Yung Lean, popular Swedish cloud rap artist, released his newest mixtape “Stardust” on April 8, 2022. This is his first full-length release since “Starz” in 2020 and his first mixtape since “Poison Ivy” in 2018. The spunky and unique mixtape has 12 tracks, starting off with the upbeat song, “Bliss” and ending with the melancholy “Visions.” 

On “Bliss,” Yung Lean has a feature from English pop artist FKA Twigs. Yung Lean’s older rap style and FKA Twigs’ vocals tied together the angsty feel of the project, the perfect start to the mixtape. 

On this release, Yung Lean has several features from the members of the artist collective Drain Gang. Thaiboy digital, a member of Drain Gang, and Yung Lean have an amazing duo dynamic, making the track “Starz2TheRainbow” beautiful by combining their equally unique rapping styles over a beat that could work for both of them.

Another Drain Gang feature enhances  the song “Summer Time Blood,” which not only features DG members Ecco2k and Bladee, but also boasts of  Skrillex’s production. On this song, Ecco2k supports Bladee’s rapping with beautiful background vocals, giving the classic Drain Gang feel. Yung Lean’s verse mixed with the Skrillex production make the song an instant classic.

Skrillex makes another appearance on the mixtape, producing the song “Lips.” This song, along with the track “Nobody Else,” show Yung Lean singing more than rapping, truly bringing his music to a different level. His singing comes across as very jarring, and the pitch changes erratically throughout the song. 

This issue causes some people to dismiss these songs as mediocre compared to his rapping. Instead, his singing should be seen as a great addition to the mixtape. We rarely see these vocals from him. Previous works, like mixtape “Poison Ivy” and album “Unknown Memory” are both well made, but fans will prefer “Unknown Memory” due to the heavy singing aspect of “Poison Ivy,” regardless of the quality of the project. He used his singing heavily on “Stardust” and it truly stretched the creative reach of the project that wouldn’t have been possible without it.

“Visions (outro)” brings a perfect close to the Swede’s newest album with its eerie and almost vampiric instrumental mixed with simple, clean, and straightforward lyrics. 

All in all, I see this album as something great. The way Yung Lean’s production has grown over time, especially since his last album, makes this a very impressive project. He utilizes the skills he’s always had and branches out to new ones with the same level of success. It’s clear the two-year wait was worth it for this album:  it’s clean and polished, and you can hear the amount of effort put into every single song. 

For a final rating, I would have to give it a perfect 10/10. Maybe that’s a result of personal bias to one of my favorite artists, but I truly feel everything he put into this album was perfect.