Squid - "Cowards" (2025)

 

Squid are back with their 3rd LP, Cowards. Following on from their excellent 2023 record, O Monolith, Cowards delves deeper into the band's more experimental and post-rock tendencies. The whole album revolves around the central theme of evil, and while Olly Judge's lyrics and vocal approach regularly dipped into manic and unhinged territory on their past material, the themes and narratives of these songs are way more upfront and explicit.

The opening cut Crispy Skin, for example, is quite obviously from the perspective of a cannibal who is having a moral crisis over their actions, flitting between questioning their decisions and a sort of psychosis where their brain is trying to force them to forget that they actually have done that. Musically, it feels like a bridge between the more wiry post-punk grooves of the debut (Bright Green Field) and the linear Krautrockian song progressions from O Monolith. Blood on the Boulders is this creeping post-rock slow burn and is much more stark and simple than anything Squid usually creates. The track has a hot desert-ish atmosphere that compliments the cultish lyrics detailing a murder under the California sun and the obsessiveness of true crime fanatics wanting to know every last detail. The track slowly unravels from this slow and plodding pace into a typical noisy Squid climax, with the contrast really paying off. Fieldworks II similarly has the atmosphere of a slasher flick, referencing broken bones and wiping blood from ones face against a backdrop of chiming guitars and cinematic strings. The closing line "I don't look in the lake." is particularly chilling.

The other tracks in the first leg of the record aren't quite as interesting, which leaves it feeling a little lopsided. Building 650 is essentially a musical retelling of the Japanese crime novel In the Miso Soup, which is about a serial killer, with none of the deeper commentary or weirdness that other moments on the record have. The track is also musically the most bog-standard Squid. It's not bad (there are definitely songs off BGF that are weaker), but it lacks the unique bells and whistles that most Squid songs have. Fieldworks I acts more as an interlude at the mid-point of the record than as a lead into Fieldworks II but also doesn't really stand on its own, so does just feel a bit odd and unfinished.

The second half of the record is where it really gets into its groove, starting with Cro-Magnon Man. Similarly to Building 650, it's stylistically quite classic Squid, but the weird as hell lyrics about the odd-ball, vintage horror film-esque titular character and frenetic keyboards really draw me in. The title track is a slow jazzy post-rock piece that reminds me of a cross between Kid A era Radiohead and the quieter moments on Black Country, New Road's debut. Showtime! really is the albums piece de resistance, going through multiple phases - starting as a erratic, scratchy post-punk track before moving into an expansive space rock section that then settles into a driving krautrock finale. The closer, Well Met (Fingers Through The Fence) is drawn out and patient, building up the tension through its claustrophobic first half which is then let out in the spacious and ascending second half.

Cowards is another good (and sometimes great) album from Squid. It's not quite as consistent as O Monolith and I think I prefer the quite alien and otherworldly atmosphere of that record to the more gritty and down to earth approach taken to the songwriting here. It's still very inventive and engaging and well worth checking out if you like this kind of neurotic experimental rock.

Top Tracks: Crispy Skin, Blood on the Boulders, Fieldworks II, Cro-Magnon Man, Showtime!, Well Met (Fingers Through The Fence)

7/10

Remi Wolf - "Big Ideas" (2024)

Another one of the pop girls I was listening to last summer was Remi Wolf. Specifically this, her sophomore record, Big Ideas. And if one word sums up this album, it is summer. I remember discovering Remi through the lead single for the record, Cinderella, being on rotation on Radio 1 last spring while I was driving to and from site for my previous job that at that point I knew I was leaving. The loose and fun synth funk groove of the song was a perfect match for the sunny drives though the Suffolk countryside and the summer of freedom I was looking forward to. Remi's charismatic vocal delivery and the quirky horns and whistles make it the perfect summer party vibe.

Cinderella opens up the record and is followed by the other three singles, Soup, Motorcycle and Toro. Soup is a silky, reverb drenched nu-disco tune that once again shows of Remi's powerful vocal chops. Motorcycle is a stripped back, soulful slow jam where Remi's vocals effortlessly glide across the gentle guitar licks and twinkling keys. This leads into Toro, a raucous and explosive release of energy. Remi wails about an intense and chaotic sexual encounter, comparing the experience to a matador facing up against a bull, backed up by a chunky funk groove and the same goofy sound effects from Cinderella (this time a motorbike revving up). If Cinderella is the start of a summer house party, fizzling with anticipation and good vibes; Toro is the party in full swing where everybody is getting a little too drunk and the impulsive decisions start to commence.

