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

Slowthai - "TYRON" (2021)

 

Slowthai burst onto the scene a couple of years ago with his manic, DIY and punk style of grime and hip hop. He leaned into his background, growing up on the council estates of Northampton, to create this persona of a wild, unpredictable, standoffish kid of the streets; but paired it up with incredibly poignant and powerful socially and politically conscious lyrics. This made his debut record really stand out against the usual grime bluster and posturing. Fast forward two years, where Slowthai got 'cancelled' for being drunk, inappropriate towards the host Katherine Ryan, and starting fights at an awards ceremony; immediately before a global pandemic locked him inside, forcing him to reflect on himself, his persona, and his actions. What results is TYRON, a 35 minute record where Slowthai separates his manic and aggressive, and thoughtful and emotional sides onto two distinct halves.

While I understand the artistic motivations behind this, it does mean the record runs more like two very separate EPs rather than one cohesive listen. The tracks are also short, some so short that they feel like vignettes or motifs rather than a complete song. This mainly affects the first, more aggressive half, which could've done with a bit more depth as the disassociation of Slowthai's emotions leaves this half feeling a bit lightweight, despite how hard hitting and in-your-face it sounds to the ear. This side feels very much like Slowthai playing into his leery-lad character, acting like he owns the place and doesn't care about people's opinions and criticisms. You can tell it's supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek, but there isn't much beyond that for the entire half. CANCELLED is literally about being 'too big to be cancelled'. Both that track and MAZZA have really kinetic and propulsive beats, and Slowthai's performance on both is inflected and charismatic. Skepta's feature on CANCELLED is fairly run of the mill but the beat and Slowthai carry the song. The side as a whole has a punky, trap flair which makes it very listenable despite not every track standing out.

The second half is where the record really shines. Slowthai shows much more of his emotions and vulnerability, against some really lush and detailed instrumentation. i tried opens up this half with a jazzy and low-key beat, which Tyron raps detailed and heavy lyrics dealing with his torn identity adn imposter syndrome, feeling that he's only famous for his manic antics rather than the quality of his work. The intro of the track literally states that 'I tried to die', like he feels that much of an imposter that he's contemplating suicide. Following this is focus, which focuses on the themes of mindfulness and self-improvement. This is backed by a stripped back trap beat and a simple bass riff, giving it a really relaxed vibe.

The record ends on its best run, nhs into feel away, then adhd. nhs is such a bittersweet tune, as Slowthai lists off good and bad opposites in life; reminding us and himself that bad things happen in life, and you've got to acknowledge that or you'll never enjoy the good parts. The track is built on this pitched up vocal loop which also acts as the hook and combined with the lush piano notes makes it sound very sweet and refreshed. feel away is the most overtly soulful song on the record, thanks to James Blake's smooth croon on the hook. The track is revolves around a crumbled relationship, but references to pregnancy and car accidents make it feel far more traumatic and catastrophic. The chopped up, reverb-y piano sample adds to the haunting nature of the song. adhd has a more prominent drum beat, and Slowthai's rapping is much less enigmatic and more monotone, sounding almost defeated. The track is about him growing up with adhd and how people didn't really understand how it affected him or understood him. It's a very downer note for the record to end on, but fits with the record's themes as whole, that Tyron is still working out who he is and how he feels.

Some of TYRON is fantastic, introspective and engaging hip hop; but it still doesn't feel like Slowthai has reached is full potential yet. The distillation and segmentation of his different moods leaves the record feeling a bit choppy; and out of the heavier, more manic tracks, nothing bangs as hard as Doorman or gets as lyrically heavy as Northampton's Child from the first record. I am really looking forward to what he does next, because an entire record similar to the second half of TYRON could be really up my street.

Top Tracks: CANCELLED, MAZZA, i tried, focus, nhs, feel away, adhd

7/10

Phoebe Bridgers - "Punisher" (2020)

I know next to nothing about the indie folk scene, with my only experience with the genre being listening to Neutral Milk Hotel's In the Aeroplane over the Sea once several years ago and not really getting it. However, Punisher kept cropping up high on loads of publications year end lists, and combined with the gorgeous cover art and seeing a friend listening to it on Spotify, I was intrigued enough to pop it on over Christmas. It's such a deep yet gentle record that it has been in my heavy rotation ever since, and I'm slowly sinking into its atmosphere and themes with every additional listen.

