When Swedish rapper Bladee sang, “I'm Bladee, she call me Blade-e,” he moved mountains. Videos with his hits “Hotel Breakfast” and “Be Nice 2 Me” garnered millions of views on TikTok, with the latter song racking up nearly 50 million plays on Spotify.

Now, he’s back and Bladee-ier than ever with Cold Visions, his most impressive recent effort.

The record sees Bladee leaning into heavier hitting production along with his classic Bladee-isms.

Cold Visions benefits immensely from multiple appearances from Yung Lean. The vaporwave-pioneer pairs perfectly with Bladee. Their voices tie together in delicious harmony. They’re matches made for each other, with Lean leading like the messiah of cloud rap.

Production by F1LTHY adds what can only be described as Yeat-isms to Cold Visions. This bassy, warpy sound benefits Bladee’s goofy flow and uninterested vocals. Skrillex also makes a brief appearance on Cold Visions. He links with Bladee on “D.O.A,” where he helms the track’s production while Thaiboy Digital offers a feature.

The lyrics of Cold Visions are goofy, silly—and occasionally deeply sad. (See “I put your friends on the list,” “At McDonalds, get the sad meal,” and “All these clowns, man, I truly am The Joker”) while the beats are ferocious. This duality rocks Cold Visions.

On “SAD MEAL,” Bladee admits, “I'm addicted to my status/Let me tell you what the deal is/Honestly, I have no feelings” He’s not a good guy, but he’s here to have a time, and not necessarily a good time. “Sleep is the one time I’m happy,” he sighs on “WODRAINER.”

He explicitly states, “I don’t like people,” on two tracks, both titled “I DONT LIKE PEOPLE.” One version features Whitearmor, the other stars Yung Lean. The Lean track beats out Whiteamor thanks to the duo’s impeccable harmony.

“If you talk to me, talk to me nice,” raps Yung Lean on his feature, hinting at Bladee’s “Be Nice 2 Me.”

“I don't care if you're rich, I don't wanna hang out/If you're not GTB/, I don't wanna hang out/If you're not SG/I don't wanna hang out/If you're not Drain Gang, I don't wanna hang out,” Bladee raps on the aptly titled, “DONT WANNA HANG OUT.” On “WODRAINER” he similarly preaches about not wanting to hang out with people regardless of their wealth and status, he’s only here for Drain Gang and its associates.

“Mental health awareness, man, I'm anxious and I'm paranoid/You know this shit go round and round and round like a ferris wheel,” he admits on “END OF THE ROAD BOYZ,” which just might be my favorite from the record. The production is trappy and murky, submerging Bladee in a layer of hi-hats and bassy muck where he can lay down lines like “I describe what I see, I'm a visionary.”

On Cold Visions, Bladee is numb at best, miserable at worst. On “FALSE,” he laments, “I used to believe when I used to feel/I believe I used to be real/But now I don't.” Sonically, the end of Cold Visions is dreamy, but Bladee’s words are just as hopeless.

Cold Visions is a fun exploration in sound. Sitting at a lengthy 30 tracks, the record could benefit from a tinge of editing. However, the hour-long record is undeniably fun, giving listeners an easy escape into Bladee’s glitchy, dirty drain.

Written By Liz Foster