As you can probably tell from the first four songs, Big Ideas is bursting with variety. There's jangly indie rock on Cherries & Cream and Frog Rock; escapist dance pop on Kangeroo; and a full on power ballad in Alone in Miami. I will say that the broad scope of the record means that there isn't as much attention to detail put into the rest of the songs when compared to the singles, but they mostly pass the bar at being fun quirky pop tracks. The only real moments on the record that I'm not really vibing with are the blown out alt pop / pop rock songs, Wave and When I Thought Of You. I'm not the biggest fan of that style anyway and I feel like these tracks are a lot more drab and colourless than the rest of the album.

Despite the whole thing not necessarily being the most mind blowing or revolutionary pop album, the ecstatic energy and sheer charisma on display on Big Ideas kept me coming back to it all summer last year, and I've continued to play it every so often in the months since when I want to gaslight myself and pretend UK winters don't suck and its not actually like 2 degrees outside. The singles are also genuinely really great pop songs too.

Top Tracks: Cinderella, Soup, Motorcycle, Toro, Cherries & Cream, Kangaroo

7/10

Chappell Roan - "The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess" (2023)

Let's see how much of the pop-girl stuff I was listening to last year I can get through before 2025's release schedule ramps up, and lets start with the big one (aside from BRAT). Much like everyone else, is discovered Chappell Roan last year with Good Luck, Babe!. I first heard it on Radio 1 shortly after it's release last spring and was instantly enamoured by the vintage 80's synth pop production, Chappel's stunning Kate Bush-esque falsetto, and the frankly amazing song writing. It simultaneously has a hyper-specific narrative about Chappells experience, yet captures a universal feeling of yearning and bitterness that Transends the narrative of the story. After a couple of times hearing it on the Radio, Chappell was definitely on my radar and I decided to check out here debut album from 2023.

Where Good Luck, Babe! is classy and vintage, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is campy and fun. This is encapsulated by the opening cut, Feminomenon, a play on the word phenomenon with a chanted bridge where Chappell presents herself as cheerleader chanting to her fellow lesbians about how they need a 'Feminomenon'. The super slick 80's production fires all guns blazing, making the track just a blast. This is followed up by the equally campy and bombastic Red Wine Supernova, a track where Chappel is essentially indulging in a super raunchy lesbian hookup. It features the frankly brilliant lyric "I heard you like magic, I've got a wand a rabbit!" on the bridge (the bridge as a whole is gloriously fun). After this we're hit by the funky disco jam, After Midnight - which as the title suggests is about embracing the bad decisions made after midnight in a nightclub.

As you can probably tell from the first few tracks, TRAFOFMP is the tale of Chappell's struggles with initially coming out, and then just generally the ups and downs of LA gay party culture, hookups, situationships - the whole works. The record slows down after it's initial burst of ecstatic energy with a couple of breakup ballads, Coffee and Casual. While neither of them reach the levels of class of GL,B!, they're both well written tunes with some excellent lines in them. The over the top camp then returns with the next two tunes. Super Graphic Ultra Modern Girl is perhaps the most extra the album gets, with its thumping house beat and the maximalist early 2010's production and vocals. Think Madonna meets Lady Gaga. HOT TO GO! is the track that really took off after GL,B!'s success and its not hard to see why. The track is just so damn catchy. The chanted spelling chorus, Chappell's slightly unhinged vocals and the buzzing synth lines is a recipe for a banger.

Unfortunately I'm no where near as into the second half as the first. A lot of the campy fun is toned down for more 'serious' ballads. They aren't bad by any means, but the completely over the top personality that made Chappell stand out just isn't really there, and so they feel a little generic to me. I'd say the worst offender is My Kink Is Karma, a track that encapsulates everything I don't really like about modern Taylor Swift records. The production is clean and bland, yet kind of overblown; and the whole tone of the song gives off this smarmy, deflective attitude where Chappell is trying to dress up her ill feelings towards an ex as something more than just bitterness. I just don't think it works. Picture You is a pretty standard doo-wap ballad, and Kaleidoscope and California are run of the mill piano ballads. 

