5th studio album from skrillex. very experimental and “i dont give a fuck, heres some weird shit and also some shit you were asking for, im just trying stuff” typa stuff. prior to the album’s release he dropped 3 tracks as singles. Duro (Apaga La Luz ID), Smoke (Killers ID), and Thistle.

thoughts

”this album is kinda…”

when i first heard this album (the second it came out in my region btw) i was… a little disappointed. before listening to it, it was available in other parts of the world before me (for example nz) and it was also on the bassland telegram which i didnt know about at the time, and the skrillcord discord server was talking about how underwhelming it was and how everything was all over the place, and how some songs didnt fit at all. and ALOT of people were flaming the album cover for looking off and… not exactly like a skrillex album cover. have a look at it. it looks really edgy and random. like, i can see why people have this opinion.

i honestly couldnt believe people were flaming it before i listened to it because, it couldnt be THAT bad right??

right...?

so after my 1st listen of the album, i actually understood the criticism from everyone, and lowkey agreed with it. yes there were some absolute BANGERS but it felt like it was thrown together at the last minute. i gave the album another listen and was still a little dissapointed, then i went to bed because it was 2am.

”actually nvm this is super good”

throughout that day i listened to it about 7 times total. and i can tell you, my opinion DRASTICALLY changed from what it was before when i finished my first listen on release day at 1am.

im writing this on 7/6/26 (2 days after release) at 1:30am and i can tell you this is genuinely a great album. yes its different. yes its very experimental. yes its not like what skrillex usually sounds like. but atp he’s just releasing because he can and he’s free from his 15 year contract with atlantic records. in fact, after this album dropped he sent a dropbox link to everyone on his email list that contained a .zip of the .wav files for each song. its actually insane this man is just giving us music for free.

so yeah anyways, back to my thoughts on the actual album. yeah, its not perfect but it works. its not meant to be the best thing in the world. its basically meant to be skrillex trying stuff out and experimenting. there were some interesting choices that were made in terms of song order, album cover, and… vocalists. but im 99% sure thats the point. normally skrillex and other adjacent producers put emotional/happy ending stuff at the end of the album—but this time he did something different. yeah, Duro is pretty happy ending type, and its the second last track. the last song is actually (what most people have been calling it so far) a modern version of Doompy Poomp. in other words, a troll song. that kinda pissed people off because the vocals (Naisa and BEAM) sound so out of place and silly and annoying. i think its a fun little track. not something i would play in front of anyone to introduce them to skrillex but i guess its a little blooper/bonus track type of thing (so maybe Duro was the last song in a sense.)

and also, people hating on Tranki? yeah nah that song is actually great. Vocals are questionable and sound off but thats literally what the track is trying to do. plus the second half of the song is actually brilliant. not the best song on the album but still super duper good. i kinda hated it when i listened for the 1st time but i guess it just grew on me.

on top of that, alot of people were saying Scut 2 feels out of place. yeah, im gonna agree on that. coming right in the middle of Noche Without You and Cheeni, its a little weird to put there, considering those two songs are the sorta happy ending/emotional type i was talking about earlier. people were (yet again) complaining that it wasnt the original Scut ID, but a bootleg from this guy called “rom”. honestly? i really dont give a fuck. just be grateful he’s actually putting out music bro. the track is riddim that tickles my brain, and it sounds off and wonky but ITS SO SO GOOD??? yeah i dont really like where it was put on the tracklist (again, probably intentional… but whatever), but as for the song itself, yeah nah this absolutely slaps.

oh does it stop? people were talking about how La Noche 2 “adds nothing to the album” dude actually shut the fuck up, its a beautiful track and a buildup to Anybody. this was the same La Noche 2 skrillex emailed out to his list a while ago. just shut up and enjoy the song dude

Pente Rala was kinda in the middle—no one was hating on it but no one was really talking about it either. yeah, its a good track. i like the flutter bass and the catchy prechorus lyrics. its approved

É o Bonde was literally La Noche 1.5. just listen to it. very similar groove. people were saying it was a generic house track but i think it slaps honestly. the saws do a good job at adding filth to the song. also shoutout RHR bro has been cooking lately

many people were talking about how Anybody was different to the trap drop in the demo played live. ah yes, another case of demoitis. i hadnt actually heard the demo (or that particular drop) prior to listening to it but dude, they changed it up a bit and made it seem fresh. its a bumpy and filthy little track and i love it, its the perfect buildup and closing before Duro plays.

do i even need to talk about the other songs? Duro, Smoke, Soma, Noche Without You and Cheeni. holy shit. Soma (also known as POOSHA, nitepunk ID or Crisis Theme) is the best track on the album, hands down. this was actually the first skrillex ID i was genuinely invested in. it sounded so fucking good live and it sounds even better as an officially released and properly mastered song. he kept everything the same, apart from some of the DJ smokey vocals made for UMF 2025 (it was an open to his set). im glad he did keep some form of those vocals in there, for example the “lets g-” before the second drop—in this final song it sounds glitched out towards the end but you can still tell it was that vocal.

but yeah, Soma… i genuinely have no words. this may or may not be like top 5 skrillex tracks of all time if not top 3. wow.

Smoke is also just insane. im addicted to that percussion bass like a drug. holy shit

Duro is just hands down so good. the vocals, the melody, the buildups. it sounds like something you would 100% play at a party and people who arent into bass music would love it.

Noche Without You… woah. many people were saying this was the best song on the album for them and i can 100% see why. very nice and chill melody, and the singing from Feid is top tier. Its basically a chill male version of Duro.

Same deal with Cheeni. the song has very similar structure and sound of the Kora EP which was dropped not long ago. listening to this feels like floating in the air. its so creamy. yeah, it has no drums but its really nice to listen to.

i realised i havent really talked about Thistle. I feel like its placement on the tracklist is a bit weird (right after Soma, the opener). but its a good track. some chill house to set the tone yk.

the album cover

yeah, im gonna agree. this album cover is weird. it feels very off, and its a bit underwhelming compared to the blue ill logo skrillex had as his pfp everywhere that we all thought was the cover for the upcoming “CONTRA” album. but if you take a step back and look at the entire album… it kinda suits it. it features the back of a shaved head (no idea who this is, its definetly not sonny) with the iconic “ill” logo as long hair on the shaved bit, which makes it standout. idk dude its hard to describe. yeah its not really pleasant to look and its off but thats kinda the point. it looks like a random photo someone random would have on their phone lol. i guess its meant to make you uncomfortable, like literally every skrillex music video ever made.