Stanisland Magazine

Aesop Rock’s latest hip-hop album is a stripped-back work of wordy music

Last updated: 3rd November 2025

Aesop Rock is back — and sooner than expected — with a new album titled I Heard It’s a Mess There Too, a release he describes as a “reset”.

In May, the technical rapper dropped Black Hole Superette, an album that was widely and critically acclaimed, once again showcasing his trademark, anti-gravity lyricism.

What You Need to Know

The vocabulary beefcake is known for his triple—sometimes—quadruple entendres, with a flair for relaying what he observes in his everyday life. This time is no different.

I Heard It’s a Mess There Too drops as a surprise release ,with no formal marketing roll out—just straight distribution with no hype or build-up.

The 12-track album is entirely self-produced by the artist, and leans into a idiom he says he often repeats in conversation. In a press release, the rapper commented on his process and how he wanted to try something new: “I’d been building tracks the same way for many years,” … “but I made a conscious shift in my process here. I tried out some new tools and attempted to make my beats cleaner, more minimal. The drums are more stripped back, the bass lines are allowed to just sit, without layering ten things on top. I didn’t want the beat and the vocals competing for attention—I just wanted enough to get a wave rolling and not much more, just setting a mood I could move to.”

Sonic Profile

Each track bears the classic blade of Bavitz rhymes, with a hollowed-out mechanism fit for both boom-bap heads and hip-hop lovers seeking something different.

This project is a serious soundtrack where the rapper holepunches into a classic Rock motif and flounders not.

With organ inputs and an array of denser basslines, there’s a sense of minimalistic space and limited layers, which assists the delivery of his rhymeschemes with purpose.

His modus operandi still rocks the same way—an aversion to conformity with a pinch of Day of the Tentacle thrown in to taste.

Check out our quick-fire review.

Full Tracklist

• Crystals and Herbs
• The Cut
• Full House Pinball
• Bag Lunch
• Spin to Win
• Opossum
• Oh My Stars
• Potato Leek Soup
• Pay the Man
• Poly Cotton Blend
• Call Home
• Sherbert