Oklou - "choke enough" (2025)

 

I'm heading to Primavera Sound in Barcelona this summer, and I thought it would be fun to go through the lineup and write about some of the artists as I give them a listen. Oklou is a French alt-pop / electro-pop artist. choke enough is her full length debut and made a lot of year end lists last year, and considering my enjoyment of the recent wave of girly synth-pop, I thought this was going to be my bag. However, it wasn't quite what I was expecting (based on my admittedly limited knowledge going in) and hasn't been something I have resonated with much at all.

Compared to the brash and personality driven pop records I've loved over the past couple of years, choke enough is more of an ambient pop and minimal electronic album. Not that that's a bad thing, but I clearly had my wires crossed when I heard 'y2k aesthetic' and expected something along the lines of a BRAT or Imaginal Disk. choke enough is nothing like these albums, the mixes are sparse and clean, and the melodies are restrained and just sort of breeze in and out of these tracks. The songs flow into each other in a way where if you're not paying much attention, you could easily miss that one has ended and a new one has started. At 13 tracks and 35 mins, the album progresses quickly, not really lingering on a single moment long enough to emphasise it.

I think that's why I'm not really clicking with the album, as it just breezes by, with the more pop-leaning tracks not really having enough personality to carry them; and the more ambient-leaning ones not really creating much of an interesting or enveloping sonic landscape. The core aesthetics of the album are fine enough, with the clean, airy synths and hazy, reverbed vocals and percussion. I can see why it got labelled with the y2k tag as it feels like a video game or sci-fi movie soundtrack from that era.

Out of the tracks here, the ones I enjoy the most are the ones that are more sparce and minimal, as they create more of a serene atmosphere that I'm liking more than the poppier, more synth driven cuts. thank you for recording makes good use of negative space to highlight the simple melody that sounds like its performed on a distorted, electronic flute or the like. obvious has subtle hints of horns that poke through the reverby synths. The title track is one of the stronger more poppy tracks, with a repeated melodic background vocals smothered in distortion and reverb. The thing is, while I like them while they're on, I'm not going to remember these tracks in the long run. I find by around the point of plague dogs in the second half, I'm pretty much done with the record's sound and style. It's pretty much played all its cards by that point, and they just don't do it for me.

I don't want to bash choke enough too much, as it's more of a case that this just wasn't for me rather than any issue with the actual quality or craftmanship here. Considering all the critical acclaim it has received, there's clearly a lot of fans out there for this. But yeah, it just doesn't do it for me.

Top Tracks: thank you for recording, obvious

5/10

Lorde - "Virgin" (2025)

Lorde's first two records really set the stage for the alt pop explosion of the late 2010s and early 2020s, with their stark and nocturnal synth pop instrumentation and Lorde's very raw and introspective lyrical content. While I personally am fairly ambivalent on the debut, I think Melodrama is a fantastic record that has really aged well. Lorde decided then to completely pivot her sound on 2021's Solar Power, to this throwback early 00s 'beachy' folk pop style with a hint of 90's alt dance / Madchester influence thrown in as well. I get what the record was trying to do, essentially being the antidote to Melodrama. Melodrama was, as the name suggests, about the Melodrama of experiencing your late teenage years and early twenties while being thrust into the limelight; whereas Solar Power was all about healing from that. However, it didn't sound summery and 'beachy' and relaxing; it sounded washed out, drab and lifeless. I hadn't re-listened to it since its release until I was going through Lorde's entire discography when Virgin was released a couple of month back; and I found it just as boring and aimless as I did in 2021.

The record was critically panned and didn't really connect with the fanbase as well, which left me wondering where Lorde would go next. Four years later, the release of Virgin's lead single What Was That gave us an answer. She's playing it safe and going back to the sounds and ideas that everyone loved on Melodrama. I'm being flippant saying What Was That is just Melodrama again, as it's more like Melodrama but more. The synths and grizzled and blaring, and the lyrics (once again revolving around that early 20s party lifestyle) are more blatant and explicit. It's not a particularly bad song, but as Lorde's big comeback it feels particularly underwhelming.

