Alex

Swami Sound’s second EP feels like a bedroom pop sunrise rave – both hooky and hypnotic. The first three tracks explore this combination in depth while the last track, “Lower Kabete,” brings a welcome change of pace and centers on Swami’s voice. The standout track for me on It Is What It Is is “Mad Ting.” I simply love the groove that gets built and the breakdown towards the end is one of my favorite moments on the EP. While the features are well placed, I do wish that Swami’s voice was at the forefront of more of these songs. I’ll definitely be returning to this project in the future.

Mary

His cheeky sexy vibe definitely feels Euro. I usually love cheeky sexy as a genre but this doesn’t have the sense of humor that I look for. The lyrics are too serious to fit the ‘cat call whistle’ sound bit. Doesn’t even come a little bit close to Blood Orange’s 2013 banger ‘It Is What It Is’...so it's curious that he chose the same name.

Dillon

Initially some of the hooks hit me as a bit repetitive and the features a bit out of place. Despite that, I kinda love It Is What It Is, it’s got this pervasive chillhop-y, house-y, and super atmospheric vibe that I really dig. Swami Sound evokes the serene calm of a taxi ride down some highway to someplace cozy to deal with an impending hangover.

Andre

A little bit of trip hop, a little bit of house, a whole lotta bass. I don’t know why, but these songs have, like, a London feel to them. I couldn’t tell you why and I don’t think it’s all that rational or logical to think that, but it does. Not sure how I feel about this one, it’s okay but I don’t see myself going back to it.

Sean

A tight collection of songs for the summer season. First full listen I had was when I was driving to and from the beach which seemed to fit the mood. I found myself more interested in the songs that leaned more on percussion/vocals than anything else. Stand out track for me was “Lower Kabete”. If there were more tracks on the release that had that vibe I think I would have liked it a lot more.