“If you’re doing nonsense it has to be rather awful, because there’d be no point. I’m trying to think if there’s sunny nonsense. … As Schubert said, there is no happy music. And that’s true, there really isn’t. And there’s probably no happy nonsense, either.” – Edward Gorey (1925-2000)

Defcee was born in Chicago and raised in the suburbs, a narrative arc which vaguely mirrors the early life of Edward Gorey, the legendary surrealist illustrator whose artwork was ever-present in Defcee’s home growing up, from his father’s hardcover copy of The Gashlycrumb Tinies to the Edward Gorey address book nestled next to his house phone. Defcee and Spectacular Diagnostics have collaborated once before, on the song “Class”—alongside independent hip-hop royalty Illogic and Curly Castro—from Spec’s 2023 album, Raw Lessons. Def reached out to him after hearing the brilliant, darkly humorous soundscape Spec crafted for SIMONY, the most recent album from the iconic UK hip-hop crew Cult of the Damned.

Four songs later, here you have it—an original score for those muggy, overcast days which can often spoil the beauty of a Chicago summer, but not so much that they chase everyone back indoors. At turns grim, playful, and mournful, Defcee’s rapping and Spectacular Diagnostics’ production blend into the kind of unsunny nonsense Edward Gorey was known for innovating, more vibrant than one would initially believe given the grayscale palette from which it was painted.