Virgin as a whole feels like Lorde trying to make Melodrama again but at the age she is now. Musically, some tracks follow on from What Was That, being a slightly edgier and more experimental interpretation of the alt pop style she perfected on Melodrama. Whereas others go for a more reserved and 'mature' take on that sound. Lyrically, she is framing the chaos and internal turbulence that characterises her 2010s work through the lens of things that you only really start thinking about as you approach your mid-to-late twenties. On the record, Lorde explores her gender identity, her relationship with her parents and the power dynamics within previous relationships - topics that don't get more than a passing thought in a nightclub at 19.

The other two singles fair a little better than What Was That. Man Of The Year is a slow-burning ballad that slowly fills out with clattering percussion that by the end of the track completely overwhelms the mix. The lyrics detailing how Lorde feels like she just doesn't fit into gender norms are also more engaging than the rehashed hot-mess party girl themes of What Was That. The opener, Hammer, also explores these themes and is definitely my favourite on the record. The warbling electronics and rising synth lines all build to a climax that recalls the cathartic release that Lorde does so well on songs like Green Light and Ribs. Favourite Daughter is also an album highlight for me, with a danceable groove and a memorable hook. Again it explores an interesting topic, as Lorde delves into her relationship with her mother and her desire to please her and how she never felt good enough.

Unfortunately, as the middle of the album approaches, it kind of just drops off the map. The tracks meander about with little in the way of a memorable hook or interesting instrumental. The synths feel very muted and turned down, and Lorde really struggles to command much presence with her vocals. The whole stretch of the record from Current Affairs to GRWM feels so drab and greyscale. The record does pick up a bit towards the end, with some more uptempo tunes that have a bit more of a danceable beat. You definitely can hear the influence of BRAT on these songs (Lorde has been pretty vocal about how working with Charli XCX on the Girl, So Confusing remix helped her escape from a years long creative flunk). However, these songs are still dressed up in the very moody and muted pallet of the rest of the record, so go nowhere near as hard and are not as nearly impactful as I would like them to be.

The album does close on a high point, the very raw and uncompromising Ballad, David. The song is framed as a takedown of a previous lover who abused a position of power; however has a subtext that this 'lover' is not necessarily a person, but a reflection of Lorde's relationship with herself, the industry and her fans. Lorde's vocals take centre stage, and the washed out, muted synths take a backseat which makes it one of the most impactful songs on the record.

Virgin has some interesting ideas, but they don't really come together into a cohesive whole. And coupled with some weak hooks and a drab and lifeless instrumental palette, it makes it a bit of a slog of a listen. It's definitely better than Solar Power, but I think its rather forgettable when put next to her first two albums or the slew of great girl-pop we've had over the past couple of years.

Top Tracks: Hammer, Favourite Daughter, David

5/10

Little Simz - "Drop 7" (2024)

 

Little Simz is back with another EP in her Drop series, which sporadically intersperse her main LPs and are generally used as a place for her to experiment a little without the perfectionism and burden of expectation that is a common theme within her music. This one comprises of 7 tracks that incorporate techno, trap and grime with a bit of Latin and afrobeat rhythms - a stark contrast to the soul and funk instrumentals of her past few main albums. 

These tracks are all pretty short, with much less attention to detail than the lush instrumentals of SIMBI and NO THANK YOU. They're repetitive and somewhat hypnotic, and Simz' vocals and lyrics feel much more off the cuff and frankly background-y than the commanding presence she usually has. It's all a bit vibey and unfinished. I've had the pleasure of seeing Simz live a couple of times now, and I just can't see any of these tracks penetrating her live set the same way a couple of the tracks off Drop 6 did.

The opener, Mood Swings is definitely the most complete song on the EP, and midpoint SOS is quite a nice Latin meets deep house track that I can vibe to. The closer, Far Away, brings back some of the jazz and soul that Simz is more known for and I vibe with that also, even if its a lot more lightweight that I'd expect from a Simz track. 

Drop 7 is perfectly listenable but on the whole it just doesn't leave much of an impression. I would have rather this had spent a bit longer in the oven and had more of its own identity, because it is a significant step below everything Simz has put out since 2018 and I'm definitely going to forget about it within a few weeks.

