boygenius - "the rest" (2023)

boygenius' debut record is probably my favourite new release this year, and definitely my most played. The group has decided to quickly follow-up with this short EP of leftovers from those sessions, aptly titled 'the rest'. I don't have too much to say on the EP, as these tracks for the most part do feel like leftovers. They're a lot more stark and bare compared to the lush and noisy production of the record, and are all pretty short (three of the four songs are under 3 minutes). The core of each song is here, but not much else. 

Black Hole comprises of the first verse from Julien and then jumps straight into the climax of the song before finishing rather abruptly. Afraid of Heights is a more complete song, but beside the country-twang of the guitar, there's not all that much noteworthy about it. Voyager is definitely the best song here, being a text-book Phoebe ballad with gut-punch self deprecating lyrics. The song is slow and spacious, allowing the atmosphere to sink in. The EP closes out with Powers, and the rough mixing and breathy vocal performance from Julien give demo vibes from the song. The song is a good minute and a half longer than the other songs so has some more time to build up an atmosphere, but it still only has a handful of ideas and sort of fizzles out after the climax - with a horn outro bolted on to give some sort of conclusion to the song and EP as a whole.

the rest is exactly what the title suggests, some unfinished studio leftovers. It's fine, but nothing more than a footnote in each artist's growing discography. 

Top Tracks: Voyager

5/10

Slowdive - "everything is alive" (2023)

As I mentioned when I reviewed loveless way back when, Slowdive's Souvlaki was my introduction to shoegaze proper, after years of loving artists that draw a lot of inspiration from the genre. I never got around to talking about that record, but it very much deserves its cult classic status. Its such a moody and atmospheric piece that you can really loose yourself in. I remember following this I checked out their 2017 comeback album, and it didn't really grab me in the same way. It felt quite blown out and maximalist compared to the subtlety and patience of Souvlaki. It was still a very moody and atmospheric record, but it came across like it was built for arenas rather than headphones.

everything is alive follows this up with a much more low-key vibe, and I've found myself putting it on a fair amount since its release despite it not being particularly innovative or ground-breaking record in the band's discography or genre as a whole. It is very dreary and greyscale compared to the hazy dreamlike nature of Souvlaki, even bordering on gothic rock in places. The tracks swell up around you, but lack much vibrancy, feeling very wintery and sparse - which has been perfect for the early morning train rides I have been having to take for work. 

The record opens with shanty, which is driven by swells of monotonous synths, as the feedback laden guitars fill up the lower mix, evoking feelings of looking out of the window on a grey rainy day. This is followed up by prayer remembered, where the slow plodding bass and drums and lack of any vocals make it feel like it wouldn't be out of place in The Cure's early goth period. alife picks things up a bit with spiralling, jangly guitars, a more notable melody and up-tempo pace.

I'd say the second half of the record isn't quite as slow and greyscale as the first, which is a good thing as I think a whole record that dour and bereft could get a bit tiring by the end. kisses is probably the catchiest song on the record, the vocals are the clearest and the song is structured as a simple new wave pop song, just with more atmospheric dynamics and effects. It really picks the record up after how slow and downtempo andalucia plays leaves the first half. skin in the game also has a memorable hook, although I don't quite vibe as much with it as kisses or alife. It's a tad slower and doesn't really have the melodic guitar parts those two songs did, but it's also not slow and airy enough to loose myself in like prayer remembered.

chained to a cloud is built around an ascending synth part, which like the title suggests feels like ascending up into the atmosphere. While quite a novel change of pace for the record (which up to this point has not sounded at all heavenly and ethereal), it's probably the weakest song on the album. It feels pretty underdeveloped, and the repeating synth loop is warn into the ground fairly quickly. This leaves the closer, the slab, left - which is by far the strongest song on the album. It's a monolithic piece, aiming for the wall of sound approach rather than the softer dynamics the rest of the album as played with leading up to it. The chugging, mechanical drums, ringing keyboards and feedback drenched guitars overwhelm you as you feel like your approaching some kind of impassable wall or structure. Where the rest of the album is bleak, the slab is sinister and imposing.

everything is alive would be a more notable album if it had more moments like the slab that made you feel a variety of emotions, but as it is, it is a pretty consistent if unsurprising release that's got enough highlights for me to come back to it when I'm in the mood for something bleak and moody.

Top Tracks: alife, kisses, the slab

7/10

Hozier - "Unreal Unearth" (2023)

 

Hozier's debut record has held up well for me over the years, being a brooding and sinister record in places, but also witty and tongue in cheek in others. Tracks like Jackie And Wilson and From Eden are basically non-skips for me when they come up in shuffle. 2019's follow-up, Wasteland Baby!, on the other hand, really didn't stick with me. I felt it was just so much less inspired and far more commercial and generic. The only track that I regularly come back to from it is No Plan these days.

Unreal Unearth is certainly more ambitious, being an hour long semi-narrative record loosely following Dante's Inferno. I'm not really a literary guy, so I can't really comment on how well the album captures the themes of the book or whether it adds anything interesting to them, but it definitely has a greater feeling of heft and importance than Wasteland Baby! ever did. This is evident from the opening two part De Selby. The first part being this moody and sinister folk tune where Hozier sings in Irish about the connection to self and God, the second being a bombastic pop soul tune showing the flip side, where he sings about running fast enough to escape the things he doesn't want to face. I felt Part 2 was a little clean and polished when I first heard it, it felt like everything in the song had been turned up to 11. It's grown on me a fair amount since then, as Hozier gives it all in the performance and the hook on the song is damn catchy.

I have similar feelings about Francesca, the massive 'Take Me To Church'-esque single from the album. Initially I thought it was fairly standard Hozier, nothing we haven't heard from him before, and with a little more gloss than I would like. But the song at the core of it is pretty damn great and outshines the slightly overblown and unimaginative production. Eat Your Young is definitely the album highlight, with gorgeous cinematic strings soaring over bluesy guitars and Hozier's very dry, sarcastic lyrics tackling the logical extremes of neo-liberal, late stage capitalism. The gory imagery of 'eat your young' is about the closest the album gets to some of the more morbid stuff from the debut that was always really engaging.

While the cinematic and overblown production benefits some of the songs on the album, it certainly hinders others. Damage Gets Done is probably the worst offender, as it just seems every decision on that track knee-caps it in every way. It's a blown out new wave duet with horrendous booming reverb gated drums. It's not a style that I think Hozier is particularly equipped to pull off, but everything about the track is so garish and un-delicate. Hozier and Brandi Carlile spend the entire time fighting to be heard against each other and the ridiculously overpowering drums. On the whole, due to the albums length and how its mixed, I'm finding I'm getting ear fatigue by the end of it. Every track turns it up to 11 and there's just no space to breath. It's not an abrasive record, its just too loud and too overproduced.

The two tracks that really sell the cinematic atmosphere are the midpoint interlude, Son of Nyx, and the closer, First Light. They both use the string section to maximum effect. Son of Nyx is subtle and mysterious, and First Light is the linear, building, uplifting closer that the record needs to bring it out of the darkness and into the light. This is definitely Hozier's most downbeat album, and it can come off a little needlessly self serious at points - it does get a little bogged down in the second half and by the time Unknown / Nth draws to a close I am in desperate need of the uplift that First Light brings.

Unreal Unearth is definitely a more interesting and ambitious album than Wasteland Baby!, but its definitely has its issues and is a long way off the high bar set by the debut. There are a handful of really catchy soul and singer / songwriter songs that I really enjoy, but their wrapped up in an album that is a bit too bloated, a little too self serious, and way too overproduced. It's definitely a pick your favourites and save them kind of release.

Top Tracks: De Selby (Part 1), De Selby (Part 2), Francesca, Eat Your Young, Son of Nyx, First Light

6/10

Olivia Rodrigo - "GUTS" (2023)

Disney kid Olivia Rodrigo burst onto into pop stratosphere in 2021 with a string of smash hit singles from her debut record, SOUR. These singles incorporated a lot of early noughties pop rock and pop punk aesthetics which grabbed the attention of a lot of people, but for me what really caught me was the quality of the songwriting. In an era where the charts were full of viral barely 2-minute tiktok songs with half a verse and a one line chorus, Olivia was writing proper fully fledged songs with structure and a level of depth. Admittedly I didn't ever get around to listening to the full record, but Rodrigo was definitely on my radar as a pop artist worth paying attention to.

