IVAN AVE — All Season Gear LP

If there is a space in this place for a voice of this age, it’s still sealed in wax. Above the din of the noise a vocal appears, in calm reflection, it delivers a message of hope in a time of despair. Ivan Ave is back. A lot has transpired since we last heard him on a full-length project, there's a lot to ponder as we get into his latest LP, All Season Gear. On his 4th solo album, Ivan offers a glimpse into the various seasons he and his friends went through in the last three years. All Season Gear was recorded on highs and lows through a pandemic, through healing, falling in love and observing the chaos that is the hyper-textual information age. Lyrically an all-weather-proof record, breaking even with with a joie de vivre, backed by production from the likes of Sasac, Mndsgn, Like, DJ Harrison and Ivan Ave himself. The Norwegian rapper’s sixth solo release percolates between desperation and buoyancy, through a tide of beats, as Ivan taps into his signature observations. His lyrics are an astute surveillance that exploit the mundane in a pensive exploration, touching on hedonistic heights, with a constant focus on the beauty of the everyday. The Mutual Intentions mouthpiece breezes through a record of wistful sonorities brought together by the larger Mutual intentions collaboration. Keys swell and bass undulates, as the production convene on vintage aesthetics, repurposed for air-pod traveling. It extends the sonic palette of his last LP, Double Goodbyes, and plunges the sound deeper than ever before. Ivan Ave reinforces our vision of him as a voice for our time. A philosopher’s touch-stone in a world where the incongruous prevails over the sincere.