Top Tracks: Mood Swings, SOS, Far Away

5/10

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

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

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

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

The Wombats - "Fix Yourself, Not the World" (2022)

Out of the crop of late 2000s 'landfill indie' bands, The Wombats have certainly aged better than most. The bands cheesy, anthemic hooks have proven far less wince-inducing over the past decade than the awkward, laddish misogyny of the likes of The Fratellis and The Kooks. The band have also smartly evolved their sound over the years, with tracks like 2015's Greek Tragedy sounding closer to the 2010s' 80s revival indie pop of The 1975 than the watered down post-punk and garage rock of the scene they broke through in. This cumulated in 2018's Beautiful People Will Ruin Your Life, which took the band back to their early influences and stripped back the sound to match. It's a record that I enjoy to a fair amount, with strong catchy songs that shows the band's clear adoration of the early noughties indie trailblazers like The Strokes and Arctic Monkeys. Fix Yourself, Not the World follows up on a lot of the post-punk revival and dance punk elements of that record, but maxes out the scale and bombast - to varying results.

All is revealed by the opening track, Flip Me Upside Down. The track is so shiny and polished, but feels so predictable and safe. The vaguely dance-punk groove is rigid and lifeless, the hook bland and by the numbers, and the maximalist production sanding off any scrappiness or energy that a track like this needs. The song is far from bad, but it's the kind of watered down early 2010's indie that the band have so far managed sidestep. This over-polished, super safe style is unfortunately carried through the entire album, from the Glastonbury-highlight-montage-core of This Car Drives All by Itself; to a softened up version of Death From Above 1979's heavier style of dance rock on Ready For The High; to the cringy millennial whoops on Don't Poke the Bear .

The lyrics on the album are also quite pessimistic, which is not a style which suits The Wombats well. While the outright cheese of the band has been slowly turned down over the years, the band maintained their sense of fun and levity. While nowhere near as downtrodden as say a Radiohead album (there's actually a really fun lyric referencing the band here), the band tries to tackle some broader societal and introspective themes on the album that they don't really have the writing chops to pull off. The songs are earnest, yet don't have much depth, and also try to retain the bands inherent silliness. It's a weird mix that never really finds balance.

The record still has its moments. Lead single If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You is a fun and universally emotional blast akin to a lot of their big hits in terms of melodrama and scale, and This Car Drives All by Itself is incredibly catchy despite how cliché it is. Method to the Madness builds slowly through a low-key, downtempo instrumental into a thunderous and chaotic climax which is surprisingly heavy for The Wombats.

All in all, the album is fine, but incredibly run of the mill. It sounds straight out of 2011 in all the wrong ways, the kind of watered down, overblown, festival-sized indie rock that garnered the 'landfill' term back then. I can see teenagers new to the band loving it, but it lacks originality even compared to the bands earlier work.

Top Tracks: If You Ever Leave, I'm Coming with You, Method to the Madness

5/10

David Bowie - "Diamond Dogs" (1974)

 

So next up in the David Bowie discography is Diamond Dogs, where Bowie eschews from the Ziggy Stardust / Aladdin Sane character concept for an entirely new character, world and concept. The record was originally conceived as a musical adaptation of George Orwell's 1984, although his estate denied Bowie the rights to the novel. The idea was then reworked into Diamond Dogs, a post-apocalyptic concept album featuring the character Halloween Jack, a roller-skating, rogue, anti-hero who roams the rooftops of devastated Manhattan with his gang called the 'Diamond Dogs'. Musically, the record is somewhat transitional for Bowie; being still firmly rooted in glam rock territory, but with hints of the funk and soul music which would become centre stage of Bowie's next releases.

Diamond Dogs is unfortunately the first Bowie record that I've talked about here that hasn't really connected for me, due to a couple of reasons. Most prominently, the premise and concept feels clunky and underdeveloped. Some of the songs refer directly to 1984 as Bowie had already written some tracks before asking for the rights, and they feel awkwardly smooshed together with the Halloween Jack / Diamond Dogs ideas. This means neither element is really explored in great detail. The 1984 stuff feels like just a scant retelling of the book, and the album doesn't really explore who Halloween Jack is or what the world he lives in is like. The way the album is presented doesn't help these issues. The opening track is a dramatic spoken word intro, multiple tracks run into each other, and the whole album feels so grandiose that it makes it seem like it's about something. But the lyrical content doesn't really back this up and makes the whole record seem pretty pretentious.