The one saving grace of the back half is Pink Pony Club, a rollicking synth pop banger where Chappell goes on some amazing Kate Bush-esque vocal runs. The track morphs between these theatre-kid, drama school verses, to the aforementioned Hounds of Love era Kate Bush-esque pre-chorus to the anthemic chant along chorus. There's even a melodramatic 80's style guitar solo at the end for good measure. Naked In Manhattan is also keeps up the more uptempo vibes in the second half, but I will say it's the least interesting and ear grabbing of all the upbeat tracks on the album. It's a shame that the album ends with just a bit of a flop in Guilty Pleasure. Its such an underwhelming finish for the record. It feels like a bonus track to be honest, it's nowhere near as polished as the rest of the record.

About half of The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess is an incredibly fun and catchy pop record, the other half is merely just fine. It makes sense as some of these songs pre-date the record by years as Chappell was dropped by her first label back in 2020 - so it makes sense that the album feels a little disjointed in terms of style, tone and Chappell's overall confidence as a performer. It's still a great start for her though and I am eagerly awaiting the follow-up, because if it's anything like the quality of Good Luck, Babe!, we're in for a treat.

Top Tracks: Feminomenon, Red Wine Supernova, After Midnight, Coffee, Casual, Super Graphic Ultramodern Girl, HOT TO GO!, Pink Pony Club

7/10

Kendrick Lamar - "GNX" (2024)

At the back end of last year Kendrick surprise dropped GNX, his sixth full LP, and I'm glad I've let it sit with me for a couple of months as it has really grown on me. It follows a massive 2024 for him, where he absolutely decimated Drake in their rap-beef and one of those songs rivalling HUMBLE. as his biggest hit yet. That song being the massive sounding, party banger Not Like Us produced by DJ Mustard. It was the kind of transcendent pop-rap jam that Kendrick rarely explores, as when he does go in a more pop direction, it's usually in the styles relaxed neo-soul beats and contemporary R&B, or straight up trap. 

While in retrospect it makes sense that GNX follows in this direction, at first it kind of took me aback a little. Kendrick's last record, Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, was excruciatingly personal, with the narrative of that record basically being about Kendrick overcoming the pressure he feels on him to be some kind of 'black saviour' figure, alongside his past familial trauma, to basically live his life for himself. It seemed like a massive whiplash for him to make what is quite frankly his most mainstream album to date. Similarly, GNX follows on from the Drake beef, with Kendrick at his most self-aggrandising and self-righteous, taking shots left and right at other rappers and rap culture at large. Which again is a massive u-turn on one of Mr. Morale's biggest themes, that of letting go of ones ego.

But the more I let the record sink in, the more it clicked with me. The pressure on Kendrick with each release to make albums that were simultaneously 'grand artistic magnum opuses' and also pop mega smash hits resulted in both DAMN. and MM&TBS being quite inconstant and cohesive releases; with Mr. Morale in particular being quite a tortured and messy album in retrospect. Looking at it from that angle, it's clear that GNX was the only path forward for Kendrick, as no-one (not even Lamar) can keep topping each release with something 'even more' grandiose and culture defining. And anyway, Kendrick deserves to let loose every once in a while. It also helps that these tracks absolutely bang, and at a trim 45 minutes, it's Kendrick's tightest mainline release.

And yes, while it lacks some of the overtly provocative and deeply personal moments and mental genre-bending experiments that initially drew me to Kendrick's music, it's still lyrically dense and meaningful, and has some great beat switch ups and instrumental flourishes. There is a recurring motif featuring mariachi singer Deyra Barrera, neo-soul slow jams featuring SZA (and Kendrick R&B crooning voice is finally getting better after like 3 albums of trying it), hardcore hip hop bangers and a handful of those loose, reflective west-coast hip hop jams that Kendrick never fails to pull off. GNX is also Kendrick at his goofiest and most fun, with a couple of moments becoming meme status.

All in all, by removing himself from the pressure of being 'the most important artist alive' Kendrick has made his most consistently enjoyable LP since To Pimp A Butterfly, and I wouldn't be surprised if it tops DAMN. as his commercial peak in the coming months / years.

