‘Come Over When You’re Sober Pt 2’ By Lil Peep Album Review: A Good Listen From An Artist Who Died Too Young

When Lil Peep died of an accidental overdose last year, it seemed a bit too expected. Earlier in the night, a video appeared of frequent collaborator Bexey saying, “Peep’s in the back of the bus doing press-ups, sit-ups, working on his six-pack, his muscles. I’m gonna see for myself.” That was followed by another Bexey video of Peep lifeless, with his mouth open, to which Bexey said, “Oh,” unaware that the rapper was dead. Though Peep was already a cult hero to some, he barely had a career. He was 21, with only one album out, when reports of his Arizona show being canceled started to appear on Twitter.

Peep’s death might be a bit eerier if you’re only familiar with his music. But it seems that he knew what he was doing and how close he walked to the edge. Most of his lyrics, if not all, talk about death, depression and drugs. They’re not prophetic, though. The man took magic mushrooms and six fentanyl-laced Xanax pills the night he died. This wasn’t unexpected.

That and his death may make Come Over When You’re Sober Pt 2 seem like a cash grab. It may sound like one at times. But the involvement of both his mother, Liza Womack, and his longtime producer, Smokeasac, make it feel like a genuine album.

Peep is no poet. The lyrics on “Sex With My Ex” like “fuck me like we’re lying on our deathbed,” prove it. But the way Peep composes melodies and structures his songs pull in a listener. Though the melodies are deceptively simple, like on “Runaway,” they’re incredibly catchy. “Broken Smile (My All)” is an incredibly structured song, going from intro to chorus to verse to bridge to chorus to outro. While that may not seem important, it’ll draw back a listener for years with how interesting it is.

The main pull of Peep’s album might be his voice and his delivery. He’s got an actual voice that’s assisted by autotune, not made by it like Travis Scott‘s is. Despite that, it was common to find Peep a bit offbeat or almost reluctant to perform his lyrics.

And the album isn’t without its flaws. It tends to drag at times. Come Over When You’re Sober Pt 1 is 23 minutes long. Pt 2 is 44 minutes. And the songs tend to blur together midway through with no real change in sound or length that I could pick up on. The worst part was how the album ended. Track 12 is “Falling Down,” which features now deceased rapper XXXTentacion. That song is a remix of track 13, “Sunlight On Your Skin,” featuring frequent “Goth Boy Clique” collaborator iLoveMakonnen. There’s barely any difference between the two songs. Peep sings the same lyrics on both songs. The only variation is what the features do in the spaces between Peep’s vocals.

Come Over When You’re Sober Pt 2 isn’t a perfect album. But for a posthumous one, it’s a pretty good one. It also seems to suggest that mainstream success was within Peep’s reach. But that’s not to say he would’ve ever survived to see it. COWYS Pt 2 debuted at number four on the Billboard 200. It’s a good listen, especially for someone who wants to listen to pop-punk or emo music without feeling like they’re right back to middle school. However, it doesn’t ease the thought of the potential that Lil Peep had.