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

Loyle Carner - "Hugo" (2022)

Loyle's first two albums solidified him as the go-to 'chill guy' of current UK hip hop. The loose, jazzy samples and low-key, laidback delivery made them perfect records to thrown on late at night to unwind to. However, by the end of 2019's Not Waving, But Drowning the vibe had felt like it had run it's course and it was time for Loyle to try something a bit different. Which, thankfully, on Hugo he does. The tempo has picked up, alongside the intensity of the instrumentals and Loyle's delivery; with an increased focus on wider socio-political issues where those themes were used as more set dressing for Loyle's introspection before. It's not a drastic switch into hardcore hip hop or anything, but you can certainly see the influence of Kendrick and Kanye's more dramatic presentation with soul and gospel samples - or even Little Simz's Sometimes I Might Be Introvert from last year which has blown her up into one of the biggest UK rappers currently.

Hate kicks off the record with an eerie synth sample and a crashing hi-hat rhythm, to which Loyle drills into the things he 'hates', which is more a drilling into his own insecurities and thought patterns than just a rant. The lyricism and wordplay on the track is some of his best so far, and while it doesn't fully pop off on first listen, it really is a grower. This leads straight into Nobody Knows (Ladas Road), a groovier cut with its jazzy piano and gospel backing vocals, but equally powerful as Loyle digs deep into his mixed race heritage and absent father. This is a topic he has dabbled in before, but never in such an upfront and honest way.  The rest of the first half follows in the path the first two tracks set out. Georgetown is built around a wonky bass sample and whining synths and Loyle loosely raps over it. It's the closest Hugo comes to the outright bops from the first two records and has a certain coolness to it. Speed Of Plight has a darker instrumental and Loyle's delivery matches the town with a more direct and less swaggering tone.

From Homerton onwards, the album slows down and becomes more familiar to Loyles previous work. Homerton is still very lush and full with a swooning trumpet and soulful backing vocals from Olivia Dean and JNR WILLIAMS, but after this the moodiness creeps up massively. The following track, Blood On My Nikes, is probably the darkest (and also my favourite of the album). It has a tense and sinister beat, and Loyle delves into his experience of gang violence and the desensitisation of violence through videogames. Plastic is incredibly jazzy and smooth, I really like the instrumental on the track. However, the lyrical hook on the track is that Loyle is calling out disingenuous people (and also himself) by referring to them and their possessions / attributes as plastic, and I really feel it runs dry and becomes a little gimmicky by the end of the song. The last three songs really slow the album down and really revert back to the sentimentality of the older records. However, as they only appear at the end they don't have time to outstay their welcome; and do work as a way to wind the album down at it's finish. My favourite of the three is definitely A lasting Place. Similarly, Loyle's love for spoken word and audio bite interludes is still present on Hugo; however I feel they are much more relevant and less intrusive than they were on Not Waving, But Drowning.

On the whole, Hugo is Loyle's tightest and most consistent release so far; and it really feels like he has grown in confidence to make some more outward political statements in his music, rather than just looking inward. However, due to the more serious tone of the album, it lacks any of the fun, laidback bops that are the main draw for me when I come back to revisit his records. While I don't think they would have worked as well in this context, it does hold this album back from being vastly better than his last two. It's still really solid though, and it's nice to see Loyle branch into new musical avenues.

Top Tracks: Hate, Nobody Knows (Ladas Road), Georgetown, Homerton, Blood On My Nikes, A lasting Place

7/10

Arctic Monkeys - "The Car" (2022)

Arctic Monkey's last album, 2018's Tranquillity Base Hotel + Casino, proved to be quite divisive - discarding AM's pop rock riffs and coked up bravado that blew them up into global superstars in favour of a tongue-in-cheek 70's-esque lounge pop sound and Alex Turner rambling about about a hotel on the moon. I, for one, loved it. AM's swaggering cockiness always felt a little one note to me, and the shift to taking themselves a little less seriously (once again) made for a much more interesting listen. It also helps that the songs are actually really well written and there is a fair amount to dig into with the themes and subtext of the record beyond Alex pretending to be some washed up rockstar singing in a lobby of a fictional moon resort. The Car, on the surface, appears to be following in TBH+C's footsteps, forgoing any semblance to indie rock for a 70's inspired baroque pop and soul record. But when digging a little deeper, it feels a lot closer to AM than TBH+C, and not in a good way.

What I mean by that is that it feels much more earnest and self-serious, and somewhat of a pastiche (or even a novelty) of the genres it's mimicking. AM borrowed from 70's hard rock riffs and matched them with Alex's fairly generic 'rockstar' posturing - 'sex, drugs and rock'n'roll' and the like. The Car does the same thing, but replaces these elements with layers of lavish strings and pastiche funk guitar likes, and Alex's formless, lounge-y vocals sprawling over these tracks with little regard for metre or consistency. He did this a bit on TBH+C, but it was much more restrained there, and also fitted with the character he was playing on that album. However, when this album is clearly trying to be taken a lot more earnestly, it just comes of as a kind of bad vocal performance. In places, it feels like he is trying (and failing) to do his best Bowie impression, which made me associate the album with a phrase Bowie said to describe his foray into soul and funk - "plastic soul". Bowie used it as a reference to how he originally wasn't part of the soul scene and he was a plastic imitation of it (I disagree - and I'll get back to the Bowie reviews I promise); but that descriptor seems apt for The Car. While as lavish and ornate as it sounds, it just feels plastic-y and uncanny.

The record opens with by far its best track, the lead single There'd Better Be A Mirrorball. It's the only song I wholeheartedly love on the album and I think best represents what the band is going for on here. It is a heartfelt and sentimental break up ballad set to swooning and cinematic strings and a warbling synth line. The lyrics are some of the sweetest and most grounded Alex has ever written, and the track builds such an atmosphere to accompany them. It certainly feels like it could accompany a movie scene of someone walking back to their car in the rain post-breakup. This atmosphere is unfortunately killed right away by the following track (and first one they teased live) I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am and its tacky 'wah-wah' funk lead guitar part. The song just feels like such a hodgepodge of ideas that never really connect together. The lyrics are disconnected and all over the place, supposedly reflecting a disconnect Alex feels between himself and the environments he finds himself in, but there's too many obtuse references and metaphors masking any sort of depth in the lyrics. I do quite like the string instrumentation that comes in for the chorus, but the cheesy funk guitar comes straight back in for the second verse and takes me straight out of the song. The song feels like a half formed b-side, not one of the big singles from the record.

