Music Reviews

The up and coming UK artist slowthai showed a lot of promise with his 2019 album „Nothing Great About Brittain“, where he showed a nice contrast between absolute bangers and the more introspective cuts – though here on this new album he decided to split the two into two seperate CDs. How did it work out?

Well I guess it’s safe to say by now that slowthai basically never misses with his album releases, or at least rarely – TYRON is again your whole slowthai package, though the two CD format makes for a few intresting changes. Firstly right of the back it’s pretty safe to say that the second half significantly out-shines the first one, to the point where it can be sort of distracting – the first half is by no means bad, but the somewhat decent collection of trap bangers just doesn’t live up to the introspective side of things on the second disk – even the production takes a major step-up. There are of course high-lights on both sides, such as „CANCELLED“ on the first one with it’s string arranged psychedelic production, weird yet captivating swith ups and the guest star of the show Skepta, who absolutely murders his verse, to the point where slothai’s verse doesn’t hit as hard as it could’ve and „nhs“ on the other half of this album, with it’s weird high-pitched chorus, very sad and moody piano chords accompanied by a trap beat and slowthai’s introspective lyricism, taking a deep look at our current state of society. But the real highlights are really mostly scattered throughout the second disk, exceptions on the first one being „MAZZA“, though mostly for ASAP Rocky’s appearance on the track and „PLAY WITH FIRE“, whitch is the closing track of of the first half and the dark switch up by the end of the song really sets the mood for the second disk – the rest of the first disk are all basically perfectly acceptable trap bangers with a cool bar here and there or a more psychadelic beat, but that’s about it. The first song „i tried“ of the second disk immidiately picks things up though and you can just hear the quality gap between the two sides instantly – it is also I believe the only song on the album to use real drums throughout it’s whole runtime and the funky guitar in the background combined with the whole aesthethic of the track is a nice touch. Then there is the mezmerizing „focus“, which has this amazing female vocal line incorporated in the beat, it really ads so much flavour to the song. The following „terms“ is a 3 minute collaboration track with Dominic Fike and Denzel Curry and yeah, it’s basically as good as that collaboration could’v been – the beat is very soothing but nothing out of the ordinary, but the guest verses and the sung hook on this one are really what sells it. The accoustic ballad „push“ is actually one of my favorites here, I love how this track uses space with spacy and faint vocals in the background aswell as some kind of post-rockish guitars at places, it’s just really well orcheastrated, even though the beat is kind of bland – also the female singer fits this song so well, it’s insane. The second to last song „feel away“ is another collaboration track though this one’s more somber and melodic, with some great production value and appearances from James Blake and Mount Kimbie, that only add to the track’s lush production. The closer „adhd“ is a rather depressing ending, reminds me off something that could’ve easily landed on the „Some Rap Songs“ album by Earl Sweatshirt – slowthai talks about his depressive state on this one, really going all out in the second half, bordering with emo rap, though in a good way – it’s a reall powerful and emotional send off to this album.

So there you have it, the brand new album from one of the most promising voice in modern music and it’s pretty good, not gonna lie, thought this was a pretty enjoyable listen through and through, even through the pretty obious quality gap on the two discs, I still found some enjoyment from both of them – but if anything, this is another win for slowthai, really pushing the boundaries of what he is capable of, even though it in my opinnion doesn’t quite live up to his previous studio effort.

Light 8/10

I’m gonna be honest here for a second, I was kind of a sucker for Hayley’s last project „Pedals For Armor“, where she experimented with more electronic and funk elements and it overall made for a pretty messy yet enjoable collection of songs – but with this new record over here, I had kind of a hard time getting into it, beacuse of the different sound palate this album is obviously going for – I gave it like listens but nothing ws clicking with me – one time I even fell asleep by like the third song and woke by the end of the album. But yesterday I gave it a patient, uninterupted listen and it finally clicked – this album has actually much more going for it, the it may sound, it’s just not as immidiate as Petals was.