On the first few listens I was instantly gravitated to Bridgers' personal and introspective lyrics, that are jammed packed with evocative imagery mixing the mundane everyday with elements of morbidity, the supernatural, sci-fi and spirituality. This imagery is supported by really gentle but intricate folk instrumentation that's been produced in a washed out, ephemeral way that makes the record sound like a lucid summer daydream where time feels warped and reality feels blurred and smudgy (much like 2020 as a year). I wasn't as initially hot on the production of the record as I listened at home on my laptop speaker, as I thought it made the songs lose some of their individuality that was provided by the songwriting; but as I came back to uni and listened through a better speaker I realised that it sounds beautiful and actually a crucial element to the emotional intensity of these songs. It makes the slightest increase of clarity and intensity in the instrumentals feel so much more overwhelming. A great example of this is Halloween, a really haunting ballad where low rumbling drums pop in about half way through and just add so much tension to the track despite them being actually very gentle and restrained.

A few of the tracks include elements of chamber folk and chamber pop, making them easily the most uplifting and uptempo of the tracklist. The single Kyoto is this really cute indie rock tune where Phoebe opens singing about her day off from touring in the city, where she uses the idea of payphones being outdated to launch the track into her tumultuous relationship with her father. The track so effectively conveys the complexity of their relationship, flitting between emotions and scenarios. On the chorus she sings "I'm gonna kill you, if you don't beat me to it" backed by triumphant and grandiose horns, which provides a real emotional dissonance but also a sense of bitter-sweetness and joy and makes it effortlessly replay-able and enjoyable. ICU is similarly emotionally dissonant with an upbeat, uptempo swell to it, and on first listen it sounds like a cute love song about an imperfect messy relationship, yet the song is actually about a break-up where Phoebe continued to see this person all the time afterwards, with the title being a play on 'I See You' and intensive care units (ICUs).

The only other overtly loud and dramatic track is the closer I Know The End. The track is in essentially two parts, the first being one of the most soothing and gentle moments of the record. The tones are warm and Phoebe's vocals feel very tired and sleepy, and alongside the dislocated lyrics reflecting the mental confusion of global touring, it sounds like the record is winding down. However, towards the end of this section you can feel the intensity growing, before the track switches - Phoebe wakes up, blaring triumphant horns crash in and the lyrics become more anthemic as backing vocals come in. The track then starts to descend into madness as the horns become more and more dissonant and Bridger starts to wail and scream. It's such a contrast to the rest of the record and leaves a lasting impression that makes you just want to put it straight back on.

The rest of the record is comprised of very gentle, cerebral tracks which feel like they're slowly seeping into my bones. The record opens with the sinister and atmospheric DVD Menu which leads into the first proper track, Garden Song. The instrumental on the song is so watery and murky, with the only clear elements being Bridger's vocals and the plucked lead guitar. The track describes this garden that Bridger's explores as she introspects about herself and others. Halloween is one of my very favourites on the album, as Phoebe begins the song discussing how she hated living by a hospital with some really morbid imagery delivered in a semi-creepy deadpan way. The track then moves on to the idea of Halloween and costumes as something that she can hide behind like she feels the need to in her relationships. The instrumentation of the track is linear, starting with just an eerie plucked guitar before gradually building to its subtle crescendo. Chinese Satellite similarly has an entire verse dedicated to how Phoebe would go to the extremes of joining an evangelical church and picketing in the streets just to see this person, who has passed away, again. Savior Complex takes a more sarcastic approach to the themes of failing relationships. "I'm too tired, to have a pissing contest" she sings in the chorus. The sweet acoustic instrumentation and Phoebe's sincere vocals really compliment some of the more aggressive lines in this track.

Punisher is such a quality album with so much depth and subtlety to both the instrumentals and the lyrics and themes. It continues to grow on me with every listen, and feels so cathartic to listen all the way through. 

Top Tracks: DVD Menu, Garden Song, Kyoto, Halloween, Chinese Satellite, Savior Complex, ICU, I Know The End

9/10

David Bowie - "The Man Who Sold the World" (1970)

Going further backwards in David Bowie's discography, 1970's The Man Who Sold The World is generally considered by fans to be the first Bowie record that is worth listening to all the way through. It's the first time Bowie played around with a harder blues rock sound, and combines with some interesting songwriting to produce a fun album, even if it doesn't have the same impact as some of the blues rock classics from that era or Bowie's later exploration of the sound on Aladdin Sane.

