Scott Delta is a 24-year old artist from St. Louis, MO. Delta is a member of the art collective ENYU and often collaborates with other members of the group, such as artists ZiDiiL and Illmana. Her talent and musical ability knows no bounds– you can often hear the multihyphenate artist effortlessly gliding between skillful R&B-esque singing and charismatic rapping within the same verse, usually over instrumentals that she produced. Astral Trap shares these qualities, having been extremely prolific in the underground scene throughout this decade and the last as a rapper, producer, singer, and visual artist. Although much of his music has yet to break through to the mainstream, he is already a fully developed artist in a caliber of his own; it would be quite difficult to find someone that has put in the work he has, especially with the wealth of talent he possesses.

The two artists originally collaborated in 2022, releasing the single ‘Sea of Trees’, with Astral on vocal duty and Delta handling the production. Earlier this year, they dropped a song titled ‘Only Friends’ that sees them trading roles, with Delta showcasing her genre-bending fusion of rap and R&B over a luscious Astral Trap instrumental. ‘Only Friends’ was revealed to be the lead single of Summer of No Love, a full-length album from the artists that was released in July of this year. Summer of No Love is a breathtaking exploration of R&B, soul, and hip-hop, featuring vocals and production from both Scott Delta and Astral Trap throughout the length of the record. Their musical connection is palpable, with both artists proving their chameleonic ability to adapt to each other’s production as well as gracefully fusing their two styles on tracks like “Ancient Love Tomb” and “Nah Baby, I’m Yours”. The underground scene in 2023 rarely produces music– especially a full-length record– as well-engineered, thoughtful, cohesive, accessible, and polished as this album is. With their combined talent, however, they’ve set the bar higher than ever before.

Summer of No Love kicks off with the track ‘Cool Ha Temperature (Dirty Lemonade)’. A brief instrumental intro plays before the song drops into its catchy hook, leading directly into Astral Trap’s thrilling first performance on the LP. The instrumental is an immediate earworm; a filtered and chopped sample make up the melody, cut into different structures throughout different portions of the song. The rattling hi-hat rolls throughout each repetition of the hook ratchet the energy up before falling away, leaving room for Astral to deliver two top-notch verses that set the stage for the rest of the record. Switching roles for the next song, ‘Only Friends’ features vocals from Scott Delta and production from Astral Trap. I previously mentioned that Delta often sings, raps, and everything in-between throughout the length of a verse or song, and ‘Only Friends’ is a prime example of this, as she bends genre fluently over Astral’s entrancing instrumental. The repeated couplet of the hook is catchy as hell, and her verse is a master class in vocal control as she jumps and glides between different melodies and cadences during the length of it. However, the unexpected standout of the song is the outro. Throughout the last repetitions of the hook, layers upon layers of the artists’ voice make their way into the mix, recalling lines from Delta’s verse as well as lush, harmonic backing vocals. This is a beautiful display of Delta’s talent in mixing and arrangement– the elements of the outro never clash, each one as clear as day if listened for, all without drowning out the instrumental. The clarity of the outro with so many vocal runs going on is genuinely stunning, and ends the track on an incredibly high note, with much of the album left to go.

The next track, ‘Ice Cream Cake’-- featuring vocals from both artists as well as fellow Enyu member Illmana– is a soulful, uptempo track that sees the trio at their peak. ‘Ice Cream Cake’ opens with a hypnotizing sample chopped into a danceable melody. As the song is about to drop, Illmana enters the stage with gusto, immediately bringing a level of energy to the track that had not yet been heard on the record thus far. Her first verse is short but sweet, filled to the brim with clever one-liners (“I was at the bottom, now I’m getting topped off”) that are amplified by the strength of her explosive delivery. Astral Trap is on hook duty for this one, delivering similarly witty bars (“I keep a joint in my hand ‘cause it’s handy”) with a charming and catchy cadence. Directly after the first iteration of the hook, Illmana comes through with another solid verse, voice filtered, ratcheting the energy of the track back up before Scott Delta slides into the track with vigor. For a bit over half of Delta’s verse, she  belts out every single word in an inflected cadence, her infectious energy beyond measure before her delivery relaxes for the last few bars. An aside: the first time I heard ‘Ice Cream Cake’, I was so focused on Delta’s performance that it took me by surprise when I heard Astral jump in with “Stupid ass, Portland ass, hipster ass bitch!” As is the case with Illmana and Scott Delta on the song, Astral Trap’s verse is a grand display of clever lyricism delivered with mind-bending flows, switching comfortably between cadences while the verse remains cohesive. Following Astral’s incredible performance, Scott Delta makes another brief appearance on this song, her smooth voice contrasting tastefully with Astral’s rasp even if just for four more bars. Lastly, coming through with her longest verse yet, Illmana’s delivery on this is much more relaxed than her first two verses while retaining all of their lyrical strength, her flow never faltering from the first bar to the last. Illmana has one of the most standout performances throughout all of the project, dominating the intro, middle, and outro of ‘Ice Cream Cake’ with her infectious energy. 