Right of the back, the mood is set with the opener „First Thing To Go“, which is a somber song with some gentle guitar plucks and a piano lead that works its way in in the second half – it’s a really nice way to show off the sound this album is going for. The second track „My Libm“ showcases more of the same, with a more psychedelic chorus and actual drums, which are a rarity on this album, most of the song being just soulely accoustic ballads. Though „Asystole“ is another song to break the formula with more detailed and textured instrumental and beautiful melodies – i adds more variety in the tracklisting. Now from this point on, the tracklist gets a little stale after a while – as I said, this album doesn’t have much else going for it than the gentle plucking at you heart strings accoustic ballads, so it gets kind of unintresting after a while. Some exceptions to this include „KYRH“ standing for „Keep You Right Here“, which switches things up, but not by much, instead of a regular accoustic guitar ballad you get a piano-centred ballad – execution is different, but the outcome is the same. Now I’m not saying any of these songs are not made from a genuine place of love and have no artistic depth to them, they certainly have, but it’s all very personal, as Hayley sings about her past relationship expiriences and I personally just don’t relate to much of anything here. Also the tracklisting uses a fair ammount of ambience to fill in the void that surrouds many of the songs here and it works fairly well, great examples being „Good Grief“ and „HYD“. I also thought the song „Over Those Hills“ deserves a mention as it is one of the most, if not the most, instrumentaly rich song here – it starts off basically like any other song here, but slowly builds tention throughout until finally exploding in the final third – the sharp drums and electric guitar are a breath of fresh air. The second to last track „Descansos“ is purely an instrumental ambient piece, with Hayley’s distant background vocals giving the track a really chilling atmosphere. Now I guess the closer „Just a Lover“ does tie things up together pretty well lyrically and even instrumentally as the track offers more much needed instrument variety again. Overall nothing groundbreaking but a great closer nonethenless.

So yeah, there just isn’t much to be said about this project really – it obviously comes from a very personal place and I can appriciate that, but I just don’t stay invested in this feeling all the way through and the album is kind of all over the place – still a nice little release from Hayley, definetly an easier and more easy-going listen then her debut LP, but not much more enjoyable.

Decent 6/10

After a long wait, the debut album from the UK collective Black Country, New Road finally arrived and I gotta say, it’s everything any of us could’ve wanted from it – like serioulsy, who debuts like that?? Anyways this album is only 6 songs long, all of them ranging from 4 to 10 minutes in length, this makes for a pretty cohesive listen.

The record opens up with „Instrumental“ which to everyone’s surprise is an instrumental piece and also the only song on the album without any words sung – it’s a weird yet fitting choice for the opener to this album. The keys are instantly catchy and the groove pretty much irresistible, with some booming haunting melodies and grandious horns in the second half of the track, where the instrumentation just builds until it explodes like an atomic bomb – it serves well as a preparation to what’s ahead of you. The record only gets better from here with songs like „Athens, France“, which is where we are introduced to our protagonist and the song really mathces the tone with that, there is a sense of mystery and temptation, as the track is also not as immidate as the previous one – it takes time with it’s pacing and it moves rather slowly – the pay off in this one is more emotional then anything, the later half is really what sells it. Then we get the very story-driven „Science Fair“, which picks the pace up instantly with again, slowly but surely building instrumentation and exploding like halfway through with some insane horns added in adding a layer of insanity – it’s a really powerful moment in the tracklist, much like every other track. The 10-minute long „Sunglasses“ was one of the teaser tracks released before the album’s release, but that single version was completely scrapped and re-done from the ground – some may prefere the original one, and I completely get why, but this one really fits the tone of the album better, really being the centrepiece of this whole thing. The phases this song goes through are absolutely nuts, from the more melancholic and melodic start to the sheer insanity that is the second part – the horns, the guitars, the drums, everything just blends so well into this magnififcent larger-then-life expirience. Then comes the much neede slow down with the song „Track-X“, which is one of the more lo-fo tracks on the album, also serving as one of the albums most beautiful moments – the strings are what really sells this one, as well as the vocal harmonizing, but it’s really the whole package to be honest. And then we get the closer, the literal „Opus“, which is as good as an ending for this thing could’ve turned out. This is essentially the best parts of this album compressed into one song with the addition of even more horns, even more beautiful melodies and possibly the biggest climax of them all.

So yeah, there could definetly be found more to be said about this beautiful piece of work, but honestly no words can really describe the feeling I get when listening to this – just do yourself a favor and listen to this thing, you defintely won’t regret it. SO FAR my aoty.

Decent 9/10

Now here it is, brand new year and a brand new album from the infamous band Weezer, which I have very… Mixed feeling about, or at least I had before going into this album. Essentially at first I just found the band to be generic uninspired run of the mill rock music, for people who have never in their live even talked to a girl. But I think I finally got Weezer’s appeal with this album and it even allowed me to look back on some of their older material and appricate the band’s sound a little bit more. But the ultimate question we’re all asking, is this new album over here any good?

