The dramatic continuation of the multitalented producer’s epic musical saga. When Labrinth released his lofty concept album COSMIC OPERA ACT I at the top of 2026, anticipation was already building for the long-awaited third season of the prestige teen drama Euphoria. By extension, anticipation was also building for Labrinth: He’d served as lead composer since the series premiere in 2019, and his atmospheric score was considered integral to the show’s broader cultural impact, earning him an Emmy and an Ivor Novello Award along the way. But with just weeks to go before the third series was due to air, Labrinth withdrew from the project, taking his contributions with him. And COSMIC OPERA ACT I, with all its dire warnings about the dark side of the music industry, sounds very different in hindsight. Whatever the surrounding context, though, COSMIC OPERA ACT II is a rare sequel that improves on the original: more cohesive in its vision, clearer in its message, imaginative in its sound. There’s the futuristic funk spiritual of “THE LIVING” and the largely instrumental “IRIDIUM I LOVE IT,” which glitches between genres and moods with almost cartoonish effect. “PROSTITUTE” is all business in the lyrics and no romance in the sing-speak delivery, while “VERY GOOD BOY” is a desperate prayer performed as a mournful, piano-based lament that echoes in the stillness of abandonment. The album’s overarching themes include religion and redemption, systemic exploitation and salvation, naivety and self-awareness—and anyone familiar with the themes of Euphoria’s third season might well find parallels there. Either way, COSMIC OPERA ACT II reveals Labrinth at his best—experimental and unrestrained. And when he sings, “Rich man’s donkey trying to pay your fucking way/Ain’t no pity for the slave that put on his own chains” on “THE LIVING,” neatly conveying the paradoxical bind that punishes anyone who tries to roll their dice favorably in a game rigged from the top down, you don’t have to be a character in a TV show to relate to where he’s coming from.