The Internet: Hive Mind (2LP) [COLUMBIA]

Why you'll love it

Hive Mind spreads across four sides in this 2LP set, with a digital download included. It scored 83 on Metacritic, and NME gave it five stars, calling it a towering demonstration of collective intelligence.

This edition

• 2LP set
• Download card included

About the album

After a few years of solo projects, everybody in The Internet came back to the group with something new in their pockets. Syd had her solo album, Steve Lacy had his bedroom-recorded demos and a growing name as a guitarist, Matt Martians and Patrick Paige II had their own records, and Hive Mind is what happened when they pooled it all.

"Roll (Burbank Funk)" rides a slinky bassline and a sample of Gaz's disco tune Sing Sing, "Come Over" is soft and sultry, with a video that marked Syd's debut as a director, and "La Di Da" is pure summer bounce. The New York Times praised the way the band melds hand-played parts with loops and samples so that everything feels analog, the bass lines dragging and pulling against the beat. Lacy's guitar is everywhere, Christopher Smith keeps the grooves loose, and "Come Together" and "Hold On" bookend the album with real warmth.

Exclaim! said there were no weak links, from the production to the songwriting. Five people, one hive and no arguments about the thermostat, as far as we know.

Also at Kops: more The Internet on vinyl · browse Hip Hop / R&B

Tracklist

Listen

On Columbia (cat# 19075861921), the 2018 album.