An artist who gets to play a show the day that their album comes out might feel like a superstar athlete entering their first game of the season. There’s been a lot of build-up beforehand, there’s a lot of pressure to deliver, and you get to give fans a taste of what’s to come in the following weeks and months. When Don Toliver joined the rest of Cactus Jack for their Summer Smash set this past weekend, it became immediately clear that his new album, HARDSTONE PSYCHO, is a picture-perfect crowd-pleaser in the live setting. Bolstered by fiery singles like “BANDIT” and more vibe-inclined teasers, the project made impact as his most comprehensive, versatile, and well-rounded artistic picture up to this point. The live guitar for the Chicago festival represents just one of the various elements that make this record a pretty gratifying experience.
Whether you’re a longtime Don Toliver fan or a skeptical newcomer, HARDSTONE PSYCHO is well aware of the expectation to engage, captivate, and entrance on a sonic level. The production is almost always layered and balanced, the Houston native’s performances are as sticky as ever, and it’s all brought together by an aesthetic consistency that’s never appeared on a Don album to this level. It feels like a true sequel to the regal grittiness 2021’s LIFE OF A DON following the more sweet, soothing, and sluggish Love Sick in 2023. However, some empty spaces in the songwriting, plus slightly hollow lyrical and melodic retreads, threaten to take away from H.P.‘s cohesion. Luckily, no bump in the road fully stops this roaring Harley from throttling forward.
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HARDSTONE PSYCHO Roars Behind The Board
From the very first track “KRYPTONITE,” motors rev and a whistling synth lingers wistfully before the trap beat comes in with airy but distorted electric guitar chords. This, plus a longing plea for love and weakness in the face of chaotic and high-speed vices, set the stage for what Don Toliver does most successfully and consistently on HARDSTONE PSYCHO. The production is consistently layered, and main producers like 206Derek plus big names like BNYX make sure to give these instrumentals a lot of detail and make them atmospheric yet vivid enough to feel like a motorcycle ride. “TORE UP” is a hard-rocking adrenaline rush of boisterous riffs and chants, the lush strings breathe unexpected life into the drill chiller “GLOCK,” and “HARDSTONE NATIONAL ANTHEM,” with its stadium-inspired drums and rising synthesizers make for a dramatic closing response to the album’s opener. Overall, it’s always some potent ear candy.
Nevertheless, the comparison game between some of Don Toliver’s similar ideas does drag down the tracklist flow on repeat listens. Despite the creative drill flip of Pharrell’s hook on Snoop Dogg’s “Beautiful” and earworms on “ATTITUDE,” short appearances from Cash Cobain and Charlie Wilson aren’t enough to flesh out the minimal soundscape into something more wholly present rather than a mood-setter. Meanwhile, “LAST LAUGH” loses its soul-sampling luster by the midway point.
As far as the presentation from a beat-making standpoint, there are very few lowlights here that will disengage you from the push-and-pull of the 30-year-old’s contrasting talents, regardless of a few missteps. Still, there are more compromised and melancholy moments here than scorching ones, and the tracklist could’ve benefitted from a more energetic cut toward the end.
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Don Toliver Shines Bright
What keeps the energy up all the way through is Don Toliver himself, whose mastery of his idiosyncratic vocal tone, infectious flow switches, and catchy hooks pushes his ceiling further up. “4X4” is a standout performance here thanks to his dynamic delivery and being the last true-blue banger moment on HARDSTONE PSYCHO. He and Kodak Black flow like volatile but relentless gas leaks on “BROTHER STONE,” and his control of both clubby choruses and chopped-and-screwed-adjacent Southern rap on “NEW DROP” offers inescapable refrains. There’s also some great vocal chemistry with Future on the Metro-produced and psych-driven “PURPLE RAIN,” and even “DEEP IN THE WATER” has some addictive tones despite it being the most measured and tranquil performance on the album. Toliver’s most important growth here, as far as what this represents in his career, is his vocal experimentation and evolution of different “voices.”
Yet the lyrical content can be summed up with just two lines: “Lifestyle full of sin, but you heaven-sent,” and “Turn those tears into wine.” Don Toliver keeps the emphasis on the dreaminess and enjoyability of the listening experience, but there’s not much expansive food for thought when it comes to light themes of lust, hedonism, trust, and adventure. There’s a similar repetitiveness to some of the melodies here, such as a “Cardigan”-resembling “5 TO 10” hook, that empty spaces in verses, bridges, and songwriting certainly don’t help. Some more unexpected sounds and invitees could’ve mitigated this, such as an expansion of the charismatic and personality-filled Teezo Touchdown feature on “BACKSTREETS” and leaving Travis Scott’s “INSIDE” croons alone in place of doubling down with a more meager “ICE AGE” guest slot.
What’s Left On The Highway
Despite moments when HARDSTONE PSYCHO spins its wheels in the mud, it definitely triumphs in taking you on this sonic ride alongside Don Toliver and boasts plenty of highlights for the rest of your 2024 journey. While he built this new era with few new elements, his rock focus and vocal innovations pave a path forward for his artistry and hint at what’s to come. For the kind of album that the “Flocky Flocky” creative tends to make, this is likely his most skillful LP to date and the best display of his toolbox, even with its shortcomings. Fans found that the tendency to box artists into a specific niche became an easy challenge when it came to Don. Fortunately, this album left wiggle room to sustain himself and capitalize on the changes in his life and career.
Furthermore, the new father perhaps chose to split HARDSTONE PSYCHO into four evenly distributed discs for that very reason. It doesn’t work out to its fullest potential, since the album falls ever-so-slightly short of providing a seamless flow to distract from these sections’ overlap. But the strategy does lend itself to an explicit and, for the most part, fully realized vision to mark a distinct change from his earlier sounds and leanings. After all, one of the cuts on here features a vocal outro reportedly from Don Toliver’s late uncle Carl, who supported him heavily and inspired the motorcycle homages on this project. Don’s influences fall more clearly into place here, developing a unique identity despite years of opportunities for complacency. While there’s still a long road ahead in this regard, he’s keeping his foot on the gas to get there.
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