WATER

 

It’s summer 2021, and Pompeiii wants you to stay hydrated. His sophomore album, Water, is like diving headfirst into a pool of melodic rhymes, finger-picked guitars, and glimmering beats that flicker against the Seattle summer sun. Produced by JABR Beats, Water drips with pulsating, atmospheric bangers built from the rising fire of the pandemic. The album pops off firecracking imagery so hot — check top track “Sun Down,” where passion explodes in jungle form — Pompeii titled it Water as a reminder to stay fluid and balanced. As he puts it, “the hotter it gets, the more water we need.” Finished cover to cover in three weeks, the album is a reminder not to fly too close to the sun (without bringing a water bottle). RIYL: The genre-smashing ethos of Lil Nas X and the confident, no-fucks-given, GRAMMY-winning attitude of Megan Thee Stallion.