Bliss N Eso Are Back on the Grid

BLISS N ESO an Australian hip-hop trio have returned with their seventh album release, four years after the release of Circus in the Sky in 2013.

The new album “Off the Grid” complies 15 tracks that are each different in some aspect. Instead of creating a standard DJ track that features with similarities across all the tracks they have incorporated classical instruments such as violins, the flute, piano and guitars across several of the tracks.

Alongside this instrumental inclusion on the tracks, they have featured a few vocalists to the tracks enhancing the story behind the spoken word verses and give the songs a catchy hook to capture the listener.

The use of classical instruments and vocalists is not unusual for the trio as it is a theme in their previous albums most notably Circus in the Sky. This instrumental inclusion is a signature for Australian hip-hop groups, also included in Hilltop Hoods’ track “The Nosebleed Section.”

This incorporation of vocalists is not unusual in this genre of music, as it gives the listener something to sing along to allowing to connect with the music and can often help detach the listener from the content of the song if it strikes a particular chord with them.

Some of the tracks cover some quite heavy topics, like Eso’s struggle with alcohol addiction in lyrics like “you may see a happy chap, but not a recovering alcoholic,” in the track titled “Dopamine”.

The trio incorporated humour into the album with a skit track, used to transition into a lighter and soulful track.

Off the Grid and Circus in the Sky are continuation of development in their 2010 album Running on Air. Highlighting the continual development of the trio.

The album as a hole, evokes different emotions. Tracks like “1-800 Love Line” make you giggle and “Soul Glo” is fun to bop along too in your own grid. The album shows the development of the trio through their own struggles but still allowed me to go off the grid and avoid the world around me while I was listening. Bliss n Eso’s new album is an overall awesome listen and would recommend to anyone who enjoys the Australian Hip-Hop scene.

Bliss n Eso are playing at the ANU Bar on the 15/6/17.