Sculptures Of Anything Goes has drawn comparisons to AM, which I can certainly see as the mix is mainly comprised of Alex's vocals set against a super-heavy Moog synth bass part - similarly to AM's bass heavy mixes. Once again there are parts of the song I do like; the focus on the synth bass gives the track a lot of tension, and the contrast between it and the strings in the back half of the song is some of the most dynamic use of the orchestra on the album. However, similarly to I Ain't Quite Where I Think I Am, the themes of the song are buried in obtuse references that take away from the emotional resonance; and Alex's performance frankly doesn't do it any favours - he just sounds so underwhelming when set against the drama of music. Jet Skis On A Moat is perhaps my least favourite on the record, with Alex cringily crooning over returning 'wah-wah' guitars. The whole thing feels like the edgeless smooth.fm soul designed to appeal to the type of boomer that can't stand any passion or fire in their music. It really rubs me the wrong way. This leads into the big centrepiece of the record, Body Paint. The track does have its moments, but much like many of the moments on the first half, aimlessly meanders through its disparate sections not really building to a greater whole. It also may be Alex's weakest performance on the record, where the inflections are the most egregious and his voice in general coming across strained and raspy.

The second half of the record is more consistent, sonically and quality wise. The album settles into a more run of the mill vintage baroque pop sound, and Alex's delivery becomes more restrained and professional. However, I will say while there's not much I outright dislike about these songs, they also don't have that much unique going for them to make them stand out. They don't even sound particularly 'Arctic Monkeys' - they're just missing a bit of the snark and tonge-in-cheek fun. There are a couple of songs on the back half that I do enjoy, being the title track and Hello You. The Car is nostalgic look back at childhood memories related to the family vehicle, and features some lush jangly acoustic guitar and melancholic piano. The track feels quite tense, and is so close to being really good - I just wish it had more of a fully formed chorus or climax to pay off that tension. Hello You is apparently the only track that survived the band's first attempt in the studio back in 2019, and certainly feels the closest to TBH+C with it's oddball stream of consciences lyrics and more playful, quirky energy. The song is one of the most dynamic on the record, with a catchy chorus and a somewhat bouncy interplay between the lead guitar and string parts on the song.

It's a shame that following Hello You, the album limps out with two of its least notable and most underwhelming tunes. Mr Schwartz is a fine, bog standard bossa nova cut, and the closer Perfect Sense feels like it's attempting to be some semblance of a big cinematic closer, but then chickens out before it ever gets there, and then the album just kind of ends. My first listen to the record was while doing some jobs and I wasn't looking at the tracklist and I genuinely thought "Oh is it over?.." when the track finished.

The Car isn't an awful album, and it's not like I don't think it's a sound that the band can't do. I loved TBH+C and Alex's two albums with The Last Shadow Puppets that play in a lot of similar soundscapes. It's just I feel that these are easily the weakest crop of songs the band has come out with so far, and some poor aesthetical choices particularly in the first half make it a kind of drab and tiresome listen. As much as I personally have problems with AM, at least that album succeeds in having a load of fun catchy hooks to draw you in, so I can safely say that this is my least favourite record from the band thus far. (I'd still take it over the boring, commercial, 'safe for Radio 2' garbage that a lot of the bands from this generation are making nowadays).

Top Tracks: There'd Better Be A Mirrorball, The Car, Hello You

5/10

Muse - "Will Of The People" (2022)

Muse were one of my favourite artists in my early teenage years, and will forever have a soft spot in my heart, despite how underwhelming and somewhat cringy their 2010's output is. After taking a longer than usual break following 2018's bland and trend chasing Simulation Theory (in which they released a collectors edition of the first two albums complete with rarities from that era and an ambitious full anniversary remaster of Origin Of Symmetry), they had some renewed interest from me as the band were talking about returning to some of their older styles and how this new record would be 'a greatest hits of new songs'. In some ways Will Of The People feels like that, although these songs pale in comparison to the Muse greats they're trying to emulate, and the approach to the writing and stylistic choices paints the band into an awkward corner that no amount of "Muse isn't supposed to be taken seriously" can get them out of.

Simulation Theory saw the band appearing to take themselves less seriously after the pretty self-righteous anti-war Drones, but was paired with incredibly predictable and tired 2010's pop rock and synthwave revival tropes that made the album really forgettable in my opinion. Will Of The People, on the other hand, amps up the pomposity (and honestly tackiness) of the band's glam rock and hard rock leanings, which when matched with their weakest written lyrics to date, make it certainly more entertaining on an ironic level than the bands 2010's output. But when actually switching your brain on and looking at the framing of the lyrics and themes (in the music and the interviews surrounding it), it's pretty obvious the band were aiming this to be one of their most grounded albums. This in itself isn't necessarily a problem but becomes one when looking at the connotations that the writing has, and no amount of irony can deflect from it.

Take the opening cut, the title track, for example. The song is this really gaudy and tacky glam rock rehash with cock-rock guitars and ridiculous choral chanted backing vocals. When I first heard it, I did kind of like it on an ironic level, it was so ridiculous that it was entertaining. But the song is apparently very similar to Marylin Manson's Beautiful People (I say apparently because I have never heard this song as I didn't like MM even before he has been revealed to be an sexual, emotional and physical abuser and I'm certainly not giving him a pittance of my money now to verify it). It's questionable that any artist would want to crib so heavily from someone with so many corroborating allegations against them, but a band with such raw technical talent on a song that is literally about fighting oppression is in such bad taste that no amount of irony can save it.

The following track, Compliance, is the same combination of beige synth pop and generic, 'anti-oppression' lyrics that filled Simulation Theory. After this is Liberation, which is the most blatant Queen rip off the band has ever sounded, and is also about (you guessed it) fighting some non-specific oppressor. The next song, Won't Stand Down, is the lead single and was teased by Matt Bellamy to be a return to the heavy, metal influenced side of the band that they haven't shown since the early 2000s. And it does indeed have a heavy alt-metal riff during the post-chorus, but it also has some of the tackiest lyrics on the album and absolutely horrendous Imagine Dragons style plinky plonky synths and booming, obnoxious synth bass hits during the verses. Kill Or Be Killed is a much better 'heavy' song and generally one of the better tracks on the album, generally sticking to a more standard alt-metal style and featuring lyrics that aren't so obviously crap. However, as much as it compares well to the rest of the album it pales in comparison to the likes of Stockholm Syndrome and Reapers from the band's back catalogue. The track doesn't really have any interesting progression to it, it feels like just five minutes of various disconnected riffs bolted on to each other.

