STAS THEE BOSS
S’WOMEN
(self-released)

Trying to move through an excruciating breakup can often leave all parties feeling like they’re drowning—like it can be hard to move or feel buoyant again. And these are the evocative tones and modes through which Stasia Irons (aka former THEESatisfaction MC/vocalist Stas Thee Boss) creates her latest LP, S’WOMEN (pronounced “swimmin’”), a record she fashioned as a means to cope, process, and rejuvenate in the shadow of three failed relationships over the past three years.

Most of the album’s 11 songs run for about one to two minutes—quick bursts like someone turning their head for air while freestyle swimming through a cold channel. The first track, “Found Parking,” begins declaratively: “She park in my garage, she star in my collage,” but immediately becomes self-conscious as it continues with clipped verses and repeated mantras. It’s as if Irons’s mission on S’WOMEN is to put herself in a trance amid the turbulence, so she can say all she needs to. But that’s the funny thing about breakups—often what you want to say to your ex is also what you need to hear. And so Irons trudges on through her sonic aquatic self-healing.

In total, S’WOMEN reads more like a poem than a short story. The listener undertakes the record rather than absorbing it tacitly. But, of course, it’s worth the effort. While the vocals are seemingly mixed beneath the mercurial, celestial, and writhing beats, the admissions Irons offers are noble, poignant, and revelatory. Like on “Solo,” where Stas spits over a nonchalant snare drum and what sounds like a Nina Simone sample, “I’m all out of my eff yous” and “You be the best you, be the best you, be the best you.” Or on “No Service,” where Irons explains, “I’m learning to be more discerning/Not be in a hurry/Be cold like McFlurry.” In fact, “No Service” indicates that Irons just might make it through the choppy waters to find dry land. “My essence resurging,” she hums in admission, “my presence emerging.”

S’WOMEN is released Aug. 4.