The second issue for me is that the songs just aren't very memorable. The only truly vital Bowie track on the record is Rebel Rebel, which is one of his finest, catchiest and coolest songs ever. The chugging riff and Bowies charismatic swagger combine to make such an effortlessly cool tune. The other tracks are just unremarkably okay. The other more traditional glam rock songs feel very generic and by the numbers, and the other songs don't really work outside of the record due to generally being quite short and heavily involved with the albums story. And considering that the story and themes of the record don't really land, its ultimately detrimental to the tracks which are composed well with interesting elements to them. I'd say aside from Rebel Rebel, the run from Sweet Thing to Candidate to Sweet Thing (Reprise) is the most compelling part of the album. The three tracks have seamless transitions and taken as a complete whole they do build a compelling song that transitions between different sections that feels satisfying. However, as individual tracks they aren't memorable enough on their own; they only really work as the three track run.

Diamond Dogs isn't a bad album, but is held up by it's half-formed concept and the over-the-top theatrics which worm their way into almost every song here. This leaves the songs feeling uninspired and unimpactful at a micro level, and the whole album lacking any draw at the macro. The glam rock tropes feel tired and played out, and the elements of soul and funk feel more like window dressing than a full exploration of those sounds. For someone listening through Bowie's discography, I would recommend purely as a reference point for Bowie's musical shift and personal life at the time (his cocaine addiction was really ramping up at this point, probably explaining the lack of focus on the record); but it's not an album I'll come back to again and again like Ziggy and Aladdin Sane. Everything this album attempts, Bowie has done better both before and after.

Top Tracks: Sweet Thing, Candidate, Sweet Thing (Reprise), Rebel Rebel

5/10

Foo Fighters - "Medicine At Midnight" (2021)

Foo Fighters are one of those bands for me that deserve their legendary status based primarily on their singles and live show, not really their albums. Not that any of them are really all that bad, but the band has very much stayed in the same lane for the past 25 years, making basically the same record of feel-good, anthemic hard rock and post-grunge tunes with each go around. The singles are usually brilliant, but the lack of variety in the deep cuts means that even the band's most fan favourite albums have never really gripped me the whole way through.

This time around, though, things were different. Unfortunately, not in a good way. None of the singles really grabbed me, and were generally a bit meh. Which was worrying, as the singles are always the best tracks on a Foos record. Luckily this drop in quality hasn't transferred to the album tracks as well; they're just as fine-to-decent as Foos deep cuts. But without a couple of really great tentpole tracks, Medicine At Midnight really has no draw.

On the whole the band has mellowed out on this record compared to some of the others. The distortion is turned down, the rhythm section is tighter and slightly groovier, and none of the tracks descend into Dave Grohl's ferocious scream like you'd here on All My Life, White Limo and Run. Many of the tracks are laced with strings and other cinematic elements. It makes the album feel very polished and combined with the softer approach makes it feel more like a product than something with a lot of depth and heart. Which is weird, because Grohl clearly wears his heart on his sleeve in interviews about authenticity in music. It's not overbearing, but it just sounds a bit too clean considering Foo Fighter's ethos and aesthetic. 

Out of the 9 tracks here, Cloudspotter and No Son Of Mine are probably some of the better ones. Cloudspotter has this groovy garage rock vibe, and is one of the more rag-tag and unpolished sounding tracks here. No Son Of Mine feels like an homage to thrash metal. Its nowhere as heavy as true thrash, but the guitars chug, the drums thunder and Grohl puts in one of the more aggressive performances on the album. It's actually pretty catchy as well, which is more than most the songs here. The closer, Love Dies Young is also the only track that resembles some of the sing-a-long feel good anthems that are the band's most popular. It's an injection of energy that's welcome after how restrained and by the numbers the album has been leading up to it. These tracks do pale in comparison to the band's finest, but they're definitely more entertaining than the rest of the record.

