Picking up where his previous album, Twelve Reasons To Die, left off, Wu Tang Clan member Ghostface Killah continues the story of his character Tony Starks on 36 Seasons. This time round, Starks has returned to Staten Island, seeking a quiet life after nine years away – but inevitably in the world of crime, this proves impossible.
Once again, Ghostface Killah and his team of producers do a bang-up job of complementing the noirish storyline with a suitably atmospheric hip-hop soundscape. The likes of ‘The Battlefield’, ‘Here I Go Again’ and ‘Emergency Procedure’ all have the feel of soundtrack cuts, brimming with smoky funk rhythms, ominous samples and scintillating guitar work.
 The standout track is ‘Love Don’t Live Here Anymore’ (the video for which features the great Michael K Williams of The Wire and Boardwalk Empire fame), a psych-tinged tune with a memorable soul chorus from guest vocalist Kandace Springs. Later on, Springs also lends her vocal talents to the bittersweet ‘Bamboo’s Lament’, another impressive exercise in vintage soul.
Elsewhere, Ghostface conjures a dark and threatening feel on ‘Loyalty’, relaxes into a Delfonics-like R&B groove on ‘It’s A Thin Line Between Love And Hate’, and unleashes a stunning sequence of rapid-fire verses on ‘The Dogs Of War’. Once again, the rapper has produced an album that’s pretty much all Killah, no filler.