That casual interest turned into genuine anticipation with the release of this albums lead single, vampire. The song initially starts as a more mature parallel to her breakout song Drivers Licence. Both are slow piano ballads lamenting a shitty ex after a break up. vampire has a more 'classic' feel to it off the bat and Olivia's perspective is a bit less teenage melodrama and more emotionally raw, but both songs start off fairly similar. But as vampire progresses, it develops into a wildly different beast. The pace picks up with every verse-chorus cycle, the drum beat kicks in, and by the end of the song, it's more glam rock showstopper than piano pop ballad. That quality is present throughout the entire album, ideas aren't repeated twice, rather built upon and permutated to create some incredibly catchy and replayable songs. Second single, bad idea right? also demonstrates this with how the super catchy backing vocals on the chorus never stay the same each time it rolls around, starting off very clean and 'poppy' and becoming increasingly chopped up and processed throughout the song. The song is so damn fun, as Olivia sings about a one-night stand with a former flame that all her friends would say is a 'bad idea'. It also features a fuzzed out bluesy guitar solo outro, which is about the last thing I would expect from a big single from a major pop artist.

The whole first half of the record is exceptional, opening up with all-american bitch, a very Avril Lavigne-esque pop punk blowout about the pressure to be polite and permissible and 'not a bitch' that young women face growing up. The track is very dynamic, alternating between these quaint acoustic sections and brash in your face punky parts. Rodrigo outright screams towards the end, which again is such a brave choice that I just wouldn't expect from a record from a Disney backed pop act. It also has a brilliant transition into bad idea right?. lacy is an acoustic singer-songwriter tune that gives off more Lorde vibes and even as someone who is clearly not the target audience for the song, it really hits hard. the song personifies the beauty and personality standards imposed upon girls as the titular character of the song, Lacy (or that's at least how I take it). It's not about the systems that create these standards, but the weird obsession with the idea of a perfect person 'that must exist' that it creates in people. It's a really unique and multilayered take on the topic. 

My first thought when hearing ballad of a homeschooled girl was "This sounds like pixies", but considering the themes of the record, Olivia's general influences and the fact that she's brought them on tour with her, Kim Deal's following band Breeders is a better comparison. The bouncy baseline, the soft-loud dynamics, the misfit / outcast lyrics just scream late 80s / early 90s indie and alt rock. I did find it a little jarring initially as in interviews and across the rest of the record Olivia comes across so self assured and confident, but regardless the song is an absolute banger and so god-damn catchy. The first half closes out with making the bed, the first time the record really slows down. The song is a really well written piano slowburn about self sabotage. Its clever and mature, and I really like it.

The second half isn't quite as consistent, but there are some really high high-points on it. Logical is a song I feel kind of mixed on. The song has moments of some really great lyricism (the bridge is brutal - pardon the pun) and Olivia's performance is so raw and emotional, but it is also one of the more straightforward piano pop ballads on the record and does start to run its main hook of "love isn't logical" into the ground by the end of the song. Similarly, lyrically the grudge hits like a truck, but musically its probably the most forgettable song on the album. pretty isn't pretty didn't initially leave much of an impression on me, with a pretty run of the mill new wave instrumental and lyrics tackling women's beauty standards which I thought were covered much better by lacy earlier in the record. However, I'm such a sucker for that kind of style and Olivia's voice suits it so well it's grown on me a lot.

Nestled in between these songs is two really great power pop breakup tunes, the first being get him back!. Olivia details the childish desire to hurt back the person who hurt you in a really self aware and tounge-in-cheek way. The chanted chorus and deadpan delivery are a lot of fun. love is embarrassing is even catchier with its driving baseline and booming hook, "Cause now it don't mean a thing, God love's fucking embarrassing" Olivia wails at the top of her voice. The inflections she puts on during the back end of the song just make it for me, they're unrestrained and kind of batshit. The closer, teenage dream, is also really solid, and a great way to close up the records themes. The song is a slowburn piano ballad that blossoms into a rapturous finale, where Olivia unfurls her insecurities regarding growing older and the stress of expectations. "What if they got all the best parts of me?" she asks, which is something everyone growing up can relate to regardless of whether your a pop susperstar or not - the idea of 'what if life is already as good as it gets and its all downhill from here?". 

GUTS is a really adventurous and incredibly well written pop record. It doesn't pin itself in a box of following the trends and is better off for it. It's clever and witty, and has a lot of depth to it. I think Olivia is going to go on to do some really great things in the pop sphere and GUTS is definitely the first of them.

Top Tracks: all-american bitch, bad idea right?, vampire, lacy, ballad of a homeschooled girl, making the bed, get him back!, love is embarrassing, pretty isn't pretty, teenage dream

8/10

Nothing But Thieves - "Dead Club City" (2023)

Nothing But Thieves' last album, 2020's Moral Panic, has grown on me somewhat in the years since it's release. I think that I was in that pandemic malaise where the real world felt like a hazy memory and a record that was primarily focused on how shit the world is didn't really land for me at the time. However once reality set back in I found myself putting it on occasionally when I was in the mood for something nihilistic and aggressive. It's still a flawed record, the writing is fairly basic and on the nose and there are a few too many radio friendly ballads on it, but it had a bit more staying power than I gave it credit for at the time.

Dead Club City, however, has taken everything that didn't work with Moral Panic and doubled down on it, and stripped away all the things that worked about that album (and honestly the bands overall general appeal). The album is a very edgy, synth and electronic heavy concept album about the titular fictional city which is supposed to represent how the internet or social media (or something of that ilk) can consume you and take you out of reality - I think. I say 'I think' because if it wasn't for the obviousness of the album title and opening track Welcome To The DCC, I wouldn't have picked up on it being a narrative concept album, it's really vague and underdeveloped.

The opening track was the first teaser we got from the record and left me really apprehensive of where the band were going to go with the album, as it really didn't land for me. From the cheesy synth-funk base line, to the tacky modulated guitar solo and Connor Mason's vague sloganistic lyrics, it really reminds me of the 80's pastiche trite that Muse have been peddling for the past couple of years. It's just a very bland and tacky song. The following singles didn't inspire much more confidence in me to be honest. Overcome has grown on me a little since I first heard it, its perfectly serviceable but it's straight up the most formulaic and predictable new wave tune I've heard in a long time. Everything about it is something done a thousand times before: the driving drums and bassline, the broad lyrics about overcoming a mountainous challenge, the overdriven guitar solo. Keeping You Around is built around a bland and repetitive trap beat and the song barely has a melody. Connor drearily sings the hook and I can barely keep my eyes open throughout it.

Nestled in between Overcome and Keeping You Around is by far the best song on the record, Tomorrow Is Closed. The song is certainly the most complete and original on the album, being a bouncy and catchy break up tune. The track doesn't try anything gimmicky, focusing on the core song rather than any aesthetic or presentation. It's got Connor's best performance on the album, and the overall feel of it reminds me of an edgier more aggressive Keane song. I making a point of how this song gets the basics right because nearly everything following on the album doesn't. Pretty much every track is underwritten and repetitive, relying on a singular gimmick and crass overstuffed production (usually including some really trashy synth tones). I think it's important to note that the album is the first one the band have self-produced and I think it quite obviously shows.

City Haunts' gimmick is Connor singing the chorus in his highest possible register, and that combined with the returning tacky funk synth/guitar bass line makes the track feel like a bad Scissor Sisters' song rather than NBT. Do You Love Me Yet? has no idea what it is, having some of the worst lyrics of the whole album, so many unnecessary synths and effects, a random low-key kind of Beetles-y middle 8 that doesn't fit and fuzzed out guitar solo bolted on to the end of the track. Members Only continues on the trend of trying to make very raw and fuzzed out guitar work with the clean and plastic-y synths, as does the closer Pop The Balloon which is egregiously edgy and closes the album off with a really bad taste in the mouth.

Green Eyes :: Sienna is a more stripped back acoustic ballad 2/3 of the way in to the album and is actually an okay song. It's nothing special, but the fact that the band hasn't smothered it in tat makes it stand out above the rest, especially on the second half. Foreign Language and Talking To Myself follow it and frankly drag. They don't have the annoying gimmicks of some of the other songs, but they don't have much interesting going on, don't utilise any of the band's strengths and the production still isn't great.

