Vertical XL is Kingdom’s 5th EP, a personal body of work made during his first years living in Los Angeles. The seven tracks chart a wide emotional terrain, connecting recent developments in Kingdom’s production with seminal darker influences. Drawing its stories from moonlit rural isolation and dissonant moments in club vortexes, Vertical XL is a definitive insight into Kingdom’s journey as an artist, steeped in elements of grime, jungle, and R&B.
On the euphoric / cathartic lead single “Bank Head (featuring Kelela)”, Fade to Mind’s new vocalist Kelela completes Kingdom’s new vision of R&B, marking the first release in a series of upcoming collaborations between the two. From love to loss, the fresh romance of “Zip Line” gives way to the dark rap mortality of “Corpse”. The grime-influenced “Viper Lash” is designed to rattle the club, an abstract dancefloor weapon with ominous bass explosions and spattered percussion. Completing the EP are “Takedown Notice”, a slow-grinding bedroom ballad and the anthemic build of “Viper XL”.