Medicine At Midnight is a fine Foo Fighters record, but probably the group's least significant. The only other record on a similar level is Sonic Highways, but at least that album has the whole '8 songs recorded at 8 historical studios' thing going for it to make it somewhat notable. If you're a superfan of the band, there's plenty of stuff here that you'll enjoy; but as a casual fan it is going to always near the bottom of the list in the rare occasion that I want to listen to a Foos record in full.

Top Tracks: Cloudspotter, No Son Of Mine, Love Dies Young

5/10

Hayley Williams - "FLOWERS for VASES / descansos" (2021)

Paramore frontwoman Hayley Williams struck it out solo last year with Petals For Armor, a mixed bag of a record which flitted between a bunch of styles, from art rock to new wave. This follow up, recorded entirely by Williams herself in lockdown, forgoes much of what that album did for a more stripped back, acoustic pop and indie folk style. What results is certainly a more cohesive and coherent album, if a more undercooked and forgettable one.

The record is framed as sort of a prequel to Petals For Armor, lyrically focusing once again on Hayley's divorce, and her relationship with herself and the outside world; but from a more desolate and devastated angle without the themes of self improvement and self worth that brought PFA out of its depressive slump. The combination of this tonal shift and the low-key, gentle instrumentation makes the record very sombre and isolating, like staring out of your window at dusk, watching the light slowly drain from the sky.

The record certainly has plenty of interesting ideas and moments, but they feel very stark and threadbare. There are textures and motifs which draw me into any given track, but they're not fleshed out enough or remixed to remain interesting for a songs runtime. Lyrically, a lot of the tracks feel underwritten as well. Many of the hooks get repetitive quickly, being simple words or phrases sung over and over with unremarkable melodies.

Some tracks do stick out as stronger than most on the album. Over Those Hills has a stronger sense of groove with more prominent bass and drums, and Hayley's vocals sound less fragile against them than they do on most of the songs. Similarly, the closing track, Just A Lover, is the closest thing to a rock tune on here, and it has some weight and purpose to it that a lot of the tracks lack. The gentle bass and uplifting piano chords gives the song an early Coldplay vibe, before the drums and noisy guitar come in on the back half. It has the same cool, calm swagger as some of Wolf Alice's slower tracks. I just wish it lasted longer, as it's one of the few tracks that could hold itself for more time. HYD opens with a plane flying over, interrupting Hayley, which adds to the atmosphere of the gentle finger plucked ballad about distance and disconnection. It's one of the most structurally simple tracks here, but also one of the tightest. It slowly opens up throughout, with the introduction of piano and spacey, atmospheric backing synths.

FFV is a very tasteful and listenable record, but I feel like it works best when you just stick it on while doing something else without really thinking about it. It hits a vibe, but doesn't really hold up on closer inspection. There's not enough variety between tracks, and they're mostly underdeveloped and unmemorable. They wash over you, and wash out almost instantly once they're done. It has its moments, but not big enough ones or enough of them.

Top Tracks: Over Those Hills, HYD, Just A Lover

5/10

Nothing But Thieves - "Moral Panic" (2020)

Nothing But Thieves is the kind of mainstream alt-rock band you don't see much these days, harkening back to bands of the late 90s / early 2000s like (pre-Kid A) Radiohead, Muse, Foo Fighters and Queens Of The Stone Age. The heavy, crunching guitars; angsty and anthemic lyrics; and Connor Mason's impressive falsetto is not something you really see all that much anymore. They were really on a roll as well: from the promising debut, to the much more ambitious and consistent Broken Machine and then 2018's even better What Did You Think When You Made Me This Way? EP. The signs were pointing to the band going on to making something truly great for their 3rd record, but unfortunately it hasn't really worked out for me.

