Elaquent, yet another talented young man from Canada – we’re finding quite a few of them on lesson6 – is someone that I’m going to be keeping an eye on. His love of retro video games and nerd culture is reason enough for me, but when you add his ability to create some smooth, laid-back instrumental beats, then I know I’m onto a winner.

His new album, Persona, is a very chilled affair with some great samples and a solid feel throughout. People have compared his sound to J Dilla, and I can hear it, but that’s far from a bad thing. He still does his own thing and carries his own style, which is really important.

The album starts off as it means to continue with a couple of really smooth tracks that use great mellow samples of soft vocals and chilled beats. “Shogun”s Orders” takes things in a different direction by sampling audio from old Samurai movies and manages to maintain that distinct sound  throughout the entire song.

The tone drops back down  when the soft beat of “Cloud 8″ kicks in, which is promptly followed by the brilliant “Mastered System”. Fans of old-school console gaming will love this track. From the old advert samples at the start to the 8-bit beat that still manage to fit with the vibe of the album. This trio of excellence is rounded off with “So Far. So Good”, a beautiful track with some great jazz piano samples.

“On The Rise” features vocals, which does not fit exactly with our ‘Instrumental Day’, but don’t worry, it’s cliche free. “Android Swagger” is another of my personal favourites and funnily enough it has an 8-bit feel to it again, and is even graced with some old cartoon samples. He really does have a talent with these beats, making them sound like something he created and not just rips from computer game soundtracks.

Elaquent alters the course yet again by stripping the sound down with “Ginseng” and then lifting it back up with “Childs Play”. Persona draws to a mellow close, mirroring the start of the album, and is rounded off with “sassy”; flutes, drums and sampled vocals are blended to create an interesting closer to a very interesting album.

The way in which Persona switches styles yet still retains it’s soul is impressive. It’s one of those albums that ends up ending before you know it, putting you in a place where you forget about the other noises in life and just enjoy the sounds that Elaquent is creating.