Top Tracks: wacced out murals, squabble up, luther, man at the garden, hey now, reincarnated, tv off, peekaboo, heart pt. 6, gloria

8/10

The Smile - "Cutouts" (2024)

As I mentioned in the last post about Wall Of Eyes, The Smile went on to release a second album in 2024, being this one, Cutouts. Partially recorded in the same sessions as WOE, the band insist that it is not just a leftovers record; but honestly it does kind of feel like it is. Some of the tracks here fit the much more low key, ambient soundscapes of WOE and others are more reminiscent of the more energetic post-punk and krautrock tracks on the debut. It makes the record feel lacking in identity when compared to either - sort of caught in the middle.

This feeling of inconsequentiality is further felt by the general quality of the songs as well. The record kicks things off with the very low key and not particularly interesting Foreign Spies and Instant Psalm. These songs don't really go anywhere and lack the space and texture that made the slow moments on WOE so enveloping. The record then kicks into gear with frankly the two best songs on the record, Zero Sum and Colours Fly. Zero Sum takes the rhythmic post-punk of the debut and turns it up a notch into full blown math rock. Colours Fly is an atmospheric slow burn that slowly builds into a dramatic climax. The jazzy drum patterns and the dynamic guitars and strings that rise and fall in the mix create such a sense of unease. It would have fit snugly on WOE and I wouldn't be surprised if it was one of the tracks recorded from those sessions. 

The weakest track is definitely Don't Get Me Started, which is built around a very repetitive dirge-like electronic beat. Musically the song isn't very interesting, which is then compounded by the way Thom's lyrics read. The come across as very non-specific "You've got me wrong / You don't understand me" pity party, which to anyone in the know about the heat Thom and Johnny have received about their somewhat flimsy stance on the Israel / Palestine this year conflict comes across in such a bad way. The lyrics are, in typical Thom fashion, vague and non-specific; so if it is supposed to be a comment on the criticism they've faced - at least have the balls to say it. And if it's not, surely they knew how it would read.

Nothing else on the album stoops so low, and is the expected baseline of quality for these guys. Eyes & Mouth is a nice middle ground between the the band's two lanes, with groovy lead guitars but a lot of additional layers and flourishes. Tiptoe is a nice bit of ambient piano music, and The Slip is a groovy mix of electronic beats, jazzy drumming and angular guitars. No Words is that driving krautrock jam that Thom and Johnny do so well, but it does feel at this point that we've heard it several times before on previous projects. Bodies Laughing closes out the record in a spooky and unsettling way, with its odd mix of a bossa nova groove and quite eerie and uneasy synths. It's a fine song but pretty underwhelming as a closer in all honesty.

Cutouts is by no means a bad record, and does have a couple of great moments - but it certainly lacks the attention to detail and flow of the previous records. It feels somewhat redundant and lacking in much of its own identity. It's solid enough and enjoyable if you're in the mood for this brand of Radiohead-adjacent music but it definitely has nothing on the first two records from The Smile.

Top Tracks: Zero Sum, Colours Fly, Eyes & Mouth, The Slip

6/10

The Smile - "Wall Of Eyes" (2024)

Nearly a year ago now The Smile released their second record, Wall Of Eyes. It came at a point in time for me that I couldn't truly get into it or appreciate it to its fullest extent - partially because we've had a lot of Radiohead-adjacent projects over the past few years, and partly because the slow and meditative nature of the record didn't fit with how busy and exhausting my life at the time was. But it's intricacies and overall quality has stuck with me over the past year, and is certainly a step up from the already good debut record from 2022.

My main criticisms with the debut record was that it was a bit too long and unfocused, and somewhat lacked its own identity outside of the Radiohead legacy. Many of the tracks felt like they could've cropped up on a number of Radiohead albums. Wall Of Eyes definitely rectifies this, being a tight 8 tracks that takes the subtler more jazz and post-rock influenced moments of the debut and pushes further in that direction. What results is a very quiet and meditative record that really seeps into your bones as you listen.