Following the magnificent ‘Ice Cream Cake’, we arrive at ‘Tryin to See You’-- a soft, downtempo R&B-esque cut with serene vocals, all from Delta. Filtered synth stabs and strings, a hypnotic bassline, and subdued drums accentuate the silk-smooth vocal delivery from Delta throughout the length of the track. Her repeated croon of “I don’t even know what you do when you do it!” never gets old despite that single line being the focus of the song, as it is supplemented by lush backing vocals and clever arrangement, chopping her vocals and providing enough variation to make ‘Tryin to See You’ a satisfying work of art.

The outro of ‘Tryin to See You’ transitions smoothly into the next song, ‘Ancient Love Tomb’, a grandiose and soulful number featuring vocals from both lead artists. The charming chopped sample floating in the instrumental decorates the soundscape perfectly, the lush strings and tape saturation evoking feelings of introspection and nostalgia, even before the artists come in to tie it all together. The first voice you hear on the track, Scott Delta channels themes of regret and reflection throughout her verse, singing in a subdued cadence that makes her performance feel a bit more raw and even personal, especially in contrast to some of her more extravagant work on this album (see: ‘Ice Cream Cake’). 

Astral Trap takes the reins, pursuing a more melodic delivery on this track, complete with vocal harmonies and a series of captivating cadences. The artist recounts a budding romantic interest marred by feelings of uncertainty and unrequited interest, a topic that tugs at the heartstrings– we’ve all been there. Often hard to put into words, Astral manages to synthesize these feelings into a fantastic, heartfelt verse, putting his versatility on display as well as giving a more personal look at the goings-on of his life and love. Delta appears once more on ‘Ancient Love Tomb’, beginning her final verse in the aforementioned smooth delivery before breaking away to dive into the hearts of every listener, delivering a spectacular outro whose vocal melody sounds like a blend of ‘00s R&B and Blonde-era Frank Ocean. It feels like Delta is squeezing every last drop of emotion from her soul and funneling it all into her powerful presence and belted bars. The song ends with a graceful series of melodic phrases– which are catchy on their own, honestly– before it is capped with a radio DJ-esque transition followed by another appearance of the NOLV Radio tag. The radio/DJ motif throughout the album is interesting– it’s not the kind of project that I tend to hear these types of tags and transitions on, but they still fit well and never disrupt the flow of the project, enhancing the experience of the listening to the album as a whole.

Next in the queue during this NOLV Radio broadcast is a song titled ‘Identical Whores’, featuring Astral Trap and ZiDiiL. ZiDiiL, like Scott Delta and Illmana, is an artist and producer with the collective Enyu and the last founding member remaining in the group. Produced by Scott Delta, ‘Identical Whores’ steps away from the soulful R&B influence weaved throughout much of this project, trading the energy of ‘Ice Cream Cake’ and the harmonies of songs like ‘Tryin to See You’ for more traditional hip-hop stylings. It’s a relaxing cut from the album with stellar performances from both artists; I can imagine myself blunt-cruising down the highways of my home state, mind at rest with vibrato-tinged chords and catchy bars playing through the speakers. The drums are filled with rattling hi-hats, knocking kicks, and plasticky cowbells; there are crystal-clear trap elements, but between the drum samples chosen and the laid-back synth melody, ‘Identical Whores’ resembles an innovative take on Memphian proto-trap more than an exploration of modern trap. Some of ZiDiiL’s vocal mixing adds to that lo-fi aura, with some high-end scratchiness and a heavy coating of reverb present throughout their verse, although never at the cost of clarity. Whether or not intentional, it still creates an interesting listening experience and does not negatively affect the cohesion of the album despite the sonic differences. Both featured artists deliver amazing verses, and the song acts as a pleasant palate-cleanser before the genre-fluid experimentation of ‘Everything Is’. 

The commanding voice behind NOLV Radio once again makes an appearance, introducing us to ‘Everything Is’, an ethereal ballad from Scott Delta. Ambient chords drenched in effects are the first elements to come into play, with an arrangement of swinging drums acting as the rhythmic base for Delta’s verse. Delta begins her verse rapping, making the most out of the room in the sparse drums with her acrobatic flow, jumping from pocket to pocket with each bar. After a brief but strong few bars, she transforms the last two words of her verse into a sort of bridge, chanting “Gettin’ stuck, gettin’ stuck, gettin’ stuck, gettin’” in a near-whisper. The briefest of pauses occurs before she reappears, voice soaked in reverb that’s almost louder than the dry vocals, as she begins to croon. Between the airy chords, the echoing drums, and her vocals, the latter half of this song makes me feel like I’m in a cathedral. It is an incredibly grand piece that finds strength in pure emotion, with each element of it entrancing in their own right. ‘Everything Is’ inspires awe in spite of its simplicity, benefitting from the minimalist arrangement as the echo of Delta’s vocals fill the stereo field, occasionally obscuring her words but never the feeling behind them.