If there's one thing which unites members of the surprise album club, it's that quality control levels are always remarkably high. Like Beyonce and D'Angelo, Drake's new album is more than just a stop-gap release to bide time until the next scheduled album, Views From the 6, later this year.
If You're Reading This, It's Too Late is a fine, worthy successor to the sad-eyed, downbeat, introverted range Drake explored with some skill on Nothing Was the Same and Thank Me Later.
The mood may be gloomy and low-lit – producers Noah "40" Shebib and Matthew "Boi-1d" Jehu Samuels provide the handicraft for these soundscapes –but tracks like Madonna, Jungle, Know Yourself and Star67 have the melancholic stirrings, intense wistfulness and blue-tinged density which draw listeners closer.
For something sparky, check out Energy, with Drake taking aim at life online, between moaning about having to pay his mortgages which amount to $30 million. No negative creative equity here.
