Like blasts of sonar, the keys that open Rjd2's "Clean Living" let you know exactly where he's coming from with his upcoming sophomore album, Since We Last Spoke. Here, his sound shifts drastically away from the blaxploitation stomp and percussive bombast that made him underground hip-hop's biggest producer, and explores a deeper interest in the melodic interplay of non-traditional sounds and chopped synths. The weird ambience and stuttered drum bursts in evidence here could be the result of working closely with El-P, or an attempt to shake the DJ Shadow-itis that has stalked his career from the outset, but either way, this new sound is definitively his.

Subtle pacing, instrumental shifts, and changes in emphasis have always been trademarks of RJ Krohn's, but he's got new tricks as well. On "Clean Living", he continuously stacks a menacing roadrunner synth node, allowing the melody to jet across the drums like a train passing the girders of a bridge. While naysayers expected him to fall off after 2002's Deadringer reached such absurd levels of critical acclaim, "Clean Living" simply offers a shift in sound that, while creatively different from his older work, maintains a ridiculously high level of quality. With this impressive step back into the spotlight, Rjd2 proves he can dominate with both samples and synth.