Music Reviews

… more like MIDnights amirite? Alright now that we got that out of the way…

So yes, new Taylor is here – now to be fair this was always gonna flop a bit considering the insane ammount of hype build around this thing, like not even Taylor could live up to such high expectations. But honestly, after a few uninterupted listens… This things is just okay. Which after the amazing couple past couple of albums kinda hurts to say – it doesn’t mean the album is bad, it’s just that there isn’t honestly that much that stands out about it? Like okay now imagine this album wasn’t released by Taylor Swift and it was just some random girl singing – NOONE would care about this album. And you can’t really say that about the majority of her other releases because they are just that instantly good, but this album takes a bit of digesting and even after that you’re still kind of left hungry for something more fulfilling. Anyways let’s take this track by track like we do.

„Lavender Haze“ is the opener and honestly I was super scared when I saw that this song has the highest rating of all the songs on this album considering I wasn’t all that crazy about it. A lot of the elements that made Reputation such a mid album for Taylor are once again present here and that was like a major red flag for me right of the back. Fortunately the song did grew a bit even though I still don’t really see it – the thing about this album that sucks probably the most is just how overdone her narrative is at this point and she just doesn’t bring anything new to the table lyrically and also does it over some of the most dull instrumentation she’s been over in a while. So yeah, not of to a great start but as I said the song is a bit of a grow admittedly. Next up is „Maroon“ which sounds like 3 other different Taylor songs combined into one, it’s alright, continues the vibe pretty well, it’s just a bit empty you know. „Anti-Hero“ is a bit more like it – I really like the lyrics on this one and the instrumentation isn’t that bad either – it’s also one of the more memorable songs on here even though it’s still nothing mind-blowing. I really enjoy the next track „Snow On The Beach“ with Lana Del Rey even though I genuinely can’t tell when Lana comes in, they just sound so similar to each other on here and overall I did expect much more from a collab this huge, but as a song on its own it definetly is like a top 3 from this thing and it’s not even that crazy, but the imagery is just the most vivid here so far and I kinda like it. „You’re On Your Own, Kid“ is probably my favorite song on the album – it’s just the most memorable and sticks out the most, also the story is not that bad and the tune is just there. Kinda wish more of this album was like this, this is a really good one, but you can still hear that I’m kinda running out of things to say, because truth be told there just isn’t that much to talk about here. Next is „Midnight Rain“ and uhh… I mean, I’ll say one thing, I appriciate the experimentation on this track and overall it’s more memorable then some other tracks even though mostly for the wrong reasons. The production choices on this one are really bizarre and by this point in the album I started to notice that this whole album just sounds like it’s burried under a pile of snow and I’m not sure how I feel about that. Now with this song I still at least enjoy it to some extent but the next song „Question…?“ i just found to be super melodramatic and just boring to be honest, like the lyrics make me physically cringe and it’s probably the most shining example of this album just being so redundant lyrically. Now I’ve heard some big talk about „Vigilante Shit“ being like the worst thing that ever happened but honestly? I’m just so glad that she switched it up SOMEHOW so I don’t even care – the song is fine even though sure, it’s edgy and a Billie Eilish rip-off, who cares, at least it keeps it fresh. The next song „Bejeweled“ just sort of exists, the synths are kind of annoying, but I like the chorus well enough so it balances out i guess, NEEEXT. „Labyrinth“ is honestly pretty alright, it’s very lowkey like the rest of this album, but with this one I feel it more for some reason, it just feels much more genuine and heartfelt. Next up we have „Karma“ which I’m really split on – instrumentally it’s one of the most adventerous and intresting songs on the whole album, but the song doesn’t have that much going for it besides that. The chorus is just alright, it’s alright, everything is just alright. I’m getting bored just writing about this, let’s just wrap this up… „Sweet Nothing“ is like the perfect two-word description of not only the song but basically the entire album and that’s all I have to say about that. And finally the closer „Mastermind“ is… What’s the word again?… Oh right… ALRIGHT. IT JUST EXISTS. I FEEL NOTHING DURING THIS. IEOIAHJOJHOFJAEOIjf

… well that was weird ANYWAYS yeah the album itself is super fricking boring. Like after it stopped playing spotify automatically started playing „Style“ and I immidiately thought to myself „wow, not a single song on here is half as fun nor memorable nor impactful as this song is“ and I think I’m just gonna leave it with that. There are some small highlights but honestly through and through this is just kind of a disapointment if I’m being honest.

-favorite tracks: Snow On The Beach; You’re On Your Own, Kid; Labyrinth; Karma; Anti-Hero

-least favorite tracks: Question…?; Bejeweled

Light 6/10

The return of the queen.

Yes, the rumors are true, Björk is back with a brand new release out – following her pretty decent 2017 album „Utopia“ Björk took a much needed break from releasing albums back to back and finally after five whole years decided to come back with once again this brand new sound and aesthethic and boy is it a weird one for even Björk standarts.