The album really flits between two distinct lanes: either really run of the mill pop-rock ballads, or very hit and miss songs that incorporate elements of electronics, dance and a little bit of industrial styles. You can here both the strong influence of drive-time radio rock and the recent strain of super edgy electro-pop (think Billie Eylish and more recent Bring Me The Horizon stuff). It makes the album feel quite derivative without good enough writing to make up for it. The opener Unperson demonstrates how the band don't really know how to incorporate these new influences together. It's a super messy tune that starts sounding something more like Nine Inch Nails before going back to the bands more standard alt-rock style before turning into something more dancy as the electronics manipulate Conner's vocals as he sings "I feel like a clone of a clone of a clone of a clone of a clone (ect)". The track is about not having an individual identity in the modern age, but isn't really profound at all and just comes across so overly edgy. The band has delved into political and societal themes before, but Moral Panic completely revolves around them. Unfortunately much of the record, like Unperson, doesn't really hit the mark and just comes across as edginess with little substance.

At least some of the failed sonic experiments on here are interesting, which can't be said from the majority of the radio-ready power ballads. They are particularly generic and predictable; following done to death chord progressions and emotional swells. Genuinely the only two ballads that I can remember anything about straight after a listen is the singles Real Love Song and Impossible, and Real Love Song in particular feels pretty underwritten despite its catchy call and response guitar line. Free If We Want It and There Was A Sun sound like the toothless drivel that Snow Patrol have put out since Eyes Open and Before We Drift Away is such a one note and obvious closer with no twists or reasons to care about it. This Feels Like The End is the most shameless rip off on the record, not only of the band's own song Amsterdam, but also of Rudimental and John Newman's Feel The Love. Weird mix, I know; but the band some how manages to completely rip off both those songs at the same time

Despite the lack of overall consistency, there is a handful of good to great songs on here. Impossible is gentler than the other ballads on the record and has some unique vocal melodies from Connor that make it sound unique amongst the predictability of the other slow tracks. The lead single, Is Everybody Going Crazy? is classic NBT with massive guitars and a soaring anthemic hook. Phobia is obviously influenced by Billie Eylish with its creepy and claustrophobic first half, before descending into a heavy guitar led back end where Conner works himself up into a frenzy and breaks his usually flawless falsetto to sound darker and more deranged. Finally, Can You Afford To Be An Individual? is by far the best track on the album and one of the best songs the band have written to date. This relentless behemoth is the most lyrically dense on the record, as the band channel their inner Rage Against The Machine; rattling out political sloganeering nonstop for the song's four minute length. Conner literally sounds like he's tiring himself out by the end of the track, that's how intense the track is. The riffs are heavy as the band has ever been, leading to a massive breakdown in the middle of the track. It's the progression from the last album the rest of the tracks here should've been.

Despite the fair share of generic pop rock nothingness on here, the record isn't that bad. Conner Mason's gorgeous vocals save all of the songs on here from being truly uninteresting and the album is really well (if a little cleanly) produced; and when the band are in gear, they're still producing good songs. I've saved the tracks I like, and I probably won't come back to the full thing again. Hopefully they'll get back to the upward trajectory they were on with their next project.

Top Tracks: Is Everyone Going Crazy?, Phobia, Impossible, Can You Afford To Be An Individual?

5/10

Childish Gambino - "3.15.20" (2020)

My first real exposure to Donald Glover's musical project, Childish Gambino, was his 2018 global smash hit, This Is America. The captivating fusion of trap and afrobeat, paired with with the razor sharp political lyrics has made it an instant classic. This really peaked my interest, so I went and checked out his 2016 album Awaken My Lover, expecting more cutting, conscious hip hop. What I got was 70s throwback record of psychedelic funk and soul - and I really enjoyed it. But I still expected the inevitable next CG album to follow in This Is America's footsteps, even after the release of the follow up 2 track EP, which was more of a contemporary R&B sound.

So it was to my surprise that 3.15.20 is closer in sound to Awaken My Lover than This Is America, although it is hardly a sequel in the same throwback sense, as almost everything about the sound, style and release of this record is weird and unstructured. The title comes from the date the record was originally released, as a looping livestream on the website donaldgloverpresents (before releasing on streaming a few days later), and the majority of the tracks are titled as their timestamps in the entire records runtime. The exceptions are tracks 2 and 3, titled Algorhythm and Time. This is America does not feature on the record, yet Feels Like Summer (one of the tracks from the follow up EP) does. Although it now goes by the name of 42.26, track 10 of the record.