While most of these songs are just kind of tacky and bad, the truly tastelessness of the record rears its head again in Ghosts (How Can I Move On). The song is a somewhat insipid piano ballad about the loss of a partner during the pandemic. It is important to note that this isn't a personal song (as Bellamy did not lose his partner during the pandemic), and it clearly shows. The lyrics are utter trite, and read like a GCSE creative writing piece about grief. It's just filled with banal platitudes like "How can I move on?" etc with no real identity or anything. What really irks me about the song is that 'The Great Reset' is mentioned in the chorus. Bellamy is putting dumb political / conspiracy theorist jargon in a song that is supposed to be so incredibly personal and heartfelt. It shows that the band's supposed attempt to be more grounded in real world topics on the album is nothing more than an aesthetic to lace their usual vague "Us verses Them" lyricism. And when so much trauma has been caused by the topics they reference on the album, it really does leave a bad taste in the mouth. So many people have been in the position that this song is supposed to be reflecting, and I guarantee you not one of them is thinking about 'The Great Reset' when grieving a loved one.

Similarly, Verona is a song about forbidden love, with lyrics quite obviously alluding to viruses and masks and social distancing. Yeah the song reads like an anti-mask song. However its clear that the Bellamy isn't trying to deny the existence of the virus, the song acknowledges "the contagion on our lips". In fact the love interest dies at the end of the song, so Bellamy isn't trying to sell it as some government conspiracy. So maybe it's supposed to be ironic, taking the piss out of anti-maskers? But Bellamy's falsetto crooning set against chiming guitars and slow, arpeggiated synth lines implies the song is supposed to be taken wholly seriously. This once again leads to the only conclusion being that the band are only using this current political discourse as an aesthetic to lace over a SparkNotes retelling of Romeo and Juliette. Which again is pretty tasteless considering the amount of people who have been killed by Covid. The closer, We Are Fucking Fucked, reinforces this idea. The song pointlessly lists of references to global events over the past few years (wildfires, world wars, viruses etc) with absolutely no commentary beyond Bellamy's comical bellowing "We are fucking fucked". It's nihilism with no point, that teenage angst where you think your cleverer than the world around you just because you've noticed how shit everything is and you think nobody has ever realised that before you. Yes Matt, we are 'fucking fucked', and?... The song also rehashes a half formed version of the Knights Of Cydonia riff, to show how bereft of ideas it is both lyrically and musically.

The only song here that is remotely enjoyable is You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween. The track is as gaudy and over the top as the rest of the album, however it's the only one that it's clearly not meant to be taken seriously. The cheesy, funky synth bass and spiralling electric organ are just a lot of fun. It's clearly meant to be a dumb, silly Halloween song and that's what it is. However it feels so odd plonked in the middle of an album that is as equally as ridiculous as it, but completely unintentionally. Here are a load of really bad, tacky, cheesy (and sometimes tasteless) songs that are supposed to be some kind of political commentary, and then a cheesy, novelty Halloween song.

Its hard for me to say which of the past two Muse albums is worse. Simulation Theory was badly written, musically dated on arrival and just plain boring; whereas WOTP is tacky, tasteless and somewhat problematic - although it's certainly going to stick in my memory much longer than ST ever did.

Top Tracks: You Make Me Feel Like It's Halloween

3/10

black midi - "Hellfire" (2022)

Following straight on from last years Cavalcade, black midi are back with their 3rd record, Hellfire. The band claimed that 'if Cavalcade was a drama, Hellfire is an action movie', and that certainly is the case with all of the elements that made up that record returning but with supercharged intensity and ferocity. The complicated, technical grooves that build the base of their sound are here, alongside the fusions of classical and jazz instrumentation that Cavalcade brought along - but is all brought forward in a much more immediate and forceful way. The record is two tracks longer than Cavalcade yet is nearly four minutes shorter, so it doesn't have time to ebb and flow in the same way as that album. It's a breakneck rollercoaster to the finish. 

The most obvious change to create this sense of immediacy is the approach to lyrics and themes. This is the first time a bm record has presented its ideas so blatantly, with the stories these tracks tell actually intelligible - as opposed to the obtuse doom propheteering of Cavalcade and the general psychotic ramblings of Schlagenheim. The titular intro track spells out all that Hellfire is, being the grim reality of mortality and death, the graphic brutality of war and the ideas of sin and damnation that try to make sense of all the madness. 

The more upfront lyrics of the album combined with the sprint to the finish pace make it probably the most accessible bm record of the three, with the tracks on the first half of the record just rolling into each other with no room to let up. Following on from the intro track, Sugar/Tzu opens with a theatrical sporting announcement before exploding straight into pummelling arpeggios and bombastic horns - reinforcing the themes of the trivialisation of war through viewing it as some kind of game where personal glory can be gained. The end of the song crashes straight into Eat Men Eat, a less brutal but just as tense track sung by bassist Cam Picton. The sinister flamenco groove of the song perfectly matches the creepy and graphic tale of mutiny and food poisoning as a mine captain tries to poison his workers to produce stomach acid to be the secret ingredient in has wine production. It's graphic and weird and reminds me of those slightly traumatising kids stories you'd see on CBBC in the 2000's (obscure reference, I know).

This then bombards straight into Welcome To Hell, the lead single and anchor for the albums themes. Geordie Greep plays the role of a WW1 recruitment / training officer, luring in the character of Tristan Bongo to sign up with tales of glory and adventure, before revealing his true intentions about using him purely as a tool to kill others in the 'game of war' and descending into abuse and eventually discharging him for not withstanding the trauma and developing PTSD. Musically it is perhaps the most refined of the bm cacophonous walls of sound / pummel your face off type tracks which matches the vocal delivery from Greep perfectly. Still is the first time the album lets up, and after the intensity of instrumentation and lyrics of the first four tracks it is a necessary breather. Lyrically it is the most lightweight on the record, being a mere breakup song - as opposed to the traumatising horrors of humanity thus far. It has a country twang to it and there's a particular part towards the end where it progresses into a kind of barn dance breakdown that I really like and wish lasted longer than a couple pf bars. As much as I like Still, it does feel at odds with what comes before and after it in the record. Where every other song is about the traumatic depths of humanity, Still is just a kind of sad but generally calm and unemotional breakup tune.

Half Time brings back the sporting themes from Sugar/Tzu and signals the transition to the back half of the record, which unfortunately doesn't grip me like the first half. The Race Is About To Begin picks up the story of Tristan Bongo after Welcome To Hell, where he descends into a gambling addiction betting on horses. The song has musical similarities and call backs to that track, which in my opinion means it struggles to set itself apart in its first phase. As the track progressive, Greep's vocals descend into this staccato semi-rapped / semi spoken word delivery reminiscent of a horse racing commentator; and while it does distinguish it from Welcome To Hell, it feels a little gimmicky and the track as a whole goes on way to long. On every listen for me, Dangerous Liaisons and The Defence slide into background, they're just fairly unremarkable compared to the front end of the record and black midi in general. They follow the same themes as the rest of the record, with more of a religious slant dealing in temptation and sin and hypocrisy. Perhaps it's just the sheer bombardment of words and ideas of the record up to this point that I am just desensitised to the themes by this point.

