Billie Eilish - "WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO?" (2019)

Billie Eilish has been rather hyped up over the past few months, and its clear to see why. It's obvious to hear the influence of critics pop darling, Lorde. Her minimalist, alternative pop style is mixed with elements of trap production and on the other end of the spectrum, elements of folk. In addition to this, her dynamic voice which can be smooth and gentle on some tracks, and on others can be a semi-rapped staccato flow which changes pace and rhythm abruptly. For a 17 year old to have such a well formed and unique aesthetic is impressive.

However, behind the aesthetic I feel like there isn't all that much substance, which I'm chocking up to her young age. The album opens with this really awkward intro track then jumps into bad guy, a track where Billie talks about all these typical hyper-masculine men she knows and how she is the real 'bad guy' and they all collapse in comparison to her. I just don't buy it, it feels fake and forced. you should see me in a crown follows a similar path and feels like Taylor Swift's Look What You Made Me Do, all self-aggrandising and complete with incredibly predictable base drops as the chorus hits. wish you were gay would be a song I could get behind. It's kind of tounge-in-cheek and doesn't take its self too seriously, however its hook 'wish you were gay' is just beyond cringy. when the party's over is one of the folkier tunes on the album and it's perfectly serviceable, however with it covering very much the same topic as Lorde's Sober II (Melodrama), I can't help but compare it to that much better song.

There are some bright spots; xanny plays into her age with the lyrics about second hand smoke and only ordering a diet coke, and feels one of the most genuine moments. all the good girls go to hell and bury a friend are intriguing with their themes of death, mortality and the afterlife. ilomilo feels the least straightforward in the track-list, seemingly dealing with worries and regrets.

The other tracks on the album are mostly uninteresting, dealing with similar topics to the ones I have mentioned. Billie gets so much right with the performance and production, that it feels such a shame that the lyrics and themes seem so shallow and forced. I'm looking forward to whatever she does in the future as she is bound to grow and develop as a writer, however there isn't a lot to get me to come back to this release.

Top Tracks: xanny, all the good girls go to hell, bury a friend, ilomilo

5/10

Klaxons - "Myths of the Near Future" (2007)

2000's indie rock holds a soft spot in my heart, it was the music of my childhood after all. So discovering a new one is always a treat for me. The faint familiarity of the big single Golden Skans when it came up in a playlist, and the fact that it is a total banger, inspired me enough to check out the Klaxons' debut.

Much like another group breaking through at the time, Foals, Klaxons aren't just exploring straight up post-punk on this project. The band incorporate elements of rave and alternative dance to create a short, frantic album which dances all over the place, making for a very entertaining listen. 

The previously mentioned Golden Skans is a bit of an outlier on the record, having a much more new-wave feel with its shiny synths and catchy 'wah-ohs'. Other tracks, including Atlantis To Interzone and Magick, have this almost indie rock meets The Prodigy style. They have edgy, angular sounds and elements, yet remain incredibly dance-able. Jamie Reynolds' scattershot and sometimes shouted lyrics add to this aesthetic nicely.

It's a shame that Klaxons aren't remembered in the same way some of the indie bands of the 2000's are, since this album provides a sound quite unique which not many bands were experimenting with at the time. Not every track hits the mark for me (mid-point Isle Of Her drags in particular), but this refreshing sound and short length makes it an easy listen.

Top Tracks: Two Receivers, Atlantis To Interzone, Golden Skans, Totem Of The Timeline, Magick, It's Not Over Yet

7/10

Foals - "Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost - Part 1" (2019)

While I plan to cover all the albums I have anticipated this year so far, I feel it's best to start on a high point with whats easily the best of the bunch. The fifth album by English indie-rockers Foals, first of the two part Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost (with part 2 releasing later in 2019), is also in my opinion the best in their discography so far. Foals are a band with some excellent ideas and a knack for writing incredibly catchy indie and dance-rock anthems, however I feel they've only recently started crafting them into albums which match the quality of their best standalone tracks. The buzzing, frenetic math-rock of their debut is highly entertaining for about half the run-time, but as the album progresses, the music starts to become droning and Yannis Philippakis' cryptic lyrics start to blur together. Total Life Forever and Holy fire softened up the sound with more synths and reverb, and Philippakis' lyrics gradually became less bizarre, but both those albums feel like they run too long with a handful of filler tracks in each (well more than a handful in Holy Fire's case). It was only by the time of 2015's What Went Down that the band made an album which was front to back with solid tunes that didn't outstay their welcome. However the album lacked any great progression for the band. It was effectively Holy Fire but with better tracks.

Which brings us to Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost, which sees the band exploring old and new sounds and themes. Lead single Exits characterises this well with chunky sounding percussion and piano reminiscent of earlier Foals tracks such as Miami, along with choppy, confused lyrics detailing climate change, extreme weather events and the world being upside-down creating a paranoid and apocalyptic atmosphere. This is only added to by the skittering synths and backing vocals which creep in across its six minute run-time as it slowly builds into a hypnotic groove. Much of the rest of the album follows suit, dealing with the maddening world we currently live in. It discusses Brexit, Trump, the lack of opportunities for younger generations and the general feeling of despair.

The following track, White Onions, shakes things up, having this primal, panicky atmosphere with its repeating drum pattern and synth riff, along with a fuzzy bass and simple, chant-like lyrics. This is followed up by a synth laden dance-rock number, In Degrees. Each track on the album features a unique musical core which differentiates it from the rest, leading to it feeling like the tightest and most concise record that the band has put out, especially with its much shorter run-time than a typical Foals project. Cafe D'Athens repeating percussion loops and wispy vocals evoke The King Of Limbs era Radiohead, and On The Luna is the closest the album gets to a big pop single like My Number. However it is not as straightforward as that comparison suggests. The off kilter synths and dense layers turn it into a captivating earworm. Syrups starts as a very tense, restricted tune with its plodding bass riff, but explodes into a frenetic rage as the tension is released. The last two tracks, Sunday and I'm Done With The World (& It's Done With Me), are perfectly contrasted. Sunday is hopeful and optimistic whereas the closing track leaves the album in a defeated, deflated state. The imagery of autumn leaves burning is intense but also isolating. The only track which I'm not really gelling with is the opener, Moonlight. It just doesn't seem to do much or go anywhere or say anything, it only seems to function as a prelude to Exits.

All in all this album is pretty great, the tracks mesh to form a cohesive statement yet also stand on their own and have their own distinct identities. Despite the obvious commercial reasons for releasing this double album in two parts, I also feel it's the best creative choice, allowing us to fully appreciate its arc. Hopefully Part 2 will be just as refreshing and creative.

Top Tracks: Exits, White Onions, Syrups, On The Luna, Cafe D'Athens, Sunday, I'm Done With The World (& It's Done With Me)

8/10