The record opens with the gentle strumming and distant bossa nova drumming, before Thom Yorke's nazal-y falsetto vocals and layers of washed out synths and strings come into the mix. The structure of the track is fairly simple and repetitive, with the emphasis much more on the texture and atmosphere created. Teleharmonic further builds on this pensive and low-key mood, pairing Thom's voice up with a simple metronomic drum beat and some deep, warble-y synths. The first half of the track is eerily spacious. The bass kicks in from the midpoint and the drum patterns become more complex as Thom's vocals become more impassioned. The linear build of the song is very intricate and subtle and does feel like the band is taking you on a journey through an eerie and unfamiliar setting.

Read The Room is an interesting switch up from the first two tracks, being a more immediate crossover between krautrock and psychedelic Anatolian rock. The guitars are heavier and crunchier, the drumming is rhythmic and hypnotic. The vocal and guitar melodies spiral and wrap around each other. It's something I haven't really heard Thom or Johnny do before and I think they pull it off really quite well. Under Our Pillows continues this more uptempo pace, although it is my least favourite of the record overall. The song is a nervous, twangy post-punk / krautrock track that would have fit snugly alongside many of the tracks from the debut. It just feels like a bit of a leftover amongst the rest of the tracks which are much more patient and focus on texture and timbre rather than the scitzo energy of those moments on the debut. 

Friend Of A Friend is a slow piano ballad that unravels into a jazzy climax with some brilliant chord progressions. The song becomes quite dynamic as it progresses. I Quit is a washed out and reverby bit of ambient pop reminiscent of the atmospherics of A Moon Shaped Pool. The song is drenched in this cinematic strings and would be at home on a film score. This leads into the grand centrepiece of the album, the 8 minute Bending Hectic. This track is just as cinematic as I Quit, as Thom details essentially driving his car of the side of a mountain in Italy with such vivid and colourful imagery. The song slowly builds from discordant strumming and erratic drumming into dramatic and swooning strings, highlighting the difference in emotions between the initial panic of what he's just done into the euphoria of feeling like he flying. The track then progresses into its menacing final section as he's hitting the ground - the guitars are overdriven and wailing, the drums pummelling. It's a brilliant piece of progressive rock. After the climax of Bending Hectic, the record closes out with the quite stark comedown of You Know Me. I think its a great closer for the record. It has a wistful and longing energy that I really enjoy.

Wall Of Eyes really showed why The Smile exists and is an improvement on the debut in every way. It's one of the least rockiest out of any of the Radiohead side ventures, but I think that is to its strength, because these tracks are all about their texture and atmosphere and they sound beautiful and intricate. It's a shame that the 3rd record, Cutouts, was released so quickly after this and didn't really continue in this direction, because I think they had really hit on something here.

Top Tracks: Teleharmonic, Read The Room, Friend Of A Friend, I Quit, Bending Hectic, You Know Me

8/10

The Cure - "Songs Of A Lost World" (2024)

After 16 long years, The Cure have finally released a new album, their 14th, and ooh its a gooden. And honestly, there was no guarantee that it was going to turn out well, which makes it especially enjoyable as a fan. The Cure are one of my very favourite bands, and probably the only one that I have loved so consistently ever since I was a young child. My dad would play the singles all the time when I was young, and as I became a teenager I explored their greater discography and was amazed by the breadth and versatility of their records. And now as an adult I feel like they are one of the few artists who I still feel so strongly towards as I did in my early teenage years. 

While I regularly come back to pretty much all of the band's releases up to and including Wish, the following 4 records the band released in the late 90s and 2000s are considered a significant step down be me and many others. It felt like Robert Smith and Co. were just running out of steam; either rehashing their past glories or bringing half-arsed and shallow gimmicks to the table in the place of genuine inspiration. This all cumulated in 2008's 4:13 Dream; and while better than the preceding album (2004's self titled, and baffling mess of a record that for some reason the group got nu-metal super producer Ross Robinson to produce), it was essentially a complete damp squib of a record that sounded more like a touched up b-sides compilation than anything genuinely inspired or meaningful.

And then nothing... for 11 years. Smith did suggest for a while that a sequel album to 4:13 would be released featuring other songs from those sessions, but that never materialised. The band essentially became a touring legacy act during the 2010s (which resulted in some excellent live albums). Then in 2019, Robert announced that a new album would be on its way that very year - which didn't happen. The years rolled by again, with Smith promising it was still coming but with nothing to show. By the time 2022 rolled around with the band on a tour literally named after this album (Shows Of A Lost World) and it still wasn't out, I had given up hope that we were ever going to hear this album. So when the opening cut, Alone, was dropped by the band at the end of September as the lead single for the album, and it was easily the best song they had released in 30 years, I was beyond exited to hear the full thing.

