WOMAN GIVES BIRTH TO TOMATO!

After a string of decent at best electronic experiments that never really grew into something truly great to me, Woman Gives Birth to Tomato proves to be an incredibly refreshing listen. You can still hear some of Omar's interest is messing around with synths throughout this, but this is primarily a frenetic jazz album that borders on free jazz at points, with these electronic elements acting more as a way to add further texture to the tracks as opposed to being the driving force. It's not just a case of it being refreshing and novel either, it's just a great album in general, taking a lot of clear inspiration from artists such as Ornette Coleman and then mixing in some colder, more abrasive elements to it all to create this messy, futuristic experience that walks the line between nightmarishly intense and gorgeously passionate. Stuff like this is why I continue to stick with going through the discography of ORL even after a string of albums I don't feel especially strongly about, because you get stuff like this that ends up being so exciting and surprising all throughout, with each dull moment feeling wholly temporary before you get something truly amazing thrown your way.