Hear Me Out: Kanye West, 'Say You Will' / 'When I See it'

More than two years have passed since Kanye West released “Yeezus,” a stunningly raw, powerful record that marked a shift from the lush, sample-heavy instrumentation of his prior albums to hard-driving, minimalist synths. In that interim, save for two rather disappointing Paul McCartney collaborations, West has released precious little for his millions of fans, who have been left wondering how his style will evolve.

On Oct. 19, West released, via his SoundCloud account, two hints toward the answer to that question: a reworking of “Say You Will,” the first track from his 2008 album “808s & Heartbreak,” and “When I See It,” a remix of the Weeknd’s “Tell Your Friends.” Because “Say You Will” is just an update and “When I See It” is just one minute and 43 seconds, both tracks feel like mere appetizers for the main Kanye course, his (rumored) upcoming album “SWISH.” For Kanye fans, though, these hors-d’œuvres are tantalizingly delicious: The tracks show a still-brilliant West with a renewed sense of direction and signal that “SWISH,” if it ever comes out, may contain some of West’s best work yet.

Apparently, West has recently been drawn back to his “808s & Heartbreak” era; on Sept. 25 and 26, he performed the album in its entirety at the Hollywood Bowl. But the new “Say You Will” demonstrates West’s growth since 2008 as well as his trademark inventiveness. West collaborates with Caroline Shaw, a seemingly unusual choice; Shaw is a (Yale- and Princeton-educated, unfortunately) classical composer who won a Pulitzer Prize for an a cappella piece. Presumably under Shaw’s direction, stammering, affected female voices replace much of the original’s instrumental backing, though its fundamental drum pattern and electronic pings are intact. These voices begin with an ominous, quiet mania and build to a metallic, downright terrifying wall of sound, only to decrescendo to an even more alien outro. The effect is a complex transformation: West’s pleading grows in scope and maturity, trading some of the original’s sexuality for a haunted existential despair.

Like “Say You Will,” “When I See It,” a brief, stripped-down reflection on the frustrations and rewards of a relationship, marks a sharp turn from “Yeezus” in style and substance. Musically, “Yeezus” reveled in the aggressive simplicity, even harshness, of its synths. On “When I See It,” West opts instead for a recycle of his slow, drums-piano-bass loop from The Weeknd’s “Tell Your Friends.” While “Yeezus” was certainly not simple, its complexity stemmed from jarring, extreme juxtaposition, like the civil-rights refrain “Thank God Almighty, they free at last” in the graphic hookup song “I’m In It.” The complexity in “When I See It,” on the other hand, lies in its tenderness and equivocation. The minor-key, slow-motion instrumental backing heighten the lyrics’ sense of marital conflict, but the last two lines show that Kanye wants to persevere: “Diamonds in the colors of those eyes / Don’t know why, but I know a sign when I see it.” That admission of the limits of his own power, the idea that someone else has something he wants (besides sex), and the worry that he might not get what he wants are a far cry from the screaming egotism of most of West’s discography, especially “Yeezus.” Although that egotism is a significant source of West’s appeal, the vulnerability is refreshing.