In some ways, Alone is vintage Cure: the long drawn out intro, the slow and steady bassline and Smith's melancholic vocals. In others, it feels more Cocteau Twins than The Cure. The piercing, reverb-gated drums and skittering, reverby synth effects create this disorientating and otherworldly atmosphere; and the whole mix is close and claustrophobic. Lyrically, while certainly in keeping with bands previous work, it does tread new water for the group. The song quite overtly deals in the themes of mortality, death and facing the end of times in a very stark and raw way. Shaped by the deaths of his parents and older brother, and Smith facing his own aging and mortality; Songs Of A Lost World is more upfront and raw than the bands previous 'doom and gloom' records, set to really dense and claustrophobic instrumentation and production.

The second single, A Fragile Thing is a more typically radio friendly single for the record with its higher tempo and catchy chorus. It's still very dark, with Smith describing the song as a flipside to their classic track Lovesong. Where that track was literally a wedding present from Smith to his wife (and a moment of hope within the darkness of Disintegration), A Fragile Thing is about how fragile and all consuming love is. The momentum of the track is carried by rigid, staccato hits of piano that gives the effect of a timer ticking down to inevitable doom.

The middle of the record is occupied by the two 'rockiest' cuts of the album, Warsong and Drone:Nodrone. Warsong slowly builds and builds though its drawn out intro, where thundrous blown out drums clatter against roaring guitars. When Smith's vocals finally come in, he sounds like prophet of the apocalypse, howling about humanity's innate desire to hate and to fight and to kill. The song is deeply nihilistic and presented in such an immense, monolithic context. Drone:Nodrone on the other hand is a song about complete and utter bewilderment. It inspired by a drone flying above Smith one day and making him feel like a man out of time who doesn't connect with the modern world around him. The song has a bit more of a groove than the rest of the album, and spacy synths which calls back to the band's excursions into alt dance and baggy from the early 90s. The disorientating, spiralling keyboards and whining lead guitars also give off a vibe similar to the heavier stadium rock songs from Wish.

The album descends deeper into the darkness in the second half, starting the with the really quite harrowing I Can Never Say Goodbye. The song is a slow and stark ballad directly referencing the death of Robert's Brother. The dense, claustrophobic production that characterises the rest of album makes way for more space to allow the pain and grief in Smith's words to sink in. All I Ever Am dials the intensity back up with clattering, pummelling percussion, sirenning synths and crunchy bass as Robert confronts his own mortality, beliefs and regrets. This leads into the ten and a half minute behemoth of a closer, Endsong. The song slowly builds through its six and a half minute intro before Smith's vocals finally come in. The song has an immense sense of finality to it and is the perfect way to wrap up the record. Robert is promising that another Cure record will be on its way soon, but if that doesn't happen Endsong (and the record as a whole) is a fitting book end to the band's discography.

The main critique that the album has been receiving by some is that the production is a little bricked out. And while I don't agree with this for most of the album (I feel like the production creates this oppressive, suffocating feeling), the second track And Nothing Is Forever does feel a bit unbalanced. Everything in the high end of the mix (Smith's vocals, the synths, the guitars) feel like they're fighting for space, while the low end (bass and drums) seems really set back and distant. It does lessen my enjoyment of an otherwise great cut.

Songs Of A Lost World has achieved something that the band hasn't managed to in 30 years - it's a concise, focused record with something really meaningful to say. Smith has always written about death, impending doom and the destruction of the things in life he holds dear; but here he is coming from a much more grounded and real-world angle. Faith and Pornography are records obsessed with grotesque imagery and the angry nihilism of youth. Disintegration is a yearning and romantic under it's apocalyptic imagery. SOALW is Smith staring down the barrel of the gun with no façade, no pretence.

Top Tracks: Alone, A Fragile Thing, Warsong, Drone:Nodrone, I Can Never Say Goodbye, All I Ever Am, Endsong

9/10