Illangelo

When Weeknd producer Carlo "Illangelo" Montagnese announced in July that he would be releasing his first solo LP, he quickly dispelled notions that it might be a batch of hazy, noir&B instrumentals by dropping "Crash Landing," a jittery, thumping track whose intermittent, drum-free drones left space to think amongst the sonic wreckage. While Montagnese's press release explains the album as a ten-chapter "cinematic electronic soundscape" intended to be experienced as a single opus, with one track that "takes place at a committee hearing where the board members attempt to piece together the escape of our protagonist, Prisoner #870729," it's hard to discern a narrative. Instead, History of Man sounds like an assortment of disconnected, but fascinating, ideas. The airy "One Dreamy Hum," aforementioned "Crash Landing" and throbbing grind of "The Haunting" are all interesting, but not mind-blowing, while tracks like "Seven Phases" and "Strange World" plod by and bounce around, respectively, without leaving much of a mark. While History of Man is a good record and an interesting listen, it isn't the grand statement Montagnese and fans alike hoped it would be.