27 Questions Closes out the record and one again brings back some of the lost intensity with thunderous pianos and crashing percussion, sounding like some kind of march towards inevitable death. Which is what the song is about as the protagonist escapes awful weather out in town one night in a free admission show by the character Freddie Frost, a washed up actor making his last play about his life's achievements as he is on deaths door. The whole first half feels sinister and foreboding as the play tries to dress up Freddie Frost as a grand and accomplished figure, before the second half completely unravels it. It's sung from the perspective of Freddie, and becomes the play he has written, which he finishes off by listing off his 27 questions about 'life the universe and everything', completely demolishing the fake grandeur of the performance, declaring it pointless and farcical in the face of death, becoming completely self-deprecating before he drops dead on stage before he could even finish his 27 questions. I am really mixed on the track, as I get what it's trying to do, and I really love the musicality of the first half. But the flip to Freddie's perspective both musically pushes the theatricality of the album just a little over the edge into a territory I can't really take seriously, and also feels like the record descends into that kind of sixth form 'nihilism = clever' territory.

I guess that's my biggest problem with the record when compared to Cavalcade. As the lyrics and themes are more prominent this time around, its more easy to see that when you strip back the technical musicianship and wordy, meaty lyrics, its just plain nihilism. And while there's a place for it in music, dressing it up as something more profound than it actually is does rub me the wrong way a little. It gives off that 'look I'm more clever than you' vibe. Cavalcade was more patient, and more mysterious and wonderous, and more consistent. That being said, I very much enjoy the first few tracks here, musically and lyrically; and on the whole I'd take it over the somewhat shock value allure of Schlagenheim.

7/10

Top Tracks: Hellfire, Sugar/Tzu, Eat Men Eat, Welcome To Hell, Still

Paolo Nutini - "Last Night In The Bittersweet" (2022)

Paolo Nutini is a favourite of mine from my adolescent years, with his work cumulating in the dramatic and grandiose Caustic Love in 2014. That record is still one that I spin regularly, having a timeless energy to it, eschewing the acoustic pop and folk of his first two records for a fuller and more rich combination of blue-eyed soul and bluesy indie rock. After touring for the album finished, Nutini largely dropped off the map for the following eight years, re-emerging with this, his fourth record. The album very much follows on from Caustic Love, incorporating a large full band sound with dramatic and detailed production. The influences at play in that album have further coalesced into a sound reminiscent of 70s soft rock - think Rumours era Fleetwood Mac. What results is a long and quite patient album that goes at its own pace. There are some of the more 'rocking' moments on here, but its quite clear that Paolo is more interested in being an earnest songwriter than a captivating showman on here.

All is evident from the 4 minute intro track, Afterneath, a slow build up of rumbling guitars and bass with Paolo's distant wails in the background. It's not the catchy and punchy single that his album's have previously opened up with. It then leads into Radio, a very relaxed and soulful soft rock tune where Paolo laments the disingenuousness of pop music and that "he wants love" and something he can truly relate to. I really like the song, but its one that quietly wraps around you and is content that it doesn't actually have to try all that hard. Again it's a song for Paolo himself, not the radios it is titled after. Following this is two of the singles, both very earnest singer/songwriter tracks, both equally beautiful and soothing. The first of these is Through The Echoes, where Nutini details a connection he has with someone that transcends their differences. Similarly, Acid Eyes yearns for the past and regrets mistakes made and feels like Paolo coming to terms with these regrets. It's sweet and honest and great. 

The next track is then a spoken word interlude, which means that Lose It, the sixth track and 20 minutes into the record is the first time it really breaks lose into a more up-tempo and momentum driven mode. Lose It is akin to some of the longer more blues rock influenced songs on Caustic Love, with its driving fuzzed out guitars and Paolo sounding gruffer and more gritty. The song is about letting go and just enjoying yourself - its great to just sing along to and forget the world. It builds and builds, introducing backing soul vocals and extra guitars and keyboards as it progresses to the climax. The other linear barnburner on the album, comes much later in the tracklist, being Shine A light, a song that sounds more influenced by heartland rock than the blues of Lose It. Equally great, it reaches outwards, trying to counter the loneliness and isolation you can feel at times.

In between these two songs, the album then returns to its unpressured meanders into lowkey and earnest songs. Everywhere has a vintage soul flavour to its swaying grove and electric organs, and classic bluesy guitar solo. Abigale is a simple folk tune reminiscent of Paolo's 2nd album, Sunny Side Up. The twangy guitars, bass work and melodies of Children Of The Stars is the most Fleetwood Mac-y the album gets, you can just imagine Christine McVie or Stevie Nicks crooning on it instead of Nutini. Heart Filled up is initially similarly stripped back as Abigale, before layering more electric instruments in. Like Afterneath, it feels like more like a building interlude than a fully fledged song.

After Shine A light is another crop of songs that close out the record. and while they're generally of the same quality as the rest of the record, the sequencing makes them feel kind of unnecessary as by this point the record has hit the length of the majority of pop releases and the song feels very much like it could be a finale to the record. Out of the remaining songs, my favourites are the last two songs, Take Me Take Mine, and Writer. Take Me Take Mine is a soothing soul tune where Paolo bares his heart and proclaims that he will always be there to sooth over all of the insecurities and worries the subject of the song has. The track ebbs and flows with washes of reverby guitar and piano. Writer is a cute little acoustic song that sort of breaks the fourth wall as the closer, as Paolo directly addresses us, the audience, about his role as a songwriter and the relationship between the two.

Perhaps the weakest songs on the record are actually the ones closest to being radio friendly. Petrified In Love and Desperation are jaunty indie tunes that stick out like a soar thumb amongst the passionate soul and bluesy soft rock of the rest of the record, and just feel a bit odd coming from Paolo at this age. They sound like songs written by a twenty-something, not someone in their mid thirties. They could've easily been cut, along with a couple of the other songs here to make the record tighter and more impactful. Give it a re-sequence to help with the pacing and it perhaps would've enjoyed it more than I currently do. However, the quality of the record is still consistent, so the fact that it's a bit long also doesn't impact it too much. Paolo is a great songwriter and these are good songs so I'm glad to have him back after the long hiatus.

 

Top Tracks: Radio, Through The Echoes, Acid Eyes, Lose It, Everywhere, Shine A Light, Take Me Take Mine, Writer

7/10

Wolf Alice - "Blue Lullaby" (2022)

 

I have once again been distracted by my finishing up my degree over the past couple of months, so I thought it would be nice to get back into the swing of things with a quick one. This is Blue Lullaby, an EP of acoustic versions from Wolf Alice's 2021 album Blue Weekend. That album has been in constant rotation for me since it came out and features a massive, cinematic sound with layers upon layers of effects and overdubs, so it makes sense for these songs to gain a different light in a more stripped back setting.

