Released almost concurrently with the
Living Legends'
Classic,
Eligh's solo album
Enigma feels sort of like a scrapbook or journal more than a proper album, and has an air of mystery in keeping with its title. Fewer than half of the 18 tracks have vocals on them, the rest being instrumental sketches featuring
Eligh's own keyboards and beatboxes alongside
Robert Miranda's guitars. The results are sort of what
the Roots might sound like if they did an EP without
Black Thought: experimental, often very good, but undeniably missing a little something. However, the eight vocal tracks are uniformly excellent, particularly
Eligh's speedy verses on the duet with Jo Wilkerson, "Life Dance," and the outstanding album closer "Desperation," which sets an impassioned rap with interjections from crew mates
Scarub and
Murs against a minimalist, vibraphone-like synth. The uneven, meandering structure of
Enigma makes it a little hard to grasp on first listen, but its merits reveal themselves quickly.