Cities Aviv (real name Gavin Mays) has been one of rap music’s most intriguing voices ever since he dropped the single “Coastin’” back in the summer of 2011. Its balmy strings and flutes, easy backbeat, and May’s earthy flow recalled an earlier era. Digging into that 7-inch and the concurrently released Digital Lows LP revealed a rare blend of old-school sounds with a lyrical style that was both true school and abstract. Most importantly his music couldn’t be easily categorized by any existing regional standards or millennial trends. Simply put Cities Aviv was unique.

Come to Life (Young One Records) seems built for contrast with his earlier work. Where we used to hear dusty jazz and soul, we now hear ’80s-esque electronics. Where we used to get a goofy guy just trying to get on, we now have a working man getting tired of the games. Throughout the album he sounds like he’s stuck in a purgatory between pessimism and passion. In what is essentially the opening track, “Fool,” which comes right after the “Intro,” he seems to be saying “don’t bother,” the standout line being, “You must be stupid if you think they give a fuck about this message in your music.” Elsewhere, though, he balances his dark streams of consciousness with repeated imperatives to “wake up,” “come to life,” and generally carpe diem.

It’s clear that Cities Aviv still has a lot to say. Titles like “URL IRL” and “Perpetuate the Real” give hints of the conflicts on his mind. But for a guy who once rapped, “Fuck albums, I’mma drop volumes,” the record is surprisingly light on content. Only six tracks break three minutes. That means the songs end before they can outstay their welcome, but it also means he doesn’t have much time to work up a narrative thrust. Case in point, “URL IRL,” which comes on hard with a busy beat and bold declarations, but is actually just two minutes of chorus with a single verse. Songs like that feel unfinished and fail to make an impact. Aviv is still his own man, though. His beats still have that stinging, stuttering, unexpected syncopation. And he’s definitely a unique voice in a hip-hop world flooded with imitations of the latest DatPiff trendsetters.