While still technically all acoustic versions, stripped back is sort of a miss-label of the EP, as there is still tons of reverb and choral backing vocals in the mix here. However, the change in instrumentation does really change the vibe of these songs, in most cases offering them up as equally good (and justified) as the original album versions. That's a testament to the songwriting, that they still stand up in a different context. Lipstick on the Glass comes off far more moody and brooding in this context, and the pure heart and earnestness of How Can I Make It OK? still shines through - even though it sounds more reflective than the blast of endorphins provided by the bombastic original.

I think I actually prefer the twangy guitars of Feeling Myself to the album version. It feels a whole lot more personal than the cinematic, sweeping synths and fits the themes of self love way more. The Last Man On Earth, likewise feels closer and more intimate, which certainly works with the introspective lyrics. Its an equally good alternative to the building layers of drama in the original. The only track which doesn't make the transition so brilliantly is No Hard Feelings. The track is already the most stripped back on the album being an acoustic cut, so the guitar is swapped out for a soft keyboard tone. This change in instrument doesn't really change the song up all that much so it ends up having pretty much the same vibe as the original.

Blue Lullaby really shows Wolf Alice's talent by throwing these songs in a different context and they still stand toe to toe with the originals. It's a really great EP, check it out.

Top Tracks: Lipstick on the Glass, How Can I Make It OK?, Feeling Myself, The Last Man On Earth

8/10

Foals - "Life Is Yours" (2022)

Foals' last project, 2019s Everything Not Saved Will Be Lost double album, turned out to be quite a tone-setter for the 2 years that immediately followed. Frontman Yannis Philippakis described the records as 'doom soup' and much of the lyrical content focused the general shit-ness of the world circa 2019 (Brexit, Trump and the climate crisis were obvious themes). So when the pandemic hit and took away nearly all the small moments that keep us going through the existential dread, the band took it as an opportunity to shift gears and write a record celebrating those things that we all desperately missed. Which is a pretty good thing in my opinion, as despite part 1 being my favourite Foals album, part 2 might just be their weakest - being run of the mill anthemic stadium rock that I was honestly too kind on at the time, as I have not felt compelled to come back to it once in the years since.

All is evident from the lead single, Wake Me Up. The track is a straight forward and anthemic dance punk stormer, with funky Talking Heads-y grooves and chanted chorus vocals. The track has such an ecstatic energy to it that I haven't heard from the band since Antidotes. The rest of the singles, while not quite as in your face, have grown on me also - providing a sense of pure fun and energy. 2am is more spacious and blocky, with a catchy and warm guitar melody that matches the lyrics detailing the back end of nights out where you're a bit worse for wear, chatting shit with mates in a kebab shop. Its pure nostalgia and just hits the right vibe. 2001 is sugary synth funk that fits the Glastonbury-montage-core descriptor I gave to one of The Wombats' songs earlier this year (I think it was even used in the BBC coverage), although it feels a whole lot more natural and less forced and calculated. Looking High is probably the weakest of the singles, being just a little too 80's pastiche for me. While decent to good songs, I would say that all of the singles bar Wake Me Up do feel a little safe and radio-ready. They don't really go anywhere unexpected. This is pretty evident in that 2001s extended outro is portioned into the separate interlude track (summer sky).

The rest of the album is a bit of a mixed bag. The opener, Life Is Yours, has elements I like: its summery Balearic-esque instrumentation and its general message of 'life is what you make it'; but it might just be the most compressed song the band has ever released. Every singling element is having a boxing match to get some space, and it genuinely sounds awful on headphones. Foals generally have the tendency to blow out their mixes, but this record is the most obviously mixed to be played out loud on a massive stereo system out of any of them. Flutter is built around a repeated guitar loop that initially feels quite quirky and rhythmic, but the track doesn't progress from this one idea and gets old by the end of its runtime. Under The Radar is the same passable but unremarkable stadium rock that filled ENSWBL part 2, and Crest Of The Wave is the washed out slow burn that every single Foals album tries at least once, and I'd say its on the more forgettable side of the spectrum.

Its on the back end of the record that the band finally jump fully into the alt-dance that the rest of the album teases at. The Sound is spiralling and groovy tune that I do find myself getting sucked into as the layers of synths and guitars build to a massive crescendo. The vocals are buried in the mix which I initially was offput by, but they just fit the vibe of the song so well. The closer, Wild Green, is just a full drop into ambient house and while not anything to write home about in the grand scheme of things, it's nice to see the band try something genuinely new that they've only really hinted at in the past.

Ultimately, Life Is Yours is decent, if a little lightweight. Gone is a lot of the weirdness and wonkiness that carried through from their earliest singles to ENSWBL. Philippakis said that they made the album to be played at parties and barbeques and road trips, a soundtrack to people living life again. And that's what it is in the end, a soundtrack, a vibe, background music. But it does succeed in that - its fun, its breezy, its summery (and Glastonbury-montage-core).

Top Tracks: Wake Me Up, 2am, 2001, The Sound

6/10

Everything Everything - "Raw Data Feel" (2022)

With touring of their last record, 2020's Re-Animator, put on hold due to the pandemic, Everything Everything went straight back into the studio to record a new project. While an enjoyable album for me, that record felt like it wasn't much of a step forward for the band compared to their previous four albums for many (a sentiment I can certainly agree with). So the band made a conscious effort to take a new direction with Raw Data Feel both lyrically and sonically. Re-Animator somewhat shifted lyrically to more human, 'emotional' topics than the band's usual socio-political critiques; however did so in quite broad strokes. Raw Data Feel doubles down in this direction, telling more personal stories around the the theme of human responses to trauma. Furthermore, Jonathon Higgs generated a portion of the lyrics using AI by feeding a bot he named Kevin 4chan threads, LinkedIn T&Cs and the whole of Beowulf.

An interesting idea for sure, however it doesn't quite come together for me. Lyrically, the album feels like a bit of a mess and the AI lyrics don't help. The band are known for their eccentric and sometimes cryptic word barrages, but this is the first time for me they seem like they might not have much meaning behind them beyond just being ridiculous for the sake of it. For example, the hook of Pizza Boy is "I'll have a Coke, I'll have a Pepsi now". It is one of the lyrics revealed to be generated from the AI, and the on the nose commentary on consumerism and choice paralysis is 1) nowhere near as deep as it thinks it is, 2) not all that catchy. I'm not going to sing along to that, it sounds stupid, not quirky and eccentric. There is a running theme of the main character wanting to offload his trauma onto a computer, and Kevin is one of several recurring characters in the record, but it isn't clear whether Kevin is the main character or the robot companion. The same goes for Jennifer and The Goatman, how these characters fit in and relate to each other is thinly sketched and unclear. It's an album that appears to have some kind of linear narrative, but when you try and look for it you can't make head or tale of it. 

