The Roots

"There's a new bad moon on the rise," Roots emcee Black Thought announces on "Here I Come"'s opening verse, and this sense of dread pervades the album. Black Thought's gravely voice has affected a bluesy growl, and his workmanlike technical mastery has slipped, making him seem more human. And his ambiguity -- towards hip-hop, politics and personal relationships -- oftentimes bubbles over into genuine paranoia. "Watch who you put your trust in," the emcee quips on "Don't Feel Right." The music, meanwhile, is predictably funky prog-hop, dark and ambitious.