When I first heard Dead Club City I really didn't like it as it basically fails at everything it attempts and does away with the band's strength and appeal. Despite the fuzzed out guitars and overall edginess, its barely a rock album really - most of these songs a quite toothless at their core. Yet they for the most part have no pop sensibility and are not catchy and rely on annoying gimmicks to grab your attention. Connor's amazing vocal ability is barely used, and the only time he really gets to show off is for the gimmick chorus in City Haunts. However, over the couple of listens since I've softened a little, as at least the band has earnestly attempted something different, even if it really hasn't worked. It's not cynical, it's not safe, it's just not very good.

Top Tracks: Tomorrow Is Closed

4/10

Queens of the Stone Age - "In Times New Roman..." (2023)

It's been 6 years since the last QOTSA record, Villains, in which a lot has happened in the world and in Josh Homme's life personally. Grieving the deaths of several friends and battling cancer himself (which he has since recovered from), all while undergoing a messy divorce; Homme was simply not in the mood to make music. The last point I want to dig into a little further, as it's important not to gloss over difficult topics and 'separate the art from the artist', particularly when this album is clearly shaped by the divorce. Josh's ex-wife Brody Dalle (frontwoman of punk band The Distillers) filed for divorce citing Homme's drug and alcohol usage. During the divorce proceedings she accused Josh of violence towards their children and filed a restraining order on their behalf them, which was subsequently overturned. Josh has now sole custardy of the children and it has been reported that Dalle's current boyfriend forged the restraining orders, however Josh has a history of violent and aggressive behaviour while under the influence so it wouldn't be the hardest thing to imagine - it might just be the case that Josh is the more famous of the two and can afford the better lawyers. I doubt we will ever get the full story, but it's certainly not happy families.

In Times New Roman... follows this turbulent period and is evidently shaped by it, being quite a brooding and jaded record following up on the themes of the impermanence of the world and the people in it established on 2013's stellar ...Like Clockwork. The record as a whole feels much like an amalgamation of Queen's work since Lullabies To Paralyse. It has the sinister and creepy atmosphere from that album, Era Vulgaris' wonkey and weird production, the themes and art rock elements from ...Like Clockwork, and even incorporates some of the glam rock camp from Villains.

Obscenery sets the scene with scrappy guitar led verses leading into cinematic string-laden choruses. The chunky, lopsided production of the song leads you into the albums uneasy and distrustful world, always keeping you just a little bit on edge. This leads into the thrashing rager of Paper Machete. The track is the simplest on the record, being a straightforward alt rock banger akin to some of the bands big hits from the naughties. Time & Place plays with dual time signatures and results in a super groovy and driving tune that spirals into a hypnotic trance. Carnavoyeur is the big cinematic centrepiece of the record, with spooky synths, dramatic vocals and soaring strings. What The Peephole Say is the most tongue in cheek song on the record. It's a cheesy glam throwback song and is just an absolute blast. It would probably fit more at home on Villains with how much lighter it is compared to the rest of the album, but its just so much fun. The record cumulates with its 9-minute behemoth closer, Straight Jacket Fitting. The song encapsulates the albums atmosphere perfectly, progressing through a messy and stumbling first section into a swaggering blues rock second part which slowly phases into a dramatic and anthemic string-backed third portion before circling back to the wonky and uneasy first part, before a final moody acoustic guitar passage closes the album out.

Even the weaker tracks on here have some really interesting ideas and moments that I love, even if the whole tracks don't fully come together. Negative Space has a great chorus reminiscent of the ones on ..LC, as does the lead single Emotion Sickness. "People come and go on the breeze / For a whole life? Possibly..." is one of the best lines on the whole record. Sicily is an incredibly dynamic song with a really creepy atmosphere and only really needs a bit more of a memorable hook to draw me in. And finally, Made to Parade is quite a sluggish plodding song (clearly emulating a parade march) and doesn't do much for me, until about 2/3 of the way through it changes key into its climax, which hits like a truck and I absolutely love.

In Times New Roman... is another good record from Queens, who's releases never really dip too much in quality. Its broody and sinister, and a little bit cynical and definitely hits the mark for me as a whole package. Not every individual moment is the best the band has ever been (both Songs for the Deaf and ...Like Clockwork take a lot of beating), but is still a really solid record on the whole. And the circumstances surrounding the creation of the record are also worth discussing, as regardless of what the truth of what happened during the divorce, there is a longstanding culture of sweeping problematic issues under the rug, particularly involving established rockstars with a legacy and influence (Go look up the 70's LA "baby groupie" scene). Anyway, that's a bit of tangent - the QOTSA album is good.

Top Tracks: Obscenery, Paper Machete, Time & Place, Carnavoyeur, What The Peephole Say, Straight Jacket Fitting

7/10

Foo Fighters - "But Here We Are" (2023)

The 2010's were very much a victory lap for the Foos, basically becoming permanent stadium sell-outs and festival headliners, and the records definitely reflected that - being mostly mediocre re-treads that didn't try too hard (or even need to) as an excuse to go back out on the road again so thousands of people can chant the Everlong riff back at the band in muddy fields across the world. But as the band were touring during 2022, the groups longtime drummer Tayler Hawkins suddenly passed away. The same year, Dave Grohl's mother, Virginia also passed away, and so But Here We Are is explicitly about and dedicated to two of the most important people in Dave's life. 

The record is a cathartic expression of grief but also a hopeful celebration of life in that typically anthemically optimistic Foo Fighters way. From the opening thunderous drumming (Grohl has taken up recording duties for the drums with Josh Freese joining life) and crashing guitars of Rescued has Grohl howls "It came in a flash, it came out of nowhere", you know this is the kind of album to belt your heart out with 10,000 people in a muddy field. The fuzzed out powerpop chords of Under You recall the scrappier, punkier side of the band from the earlier years with some really heartfelt and passionate lyrics about not being to get over what's happened but being hopeful that one day he'll "Come out from under you".

The two opening tracks were the two lead singles, an usually for Foos they're the two best songs on the record and the rest is varying degrees of filler. But on But Hear We Are, the deep cuts are all remarkably solid. Hearing Voices has a super moody and reverby verse section that's reminiscent of The Cure's arena ready songs off Wish. Show Me How is a really restrained and tense duet with Dave's daughter, Violet. She is a phenomenal singer (check out her performance of Jeff Buckley's Grace at the Taylor Hawkins tribute concert last year) and she brings such a different vibe to Foo's typical style. Nothing At All starts of with a chiming guitar and drums pattern before the the roaring guitars and Dave's growl slaps you round the face in the chorus. The lyrics focusing around the self destructive feelings of nihilism and recklessness following a significant loss do really hit hard. The track also has such pit-worthy breakdown and climax.

The record closes out with two very unique songs for the Foos, the first being the 10 minute, linear, multi-section The Teacher. This song is probably the best song on the record, progressing through various moody, lowkey sections laden in effects, to soaring typically Foos chorus sections, to anthemic sections accompanied by ornate strings. The track repeats through these sections with the tempo picking up each time, before the track burns itself out and returns to the brooding moodiness for the final leg. The closer, Rest, starts out as an acoustic cut reprising the melody from Under You, feeling like the record coming full circle. But the guitars crash in about half way through and become increasingly more distorted until its basically a wall of sound by the end of the song. I think it perfectly represents the themes of the record, as in it doesn't end all neatly and nicely, and that you don't just wake up one day and you are over such a massive loss like this.

Unfortunately, the record does have a major flaw that hold it back from being a really really great record, being the production. For some reason the band has decided to mix it so incredibly loud and compressed. Despite being one of the most dynamic records in their discography, the mixing blows everything out so that the quieter moments don't have the space they need and the louder songs can be downright suffocating. The worst offender is the title track, where Dave's iconic scream is somehow fighting to be heard above the guitars and pummelling drums. It's a song I would otherwise really like, but is actually kind of ruined by the production. It's really strange, cause despite how loud and brash the band can be, they've never really had this issue before.

I'm not a Foos superfan, so I couldn't give you an honest ranking of their albums. But this is the first one in a long while that feels like a complete whole and not just a vehicle for a couple of singles and to go out on tour again. Out of the ones I have heard in full, it might even be their best (I know its apparently sacrilege to say anything other than The Colour And The Shape is their best). If it wasn't so compressed, and had a couple more top tier songs instead of The Glass and Beyond Me (they're perfectly fine songs but are very run of the mill Foos compared to the rest of the record), it'd be a truly great record.

