De La Soul review: Cabin in the Sky – a full-color celebration of Trugoy the Dove that never feels heavy | de la soul

CAbin in the Sky, De La Soul’s tenth album — and first since the death of founding member Trugoy the Dove, AKA Dave Jolicoeur, in 2023 — is, loosely speaking, a concept album about death and the afterlife. Giancarlo Esposito’s spoken-word intro prepares you for something heavy, but you’re immediately reminded, of course, that this is a De La Soul album: it sounds practically impossible for their brand of spare, always sunny vocal plunder to feel like a drag. Yuhdontstop’s lush strings deliver an album that’s always rendered in fully saturated, technicolor tones: from Natalie Cole’s soulful sample in Will Be to Maseo’s playful, joyful laughs that open Cruel Summers Bring Fire Life!!, Cabin in the Sky feels warm and rich in vitamin D, a tonic for the cooler months.

For the most part, the topic of the afterlife seems to have been taken up, most likely after Trugoy’s death; The album still showcases his vocals, and most of the songs on the album fit squarely into De La Soul’s already well-established surreal world. (Patty Cake, a standout, reinterprets classic schoolyard anthems, a conceit that hadn’t already been done on a De La Soul record.) However, Cabin in the Sky, which clocks in at more than 70 minutes, can feel like a laborious effort, with the ending lacking the verve of the album’s first half. The exception is the title track, in which Maseo and Pos pay tribute to Trugoy and others they have lost. He is pensive and world-weary, but he never loses his sense of magic.