The record opens with one of the heaviest and dramatic tracks, the 8 minute The Width of a Circle. The prog-tinged tune flirts with themes of psyche and spirituality and feels deliberately cryptic and intense. Bowie's creative juices really start to get going on this song. The title track is also one of the most ambitious tracks on the record, and one of Bowie's first truly god-tier songs. The weird vibrato effects on Bowie's vocals really emphasise this creepy, dystopian character who controls the world from the shadows like some sort of Bond villain. The whining guitar also makes the track feel very sinister. Saviour Machine is build around this bouncy flamenco-like guitar groove, but slows down the pace for the chorus and solos, making the track feel very dynamic. Bowie's exaggerated vocals talk about the idea of computers controlling the world and becoming our 'saviour machines'. He sells the idea as something so dystopian, which is engaging to look back on from the 21st century where we can't live without technology.

The other tracks are more straightforward blues rock songs. They're all a good time if they do feel a little like Cream or Led Zeppelin-Lite. I think the derivations from other artists feels a lot less intrusive here than on Hunky Dory, due to them all being clearly inspired from the same genre; as opposed to the one-off homages on Hunky Dory. She Shook Me Cold could fit right on Led Zeppelin I, and is quite a fun time, as is the more folky Black Country Rock and Running Gun Blues.

Comparing The Man Who Sold The World to Hunky Dory; TMWSTW is certainly more consistent in style and overall quality, but lacks the spectacular highlights of Hunky Dory (outside of the title track). So overall I feel I enjoy both records about the same, but for different reasons.

Top Tracks: The Width of a Circle, Saviour Machine, She Shook Me Cold, The Man Who Sold the World

7/10

Sundara Karma - "Kill Me" (2020)

 

Sundara Karma's second album last year was a nice development from their debut, incorporating more of their arty and glam tendencies to their indie rock and pop sound. Admittedly I have only really come back to the best tracks from that album in isolation, not really the whole record, but it showed promise that the might go onto something even better next. This EP has kind of come out of nowhere at the end of this year, and unfortunately it really isn't that.

The first track and single is the title track, which sounds a bit like early Killers singles, with loud whining guitars and an angsty and theatrical vocals from Oscar Pollock. However the track is ridiculously loud and overblown, with a really weak melody that isn't catchy at all. Lyrically I think it's going for something similar to The 1975's Love It If We Made It, trying to bombard you with how overwhelming life is and then offer a cathartic release in the chorus. However, the writing, performance and production is so flat and underwhelming that the track has no real effect or impact.

Kill Me is probably the most impactful track here, with the four other tracks suffering the same problems: weak writing, forgettable melodies and annoying production. The band do experiment with trap beats on O Stranger and autotune vocal effects on Artifice and I wish they hadn't, because they just don't work at all. There are touches of interesting instrumentation here and there, such as the woodwind on Lifelines, but they're completely suffocated by the compressed production that they don't add much at all to the tracks.

On the whole this EP feels completely throwaway. It's bland and forgettable, but so short and inoffensive that I find it hard to even care. There's nothing to unpack beyond that.

3/10

David Bowie - "Hunky Dory" (1971)

 

Heading backwards in time through David Bowie's discography now, Hunky Dory is the album previous to his breakthrough classic The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and The Spiders From Mars, and was brought into the mainstream consciousness by the success of that album. I find it so strange that it didn't break through on its release, because it features some of Bowie's most anthemic, feel good singles that are now considered some of his most iconic tracks.

The album opens on such a run, with the first four tracks being brilliant. The album opens with Changes, which is such an anthemic and sing-a-long tune with sweeping strings that sound like a film score. The stuttering way Bowie sings the chorus is just so charismatic and fun. This leads into Oh! You Pretty Things which is much more of a bouncy, stomping glam rock jam, which is just as fun and theatrical. Eight Line Poem slows the pace down into something more bluesy and sorrowful, which is exactly what is needed to lead into the dramatic, emotional masterpiece that is Life on Mars?. Everyone has heard this song, it's one of Bowies most famous, and it has such a cathartic release to it that makes it obvious why. The intense swells of strings, the powerful storytelling about escaping in cinema, and Bowie's soaring, impassioned vocals work so perfectly.