Top Tracks: Rescued, Under You, Hearing Voices, Nothing At All, Show Me How, The Teacher, Rest

7/10

Arlo Parks - "My Soft Machine" (2023)

Arlo Parks burst onto the scene with quite the splash in 2021 with her debut record, Collapsed In Sunbeams - winning the Mercury Prize and a Brit Award. It was not hard to see the appeal of that record, with Park's soft and earnest vocal delivery set against very light and summery vaguely trip-hop and soul inspired instrumentals. The songs dealt with quite heavy topics surrounding loss and mental health in a very frank and honest way which has clearly resonated with a lot of people. However, it never quite clicked with me. While there are some highlights, and the record is generally pleasant throughout, I found the record the record quite safe and one-note. The lack of sonic variety in the instrumentals meant they started to run together by the end of the album, and Arlo's lyrical and vocal style felt a little played out. She remained calm and cool throughout, preferring to tell us about her struggles in a very gen z 'therapy speak' kind of way, with no real change in dynamics or expression across the record to really show us the challenges she has been through.

My Soft Machine is certainly a step in the right direction, at least on a musical front. The record expands Arlo's sound to incorporate more elements of synth pop and funk, with a stronger, glitchier trip-hop feel to the beats and even a smattering on indie rock to a couple of the tracks. On the whole the instrumentals feel more fleshed out with more distinct tones and textures to each song. The shimmering synths of Impurities is contrasted nicely against rumbling bass and 90's power pop explosion of Devotion. Which itself is miles away from the squelchy synth funk of Blades. I wouldn't say any of the instrumentals are anything particularly special (and the back end is certainly a step down from the first half), but the variety helps set them apart from each other and the debut.

Lyrically and vocally, however, is very much more of the same from Arlo. Her vocals gently glide on top of the music, never breaking the vibe of the music. I can see how this is the appeal of her as an artist, but tracks like Purple Phase and I'm Sorry just glaze right over me leaving little impression. The best songs on here are the ones that really go for having a big catchy chorus, the aforementioned Blades and lead single Weightless. The soaring vocals and glitchy, chopped up backing vocals sounds like what I would imagine a CHVRCHES trip-hop song would sound like. Phoebe Bridger's shows up to perform backing vocals on Pegasus and has a nice chemistry with Arlo and provides some more meatiness to the vocal presence on that song. It's also a novelty to see Phoebe on a primarily electronic track.

Unfortunately, past Pegasus there isn't much for me to get into on the record. Dog Rose is a very run of the mill jangle pop tune and beat on Puppy is pretty repetitive. The song is just over 3 minutes but feels so much longer. The record limps off with its two most lowkey cuts. Room (Red Room) is smothered in reverb to the point that it all just smooshes together. Ghost brings back the synth funk and trip hop vibes, but the track is so unremarkable for the closer, it just feels like something is missing from it. It would work better if there was a more monuments penultimate song for it to work as the unwinding moment that follows, but the last song with any amount of energy was Dog Rose. 

My Soft Machine feels like a bit of a sidestep, musically it's more varied and fleshed out, but I'd hardly say its more ambitious. And on the whole I'd say the debut has a more consistent baseline of quality, even though the highs here are higher. Blades and Weightless have entered my summer playlist, but I don't think I'll be coming back to the full thing. It's all just very listless and low stakes. Arlo Parks remains an artist I like a lot more in theory than in practice.

Top Tracks: Blades, Weightless, Pegasus

5/10

boygenius - "the record" (2023)

 

As I've fallen in love with Phoebe Bridgers' work following her 2020 sophomore record, Punisher, I've become more aware of her wider collaborations and writing credits. One such project was the 2018 boygenius EP with fellow singer / songwriter friends, Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus. However, considering how much their respective careers have taken off since then, a full record from the trio was not what I was expecting at this point in time. But here it is, and it's certainly worth the wait.

The first taste of the album we got was three tracks, one with each member on lead vocals, dropped at the same time as one single. Each track of three captures a unique style and what each of the three members bring to the table. The first is $20, where Baker takes the helm, leading a noisy and chaotic indie rock jam that has vintage feel to it with its jagged lead guitars and dramatic shoegazy climax with hazy washed out backing vocals from Phoebe and Lucy. Following this is Emily I'm Sorry, which is very much a textbook Phoebe Bridgers' song. The lyrics gently mourn a lost relationship over pillow-y acoustic guitars and a gently pulsating drum beat. It is quite a beautiful song that removes itself from the deflective metaphors and bitterness that comprises a lot of Phoebe's solo work, which is why I can see how it's landed on a record that's got a more uplifting feel and vibe to it. The third of these songs is True Blue, led by Dacus. The way the chiming guitars open up the track after the very low key and murky previous song always reminds me of that feeling you get when you wake up on a warm summers morning and the sun peaking through the curtains and the day is yours to seize and do anything with. The track builds up in layers as it progresses, and just feels very wholesome throughout.

These songs sit in sequence at the start of the record as a showcase of the breadth of the album as a whole. They're preceded by the short intro track, Without You Without Them. The track is a simple vocal harmony piece with no extra instrumentation and feels quite stark compared to the three track that follow. I can't say I love it, it just feels a bit bare and without much connection to the rest of the record. The vinyl version softens this a little with a building synth transition into $20, and I really don't get why its not on the streaming version (maybe to make it more playlist friendly, I guess?).

The two songs at the centre of the record are full-on collaborative efforts, with each member getting their own verse. Cool About It is a damn catchy twangy acoustic country / Americana tune where each member takes turns singing about there own interpretations of what 'trying to be cool' with an ex is. Subsequently the chorus changes each time it rolls around, but maintains the catchiness of the melody. It's an incredibly well written song and has grown into one of my favourites over the couple of months since the album was released. The following song, Not Strong Enough, is the big bombastic centrepiece of the album. The song starts out as classic jangle pop throwback, with quintessentially 'indie' free-spirited lyrics about life bombing past you at a rate you can't keep up with. The track goes at a breakneck pace, building and building with more and more layers of reverb and backing vocals. It's the big, festival ready single of the album.

Revolution 0 kicks off the second half and would fit perfectly on Punisher. It features that same sense of morbidity and spookiness as that record, with the washed out instrumentation and slow, restrained climax of strings and horns and some really sweet backing vocals from Lucy and Julian. Leonard Cohen is a short but sweet blast about the joys of friendship sung by Dacus, focused around the time the trio took a wrong turning on a roadtrip because they were too busy jamming out to the titular musician. Satanist is such a fun 90's power pop tune, with the same playful, tongue in cheek nihilism as the likes of early Weezer. My favourite part is when Bridgers ad-libs "You know what I should do?" right before the cathartic guitar solo. You can just tell how much fun the group are having on this song. It then transitions into a reverb-y, dream pop outro as if the band has tired themselves out on this reckless escaped.

The final leg of the record slows things down, starting with a beautiful lovelorn ballad from Dacus, We're In Love. It's incredibly earnest, wearing its heart firmly on its sleeve. It would work perfectly as a closer, but there's still two more tracks to come. The first is Anti-Curse, which is very late-2000's arena indie. While I like the lyrics of the song, the musical side just feels very played out to me, from the the chord progression, to the pulsating base and drums which kick in the second verse, to the loud shouted final chorus. It doesn't really do anything for me and fills a bit like filler. The final song is a Phoebe one, called A Letter To An Old Poet, and is one of the most brutal she's ever written with lines like " You're not special, you're evil". I love the song in isolation, and it would not work anywhere else on the record, but it's just so jarring compared to the rest of the album which is so much more carefree and forward looking.

That's the only real flaw with the record in my eyes, that it jumps around a lot between styles and doesn't necessarily feel like the most cohesive experience (compared to Phoebes solo output, which is my main frame of reference for the group). But there's a whole heap of great songs on here and it's been in constant rotation for me ever since it's come out. I'm really excited to try out Lucy and Julian's solo work also now, as the vintage indie aesthetics are right up my street.

