The Best Music You’ll Hear Today: Kasi’s Eightball
I thought I was done writing about music from 2020. I told myself, “Alright, let’s focus on 2021.” Then I discovered Kasi and his album Eightball. The New London performer and producer ANTISXIAL put together a project that is nothing short of a work of art, and if you don’t stop what you’re doing and listen to it right now, you are doing yourself a disservice.
“Extraction,” Eightball’s opening track, is like a flower with multiple blooms. It begins with the soft hum of an organ, before a little jingling percussion is introduced. Then… the saxophone. You won’t be ready for it, but really, it’s exactly what you want. Let that woodwind fill you sails, because you’re about to go on a musical journey. That’s only the first bloom. The next, is our star Kasi. Immediately, his voice exudes feeling and passion. Right away, the mind goes to a Nostalgia, Ultra or Channel Orange era Frank Ocean. His voice is rich and fills the cavernous beat with the warmth.
Then you make it to the 3:03 mark, and we’re met with another blossom. The bass drops and Kasi switches into high gear. He speaks confidence, joy, maturity, and thankfulness. The track feels like a prayer, flooded with grandeur. The best part? It’s only the first song. There are still seven more.
“Runnin’ Me Dry” carries a completely different vibe. Kasi’s voice is still the center piece, but this time, over a casually cool production. Keyboards and a lazy guitar set the stage while Kasi croons about the sometimes exhausting work of holding onto love. He is a great writer, with wisdom that belies his age. This really begins to reveal itself as he describes the duality of passion: the love and the fiery struggle it that can come with it. At this point, you start to realize that this is a talented young man with immense possibilities.
With the sound of a late night at the beach after a hazy July day, “The Love Frequency” feels like a young, careless night of two open hearts staring at the stars while they discover each other. It’s exciting and intoxicating, finite and ever fleeting, but nourishing. These are the kind of nights that happen when you have the thrust of youth and an independent spirit behind you. Kasi sings about the conflicting desire and needs people have, perfectly encapsulating the push and pull of connecting with someone who is ultimately not interested in love.
As Kasi moves to Eightball’s midway point, he again gives listeners a stylistic change. “Through It” resembles an RnB track from another era. Although it’s ultimately a song about a relationship’s betrayal, Kasi partners with Tee to create a song with a warmth that we haven’t seen yet.
“Through It” pairs well with “Close 2 U,” Eightball’s final track. “Close 2 U” shares the same sense of warmth and closeness, and shares the same form as an RnB song from 15 or 20 years ago, showing the wide and impressive scope of Kasi’s talent. “Close 2 U” takes a different tact however, exploring the resiliency and support that comes love. While his mind races, while the walls close in upon him, he can find peace with his partner.
“Death Wish” marks a return to the singer’s “conventional” sound. Of course, there isn’t really anything conventional about Kasi, which is why we love him, and he continues his experimental mixing of genres. Just shy of the halfway mark, the tides change and a howling guitar emerges, eventually giving way to a solo fit for an 80s hair metal band. Finally, the song returns to its vast and spacious origins where synthesizers bring us home.
Does your food taste better? Are colors brighter? Are people nicer? Birds delightfully… chirpier? You my friend, might be newly in love. “New Earth” takes these feelings and sets them to music. It’s a metaphor Have you ever had a change in mindset that shifted how you feel about reality? Like there’s a whole new world of possibility? “New Earth” takes these feelings and sets them to music. It’s a metaphor for seeing and experiencing the world differently, as if Earth has become a different planet all together. The bass is heavy but the rest of the beat is light and airy – like zero gravity. ANITSXOCIAL finds great balance on this one, as he’s done throughout the entirety of Eightball. I feel like I’m floating outside of the International Space Station, seeing the Earth bathed in sunlight for the first time.
“Eightball sounds like the future but features elements that tie it in to the past and play with genre. It’s hard to put into any particular box, because it’s tastefully out of the box. ”
“Abstract” pulls us back to Earthly pleasure and desire. Feeling indulgent Kasi wants some time with his partner, continuously singing “wish I had some time alone witchyuh.” A “business man when I’m in those thighs,” he promises pleasure for everybody on this one. It seems there might be some carryover from “Runnin’ Me Dry” where the object of his affection might not always be so keen. “You just want the stars to align/Maybe then we can spend some time,” he sings. This is definitely one you can put on come Valentine’s Day if you’re feeling spicy.
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Eightball, more generally, is a sexy album you can play anytime you’re in the mood to get down, or if you’re feeling hot with your partner. It’s an emotion tugging, thought provoking project with excellent production. Eightball sounds like the future but features elements that tie it in to the past and play with genre. It’s hard to put into any particular box, because it’s tastefully out of the box. Listen to it when you’re feeling introspective. Listen to it when you’re feeling like the hottest thing going. Pour some wine, find someone to slide up next to, and let it run. However you decide to listen, you won’t be disappointed.
Kasi’s Eightball is available via your favorite streaming platform.
Michael Stroneski, editor at mvsicthovght, has started several blogs and multi-media projects you’ve never seen. He is a life-long cheerleader for Connecticut and underground music. You can reach him at contact@mvsicthovght.com.