One week before “TWOPOINTFIVE” dropped, Amine released “Charmander” as the only lead-up single and only prior reference to an upcoming mixtape drop. Acknowledging this, “TWOPOINTFIVE” doesn’t feel like the carefully structured, strategically teased, or conceptually made “Limbo,” Amine’s previous studio album. And that’s fine.

“TWOPOINTFIVE” is relatively short, with 12 tracks which range from one to three minutes long. It’s a faithful progression to the similarly titled “ONEPOINTFIVE,” Amine’s last mixtape released in 2019. “TWOPOINTFIVE” is more of a collection of songs, rather than a track-listed story. Subject matter also doesn’t go relatively deep, with themes ranging from love to braggadocio, nothing new to Amine.

When Amine experiments with unusual drum loops and production (and they pay off), it’s where “TWOPOINTFIVE” reaches its highest points. “Between The Lines” has these infinitely layered, eclectic and lofi percs while “Colors” has a similar presence and tone to the previously mentioned lead-up single, switching up to finish with bombastic, racing bass hits. Songs such as these are what gives “TWOPOINTFIVE” a clear sign of potential with this style – which transitions into my next point.

While most songs here aren’t anything I wouldn’t expect Amine to spit on, there are some jarring influences which caught me off guard. Sparkling synth bells which shine like childhood wonder, glitchy, distorted percussion rhythms more reminiscent of a house beat than anything else and pitched-up choruses and back-up vocals drowning in heavy auto-tune give me hints of hyper-pop and electro-pop. Songs like “Twisted!” and Sh!t2Luz are clear cases of this trend.

To make a thesis on future Amine projects (or at least highlight an anticipation), sound and genres such as those mentioned could be much more prominent in upcoming releases.

If this is the case, seeing where Amine would go with these sounds and how he would expand on it to become a much more conceptually diverse body of work would be an interesting path to follow, and one worth checking out. For now though, “TWOPOINTFIVE” leaves me with anticipation and a collection of mid to enjoyable tracks with shimmering production.

Consensus: Similar to its predecessor, it’s a short, sweet treat for fans.
Score: 6/10