Top Tracks: $20, Emily I'm Sorry, True Blue, Cool About It, Revolution 0, Leonard Cohen, Satanist, We're In Love, A Letter To An Old Poet

8/10

Black Country, New Road - "Live at Bush Hall" (2023)

This is the first time I've reviewed a live record on the blog, as admittedly I tend to dismiss them as less essential parts of an artist's catalogue (a totally wrong assumption I know!). However, this one has a particular significance that I think will define it as an important listen years from now when going through the band's discography. That being that this is the first release since the departure of the group's vocalist and integral member, Isaac Wood. So unlike a typical live album, this isn't versions of songs we have already heard, but entirely new ones that the group have written and toured live since Isaac's departure last year. And judging by comments the band has made in relation to this live album, it's unlikely they are going to get the studio treatment for the groups third LP. So in effect, this live album is the band's third studio album, except that it is recorded live and in front of an audience.

I've been anticipating what direction the band will take since Isaac left, as his unabashedly honest and neurotic (and sometimes borderline unhinged) persona behind the mic was a big draw of the band for me and many others. While there are a lot of changes to the sound, I am surprised by how consistently it follows on from last years LP, Ants From Up There. Despite how Isaac's personality is so intrinsically tired to that record, the band quite effortlessly follow on in that musical direction on this album. It leans a little more into the chamber pop and indie sides of AFUT rather than the progressive and post-rock parts of that record, and the band has chosen to have three lead vocalists rather than one, but its not a hard switch up in sound (I'd say the progression from the debut to AFUT is more jarring).

The record opens up with the Triumphant Up Song, which comes across as the mission statement of the record. Crashing baroque pop crescendos are matched up against bassist Tyler Hyde's emotive but optimistic vocals singing the group's catchiest pop hook yet - "Look at what we did together, BC, NR friends forever!". The song feels very much like a celebration of the band's achievements thus far, while still be forward looking and optimistic for their future without Isaac. Regardless of whether it ever ends up on a studio release, it feels like an anthem which will remain in their live set for a long time. The record ends with a reprise of the song, which only amplifies the weight of it to the band.

Hyde has the most leads on the record, singing on 3 of the remaining 7 tunes, which I can see her being positioned as the band's lead vocalist going forward. This makes sense as her vocal and lyrical style is the closest to Isaac's out of the three. While nowhere near as dark and uncomfortable, she brings a sense of upfront rawness that lines up with the band's output on the studio albums. I Won't Always Love You quite bluntly progresses through the slow disillusionment felt at the end of a relationship, with the first line being "I will always love you" and the last being "I won't always want you". The track linearly builds from slow, folky acoustic guitar through to some meaty bass and finally a cacophonous  crescendo of piano, sax and guitar. Laughing Song shows the other side of the coin, with Hyde quite obviously blaming herself for the end of this relationship, exposing her character flaws and claiming that she let the 'best person she knows walk away' on the bridge. The track is one of the slower and more reserved on the record, but still feels like it has so much weight and heft to it as it builds to it's thunderous refrain. The last of Hyde's tracks is the penultimate song, Dancers. It's the only track here that I haven't really connected with like the others, it's the only one that does feel like it's a work in progress. The story of the song isn't particularly fleshed out, and the refrain of "Dancers stand very still on the stage" does start to wear thin by the end of the track. 

Saxophonist Lewis Evans and keyboardist May Kershaw lead two tracks each, and both bring a very different vibe and tone to the songs they feature on. Evans' tracks have a earnest sense of joyousness and hope to them, with his slightly nasal and very English sounding vocals. His presence on these songs gives me the same vibe as the awkward, lovable English guy that Martin Freeman and Eddie Redmayne are typecast in films. Across The Pond Friend is so sweet, telling the story of a long distance relationship and the longing that comes when you're an ocean apart. It's just very wholesome with its ascending piano lines and swells of sax. The Wrong Trousers is similarly earnest, with Evan's revealing the impact of Isaac's departure from the band on him. The track is more low key than Across The Pond Friend, and presents the situation from that same awkward, lovable guy perspective. Lewis is not mad that Isaac left, just proud of what they achieved together as a band. The Wallace and Gromit reference in the title is also a great touch.

Kershaw's songs are definitely the most different from anything else from the band's output, both with Isaac and on this record, being very indebted to folk and singer / songwriter styles. The record's second track, The Boy is a folky, multi-part story of a robin with a broken wing on a journey through the forest to find someone who can fix it for him. It has quite a theatrical and vintage feel to it, like something you'll here in a local folk festival (as opposed to the band than made a track like Sunglasses 3 years ago). It's very different for the group and works incredibly well. Kershaw's other track is the nearly 10 minute slow burn, Turbines/Pigs. The song starts off as a simple tune comprised off a simple piano melody and Kershaw's vocals, slowly progressing through the song allowing her isolating and evocative lyrics to resonate deeply. Kershaw imagines herself as pig flying up into the air, above turbines, leaving everyone and everything behind. It's hauntingly self deprecating as she sings "Don't waste your pearls on me", as if she's telling us she doesn't feel good enough for anyone's affection. The track slowly builds to a cathartic climax. It's a beautiful song and one of the real highlights of the record.

Live at Bush Hall is definitely more than a footnote in the BC, NR's story, and it clearly shows the band are still on top form despite such an important shift in personnel. It's not quite on the same level as AFUT, but that is a ridiculously high bar to set. I do hope a fair few of these songs get the full studio treatment, as they absolutely deserve it. I'm left even more intrigued about the band's next steps now, as on this record it doesn't seem like there are any definitive direction's on who the lead singer will be going forward (or whether it will remain all three), or quite what style they should follow for LP 3. I also think it might be a good gateway into the band for people who found Isaac's vocals and lyrics a little to off-putting and pretentious.

Top Tracks: Up Song, The Boy, I Won't Always Love You, Across The Pond Friend, Laughing Song, The Wrong Trousers, Turbines/Pigs

8/10

Gorillaz - "Cracker Island" (2023)

After 2020's Song Machine project brought some of the magic back to Gorillaz that has been missing since the group came back from hiatus, I was really anticipating the already teased Season 2. That series, it turns out, has been aborted in favour of a more traditional album roll-out with a record with a more cohesive theme and tone. You wouldn't have guessed it, however, from the first couple of singles, which very much give off Song Machine vibes. The title track, featuring Thundercat, hits all of the check boxes for a song machine track - a core song idea based around the feature's skillset and moulding the Gorillaz elements around it. The second single, New Gold, featuring Tame Impala and Bootie Brown, was even teased way back before we knew whether Song Machine Season 1 was going to result in a full album. Both songs are really great, catchy alt-dance tunes that use their features really well. The backing vocals from Thundercat and Tame Impala really mesh well with the songs and perfectly bring them into the 'Gorillaz-verse'. And maybe it's just the Bootie Brown feature, but New Gold really gives me Demon Days vibes with its general feel and groove.

However, the rest of the album is nothing like this - hence why it does kind of feel like half an aborted Song Machine Season 2 and half something else. Pretty much the entire rest of the album is sleepy, melancholic electro pop akin to The Now Now from 2018. Between the title track, which opens up the album, and New Gold there are three songs that very much hit this washed out synth-y vibe: Oil, The Tired Influencer and Silent Running. Silent Running is easily the best of the three, by virtue of being the one that is the least washed out and has the best hook, but they all leave something to be desired. Oil relegates Stevie Nicks' feature to some quiet backing vocals, which feels like so much wasted potential; and the washed out synth pop style isn't exactly something that I think would get the best out of her. I'd have much rather had a Song Machine-esque song that sounds like an homage to Fleetwood Mac featuring Stevie instead. 

Both Oil and The Tired Influencer revolve around capitalistic consumption and celebrity culture, which are themes that have been well-tread by Gorillaz ever since their debut - and these songs don't add anything that the group hasn't already said before. The theming is a recurring problem throughout the album. For a record called Cracker Island and literally features Murdoch and 2D in full blown cult gear it does very little with this idea. The odd comment on internet influencers and consumer culture and that's the extent of it. Plastic Beach, this is not.

The second half does not fair much better, unfortunately. Baby Queen is about when Damon Albarn met The Queen of Thailand as a teenager in the 90s and wondering if he would meet her again some time. In theory it is a cute idea for a song, but the song itself is just another sleepy synth pop ballad that has nothing that interesting about it musically. It also feels very un-Gorillaz-y for a Gorillaz song, like it's too real of an experience without the filter of that cartoon universe. Tarantula passes me by on every listen, and Tormenta is a half-baked reggeaton song featuring Porto Rican rapper Bad Bunny. It is a nice change of pace from all the washed out electro pop (the change of pace also makes sense as it was another song that was recorded for the scrapped Song Machine S2), but on it's own merits the song feels pretty unfinished and unremarkable. Following these two is Skinny Ape, which is a song that just really grates on me for some reason. The song starts off as this twangy and bouncy 2000s-esque indie pop song, but the vocal melody just sounds like Damon Album shamelessly ripping off MGMT's Kids and just trying to make it just wacky and 'Gorillaz-y' enough to get away with it. The track progresses into a much noisier, blown out dance climax which I prefer much more than the first half - but the self-referential lyrics "I'm a skinny little, skinny little, skinny little, skinny little ape" feel like a silly joke more than anything meaningful.

