The End of Comedy is the debut album by Drugdealer, a new project conceived and conducted by Los Angeles artist Michael Collins (formerly of Run DMT, Salvia Plath) who guides a group of Angelenos through a whimsical world informed by Jean Baudrillard, social media perception, Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western vistas and Collins’ endless travels.

The End of Comedy is a collection of vignettes - lucid, lysergic and organic - featuring homespun explorations of Carol King-esque piano ballads, Bacharach-ian orchestration, the psych-folk of Ultimate Spinach and Hendrickson Road House and even New York City subway jazz, all pulled together by Collins’s deft AOR auteurship and keen sense of humour.

Throughout the record, Collins eschews the spotlight in favour of letting the ensemble shine. There are guest vocals from Ariel Pink (”Easy to Forget”), Danny James (“My Life)” and Natalie Mering of Weyes Blood, who brings Laurel Canyon balladry to the table on “Fictional Pictures.” Not to mention a bona de who’s who of Collins’ mates, including members of Regal Degal, Holy Shit!, Mild High Club, Mr. Twin Sister and pals from Mac DeMarco’s band.

All of these collaborators contribute essential bits and pieces that create the foundations of a beautiful, absurdist collection of songs that plays like a short lm in which Collins journeys far and wide, popping in to various abodes, embracing friends old and new and casting a spell on them and us in turn.