After a busy year and a half of touring across the country and signing to Rhymesayers, Grieves finally unveils Together/Apart. Beginning with “Lightspeed” which gives the listener a glimpse into the Seattle emcee’s past shifting between ages and cities, until bringing them up to the present. Soon the listener is slowly immersed within a series of songs that detail his fight against addictions (Vice Grip), his helpings of heartache (Heartbreak Hotel), and his dealings with his inner demons, comparable to Johnny Cash if he had ever decided to rap. All of this brings the album to a close on the “Sugar Ray-esque” “Against the Bottom” where Grieves is found trying to convince others to embrace their challenges and triumph above them.

The album showcases the depressingly descriptive poetics that allows Grieves to bare his soul onto each verse he raps and croons on to the point where one could swear that they lived through each song’s narrative. All of which are perfectly accompanied by layered production by the Seattle stalwart producer, Budo, complete with instrumentation that he himself recorded of his own natural musical proclivities including his spirited trumpet solos. After recruiting Minnesotan emcees Krukid of A.R.M. (No Matter What) and Brother Ali (Tragic) as the only guests featured on the album, Grieves provides a soundscape for anyone who want to piece together the aspects of their life that was torn apart.