The acoustic closer, Possession Island, is a degree better than most of the second half, as it feels a little more impactful as it slowly layers up and builds into a slight mariachi sway. 2D's vocals, singing "We're all in this together to the end" certainly makes it feel like a closer. It's certainly not the strongest song the band has written, and Beck is dramatically underutilised (he's basically non-existent on the song), but it is certainly more interesting than the rest of the second half. Much like most of the Gorillaz releases post-hiatus, there is a deluxe edition with a few bonus songs. These tracks have a bit more colour than most of the album tracks, but all feel somewhat unfinished and so aren't as essential as the bonus tracks on Song Machine for example.

Cracker Island feels like a bit of a missfire to be honest. Outside of the first two singles, the record feels quite underdeveloped and redundant. While nothing here is particularly bad (and so outclasses the record compared to the complete mess that is Humanz), it gives me nothing that previous Gorillaz albums haven't already done better. I honestly think I prefer The Now Now to this simply because that record felt a bit more mysterious and whimsical. Time for the group to re-try Song Machine S2 I think.

Top Tracks: Cracker Island, New Gold

5/10

Paramore - "This Is Why" (2023)

Paramore's previous record, 2017's After Laughter, was my entry point to the band, as they pivoted into catchy synth pop and new wave from their staple pop punk sound (and a genre that really does nothing for me). It's a really tight and superbly written album that I have slowly fallen in love with other the years due to the comforting themes of moving on and letting go when life gets tough, all packed into some of the catchiest pop songs of the 2010s. I was super excited to see where the band would go with the follow-up after Hayley Williams brought groovier art rock elements to the new wave sounds in her subsequent solo records. What results is This Is Why, which delves deep into post-punk revival and dance punk, indebted to the likes of Talking Heads and Bloc Party, with a smidge of the artier Radiohead-esque stuff on Haley's solo output, a handful of heavier 00s alt rock elements and a teeny bit of their emo leaning roots to boot.

Much like Wet Leg's debut from last year, it doesn't reinvent the genre's wheels, but it's an absolute blast while it's on and is not afraid to have fun in a genre which quite regularly gets its head stuck up its own arse. All is evident from the opening title track. The song is reminiscent of Talking Head's Burning Down The House with its shouty, stomping chorus set against quieter, groovier verses. It wears its influences on its sleeve and is an absolute earworm. The antisocial, paranoid lyrics about minding your own business in a world of shitty chronically online takes means it slides so easily into an indie disco playlist next to the self aware cultural commentary of the likes of All My Friends and Time To Pretend.

The much heavier, grittier The News follows. The sinister, angular guitars and Hayley's manic vocals expressing the personal derangement of down the global news rabbit hole evoke the heavier, darker side of the genre. The track is a full on rager with a killer chorus and bridge, something that is a common theme throughout the record. C'est Comme Ça is one of the weaker cuts here, being a pretty by the numbers and repetitive 2000's style dance punk song, but is absolutely saved by it's powerful and high tension bridge section. Sandwiched in between these two is the absolute gem Running Out Of Time. The track is a super catchy Bloc Party-esque dance punk song absolutely crammed full of hooks. The groove of the track makes you want to get up and move as Hayley goes on these ear-wormy vocal runs. "She's always running out of tiiimee" she sings as she despairs at her constant guilt for not being a perfect person who got everything under control and on time. The track has a tongue in cheek self-awareness to it that like the title track brings a smile to my face every time.

Big Man, Little Dignity is the first time the record slows it down, and is a track I feel quite conflicted on. Instrumentally, it evokes slower post-punk ballads with its gentle strumming guitars and lowkey rhythm section, and Hayley's vocal performance is great. However, what holds the track back for me is the lyrics. The song is a fairly weak willed take down of men in positions of power who take advantage of others. It just comes off so limp for a writer who is normally not afraid to go straight for the jugular, which is something Hayley proves right away on the next track - You First. You First is a complete indulgence into petty revenge. Hayley outright states on the bridge "I never said I wasn't petty". The cathartic lyrics feel so great to belt along to, and you can just feel the anger seething off Haley's voice. The line "Who invited you?" in particular is just so cutting. The heavy, angular rhythm guitars and chiming post-chorus lead guitar elevate the song to a really massive sounding tune. The band then goes and one-ups the intensity on Figure 8, where the aggressiveness and intensity of the instrumental is more alt-rock than post-punk, and Hayley's absolutely soaring vocals reminiscent of the band's more emo roots. The song plays on the idea of going round in circles (or figure eights), and how Hayley never seems to escape her bad habits and vices.

These two songs work as the intense, powerful belters at the centre of the album, with the back end slowing down and becoming more moody and subtle. Liar is a slow arty ballad reminiscent of some of the quieter moments from Hayley's solo records. It's patient and mature, but it doesn't quite have that draw for me that most the track's on the record do. Following this is Crave, which has a very retro post-punk feel to it with its rumbling bassline and chiming lead guitars. Just like the rest of the record, the chorus of the song hits hard and sticks in your head. Closing out the record is the bluesy Thick Skull, which encapsulates the themes of the record really well. The track details how Hayley seems to always attract people who are no good for her and how she becomes invested in the fruitless task of trying to 'fix' them, leaving her worse off for it, blaming her 'thick skull' for these repeated cycles in her life. The track has an off-kilter swagger to it, and linearly builds up the instrumentation to raucous climax.

This Is Why is a really great time, and injecting some fun into a genre that I feel is currently in one of its 'white guys trying a little too hard to sound like The Fall' slumps. It's well written and meaningful without being pretentious or morose. While I'll say the slight bumps in quality mean its not quite on After Laughter's level (and that After Laughter as a whole feels a bit more in depth and tighter in its core themes), its still a damn good time that I'll definitely be playing all year.

Top tracks: This Is Why, The News, Running Out Of Time, You First, Figure 8, Crave, Thick Skull

8/10

Kendrick Lamar - "Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers" (2022)

Before 2023's new releases inundate us, I am getting round to the last of 2022's albums I wanted to talk about - perhaps the most anticipated of the year for many due to Kendrick basically dropping off the map following the conclusion of the DAMN. tour and the release of the Black Panther tie in album in 2018. After DAMN. being such a divisive release, diverting from the funk, jazz and old-school hip hop of To Pimp a Butterfly for a more current and commercial mix of contemporary R&B and trap (and being his biggest commercial success thus far), everyone was wandering what Kendrick's next move would be. Would he returned to the sounds of TPAB that made him the king of hip-hop, or double down on the style of DAMN. that had crossed him over to a legitimate pop-star? The answer is both, and also neither, as Mr. Morale is such a complex record with so many intertwining but also conflicting ideas. This is why it's taking me 6 months to get round to writing about it - despite me being super anticipated for it. I frankly didn't know what my opinion was of it initially.

I never got round to talking about all of Kendrick's records after TBAP an untitled, unmastered back when I started the blog, but in short DAMN. was a record for me that while I appreciated Kendrick's more introspective lyrics and the overall concept of the album, I've never fully clicked with the more synthetic instrumentation and beats. Nor do I think Kendrick's skillset as a rapper and vocalist really match the modern R&B aesthetics on some of the songs, leaving some of them to feel kind of like duds to be honest. So when The Heart Pt.5 came out as the non-album teaser for this new era of Kendrick and returned to a TBAP-esque soul instrumental I was really excited. The track is phenomenal and came across as very much a deliberate reaction to DAMN. both sonically and lyrically. DAMN. saw Kendrick in a very dark place feeling like the weight of expectations were on him to be some kind of saviour for black people following how critically acclaimed (and politically charged) TPAB was. The Heart Pt.5 sees him in a much more self assured place in regards to his relationship with his fans and Black America in general.

