Serengeti, Son Lux and Sufjan Stevens should have no business sharing an album, but this new hip hop collaboration proves otherwise. In 2012, the three released “Beak & Claw” under the moniker S / S / S. With a name change alluding to the cursed, boulder-rolling king, the trio expands their song stock with eleven tracks on “Sisyphus,” a tie-in with artist Jim Hodges’ exhibit in Minneapolis.

MIXED GENRES AND EXPERIMENTAL SOUNDS

‘Geti’s no stranger to spitting over mixed genres and experimental sounds. His own albums pull sounds from garage rock, underground hip hop and electronic music. He is the voice of the band, rapping and fleshing out the album’s concepts. And the classically trained, NPR darling Ryan Lott — better known as Son Lux — acts more as the producer and beat maker, pushing and pulling on the band’s reins.

As for the banjo-wielding, electropop musician, this is just another toss of one of Sufjan’s many proverbial hats. He creates the melodies and sounds while his digitally enhanced voice sings his own lyrics. Continuing “The Age of Adz” stylings, “Sisyphus” is more of the same electronic sound space exploration Sufjan plays in. The guy just seems to like writing music.

DEFYING THE BRANDING

“Calm it Down” kicks off the album with a simple beat and straightforward words advising the listener to calm down when life gets out of control. But at the one minute and 20 second mark, sci-fi beeps pop in over Sufjan’s ethereal backup vocals. The song builds into experimental, vocal ambience before resolving into a piano meditation.

The album’s most tonal-shifting song is “Rhythm of Devotion.” It drives beats and dissonant slams into Serengeti’s shout-rap while Sufjan thoughtfully muses about wanting to love and touch “with an open heart and an open hand.”

‘Gheti’s rap shine best in “Booty Call” and “Flying Ace.” But though labeled as a hip hop album, there are a few songs that defy the branding. “Take Me” sketches a wonderfully airy environment. That same melody that appears again “Booty Call” as a faint electronic piano tag. “I Won’t Be Afraid” is a melancholy anthem promising to be prepared for death, not trying too hard and not being afraid. And the album hits a somber note with “Hardly Hanging On” that slowly swells lyrics like “I may not look just like I’m fading / But I’m hardly hanging on” into an off-kilter drone.

ALBUM SEEMS TO STAY DISTANT

The album closes densely, both musically and lyrically. Almost industrial rock beats drop through ideas about generational alcoholism, co-dependency and a desperation to put distance on parental screw-ups. The content’s subtle and the whole track flows well, allowing a large ending.

It plays like a Sufjan album that guests stars Son Lux and Serengeti — who cannot think about “Illinois” Sufjan during the chorus of “Me Oh My”? It’s certainly alternative and nearly experimental, but it seems to stay distant. We only get so close without becoming personally invested. Maybe, like the great king, the trio tired from rolling the rock up the mountain once already, but are cursed to do it again thanks to a commision.

But even if “Sisyphus” falls a slight step behind the expected greatness, it’s not enough to dismiss the cross-genre mashing. There is creativity and textures that benefit exploring — some details may even surprise. Is this the beginning or the end of “Sisyphus”? With Sufjan in the mix, it’s hard to tell. Either way, they’re worth keeping your ear to.