Estuary is not an easy hip hop album, but it’s one that rewards repeated listens. I can’t say I would have seen those rewards in this over-inundated music culture, but I offered to review something on Th’ Mole’s label and I wanted to see it through. And I have to say, I’ve got no regrets. StapleMouth spits deep, existential truths at a rapid pace. It will take a while to parse them out. They cover aspects of StapleMouth’s soul and get at heavy spiritual truths and existential struggle. StapleMouth says, “Estuary to me is about allowing change and learning to exist between what was and what currently is. My life went from white to black... I’m the complete opposite of who I once was.” This is glaringly apparent. It’s also a timely album. While deeply personal, Estuary seems to speak of the current world, a dying planet, and the oppression and heaviness over us all. Th’ Mole seems to have no desire to ingratiate himself with the casual listener with his production, but his dark, discordant beats and jarring scratches with no hooks to pull you in is perfect for the brooding rhymes that StapleMouth spits. Th’ Mole is the man behind Weird Rap, a label and podcast that makes room for outsiders and the disenfranchised in, as what he calls, “the age of half-baked fast food rap.” Also in resistance to that, he spent a year throwing the beats down on this album. The results are nothing short of profound and heady. Estuary is a ponderous, heavy album. Put it on and give it time to sink in. –Craven Rock (Weird Rap)