Similarly, Higgs' lyrics have always had the tendency to descend into generalisations as he focuses more on the feeling created by something rather than the thing or event itself; but due to the increased intimacy of Raw Data Feel, the use of "it" and "thing" is far more common on here than any of their previous releases and so in places does feel underwritten. That being said, the record works so much better if taken on the broader strokes much like the rest of their work. Teletype and I Want A Love Like This are about trying to bury yourself in someone else to avoid your own demons, Bad Friday is about excessive partying, Shark Week is about narcissism and control as coping mechanisms, HEX delves deep into the pits of internet forums, and Jennifer is about straight up escaping a mentally damaging situation or environment.

On a musical level, the band also make a lot of changes, and as a result the album feels all over the place. The band have done away with the majority of the prog-pop and art rock elements of their sound, delving deeper into their synth pop and electronic tendencies. What results is a much more synthetic and ridged sounding album, but with much more simple poppy song progressions. The band still sound as eccentric as they always did, but it feels way more surface level with booming and blown out synths and drums, jarring dynamic changes and instrumental switch ups; rather than the complex grooves and linear builds of the band's earlier records. 

The sequencing and pacing also seems so weird. The first four tracks are the four singles, and are all glitchy alt dance tunes, but after this point the style is dropped and doesn't return again. The fifth track, Jennifer, is a driving Killer's-esque heartland rock song, however Higg's voice is far less suited for this kind of earnest delivery than the likes of Brandon Flowers. It's a shame because the song itself is one of the strongest written on the record. Leviathan is the standard Radiohead inspired slow burn that each EE album has, although it is five and a half minutes long and doesn't do anything really to justify its length. Every EE album also has one track that is the most over the top, balls to the wall song that the band can possibly come up with about 2/3 of the way through the record. Raw Data Feel has not one, but three; and they all sit one after another slap bang in the middle of the runtime. Shark Week is easily my favourite of the three, with its snappy beat and catchy vocal melodies. Cut Up! and HEX, however veer just slightly over the edge from over the top to obnoxious. Cut Up! has a really tacky instrumental that sounds like a bad imitation of Depeche Mode's Master and Servant and Higg's repetitive staccato vocals get really grating. I like the sinister lyrics and booming, bassy verses of HEX, but the chorus feels underwhelming and I can't help but feel like the band has covered the idea of internet radicalisation enough times at this point and far better in the past (e.g. Zero Pharaoh or Ivory Tower).

The record is just a little too long and bloated, and the odd blocking of similar tracks together make it feel disjointed. Metroland Is Burning and My Computer just feel unnecessary. By the time the record limps into it's final leg I struggle to care about the supposed emotional arc songs like Kevin's Car and Born Under A Meteor are supposed to provide to the narrative. The closer does pull me back in to an extent. Titled Software Greatman, it plays more into the existentialism of the idea about offloading your emotions onto a machine and the fact that you can never be truly 'over' something traumatic as it becomes a part of your identity. "I don't know how to get over this thing, 'cause it's always there" Higgs sings and it certainly hits a lot harder than the deliberately deflective lyrics earlier on in the record.

Raw Data Feel is a messy album with a half formed concept. But the fact that it is so overstuffed means with every moment it is trying something new. It's never boring, even if the ideas don't always land. EE are still a band that don't really sound like anyone else. I commend the ambition, and I certainly prefer a miss-fired experiment to something uninspired. If anything, it has given me a greater appreciation for the tight math rock grooves and explosive choruses of group's debut, which is an album that has never truly clicked for me until now.

Top Tracks: I Want A Love Like This, Shark Week, Software Greatman

6/10

The Smile - "A Light For Attracting Attention" (2022)

The Smile is the latest in the long line of Radiohead side projects, consisting of the band's Thom Yorke, Johnny Greenwood alongside drummer Tom Skinner from the jazz band Sons of Kemet. The unveiling of the band and the release of this debut album has been a unique one for the wider Radiohead associated canon, with the band making their debut performance at last years Glastonbury Pilton-party livestream before going quiet for 6 months until the start this year where singles from the record would drop every couple of weeks until the full album released last month. This is in stark contrast to the last few Radiohead albums which would have a pretty quick turn-around between announcement and release, with only one or two singles (or maybe even none) released beforehand. And as each of the six singles released, I found myself thinking with each one, "This sounds just like a Radiohead song, why is it coming from a new side project just to sound like the main band?"

But after hearing the record in full, I think that's kind of the point. Each Radiohead record over the past 25 years has been something new from the last, whereas A Light For Attracting Attention feels like a conglomeration of a lot of the sounds and styles that were new and novel on those records. Besides from not featuring half the members, if this was labelled a Radiohead record, I feel it would be considered a disappointment for not being something wholly new and fresh. Not to say that the album cover any new territory of its own, because it certainly does. The record has a straightforwardness to it, lyrically and in terms of song structure, which brings out a post-punk energy to the thing that most Radiohead albums don't really veer into. However, it still retains its artiness with the record being the most indebted to krautrock and jazz since Amnesiac.

The record opens with the pulsating electronics of The Same, a slowly building linear tune where Thom Yorke proclaims "We all want the same". This is the first introduction to the major theme of the record, blunt political venting. The lyrics on the album are pretty easy to follow, compared to Thom's usual cryptic, word-salad approach to lyrics. This track is immediately followed by The Opposite, a tune built around a jangly, repetitive guitar groove and features lyrics juxtaposing the universalism of the opener, drawing lines in the sand between the people and "the opposite" (i.e. the ruling classes). This leads into the first single and real highlight of the record, the noisy and scrappy You Will Never Work In Television Again which tears down gross men in positions in power - making specific reference to Harvey Weinstein and Berlusconi.

Pana-vision is the first of the jazz infused cuts on the album, building tension through its ascending piano line which doesn't quite resolve. The horn and sting sections on the track sound emasculate and Thom's vocal performance is stunning. The Smoke is an interesting fusion of a simple post-punk guitar loop and jazz instrumentation. While the upper layers of the track sound great, the base loop is a little too repetitive and simple for me, meaning the song only really gets interesting when the jazz elements come in. However they don't progress into much, leaving the song feeling a little flat.