And right off the back I have a simple answer to that question – yes, that is very much the case here. It isn’t anything ground-breaking or never done before, but it is just a damn solid rock album with a giant orchestral twist through the whole album this time around. This causes the sound of this thing to be incredibly easy-going, larger then life and most of all human, as the title souggets. It also makes for some of the most beautiful and gut-punching moments in the band’s entire catalog, like the song „Mirror Image“, which could be essentialy discredited as an interlude, but the giant walls of strings and the heart- wrenching lyrics legitemately are enough to make me cry – my only complaint about this track is, that I just wished it was longer honestly. Then we also have the single released prior to the album „All My Favorite Songs“, which was the first indicator of the sound the band would be taking with this new project and it was honestly a perfect choice for the first single – the instant catchiness and easy-goingness contrast really well with River’s passionate vocals and it just makes for a fitting opener. Then we get the song „Aloo Gobi“, which runs pretty similarly to the last track with more emphasis on the strings this time. The chorus is also very passionately sung and the „You are not alone“ bridge really makes the song feel like an completely expirience of a song by the end of it. Some other stand-out track include the beautiful „Numbers“ with some insanely beautiful vocal lines from River on the chorus, honestly a contender for one of my favorites on here. The mysterious „Playing My Piano“ is surprisingly enough centred around a piano line that hits around the chorus, which really gives the song a sense of mystery and wonder, it’s a really nice touch, even though the lyrics on this one aren’t as mind-blowing on the first verse. „Screens“ is another quick one, that has more guitar incorporation in it and it honestly just feels kind of repetetive by this point in the album, not a bad track, though there isn’t much else to be said about it. The following „Bird With a Broken Wing“ fortunately picks things up a bit and is actually one of the emotional high-points on this album, realy just a goergous track through and through. „Here Comes The Rain“, as the title suggests, is an obvious The Beattles tribute and a very well done one at that – it also serves as a very much needed positive break point on the album, considering much of the album is otherwise kind of moody and dreamy. The track has this very sunshine-like energy to it with these instant catchy piano chords, that then smoothly lead into the orchestral instrumentation that finnishes the track off. The closer „La Brea Tar Pits“ is like a more grand version of Aloo Gobi, not only with the weird name incorporation again, but with the overall tone of the song, they really feel like two parts of the same song and it manages to close of the album fairly well.

So yeah, I actually enjoyed a Weezer album in 2021, crazy times we live in, right? No, but now for real, I really see this as an accoplishment in the band’s catalog and the band themselves should also see this as something to be very proud of. I can see how this may come off as sort of boring to some people, as this is the criticism I encountered most of the times doing my research for this album, but to me, that very much isn’t the case – just listen to the music, pay attention to what is being said and let the overall vibe of this album consume you, then you’ll get what I mean.

light 8/10

So here it finally is, the tenth studio album by the American rockers „Foo Fighters“ is finally here and I gotta say, I haven’t been this confused about an album in a while. On one hand, it’s easily their most experimental and groovy record thus far, but then here I am on the other hand wondering, if that is really a good thing.

So yeah, this album is very much a „hit-or-miss“ kind of expirience. The singles released prior to the album’s release all left me with very mixed feelings and after hearing the whole album, that still hasn’t changed much. To kind of take it track-by-track, we have the radio-ready opener „Making A Fire“, which really is more of a spark then a whole fire – the song immidiately screams car comercial music, though not entirely in a bad way, we have seen much more miserable attempts at making such music in recent memory *cough* Green Day *cough*. One saving grace this song has is it’s instant catchiness and also that, that at the end of the day, it still feels remarkably Foo Fighters, no matter how poppy it sounds. The following track „Shame Shame“ was also the first released single for this album and wow, what a weird choice for a first single – it is easily one of the Foo Fighters most disjointed songs to date, with the weird beat incorporating handclaps and other weird percussion elements, the kind of rough around the edges groove and the overly repetetive chorus – it comes of kind of pretentious, even though the strings that are added in on the chorus are quite a nice touch. The following „Cloudspotter“ is easily one of the worst songs here and there are many reasons to that, but in the end it boils down to two things – one being the at places just AWFUL lyrics and the extremely cheezy chorus, that I legitimately can’t handle. „Waiting On A War“ thankfully picks things up a bit, as it is easily my favorite single released prior to this thing, it’s just this nice introspective accoustic ballad with an instrumental build up and freak out at the end – there is just this anthemic atmosphere going through out and it serves as a much needed break in the album. Following that is probably the grooviest song on the album, the title track „Medicine at Midnight“ which is actually also one of my favorites here – it has this nice lushes instrumental with some funky guitars and weird beat switch-ups and these haunting background vocals, it just comes full circle pretty well. The third and final single released from this „No Son Of Mine“ is probably the heaviest of the three and has this arena stadium feel to it, while still not going full Imagine Dragons – it is also one of the more instant songs on the album, but unfortunately it’s charm quickly weares off. The song „Holding Poison“ is probably the most „old-school Foo Fighters“ song on here, with the addition of some nice synths and an epic guitar solo halfway through, it honestly is like the whole package of a song. The album looses it’s track again though on the following „Chasing Birds“, which is another contester for the worst song on this album for me, it just feels pretty bland and uninspired, the subject matter is really portraited in an non-specific way and it’s just all over the place. The closing track „Love Dies Young“ thankfully ends thing on a high-note with some heavy riffs, Dave Grohl’s iconic rasper vocals and an anthemic tone, it serves as a great closer to this album.