The sound of the record jumps all over the place, from contemporary R&B, to experimental hip hop, to the throwback sounds of Awaken My Lover; all through the lense of some really odd production choices. The mixes here feel muddy and washed out, but not in a good way. The whole mix feels out of balance. Things that feel like they should pop (Vocals, guitars and synths, ect.) don't; and many of the lower ends (percussion and bass) sound to harsh and loud. Time, featuring Ariana Grande, is a good example of this. Both her and Donald have striking, fairly high pitched voices, yet their vocals just feel concealed in the low end of the mix.

These tracks are also very unstructured, with half the tracklist being over 5 minutes, and a good chunk of them not really feeling like songs - more extended instrumental sections with Donald and others just doing whatever they feel like on top. While choruses and hooks do crop up, they feel rather unrefined and not very catchy. 12.38 is a six and half minute tune of Donald laidback-ly riffing over a simple beat, and while the relaxed vibe of the song initially sounds pretty decent, it goes nowhere for 4 minutes then just jumps off the deep end after that point with random effects placed on the mix and unremarkable features from 21 Savage and Kadhja Bonet don't anything.

The album really dips around the midpoint. The 8 minute neo-soul croon-fest that is 24.19 just goes on and on. The production on this one sounds really bad and murky, and makes Glover's usually quite intense croon sound amateurish. The pitch shifting that crops up from time to time also really doesn't sound good. The main track fades out at around 5:30 for a weird interlude with intense breathing and the building of industrial beats to lead into 32.22. This is a track in the style of some experimental, industrial hip hop, and just sounds ugly. The garbled, autotuned vocals combine with this repetitive, garish beat to just feel really pointless and annoying. Nothing else on the record sounds like this, which makes it seem really random and disjointed why it's on here (especially since it does nothing interesting).

The best tracks are the ones that do feel like complete songs (or songs most of the way to completion). 19.10 is straight up Prince worship, but the singular goal of the song gives it some focus and is fairly catchy. It's not amazing, and feels like 3/4 of a complete song, but I don't get tired of it by the end of its runtime unlike a lot of the tracks here. 42.26 is essentially unchanged from it's original incarnation as Feels Like Summer, and so is actually quite jarring how much better it sounds than the rest of the record. You can definitely tell it was recorded and mixed separately from the rest of the album. The relaxed, tropical grove of the song and Glover's reggae-ish singing do genuinely feel like summer. The Closer, 53.49, is reminiscent of the wacky, psychedelic funk that cropped up on Awaken My Lover. The track is short and snappy, and Donald's vocals really pop.

This record is really quite weird. Everything sounds so unfocused and unfinished, yet so intentional. It hops genres with each track; ideas are either barely explored or dragged out far too long; and the lyrics don't build to any sort of coherent theme or concept. It's certainly ambitious and subversive, just not really the strongest executed.

Top Tracks: 19.10, 42.26, 53.49

5/10

Circa Waves - "Sad Happy" (2020)

The indie pop rock band have quickly followed up their third album, last year's What's It Like Over There, a record I didn't think was all that great. It felt rather underwritten and trend-chasing, and I haven't really come back to any of the songs from it since. This record is a double album, with the first half titled Happy and containing expectedly cheerful songs and the second half, titled Sad, likewise exploring more downbeat emotions. While fairly short by even single album standards (it's 43 minutes), this idea is executed very well and does make it feel like a double album. The Happy side is all really upbeat, cheerful songs; and the sad side does feel emotional and vulnerable.

My two big gripes with What's It Like Over There are also improved upon here. While the sound of the record is hardly something new, the incredibly irritating 2010's pop rock tropes in WILOT are nowhere to be found. This album finds itself playing in the sounds of 2000's to early 2010's indie bands such as Vampire Weekend, The Killers and Two Door Cinema Club, and also dabbles in some more new wave sounding stuff on the Sad half of the record. It's certainly a sound the band are far more at home in than trying to sound like Imagine Dragons. The lyricism and song writing are also stronger here, with more detailed songs and actual choruses that aren't just one line sung over and over. Some of the songs (mainly on the Sad side) feel like they're genuine and honest, and do feel like they connect to a certain extent.