Thin Thing is a hypnotic and raucous krautrock jam that throws tightness to the wind, making the song feel really chaotic as Greenwood's heavily distorted guitar winds round and round and the layers and effects build up in the track. It might be my favourite of the record. It feels like being caught up in a random storm that has appeared out of nowhere and you are entirely disorientated. We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings has a similar bite to it, although sounding more straightforward and direct. It feels like the little brother to In Rainbows' Bodysnatchers with its crunchy guitars and snarled vocals. A Hairdryer is a twangy and groovy song that has a great moment where the track builds and builds to a climax that doesn't actually come, instead moving into a much more restrained lengthy outro, which I think is quite a creative and subversive bit of song writing.

Two ballads sit at the centre of the record, being Open The Floodgates and Free In the Knowledge. The former features Thom crooning about fame and the expectations of live shows, where fans only want to see the singles and not the slow deep cuts and heart wrenching moments. The song is pretty beautiful with the twinkling electronics and piano chords. Free In The Knowledge is a more traditional acoustic rock ballad about hoping for better days and the concepts of 'the truth will come out' and free speech. Its perfectly serviceable, however doesn't quite do it for me. It just feels a little impersonal for a slow acoustic ballad. There is also a moment on the song which Thom sounds like Chris Martin, which exemplifies the sort of nearly-radio 2 listener appropriate the song comes across.

The record closes with Skrting On the Surface, which brings back the jazz elements from earlier on in the record and has existed as a half finished Radiohead song for years (occasionally being played at live shows). Much like The Smoke, the jazz instrumentation lifts this song up considerably, with the base song kind of feeling like it never ended up on a project before now for a reason. Its just okay, not awful but not remarkable either. The swells of saxophone also feel sort of bolted onto the track to give it some weight and intensity to end the album on and don't really gel all that well with the core song here.

ALFAA is a good album, Thom and Johnny are insanely talented songwriters and there are some great moments on here. However it does feel a little unremarkable considering it sounds so similar to a main Radiohead album and doesn't do that much that we haven't already heard from them. There's no serious dips in quality here or weird diversions into completely different styles, so as an album in itself it flows really well and is easy to listen to. It's basically more Radiohead if you like Radiohead.

Top Tracks: You Will Never Work In Television Again, Pana-vision, Thin Thing, Open The Floodgates, A Hairdryer, We Don't Know What Tomorrow Brings

7/10

Fontaines D.C. - "Skinty Fia" (2022)

Fontaines D.C. have come back quickly with their third album, and following the singles released beforehand I have been very exited for it. The band has delved further into the gothic rock sounds of A Hero's Death, creating a record even darker and gloomier than that one. The tone and atmosphere is also more grimier and grittier than the last album's dejectedness, there's a bit more angst and bite showing through. This is exemplified by the lead single, Jackie Down The Line. The song sounds like a gnarled, bastardised version of Bigmouth Strikes Again with its jangly riff and lyrics characterising the self-sabotaging and self-doubting side of ourselves that we all have as this omnipresent and sinister character of Jackie.

This sinister underbelly is carried through the next couple of singles, I Love You and the title track. I Love You initially calls back to The Cure's Lovesong in both its memorable guitar line and lyrics about complete devotion to someone (or something). While initially appearing as a more standard love song, the track is about the band's love for their home country, Ireland, despite acknowledging all of its faults. These themes rear their head in the second half where the track flips on its head and frontman Grian Chatten doesn't shy away from any topic, from the country's economic struggles, to high male suicide rate, to the influence and atrocities of the Catholic Church. It is such an effective communication of the duality of national pride and national shame. Skinty Fia also has strong connection to Irish heritage. The name translates to 'The damnation of the deer' in English, and is an old Irish saying referencing the prehistoric Irish elk, who's extinction is traditionally attributed to it's oversized antlers becoming a hindrance rather than benefit - once again fitting in with the themes of misplaced national pride, and the preference of cultural tradition over social progress. The track is accompanied by this semi-industrial, trip hoppy beat that is a real change of pace for the band (who thus far have very much operated within the standard post-punk guitar, bass and drums wheelhouse) and is actually a really good fit for them.

The record opens on a similar note, with the tense and brooding In ár gCroíthe go deo. The title is a Gaelic saying which translates to "in our hearts forever". The phrase was requested by an old Irish lady in England to be on her gravestone, but the church of England refused unless there was an English translation also inscribed. This mix of grief and anger is really effectively conveyed by the meaty and rumbling rhythm guitar and pulsating electronics. It really personifies the feeling of complete injustice and prejudice her family must've been feeling. This rumbling anger is turned into a complete rage for the closer, Nabokov. The track follows the feelings of bitterness and self-deprecation someone can feel when devoted to someone, with the guitars are distorted and roaring and Chatten basically shouting to reflect this.

While a really like everything I have mentioned so far, the record does fall back in a couple of places. Big Shot and How Cold Love Is are pretty run of the mill post-punk that don't really do much unique; although I do enjoy the Interpol-esque interplay between the chiming lead guitar and Chatten's vocals on the latter. It just doesn't quite have the hook to get it over the line and make it something special. Bloomsday and Roman Holiday on the other hand are two really good songs that are a bit marred by their production. Both songs are layered up with loads of layer of reverb and just end up feeling kind of smudgy. This is really disappointing in the case of Roman Holiday because the song at the core of it is perhaps one of the best the band has ever written, and I find myself singing it to myself; but whenever I actually listen to it I can't help but think it would sound much better if it wasn't quite so washed out. The Couple Across The Way is a stripped back ballad featuring only Grian Chatten and an accordion. It's a decent song, although doesn't really get me like the ballads from A Hero's Death (Sunny and No). It also feels kind of jarring in its placement in the record, being straight between the much more heavily produced Roman Holiday and Skinty Fia.

The best of Skinty Fia is the best material Fontaines D.C. have produced so far, and the lyrical content is certainly the meatiest of the three records. However, the slight inconsistencies mean that it hasn't quite reached the level of A Hero's Death in terms of enjoyment over the entire runtime. It's still a really good record though and I'm excited for where the band are going with the more heady and cerebral themes.

Top Tracks: In ár gCroíthe go deo, Jackie Down The Line, Skinty Fia, I Love You, Nabokov,

7/10

Wet Leg - "Wet Leg" (2022)

With the return of all things 2000s over the past couple of years, including pop punk and nu-disco dance pop, it's no surprise that Wet Leg have been hyped up as the harbingers of the return of 2000's indie rock. Breaking through with the internet hit Chaise Longue last year, a cheeky and irreverent post-punk tune with a sense of fun that the genre has seriously been lacking for the past half a decade. (As great as bands like IDLES and Fontaines D.C are, they're hardly what you'd call fun). This attitude has been carried out through the rest of the singles the band dropped and now their debut record as well.

