Normally we do not include mixtapes that are composed of leftovers from recording sessions for other albums on our best-of-the-year lists, but for this Arrested Development project, we have to make an exception. On The Cutting Room Floor contains ten tracks (actually nine and an interlude) recorded in the last ten years that were left off albums Arrested Development dropped in that time period. The fact that the songs on On The Cutting Room Floor didn’t make the cut is a testament to the quality of Arrested Development’s latest releases – it’s not for nothing Don’t Fight Your Demons and For The FKN Love rank high on our best-of-the-year lists of 2020 and 2021.

There are plenty of albums that get released where it would have been better if they had ended up on the cutting room floor, but in this case, it clearly is the other way around – we can be thankful to Speech and company they decided not to keep the songs on this tape from the public. All songs on On The Cutting Room Floor are terrific pieces of music, and there’s a cohesiveness to the project that belies the origin of them – no way these tracks feel like leftovers from different albums. Sequencing is done to perfection to achieve this cohesiveness, and to top it off the cover artwork is exquisite – this has to be one of the most beautiful album covers of the year. This may be a collection of leftover songs, but make no mistake: On The Cutting Room Floor is way too good to be ignored – check it out. 8/10