New Zealand isn't exactly known as one of 2013's rap mecca countries in today's increasingly diverse international hip-hop community. But if you were gonna pluck but one NZ talented fella from the web of rymes and DIY aesthetica, David Dallas would be your boy. Armed to the teeth with a lighter-than-air flow and the beautifully nuanced production of Fire & Ice (who've worked with Freddie Gibbs and a number of other talents), David brings his Auckland experiences into vivid, biting focus over the course of twelve snappy cuts. And like a big cloud all alone in the sky, we're right up in the stratosphere alongside him as he drifts over jazzy mediations ('Gotta Know'), choral, moody explorations of the inner mind ('My Mentality') and even the distance and longing a person experiences when departing to another place away from the people you love ('The Gate').

It's not a stretch to say most hip-hop albums are relatively personal in nature to the MC who orchestrate these LPs, mixtapes and other fare. In fact, the discographies of hip-hop stars, big and small alike, resemble biographies more than collections of purposely diverse songs that tread more obtuse territory. But while the subject matter here won't blow your mind to smithereens, David Dallas has a knack for songwriting, hooks and atmosphere that even some of the top guys at the peak of the game are severely lacking.

A surprising number of hip-hop and rap releases left me cold this year. This one however, like its title, falls exactly where it needs to and leaves you musing even as those jazzy horns fade into the silence.