Unfortunately, even though it doesn't posses any real negative qualities, it doesn't really do anything particularly special and noteworthy, especially the Happy side. These songs feel like they're just aping other bands styles - like some sort of tribute act that plays their own songs as well. The singles Jacqueline and Move To San Francisco, as well as the track Wasted On You, are very indebted to Vampire Weekend. Perhaps it's because I've never really gotten into them, but I really don't care for the songs in this style. They're competent and professional, but do nothing for me. The best songs on the Happy half are the two louder, heavier tracks. Be Your Drug matches up an early era Two Door Cinema Club chorus with some heavy, crunchy guitars, creating quite a unique hard dance-punk sound to the song. Call Your Name sounds like Hot Fuss era Killers b-side, with roaring guitars and a soaring, anthemic hook. And while it doesn't match the quality of the best Killers tracks, it's still decent enough.

The Sad side doesn't feel quite so derivative, outside of the poppy Battered & Bruised. This track sounds somewhere between AM Arctic Monkeys and The Black Keys, and has these tacky whistles as part of the chorus. It sounds annoying and earworm-y and perfect for a car ad. The rest of this half takes a more subtle new wave-y approach. Wake Up Call has this dramatic outro with these arpeggiated synth line, and Keiran Shuddal's vocals sound very earnest in it. The following track, Sympathy, is an emotional, self deprecating, acoustic guitar ballad with some eery chords that help to sell the angst. Hope There's A Heaven sounds so 80's with reverb effects smoothering the synths and Keiran's towering vocals, and the rigid bass and drum track. The Closer, Birthday Cake, is a weird closer. It's a slow, mellow, Coldplay-ish, tune that's moody and brooding - and is a decent song. But it's one of the few songs on the Sad side that doesn't really have much of a positive angle within it, and so is a weird way for the album to leave off on.

This album is fine. It is well written and professionally made, but I feel like it's sterile and workman-like. It lacks the raucous energy of the bands first couple of records, and is no where near inventive or unique enough to really have it's own identity. I don't dislike it, but I don't really like it either. At least it's definitely an improvement from WILOT, and maybe the group will go off and do something completely different for album 5, since they have the intentions of releasing music a lot more quickly than other guitar acts.

Top Tracks: Be Your Drug, Call Your Name, Wake Up Call

5/10

Slaves - "The Velvet Ditch" (2019)

While working on the bands last album, last years Acts Of Fear And love, Slaves wanted to keep that record as lean and tight as possible. All killer and no filler as they say. That resulted in the duo having a few ideas and tracks left over after the release, things which wouldn't necessarily have worked on the record or unfinished ideas that didn't have time to blossom, hence this EP. Unfortunately, these odds and ends feel just like that - unfinished.

The opener is the most fully formed of the bunch. It's a track about being trapped in your home town and the rather unpleasant people you inevitably meet there, titled One More Day Won't Hurt. Supposedly inspired by the group's attempt at making a grime beat, the song sounds like typical Slaves. Isaac Holman's angry, shouted vocals sit on top of his thunderous drumming and Laurie Vincent's grimy, heavy guitar riffs. While the track is as loud as any punk song, it crescendos massively towards the end.

The other tracks don't really come close to matching this. The following song is a short thrashing punk jam called It Makes Me Sick, but doesn't really match the humour of the likes of Fuck The Hi-Hat (a similarly loud and short tune). The title track is easily the most forgettable, slowing the pace down with a twangy country-style acoustic guitar, and that's it. The melody is simple and forgettable, the lyrics are simple. There's just not much there to latch on to. The closing track is also slower, being a heartfelt piano balled with some engaging lyrics. However, there's nothing else introduced into the song and it doesn't really go anywhere. It really feels like it could've been expanded upon into a really great song.

It's a shame this EP feels unfinished, because the basis is here for some good songs, especially with the band branching out into new territory with the last two tracks. As it stands, it is fine. While perfectly listenable, it just feels rather unimportant.

Top Tracks: One More Day Wont Hurt

5/10

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

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

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

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

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

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

5/10