This theme is carried through into Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers and is very much the core concept of the record, how Kendrick feels put on a pedestal as a black savoir figure and how that impacts all aspects of his life - and ultimately his journey of rejection of that expectation alongside healing from his past traumas and demons. The record is an 18 track double record, the first half being the Big Steppers side which revolves around Kendrick's worst impulses and coping mechanisms regarding his fame and weight of expectations, but also his family and societal trauma growing up. The second half, the Mr. Morale side, is essentially the resulting therapy and healing that Kendrick goes through so he can finally feel at peace with himself and his family.

Musically, the record kind of follows on from TPAB in that there are some more jazzy and soul based instrumentals, but also follows on from DAMN. with a fair few synthetic modern hip-hop beats. But then in equal measure there is a good handful really out there experimental hip-hop moments that the closest thing I could compare them to is the more unconventional fusions of jazz and electronic beats on untiled, unmastered. The opening cut, United In Greif, is a great example of this. After opening with a barrage of bars from Kendrick, the track settles into its main passage - a combination of emotive jazzy piano chords, a skittering, glitchy breakbeat and synthetic bleeps and bloops. It genuinely sounds like a Radiohead beat and not really anything like Kendrick has rapped over before. The lyrics of the track delve deep into Kendrick's coping mechanisms to deal with grief and pain - primarily his shopping addiction and his desire for unnecessary status symbols (super cars and watches etc). 

The first chunk of the Big Steppers side flows on from United In Greif in the themes and approach of the tracks, being very raw and direct about the uncomfortable sides of Kendrick's personality. N95 follows on from the opening track with something a lot more conventional and probably the closest thing a banger like HUMBLE. the record gets. While at points it comes off a little defensive, the track goes in on online mob mentality and victim culture that perpetuates hurt and division. I like it, but I feel it could've had another pass at the lyrics as Kendrick does conflate these ideas with 'cancel culture' at large at points. There is a difference between people looking for someone to blame for their own issues and holding people in positions of power accountable for damage they have caused. It's just a bit of an odd take for Kendrick to make considering how much of his music revolves around his own personal accountability and his determination to hold others to it too. Which is exactly what he does on the following track, Worldwide Steppers. The song is built around a really grimy and nocturnal pulsating beat which fits it's topic perfectly. Kendrick opens up about his experiences having sex with white women, and how it gave him a sense of power and revenge for the racism him and his forbearers have faced. This first chunk of the record cumulates in Father Time, one of the real standouts from the album. The track tackles Kendrick's relationship with his father and how his upbringing has given him a lot of negative attitudes and coping mechanisms (alongside a few positive ones). The track is loose and jazzy, and features a beautiful feature from Sampha on the hook. It's a really mature and forward-facing song, and one of the best examples of what the album is trying to be.

Unfortunately, the back end of the Big Steppers side is where the album begins to derail for a while, starting with the interlude Rich. The track is a spoken word piece, delivered by Kodak Black. Kodak is a rapper who was been charged with rape back in 2016, and on first glance you might think that Kendrick has chosen to include him on the record as some kind of representation of there 'being good and bad in all of us', but looking into Kodaks life, he has not gone through any attempt at redemption and continues to be involved in violent crime in the years since. Furthermore, the interlude steers clear of any reference to any of this, and essentially is just a pity-party about growing up in poverty and that's why the way he is. Kodak shows up in little snippets across the album and has a feature on Silent Hill, so this is clearly an intentional move from Kendrick, but not one that holds up to any scrutiny. Prominently including a controversial rapper who has not taken any accountability for their actions doesn't fit well on a record all about healing and self-accountability. The following song, Rich Spirit is fairly weak and uneventful, being a fairly run of the mill contemporary R&B song similar to some of the stuff on DAMN. The beat is pretty bland and Kendrick's lyrics are some of the least insightful on the album. 

This is then followed by another 'controversial' track, We Cry Together. The song is essentially an argument between lovers put to music, and on a technical level it is brilliant. The back and forth flows from Kendrick and Taylour Paige sound amazing as does the dissonant, free jazz instrumental. Unfortunately the intentions of the track are muddled and not entirely obvious. On first glance, the track is a back and forth between the two characters where they take turns remarking on each others toxic behaviours, but on closer inspection the track is very one sided. Taylour masterfully tares down Kendrick's infidelity and insecure ego, but his comebacks just boil down to "Girls are bitchy" after you think about them for more than a second. I think that is the point he is going for, but it's not obvious, and considering some of the other thematic blunders on the album it wouldn't be a surprise if Kendrick's bars on this track are whole-heartedly earnest. The track also ends with a complete diffusing of the situation, where the two characters make up and start getting intimate, which again undermines whatever message the song is supposed to have. Lastly, Kendrick has made a good handful of 'arty' dramatic songs like this before (most notably u on TPAB), but I feel like this is the only one that I could never play out loud over a speaker, because it is literally an argument and there is a certain degree of embarrassment I would feel if someone overheard me listening to it.

Purple Hearts closes out the Big Steppers side and is fine. Summer Walker sounds quite nice over the glitzy R&B beat, although Kendrick is certainly the least interesting part of the song. The Mr. Morale side opens up with equal ambivalence for me. Count Me Out is a perfectly serviceable trap banger that lays out the second half of the record well, but it doesn't excite me. Crown is a dreary and fairly repetitive song that takes the common 'heavy is the head that wears the crown' motif and does nothing interesting with it. Silent Hill rounds out this trio of un-remarkability with another 'eh' trap song that doesn't do it for me. Here's where Kodak Black shows up for the last time and even ignoring the context of his appearance on the album, he adds nothing to the song. It does feature some pretty funny "Huh!" adlibs from Kendrick though that I can't help but smirk at - he sounds so stupid.

Thankfully the record picks up again in the second half of the Mr. Morale side. Savior is really the turning point, where Kendrick stops worrying about the opinions of others and you can hear the uplift in both the instrumental and the vocals. The hazy synths ascend up the chord progression and there is actually a catchy hook on the song for the first time since Father Time way back in the Big Steppers side. "Are you happy for me?" Kendrick's cousin, Baby Keem, beams during the chorus.

This launches into Auntie Diaries, one of the most personal songs on the record. The track tells the story of Kendrick's trans uncle and Kendrick's journey towards understanding and acceptance, and then later moves onto how one of Kendrick's cousins came out as trans. The storytelling on the track is excellent, with Kendrick's bars laced over a jazzy meandering beat. Similarly to Savior, the back end of the song builds and builds to a crescendo that feels like some sort of heavenly ascension as Kendrick finally comes to peace with the idea that his family members identify this way. Again, this track is one of the ones that has been tagged as 'controversial' due to Kendrick's use of the f-slur and deadnaming. I personally don't really see how these arguments hold much water, as the words are used to support the story and themes that despite Kendrick's initial belief that because he never said the words with malicious intent, they do indeed cause damage and he now sees that. However, I understand that I have no jurisdiction on what others consider offensive. The main fault I have with the track is actually the very last line, where Kendrick relates his previous use of the f-slur to an incident where he invited a white person on stage to sing along with him and they said the n-word and he shut them down and sent them back to the crowd. My problem is that Kendrick isn't actually very clear on what he means by this, is it that he now sees that he can't say the f-slur? Or that he's not going to pick up on white people singing the n-words in his songs when there's no malicious intent? The line seems pretty superfluous to the rest of the song and feels like it was only added in for some shock value to end the song on.

Mr. Morale takes the progressive outlook that has been building over the past couple of tracks and supercharges it into a confident and self-assured trap banger. Kendrick takes the healing he's been embracing and reflects on the trauma his family members and other black celebrities have experienced and whether they have managed to move on, or whether it is something that still haunts them. The beat is driving and the vocal contributions on the bridge by Tanna Leone sound cool as hell. This uplifting feeling is short lived, as the following track is the longest, deepest and darkest moment on the record, but incredibly necessary for the narrative of the album and for Kendrick's journey into healing outside of it - and honestly its the best out of the 18 tracks here.