The teaser tracks to this thing were all very… Abstract to say the least and you know that’s to be expected with Björk but there was just something… Off with these songs – take the opener „Atopos“ for example, it starts off with these sequenced drums that sound like a march coming towards you followed by just a plethora of sounds ranging from horns, strings and whatever else is in there I honestly still have a hard time pinning that down. It mashes together really awkwardly the first time you hear it but it becomes clear that it’s very intentionala and creates this reall uncomfortable feeling that doesn’t really let go throughout the entire album. Björk sings her absolute heart over this chaos only giving more fuel into the fire. Then if all that wasn’t enough these just alarming synths with huge bass appear in the second half making the track feel even more like some ancient evil is chasing you in a dark corridor. After repeated listens the song is honestly an absolute masterclass at setting the tone for the rest of this thing, it immidiately let’s you know that you’re in for one hell of a ride. This is followed by the next song and also a single „Ovule“, probably the most song-like sounding song on this album. The horns on this are really pleasant for a change and it serves as a nice breathing room between what just came and what’s about to come. The song features similar drums to the last one but in this context it’s much more catchy and just overall just less scary. „Mycelia“ is the next song and it’s right back to the weirdness – it’s all essentially an acapella consisting of just snipets of sounds that clash together in this really haunting experience. It’s more of an interlude than anything but I still commend Björk for experimenting. After that we have „Sorrowful Soil“ which much like the last song is mostly acapella but this time around with actual lyrics in which Björk talks about her complicated and painful roots and her ancestors , a theme that’s brought up many times throughout this album. Speaking of which the next song „Ancestress“ is a 7-minute beast of a track just about that – this song was also one of the singles for this album which is like the most Björk thing to do to have the longest and one of the most hard to swallow tracks as your single. Anyways the song is very long-winded with beautiful orchestral pieces scattered througout that slowly but surely all colide together around the halfway mark – then the song quiets down a bit and starts building up again for another crescendo that ends as fast as it comes – then silence again. The song play VERY WELL with this dynamic and makes for an amazing centrepiece in this album. Combine that with Björk’s heavenly singing and introspective lyrics and you have yourself one of the best Björk songs period which yes is saying a lot. After that comes another short interlude that I honestly won’t even mention and we’re thrown right into the secod longest track on the album „Victimhood“ which manages to be just a few seconds short of those seven minutes. This song build on the last song with much darker orchestration and more lowkey sound, it’s honestly one of the most haunting and sorrowful moments on this whole album. The electronic elements of course find themselves a way in aswell, at around the 4 minute mark there is this EDM-esk beat that just comes out of nowhere and once again only adds to the chaos, then just after like a minute just vanishes completely, it’s so random but it works very well and doesn’t break the immersion at all, only adds to it. Then at the last leg of the song it just goes almost full techno for a moment and then transitions into an acapella outro – I mean it’s just so unpredictable, you never know what’s around the corner and I love that about it. „Allow“ is next and honestly I don’t have much to say about this one besides the fact that it sounds very sweet and the flute-work on this song is on another level, like seriously LISTEN TO THEM GO. Maybe I wish the song was a bit more memorable (she just keeps repeating the word „allow“ over and over again for the majority of the song) but it continues the vibe very well and there are some genuinely angelic vocal passages towards the end so I can’t complain that much. The next song „Fungal City“ sounds EXACTLY like the title implies, everytime I listen to it I just imagine a magical forest full of mushroom trees with a full society living in them, it’s unreal the imagery this song paints. The orchestration sounds straight out of some old Disney film with just a tad of electronic madness sprinkled throughout. And Björk’s voice was like born for this aesthethic, she feels super comfortable over it all. Definetly one of the best tracks on the album for sure, the sheer ammount of musicianship is just one a whole nother level with this one. There is another interlude before the next song „Freefall“ but the interludes are honestly like the least intresting parts of the album, they don’t ruin it or anything but are just kind of meh, but just know that they are there. Anyways „Freefall“ – yeah this one’s pretty standart Björk. It’s really heartbreaking and full of genuine emotional ache and pain, it makes me just sad – this is like the sad part of the Disney movie. Her performance is super powerfull on this one aswell, like the pain in her voice with the ascending strings is like a top 3 moment from this album, super underrated song. The switch up is also pretty neat, one of the most seamless and effortless switches on this whole album, the faster strings make for some really pretty musical passages and this time repeating „illuminate“ all over again and again only adds to it in my opinion rather than take away from it. Yeah, this one’s a pretty good one. ANYWAYS the title track Fossora is on a whole nother level of good, dare I say even great. No seriously, this is my favorite song on this album for a reason – it just mixes all the great parts of this album into one spectacular experience that ends with the biggest and most powerful and earth-shattering musical crescendo of this whole album. The pummeling bass and drums with the super abrasive synths make for an absolute musical treat that I just wish lasted longer – it honestly feels like the whole album has been building up to this moment, it’s just so climactic and insane, words can’t do it justice, but when it comes you just absolutely ascend. So yeah, this one’s pretty alright if I do say so myself – anyways onto the next and final song of this album „Her Mother’s House“ which is like the perfect musical and lyrical ending for this album. It’s like the most beautiful calm after the storm you’ve ever heard and puts a nice little bow on this whole album making it feel like a full journey and experience.

