By Daniel Paiz

Stro Elliot’s La Villa is a reminder that instrumental albums should not be slept on. In our final A Week’s Worth album review of 2023, La Villa is front and center as all ten tracks inspires listeners to move, ponder, and live life. Only one song is longer than four minutes, leading to multiple plays for this listener. This November 17th, 2023, release clocks in at just over 34 minutes. Like many things in life, listeners will likely revisit and reflect on several of the tunes played in that half hour.

Stand Outs

It’s a bit harder to nail down stand outs on this project, primarily because lyrics and verses are usually the focus when writing about Hip-Hop albums. Without words the instruments played, sounds created, and moods developed are the main attention grabbers. Describing the song via listening notes is probably the closest thing to capturing this listener’s mindset, along with you listening to said track(s).

For example, “Lonely” and “Light Work” have an interesting juxtaposition. Below is the former track:

This one’s very reflective and does a solid job of getting the listener into a mood of pensive yet honest thought. Not too serious in that realm, but very ambient towards a moody and/or reflective mind state. Titled well, as it sounds as if it is devolving into a darker, rougher space. Then there’s a return to reflection as the chorus reapproaches. That riff that seems to be in a minor key of some kind builds the shift in harder times or larger challenges approaching. This last 30 seconds is done so well to round out the song.

All of the above is then followed by the latter track listed above, entitled “Light Work”:

The most illuminating of the tracks heard so far, this one has the makings of positivity building upon itself. That percussive tempo lays the fieldwork wide open for jamming riffs and groovy sounds. There’s an ease to it as well, likely done on purpose. That jazzy synth enhances things halfway through.

These two tracks aren’t seismically different, but subtly are headed in different directions. There’s an ebb and flow between tracks that reflects moments in a person’s day doing the same thing. That’s what makes this a welcome soundtrack for listeners of varying tastes across the musical board.

It is difficult to pick a favorite track on this project. However, the one that has the best groove to me would have to be the finale, called “Dream Factory”:

This one brings the tape to a natural end, and elicited numerous thoughts as it was replayed a few times; those listening notes follow. Appropriately titled, this one definitely has some lo-fi, late evening feels to it. Precisely timed piano keys press the sands of sleepy time onto the listener. It still jams, but at a reduced level, a tired and occasional head nod of sorts.

Those keys just past the halfway mark start to tuck the listener in, preparing them for the end of the record as well as the end of the day. Unwinding and relaxing Hip Hop are the crescendo of the project, giving listeners a nice ending to quite an enjoyable day of sounds. Few tracks tuck in a listener in such a genuine way.

Final Verdict

This project has a wide-ranging spectrum of feels and sounds. There are tunes here for nearly every part of the day and said jams reach a range of different emotions. No tune is too overpowering, and no sounds heard are underdeveloped. Each track sounds purposeful but in a daily life sort of way. This project is one that listeners will replay several times without thinking twice about it. That’s not to say this is background music, but rather attention-grabbing in a way that the listener chooses. Stro Elliot is a musical conductor to your life track for the day.

As the album winds down, I took the songs to be from sunrise to sunset, but everyone’s day is different when it comes to the moods heard here. “Light Work” for example could be a track that begins or ends someone’s day. “Lonely” could be the same thing timewise. Each track has a fluidity for the time of day it can exist in. Perhaps that’s why the album is called La Villa; all of these tracks live within the confines of one’s day, or more broadly, are housed within this thing called life.