That song is the 7 minute Mother I Sober, in which Kendrick dives deep into his own childhood and familial trauma with a level of specificity that is truly heart wrenching. The instrumental centres around a moody piano riff, and the mix remains relatively empty for the entire runtime - elevating the potency of every bar on the song. Kendrick details the history of sexual and physical violence within his family and the trauma it had caused within his mother and himself. He then elaborates on how his mother projected her experiences onto him, continually asking him if his cousin ever touched him, and refusing to believe Kendrick when he told her "no". He then ties it back to his coping mechanisms - the shopping and sex addictions - from the start of the album, allowing him to come full circle and truly heal and feel at piece. The structure of the song beautifully tells the story, the first verse detailing the abuse he witnessed as a child, followed by the second tackling the false accusations from Kendrick's mother, before the third reveals the reasons she felt that way and Kendrick can finally understand and let go. Each verse is punctuated by the harrowing vocals by Portishead's Beth Gibbons on the hook, and she is such a perfect fit for the song and by miles the best feature on the album.

Mirror closes the album out well with the repeated hook "I choose me, I'm Sorry". It perfectly encapsulates the journey and narrative of the album. However, following on from Mother I Sober, it feels a little lightweight in comparison. I still like the song, but it doesn't excite me like the past couple of songs before it.

Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers is such a mammoth album in content and theme (and 'controversy') that it's hard to have one coherent opinion on it. On one side, its bloated and messy, yet there's a whole albums worth of really great songs in it. It makes a good handful of thematic blunders, but when it's on point, its really on point. On the whole I certainly like it a lot more than DAMN. and I'll still put it on from time to time, so I'm definitely more on the positive side of things. However, mileage will definitely vary from person to person.

Top Tracks: United In Grief, N95, Worldwide Steppers, Father Time, Savior, Auntie Diaries, Mr. Morale, Mother I Sober

7/10

Little Simz - "NO THANK YOU" (2022)

Following quickly on from last year's Sometimes I Might Be Introvert which blew up Simz from bubbling up from the underground to one of the UK's biggest current rappers, NO THANK YOU surprise dropped right at the end of last year with one weeks notice and no advanced singles - showing how big Simz has blown up (especially for an truly independent artist). The record follows up on a lot of the themes of SIMBI, but without the grandiose narrative and presentation - which follows a macro-level theme that runs through her entire discography of her struggle between the desire to make grand, artistic statements and her need to make music as an immediate emotional release to whatever challenges she may be facing. Her second album (Stillness In Wonderland) was very much a prototype for the grand narrative of self-preservation in the musical landscape that SIMBI took much further, whereas GREY Area was far more raw and immediate - mainly addressing the feelings of betrayal from a messy break up. The most obvious example of Simz' need to just let it out was the Drop 6 EP, which released just over a month after the UK went into lockdown in 2020 and is one of the first examples of a 'pandemic release' I can think of.

NO THANK YOU feels like very much an amalgamation of Simz' last three releases. Inflo returns as producer and brings back a lot of the orchestral and jazzy instrumentation that made SIMBI feel so dramatic; however Simz' takes on the album are far more targeted and personal akin to GREY Area, and the whole release strategy and general off-the-cuff feel to the record is reminiscent of Drop 6. While having it's merits (none of SIMBI's melodramatic interludes, and certainly Simz' densest set of lyrics), I do feel this approach isn't necessarily the best of both worlds. The identity of the record can feel a little muddled at times, like it's caught between the two artistic directions that Simz has been flipping between for years. The majority of the tracks are long, which allows for Simz to really delve into the topics of each track, and for Inflo to add tons of gorgeous flourishes to each instrumental (including swooning orchestral swells and gospel choir backing vocals); but they don't always quite connect together.  The long track lengths also mean the pacing isn't quite as spot on as Simz usually is. On first listen the order of the tracklist made the album felt like more like a mixtape. The album opens with Angel, which is the most forward looking and positive song on the album; which is then followed by Gorilla, and swaggering bop with its jazzy bass-line and Simz' elastic flow. From Silhouette to to Broken, the album gets progressively darker and more depressing with absolutely no levity. Then after Broken, the album ends with three much shorter tracks that don't feel nowhere near as dense and monumental as the previous seven. It makes the album feel a little wonky, like it just sort of limps out after several 5min+ behemoths.

Despite the slightly off pacing, each of the first seven tracks are all really great when taken on their own merits. The aforementioned Angel opens up the record with a low-key, watery synth loop, Simz sounding very chill and laidback on the mic and the always brilliant Cleo Sol cropping up for soulful hook. The track sets the scene for the themes of the record: Simz' struggle fighting the exploitation of her art by the people surrounding her in the music business (apparently she split with her long time manager this year), and the black experience in general and the cycles of trauma and lack of support in black working class communities. After brief detour through the self-assured Gorilla, Silhouette returns to the themes established on Angel, treating the idea of betrayal as people becoming silhouettes of themselves, moving out of the clear vision of them that you thought they were. The track could have very easily fit on SIMBI, with its combination of a funk rhythm and grand orchestral flourishes. No Merci takes the orchestral swells and pairs them with a more hard hitting hip hop beat for a more direct takedown of industry BS.

X goes broader around the themes of institutional racism, and the idea of what it means to be a successful minority - and the responsibility and guilt Simz feels for essentially making it when so many don't. The gritty beat and gospel backing vocals make the song feel fit for a movie soundtrack. Heart On Fire is a little shorter than the previous tracks, but Simz' performance is so scaving and raw. The second verse is particularly impactful as Simz details how she lost sight of what she wanted to get out of making music, relying on milestones and financial goals to find some purpose. Broken is definitely the grand centrepiece to the record, as Simz ditches the music industry BS to break down mental health issues at a much more relatable and down to Earth level. The song is framed around minority communities (Simz outright states "Why is mental health a taboo in the black community?"), but the lyrics are universal enough that can relate to anyone struggling. The backing vocals repeatedly singing "When you feel broken and you don't exist / When you feel broken and you cannot fix it" really struck a nerve on first listen.

After all the heaviness, Sideways comes in with a warped soul sample and Simz sounding the most content since Angel at the start of the record. I do like the song, and it is very much needed at this point in the record; however it's barely over 2 minutes and feels somewhat underdeveloped compared to what comes before it on the album. Extending the song and adding some more instrumental layers / switch ups would have definitely pulled the song up closer to the quality of the previous songs. Following this is Who Even Cares, a washed out and effect laden synth funk song that really lacks any intensity or much depth despite how vibey it comes across on the surface. Similarly, the closer, Control, feels quite underwhelming, being a simple piano balled that doesn't really feel like it ties up the albums themes and message particularly well.

While not quite at the same level of consistency and attention to detail as Simz past couple of albums, there is still so much good stuff here that its well worth your time. It's certainly darker and heavier, so requires a more deliberate listen than the likes of GREY Area and SIMBI (and therefore I doubt it will be in constant rotation for me after years the way those two albums are), but investing your brain in the meaty lyrics will definitely reward you.

Top Tracks: Angel, Gorilla, Silhouette, No Merci, X, Heart On Fire, Broken

8/10

Man-Made Sunshine - "Man-Made Sunshine" (2022)

Man-Made Sunshine is the new solo side project from Nothing But Thieves' frontman Connor Mason as a form of emotional let-out away from the band's typical alt rock style. Connor has never shied away from the fact that he is the main driver behind the poppier elements of the band's sound, which in my opinion have increasingly clashed with the band as a whole becoming heavier over the years. This makes this EP a nice diversion where he can explore more tender ideas of self-rediscovery against a gentler soundscape.

The five tracks here very much moody but hopeful alt-pop slowburns, where Connor's earnest croons are set to low-key synths and gentle acoustic guitars. While nothing mindblowing, they all maintain a level of quality and have moments that I do quite enjoy. Brain In Jar slowly builds to a very restrained and tasteful climax, and Big has a really catchy chorus and I would actually like to see a full band pop-rock balled version of this from NBT - its certainly better than a good handful of the radio rock ballads on the last album. Little Bird is just a cute acoustic song with really wholesome lyrics about being kind to yourself. The last two songs are a little darker in tone. Life's Gonna Kill You (If You Let It) is minimal piano ballad that is more similar to the relentless nihilism of the band's output on Moral Panic. Its probably my least favourite of the five as musically it is very simple and feels like quite a downer after the themes of Big and Little Bird, however its far from bad - just kind of unremarkable. Rosebud is more interesting, taking a dramatic arpeggiated descending piano chord progression and pairing it with Connor's most impassioned vocals on the record.

Man-Made Sunshine is a simple but sweet and consistent little EP, and it's nice to see Connor outside of his usual rock set dressing. If your a fan of NBT, you will enjoy this, even if it might not be noteworthy enough to come back to down the road.

Top Tracks: Big, Little Bird

6/10