If cats are said to have nine lives, UK rapper LAUSSE THE CAT has been holding onto his preciously. The artist’s debut release— EP ‘The Girl, the Cat and the Tree’— is more than seven years old at this point, coming and going as a singular bright spot of inspiration that lit up the underground hip-hop scene. At last, the wait is finally over: LAUSSE THE CAT’s debut full-length project ‘The Mocking Stars’ is finally here, and it’s an even more ambitious outing than its predecessor. Though the album isn’t quite as sharp as it could’ve been, these twelve tracks nonetheless have all the makings of instant classics.

Where ‘The Girl, the Cat and the Tree’ fell somewhat in line with conventional underground UK rap, ‘The Mocking Stars’ is far harder to pin down: if this can even be called a hip-hop album, it’s a particularly melodic one. LAUSSE THE CAT’s first full-length project pushes its theatrical nature much, much further than the previous EP did, presenting itself more like an auditory play than your typical album experience. From the rapturous introduction offered to us on ‘Blue Bossa,’ all the way to the ‘credits’ of ‘Lotus Blossom,’ ‘The Mocking Stars’ aims to be a listen both immersive and fantastical, like you’re Alice falling further and further into Wonderland. The storytelling— perhaps LAUSSE THE CAT’s most revered trait— is far more abstract and metaphorical this time around, substituting melancholic meditations on substance abuse for a tale of purpose and belonging, told through the eyes of a curious cat, a kindly moon and an antagonistic sun. Perhaps the greatest praise we can heap onto ‘The Mocking Stars,’ then, is that it absolutely nails that creative concept, pulling us into its wondrous world time and time again.

That feeling of immersion is no accident, but is achieved via the consistently gorgeous suite of instrumental additions and production choices that blend together to create LAUSSE THE CAT’s soundscapes. The album is an extremely muted collection of hushed tones that often mirror our protagonist’s feline nature: each one is, without exception, a joy to behold. ‘Blue Bossa’ skulks in, careful not to let the various vocal styles that crop up across the track upset the gentle balance of its sparse keys lines, subtle bass notes and ever-present shaker. It’s a similar story for the following ‘I.D.W.G.A.J,’ which pairs a tale of grandeur and delusion with triumphant shouting and wandering saxophone lines. These instrumentals do constitute ‘beats’ in your usual hip-hop format, yet they feel anything but typical: the twinkling accompaniments of the title track and cosmic weightlessness of ‘Space Cadet Cat’ are more atmospheric than they are memorable, going to great lengths to soundtrack this highly conceptual release.

“I wanna die olive-skin, beer-bellied, with a smile on my face

‘Chin chin’ to life, bye-bye to grey skies above me

Meantime, I'm living in a suave little place

By the seaside with ‘arr arr’ from seagulls above me”

The album’s first half may actually be the weaker of the two though, and it’s an issue of approach— in his attempts to paint his fantastical world in such vivid detail, LAUSSE THE CAT forgoes some elements that might’ve brightened the overall package. The hooks are few and far between on ‘The Mocking Stars,’ and even when they do present themselves, they often seem to blend in amongst the rest of the material. On ‘Blue Bossa,’ the refrain beginning “I’m not crazy…” is a catchy one in isolation, but LAUSSE THE CAT seems almost afraid of drawing too much attention to it: when the entire package is so mellow, it can be difficult to parcel out much in the way of tension or release. Similar criticisms could be levied against the record’s central performer, who has far more to offer as a storyteller than he does as your box-standard rapper. The flows across ‘The Mocking Stars’ grow quite monotonous, sticking to extremely plain rhythms and intonations for the most part— it’s an approach that fits this album well in theory, but has us longing for something a little more intriguing nonetheless.

Where things really take us to the moon is in the album’s second half, which strikes a more accessible balance between theatrical flare and conventional hip-hop aesthetics: if you find yourself humming a particular melody or playing a song over in your head, it’ll most likely be from this final suite. ‘Tea Party’ feels like the clearest-cut example of jazz-rap on the project, pairing its peppy hook against soft vocal layers and some driving percussion that injects a welcome (and not overly intrusive) wave of energy into the project. For fans of LAUSSE THE CAT’s softer style though, ‘Keep On Walking,’ ’Moonlight Waltz’ and ‘Peonies for Breakfast’ all pull out the stops to one-up one-another, making for a particularly exhilarating stretch at the end of the album. The mood dangles on a knife edge between comforting and mysterious in these moments, keeping us hooked to every word and every melody: this is the magic of ‘The Mocking Stars,’ and it’s this quality that makes the record feel quite so special.

"And kitten bowed and swung his paws, until his brow did kiss the floor

And told the moon that he'd not slept a wink in weeks

And since he hadn't had a planet, having burnt it down to ashes

He had hoped, on Mars, the moon would give him sleep”

If you listened to ‘The Mocking Stars’ and found it to be something quite magical, you’re not alone: the album is making waves online, and it’s not overly hard to see why. Though LAUSSE THE CAT’s reluctance to engage with more of his genre’s best traits feels like something of a missed opportunity, the direction his full-length debut goes in is both wonderfully ambitious and tastefully executed— somehow, this theatrical work of a cat finding his way in the universe is one of the most heartfelt and emotionally gratifying releases of the year. Now, all we can do is hope that the follow-up isn’t seven years in the making.