Earl Sweatshirt Is Back Again With 'Solace,' A Beautiful 10 Minute Mini-EP

There's a certain bravery behind Solace, the new 10 minute mini-EP (or is it rather one extended track?) from Earl Sweatshirt. It's a woozy, meandering piece of work that leans on itself--a patchwork of pianos and drum fills tucked amongst tape static and reverb. Solace was uploaded by Earl to Youtube only hours ago and its terse description--"music from when i hit the bottom and found something"--is perfect in its vagueness.

According to statements made in an NPR interview, Solace was made with his mother in mind. "So, like, yeah. I got one though. I'm sitting on one. We set up a studio at my house and I did a little project real real fast. It's called Solace. And that, I'm just sitting — it's more for my mom."

The "one through" Earl is referring to is his new LP I Don't Like Shit, I Don't Go Outside, which just released in late March to widespread acclaim from fans and critics alike. Now, with Solace, Earl has pushed even deeper into the isolation aesthetic that ruled his last release. As its final minutes play out in a series of dim repeating drum patterns, upright bass and keyboard motives, one gets the sense that Earl truly did intend for it to be a personal gift to his mother--something she could put on and enjoy, precious to her on account of who made it.

But we are the luckiest recipients of Solace, now that it's been sent out into the world like a helping hand held out in earnest. "IF YA SOUL INTACT LET ME KNOW," Earl tweeted just as it was uploaded. Listen to it in full below and see if you can keep it together.