Unknown Memory

Unknown Memory's official press release describes the record as "a hybrid of modern experimental music", with the feeling of "Laser sword melancholia" and arrangements of "ominous synth clouds hovering over clinical beats." A review described Lean's vocals as "somehow distinctly European; less midnight in Vegas more dawn over Berghain, the robotic voice oddly reminiscent of Kraftwerk." Lyrically, the album deals with "introspection, feelings of alienation, ennui, boredom, all with that vague, dull ache", and "conjures with tropes and social signifiers" common in modern hip-hop to make a feeling instead of an actual narrative, making it up to the listener to come up with their own narrative. ==Release and promotion==

A bundle of Unknown Memory was also distributed with a hand glove displaying the "Unknown Memory" logo on top of it, which was listed in an article by Kyla Bills of Paper magazine as one of the "10 Weirdest Pieces of Merch Ever Sold By Rappers". ==Critical response==

Several reviewers praised Unknown Memory as Yung Lean's more serious piece of work than his past releases, A critic for The Observer opined that "If Unknown Memory doesn’t quite merit the excited bafflement that initially greeted Lean, its nagging hooks and queasy introspection still make for an intriguing trip", while a Fact reviewer said there was something "beguilingly decadent about Unknown Memory: the way Lean’s confessions of world-weary ennui flow seamlessly into brags about wealth and status; how those dreamy, new-age synth lines play out beneath raps that sound spiritually hollow." However, the latter called also some parts of the album pretty weak, including Lean's sometimes "rudimentary" rapping. He also wrote that "More broadly, it feels like there are questions to be asked about a bunch of white European teens appropriating the culture and iconography of black America wholesale." One negative review of Unknown Memory came from Pitchfork Media's Jonah Bromwich, who felt that the rapper was "doubling down" his personality that made his past work enjoyable to listen to and "simultaneously scrubbing away the most amateurish (and most likeable) parts of his sound." He disliked Lean's auto-tuned vocals and "irritating rapping flow", which he felt caused the tracks to be too identical to each other and lost the listeners' interest on the otherwise more "palatable" instrumentals. He also made note of Yung Lean's sadness that he had always presented, which was "kicked into overdrive" and became "empty" on the LP, writing that these sad feelings have been done much better by artists such as Lana Del Rey. ==Track listing==