-time. I would definitely recommend and I certainly would consider it a candidate for Album of the Year.
Favorite Tracks:
- John Redcorn
- That’s Why I Love You
- Mood
Least Favorite:
- Lucy’s Love
Score: 9/10