Music Reviews

Drake – For All The Dogs (pop rap, alternative R&B)

The middest project that ever midded. Some cool highlights. Some pretty attrocious lows. Most of the songs just sort of exist. That being said the first half REALLY out-shines the other though, like the drop-off oo this already so-so album is insane around the 12th song. Drake should honestly either just retire at this point or really take some time to make an album that’s actually worth everyone’s time.

Light 5/10

Danny Brown – QUARANTA (conscious hip-hop)

Now this is more like it! Yeah this album goes – even though it maybe isn’t as ground-breaking as Atrocity or XXX, it shows great maturity and Danny coming to terms with him being already 40. The production is really lucious and well-mixed and much more tame (with some exceptions such as „Jenn’s Terrific Vacation“). It’s far from my favorite Danny release, but it’s definitely one of the more important ones in his catalogue. Great album.

Light 8/10

Sampha – Lahai (Neo-Soul, alternative R&B)

This man’s voice could fix all the world’s problems.

Light 9/10

AJR – The Maybe Man (alt-pop, indie pop)

I mean… It’s better than their previous releases. The lyrics are still the main problem really, aswell as some of the production choices that really drag this thing down. The awkward pointless profanity, the trash clap beats, the random instrumental freak-outs at the end of the songs for no other reasons other than subverting your expectations. It’s still got your typical AJR-isms, but there are some improvements. The production overall is much more tolerable and at points even pretty enjoyable, some tracks (like 2 or 3 really, ESPECIALLY „The Dumb Song“) are actually pretty cool and the attitude feels a little bit less disconnected. Honestly? It ain’t the worst thing in the world.

Strong 3/10

Poppy – Zig (post-industrial, electronic)

What happened here? Like I LOVED her LP „I Disagree“, which was a really tasteful combination of metal and pop and the follow-up to that „Flux“ wasn’t that bad either, but this is just… Like I don’t know, there isn’t much here. The sound is much more electronical and industrial, which isn’t a bad thing by itself, but the sound just isn’t done in a way that’s intresting. There are almost zero stand-out tracks, it all sounds the same and the lows are actually kinda low, at least for Poppy standarts. Also the more heavier moments are honestly kinda the roughest (case in point the title track). I don’t know, it isn’t horrible but just really dissapointing in my eyes. Don’t see myself returning to this honestly.

Strong 4/10

Wilbur Soot – Mammalian Sighing Reflex (singer-songwriter, indie folk)

I find this type of intimate sound really endearing + I honestly really enjoy Wilbur as a lyricist, so I was kinda destined to at least like this. The electronics are sometimes a bit awkaward though and I overall think that this is a slight step-down from WIlbur’s last project even though I appriciate the slight experimentation of this album and some of the autotune uses are really tasteful too.

Light 7/10

underscores – Wallsocket (indietronica, electro-pop, pop-punk elements)

Yeah, it slaps. The slower moments are really heartfelt and the bagners, well they bang. Really solid throughout. First two songs on this album are probably some of the, if not THE, best two songs that go after each other on any album released this year.

Light 8/10

Jane Remover – Census Designated (shoegaze, post-rock)

I mean, it takes a lot of listens to fully grasp and a lot of patience to fully appreciate, but I feel like the imagery of this album is overall really strong. And even though I’m not in love with every bit of everything that’s always going on I feel like the highlights are really high, enough for me to consider it worth sitting through. Very rewarding, very ambitious, a bit long-winded, but overall really well crafted. It’s a slow-burner, but it’s one that at the end of the day burns really bright.

Decent 8/10

Earthbong – Church Of Bong (doom metal, stoner metal)

This took me completely somewhere else. I’m not always in the mood for this album, but when you give it the patience it needs it’s actually a really transcending doom metal experience, especially the first song „Bong Aeterna“. It’s still got its issues, it honestly drags out a little too long, but I can look past that as the overall experience is just really solid.

Strong 7/10