After releasing the well-circulated, greatly successful album Everything this past October, Lido hopped on tour to promote his new material. As we covered during a stop here in the Bay Area, Lido was equipped with an impressive live setup, taking over some of the most prestigious venues across the country. Now, after finishing up the Everything Tour, the young producer has once again teamed up with Santell to follow up their Passion Project series.
A slight departure from the solo sounds of Lido and a world away from the Jersey Club characteristics of Trippy Turtle, the duo have made clear in PPII that the success of the electronic R&B collaboration is no fluke. In fact, the genre is gaining some traction behind producers such as Mar and Full Crate as well. In Passion Project II, listeners get an earful of what the duo have been up to since the October 2015 release of PPI.
While continuing his reputation as a groundbreaking, unpredictable producer in regards to his sonic styles, Lido has maintained a deep tie lyrically devoted to Ashley Frangipane stretching back to 2013’s Battle Poetry. With multiple references to the artist known as Halsey throughout PPII, the project continues the concept album feel that dominated Everything. The opening track “Committed” sets the tone as a soulful, minimalist piece carried by the strength of Santell’s smooth voice. While lacking in dynamicism often present in Lido productions, the song delivers on the “passion” noted in the EP title.
The next track “Recruit” is immediately reminiscent of early works by the most popular musician of today – The Weeknd. Specifically, the cadence and tone of Recruit shows a mastery of roping an audience in with a hypnotizing arrangement and chorus. The closing track “Mariah/Say You Scared” is a multi-part song in the same vein as Frank Ocean’s “Nights”. Whereas most tracks are a single melodic piece “Mariah” features an underlying sensual vocal loop of Mariah Carey, followed by a beat breakdown nearly two minutes in, before becoming a vaguely familiar piano ballad and vocal harmonization. In a sly ode to previous producers, the second half of “Mariah” samples and covers the same track that inspired Sango & Waldo’s “Kobe’s Room” – titled “If U Scared, Say U Scared” by Static Major and Smoke E. Digglera.
In Passion Project II, Santell and Lido have given fans a handful of new tracks to satiate themselves between now and festival season. While Lido has not yet announced another summer tour, your Ninja writers eagerly await a chance to check out his latest material soon. Passion Project I and II are available for streaming on Soundcloud here and here.