The record also smartly avoids the trappings that sank the genre back in the late noughties, being a collection of tightly written songs that don't outstay their welcome - as opposed to the repetitive 'laddish' anthems desperate for teenage guys with dark fruits to overplay at festival campsites. The songs are produced much more in the less-is-more approach of the trailblazers of the genre like The Strokes, rather than the overly compressed, everything and the kitchen sink mess that so much 2000s rock became. Rhian Teesdale's vocals also set her apart from many of the acts the band are calling back to, dynamically shifting from a nonchalant drawl akin to Julian Casablancas to a Kate Bush-esque yelp, to spoken word, to riot grrl sarcasm and aggression. 

The opener Being In Love exemplifies this clever simplicity well, being a song about all the cliché negative feelings associated with romance - e.g. feeling sick and lethargic. But instead of comparing love to these things, the theme is inverted and Rhian lists these feelings and concludes to them feeling like being in love. Combined with the swirling, detuned guitar lines; it makes the track a whole lot of fun. The irreverence of Chaise Longue is carried through the other singles with Angelica being about shit parties in your mid-20s where no-one knows whether to go wild like they used to or to act like sophisticated adults and bring some lasagne. The track has this thick and noisy post chorus instrumentation that is surprisingly heavy. Wet Dream sees Teesdale imagine what a certain guy's fantasies may be, with ridiculous scenarios described over a catchy dance-punk groove. Ur Mum, much like Chaise Longue, is a simple post-punk tune with some glorious lyrics tearing into an ex-lover who just lazes around smoking weed all day. "I feel sorry for your mum" is as about as blunt as it can get. The song closes out with Rhian proclaiming to give her longest and loudest scream, before going ahead and showing us. All of these songs are just so fun and catchy.

The slower tracks also hold up pretty well too, leaning into the more neo-psych territory. I Don't Wanna Go Out ebbs and flows through its lose and swirling structure. The track is about growing out of party culture and feels like the hazy hangover that becomes more frequent as you get older. Loving You and Piece Of Shit are cathartically bitter ballads about shitty guys, matched to lethargic and hazy guitars. The closer Too Late Now is also a bit more of a slow builder, despite in actuality being about the same length as all the other songs. The song is about the uncertainty and pressures of young adult life, and how sometimes you only need simple pleasures despite what is told to us. The track builds in pace from a sluggish first verse, into a tense spoken word middle section, before exploding for the remainder of the tune.

There are a couple of moments where the record feels a little derivative, primarily the repetitive 2 chord garage rock riff of Oh No (despite some great lyrics and vocal moments from Teesdale) and the underwritten Supermarket. Supermarket really feels like filler to be honest, it's repetitive and not all that catchy or unique - especially compared to some of the earworm singles earlier on in the record.

Wet Leg is just a fun, well written indie rock album. What it does might not be the most revolutionary thing, but it does it well. I just can't imagine anyone listening to a track like Angelica or Ur Mum and not having a smile on their face. I know it'll be in my rotation for the whole summer at the very least.

Top Tracks: Being In Love, Chaise Longue, Angelica, I Don't Wanna Go Out, Wet Dream, Loving You, Ur Mum, Piece Of Shit, Too Late Now

8/10

Black Country, New Road - "Ants From Up There" (2022)

Quickly following up from their breakthrough debut last year, Black Country, New Road's second album feels notable in quite a few ways. Much like their fellow scene contemporaries, black midi, the group have change up their sound a great deal for their sophomore record. However, where black midi traded the most abrasive elements of their sound for something less harsh, yet more technically complex and experimental; BC, NR have switched their experimental and jazz leanings for a much softer fusion of post-rock and chamber pop, with some actual pop hooks to boot. The record is also significant because the band announced the departure of lyricist and vocalist Isaac Woods just days before the records release to prioritise his own mental health. It's important to acknowledge that as the record is clearly revolved around Isaac's mental state with some deeply personal and haunting lyrics.

The record runs as if it is a break up album, although it is hard to to tell whether that break up is recent, or something Isaac is struggling with even a long time afterwards. But it also feels so much deeper than that, like a real personal deep dive into Woods' psyche - it's one of those raw, no restraint mental breakdown records that just don't let up. This remedies my only real criticism of their debut, which was the lyrics of the tracks sometimes verged into absurd in-jokes as Woods was voicing his struggles through much more obnoxious and extreme characters. Here, the earnestness of the lyrics resonate so much more deeply, despite how sad and crushing they may be.

Accompanying the more grounded and consistent lyrical approach, are more sonically consistent and mainstream-palatable instrumentals. Gone are the dramatic shifts from klezmer to jazz to abrasive noise rock. All of the tracks here combine a mix of chamber pop and art rock and post-rock, and this consistent style allows for the impeccable song writing to shine even more so on this than For the first time. Despite half the tracks running over 6 minutes (some well past that), each song is so incredibly tight and perfectly paced. Instrumental switch-ups and swells come in at just the right times, with one of my favourite being the transition of Bread Song from meandering melancholy to tense regret just from the addition of the drums. The the complete switch-ups of the multi staged 12 minute closer, Basketball Shoes, keeps me engaged for the entire runtime; and I can't not mention the massive, cathartic swells of the choruses of Good Will Hunting and The Place Where He Inserted the Blade. They hit as these massive walls of raw emotion that you just can't help but be moved by.

Chaos Space Marine is the poppiest song the band has ever written, being a three and a half minute glam rock / piano rock song about how Isaac feels so disconnected from reality that he compares himself to a space marine. The song just goes for it in the second half and doesn't let up. The following song, Concorde, is much more of a slow burn; slowly building to an intense finale where the ornate chamber pop instrumentation comes crashing down. This song, along with Good Will Hunting, is the most overtly breakup-song the album gets, with lyrics as straight up as "I miss you" and "I was made to love you". The penultimate song, Snow Globes, breaks into cacophonous free drumming towards its end as Isaac repeatedly sings "Snow globes don't shake on their own", alluding to maybe how stuck he feels, looking to someone or something greater for help. The only part of the record that doesn't feel quite at the same level as the rest is the much calmer and reserved duo of Haldern and Mark's Theme. They are still both incredibly well written tunes, and I get that the album needs some breathing room, but they just lack that one moment of just complete awe that every other track here has at least once.

Honestly this album is phenomenal, and is such a great evolution from an already great debut. It proves that trading experimentation and novelty for accessibility is not a bad thing at all. It's still not a pop album, it's long, slow and deeply sad; but the song writing is brilliant - and some of the hooks will definitely be rattling around your head after you listen. This is probably going to be the best album I'll listen to this year, and it came out in February - its just that good!

Top Tracks: Chaos Space Marine, Concorde, Bread Song, Good Will Hunting, The Place Where He Inserted the Blade, Snow Globes, Basketball Shoes

9/10