For someone whose music is verbose and stuffed to the gills, hyperpop maestro brakence has been strangely silent in the four years between 2022’s breakout hypochondriac and his second record for Columbia, marroW; the only breadcrumb that the artist born Randy Findell left for his fanbase was a guest verse on like-minded auteur Aries’ grungy “SLEEPWALKER.” Surprisingly, marroW picks up where that collaboration left off, with minor-key guitars and jagged, moody melodies stretching across its expansive 18 tracks. Findell’s signature guitar samples flicker like short-wicked candles and illuminate even the darkest corners of marroW, which was written and recorded largely by his lonesome at his Savannah, Georgia home. Fellow hyperpop traveler Quadeca contributes production touches to the album’s harrowing closer “With Or Without It,” but otherwise marroW is a fully immersive trip through Findell’s increasingly singular artistic mind.