Adams worked mostly solo on this record. A few guests contribute on the refrains, grounding the lofty project, but never detract attention away from what is largely autobiographical. Emay also produced all the backing tracks throughout Ilah, filling it with chopped drums and spliced samples for a unique listening experience, if not an acquired taste. The album’s production is tied to its sentiment, starting with a breeze that carries light chimes which evolves into harsh industrial crashes. Compressed samples accent drums, at first in short cuts, but that grow into another, manipulated voice on the record. On “Yesu,” Emay incorporates the hums of a crackling soul clip into the spine of the track’s beat. An obscure folk sample of Footscray College comes in after a verse on the title track, and somehow feels like it was always there, mixed in organically to sound as if this were a folk record with a guest rapper rather than the other way around.
Sawdust & Gin 