However, after this point I feel like the record is nowhere as consistent and a bit lightweight in places. I think this is a bit of a controversial opinions as it's generally considered one of the best Bowie records by most fans. None of the songs are noticeably poor quality, but it feels like Bowie is still finding his footing as an artist, with the songs feeling generally lacking in the grand conceptual themes and experimental musical elements that Bowie delves head first in from Ziggy Stardust onwards. There is also an obvious sense of Bowie trying to imitate his idols on this record. There are tracks titled Song for Bob Dylan and Andy Warhol, and Queen Bitch is just straight up Lou Reed worship. These tracks lean far to much on trying to sound like the artists in question, rather than being their own thing. Some of the other tracks deeper into the record just sort of breeze by without much impact on me. They're sweet and cute little ditties, but just lack that weight and importance that the first four tracks (and Bowie's future records) do.

There are a couple of real hidden gems in the record though. Quicksand is a slow stripped back ballad which builds in intensity through each chorus, sounding very bare and emotive; as does the closer The Belway Brothers. This track is mainly just an acoustic guitar and Bowie's vocals, but the guitar tone and Bowie's performance turn it into something sounding much larger and dramatic. The hints of reverby trumpets that crop up here and there make it seem so spooky and somewhat sinister.

Hunky Dory has some absolute classics on it, but the record as a whole feels breezy and easy on the ears. It's not a record I feel I can sink into and explore like some of Bowie's later works (yes I will get to them - Spoiler: Station To Station is particularly phenomenal), and the reliance on tributing his idols mean's it doesn't really have a strong identity compared to what would come immediately after.

Top Tracks: Changes, Oh! You Pretty Things, Eight Line Poem, Life on Mars?, Quicksand, The Belway Brothers

7/10

Pink Floyd - "Wish You Were Here" (1975)

My only real gripe with Pink Floyd's The Dark Side Of The Moon (well not really a gripe, more of a personal preference) was it's generally more separated and impersonal approach to the lyrics and themes. This is one of the biggest draws of it's follow-up, that it is famously very personal and emotional (at least in part). A big part of the record is essentially an incredibly potent and emotional ode to former frontman Syd Barret and his mental decline following his overuse of LSD. Syd even made and unannounced visit the band while they were recording the album, which was the first time the band had seen him in years, and the last they would see him again. The band played him a mix of Shine On You Crazy Diamond, and he was unable to make the connection between the song and himself. It's such a heart-breaking story and only adds to the potency of the recording and atmosphere of the record.

Shine On is a 25 minute, 9 part journey which is split into 2 tracks which bookend the album. It slowly builds up in atmosphere through part one until it releases the first instance of the iconic, harrowing 4 note guitar motif (dubbed Syd's theme). It is something so simple, yet so unbelievably stark and isolating. The song becomes warmer, and more of celebration of Syd from part 3 onwards; with lusher, more rich instrumentation and many, many solos. Aside from part 2 - parts 4, 5 and 7 are the real highlights of this opus. The title track also deals in the same themes of nostalgia and loss, and once again is clearly is about and directed to Syd. The track is most likely the band's most popular, and it's not hard to see why. It's so straightforward and direct, it's not a prog song at all. The twangy acoustic guitar combine with some really affective lyrics to create something that is equally relatable, deeply moving, and anthemically sing-along. The line "Did you exchange a walk on role in the war / For a lead role in a cage?" is one that hits for me in particular.

The other two tracks, feel like more of a continuation of the socio-political themes of Dark Side, but with more of a slant towards the music industry in particular. This gives a real split in the record, half being deeply personal, half being more broader and thematic. These tracks also come across more bitter than those on Dark Side (particularly Welcome to the Machine), which creates a more sour atmosphere which doesn't mix well with the very human and sensitive feelings of the SOYCD and WYWH. It might reflect Roger Walter's increasing control over the group's direction at this point in time (especially since Welcome to the Machine sounds very much like what I have heard from the Wall - which is Walter's baby). Not that these tracks are anywhere close to bad; I do genuinely really like Have a Cigar for its bouncy groove and sneering representation of clueless record execs following the money. They just don't mesh well with the other two tracks, and they just feel a bit indulgent compared to the songs that tackled these themes in The Dark Side of the Moon.

Indulgence is really what sets this record back compared to TDSOTM in my eyes. As much as the best parts of Shine On You Crazy Diamond are phenomenal, the song is 25 minutes long and does end on it's weakest point. Part 7 leaves the song in such a weightless and ethereal place that parts 8 and 9 feel completely unnecessary. That being said, the other 20 minutes of Shine On You Crazy Diamond and Wish You Were Here are some of the most beautifully moving (and Best) music I have ever heard.

Top Tracks: Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 1-5), Have a Cigar, Wish You Were Here, Shine On You Crazy Diamond (parts 6-9)

8/10