So yes, if you couldn’t tell, this is in my opinion of Björk’s best bodys of work to date. Super pleased with how it turned out and even though I could probably do without some of the interludes and some tracks do drag on a bit too long this is honestly through and through spectacular. Can’t wait to see where Björk comes next.

-favorite tracks: Atopos, Ovula, Ancestress, Victimhood, Fungal City, Trölla-Gabba, Freefall, Fossora, Her Mother’s House

-least favorite tracks: like two of the interludes and maybe Sorrowful Soil??

Strong 8/10

I swear to god more album released in the last two months than the entire year before that. I’m obviously exaggerating a bit but still, there were quite a handful of releases that dropped in the last two months or so, so let’s go through some of them here shall we?

Slipknot – The End, So Far

Nah man, I’m sorry but this ain’t it chief. I actually enjoyed quite a good ammount of what was supposed to be Slipknot’s last album „We Are Not Your Kind“ which was an album that in my opinion was like the perfect send-off for the band, I mean in of itself it definetly had some flaws but overall it was a pretty satisfying listen but this? I mean I seriously don’t remember how a single song on here sounds with the exception of like „The Dying Song (Time To Sing)“ but that’s like the big hit from this album but even that song isn’t all that memorable. Honestly their weakest release in a while, I expected better.

Light 5/10

Architects – the classic symptomps of a broken spirit

The classic symptomps of a middle age crisis.

Light 4/10

Liturgy – As The Blood of God Bursts the Veins of Time (EP)

FINALLY some good-ass metal music. I mean it’s Liturgy, of course it’s gonna kick ass. This EP in particular consists of only 4 songs which all (with the exception of maybe the last one which you’re crazy if you think I’m gonna even try to type) absolutely rule, especially „696“ in my opinion, that one something about the melody just… Yeah it’s good. Go listen to it if you haven’t for some reason, it’ll only take you like 17 minutes but it will stick with you for waaay longer than that.

Light 8/10

The 1975 – Being Funny In A Foregin Language

I have a really on again off again relationship with this band… On one hand I think they’re super pretentious and at the end of the day just super mid, but on the other hand something just keeps me constantly coming back to their stuff, to the point where their album „A Brief Inquiry Into Online Relationships“ (yeah the titles are basically all like that) is like one of my all time favorites now. So yeah, this one naturally is like a 4/10 on the worst days and genuinely like a 8/10 on the best of them – so overall I’ll just put it somewhere in the middle. One thing I’ll say it’s definetly an improvement over their last album, it’s way less messy and all over the place and just more likeable I feel like.

Strong 6/10

bbno$ – bag or die

Wow, this really surprised me. bbno$ is super charismatic and confident here and the album is actually super well put together and produced, the songs for the majority of the album sound amazing. It’s clear that bbno$ is having just so much fun with this and I commend him for that. Best bbno$ release period and I will die on that hill.

Decent 7/10

Kid Cudi – Entergalactic

I was originally gonna write a full review for this one but it surprised me just how little I actually had to say about this. I mean this album’s sound pallete is just… Cardboard. It’s super bland and drab, I haven’t felt much of anything throughout the entire thing. Doesn’t mean it’s bad, just really boring. I’ll point out „Maybe So“ as the only song that really sticks out here though, that one is honestly gorgeous.

Decent 5/10

Behemoth – Opvs Contra Natvram

Wow a lot of metal dropped this past few months… It’s uhm okay?? I mean it’s a serious step-down from their previous efforts, but it’s passable – I’ll take it anyday over the Architects album, that’s for sure. It’s just crazy that these guys made fricking „The Satanist“ like one of the best metal records of the past decade and are now putting out just mediocre black metal.

Strong 5/10

Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loneliest Time

Wow really didn’t expect Carly to do a blackened death metal album and be more succesfull with it then Behemoth but I’ll take it!

Decent 7/10

Arctic Monkeys – The Car

Yeah so about this new Arctic Monkeys… I… Actually kinda like it! It wasn’t mindblowing or anything (I really wish all the songs didn’t sound the complete fricking same for example) but for the most part I think it evolved their sound and expanded on their last album pretty well! They just need to fire whoever named this thing, like seriously „The Car“? That’s the best you can come up with it? Anyways it’s solid.

Strong 6/10

Alright so that about wraps it up! Expect a full review for the new Taylor, Björk and Red Hot Chili Peppers soon and maybe a little something extra, who knows ;).