Serpentwithfeet sings with an exultant tenderness that could make wilted flowers bloom. He is so adept at using his silvery vibrato to convey the extremes of human emotion that the baseline when considering his music is elevated: Even when the subject matter is dark, the starting point is radiant beauty. On this year’s DEACON, he moved away from the anguished lyrics and baroque gospel and chamber-pop production that established his singular sound on releases like 2018’s soil Instead, he spent these songs singing so earnestly about love that the results deliberately bordered on corny. The music was more accessible than ever, but his technical skill and commitment to celebrating Black queer love made the music feel uniquely his own. a new companion EP, features remakes of three songs from and two previously unreleased originals. Without offering much we haven’t heard from serpentwithfeet before, it is a quick, breezy project that leans into his newfound sense of ease.