So yeah, the new Foo Fighters, it’s uh… Alright, I guess? Look, I’m gonna be completely transparent here, this was kind of a disapointment for me. Foo Fighters is a band I hold very dear to my heart, so there obviously is a bit of bias for me, but through and through, this is just a mediocre effort from the band – there are some highlights, for sure, I can praise this record for having a ton of variety compared to the rest of the band’s catalog, but that being said, it doesn’t make it an overall statisfying listen. Still, if you haven’t listened to it, then please give it a go, your opinnion may very much differ from mine’s and you may find much more enjoyment out of it then I did.

Strong 5/10

Kevin Parker’s third studio album „Currents“ was what originally introduced me to the mastermind project that Tame Impala is – the production on there was very drugy, psychedelic and instant and conceptually it was really cohesive – what made me fall in love with Kevin’s music though, was it’s predecessor „Lonerism“. That album was just a pure psychedelic bliss, with some really relatable themes going on, talking about self-isolation and loneliness in general – it really is a one-of-a-kind listen.

So maybe it was because of my high expectations going into this record, but I’m kinda conflicted on this one – for once, the production doesn’t feel as instant and explosive as on Kevin’s previous efforts (with some exceptions, but I will get to that later) – it’s rather more low-key or dance-oriented, trying out different sounds and experimenting, so it just comes off as not that cohesive of a work. Though I will say, some of the band’s best material to date turn up on this album, such as on the song „Posthumous Forgivness“, where the experimentations really pays off – the wall of psychedelic synths comined with that heavy kick and compressed drums on the chorus sound like being transfered to another dimension. The lyrics on this one hit as hard as the sound of the song, if not harder, talking about the passing of Kevin’s father – the vocals feel tortured even through all the layers of effects on them. It just hits all the right notes for me. On other tracks, the experimentation doesn’t alwys work out so well – a greay example of that being „Tomorrow’s Dust“, which isn’t per say bad, but with those gentle guitar melodies, sharp drums and layers of compression, just end up being really boring – like, the song has no bussiness being 5 and a half minutes long. Some other dancier tracks turn up on here, such as „Borderline“ and „Breathe Deeper“, which both feature some really nice keys and melodies – the production is rich, the imagery painted is beautiful and it’s just a good vibe overall, with „Breathe Deeper“ also featuring some really catchy basslines and more intresting structure to it – it end up being one of my favorites on here. Then we have the two pre-released singles „It Might Be Time“ and „Lost In Yesterday“, both of which are great in their own categories – It Might Be Time is perhaps the most experimental song on this whole project, making it a questionable leading single, but c’mon, this thing is a banger. It has probably the rawest mixing on here and is somehow pretty intense, even though it doesn’t sound intense at all – it starts off really laid back actually and plays on that note for most of the song. Lost In Yesterday on the other hand is one of the more dancable track here, with it’s slick bassline, sharp drums and godly vocals from Kevin Parker – it’s just a nice laid-back Tame Impala song, what else is there to say. The song „Is It True“ is as direct as it gets on the album, being one of the only instantly-catchy songs on here, with some heavy synths and electric guitar melodies, that just won’t leave your head for days to come. The most intresting songs conceptually though, are the opening and the closing tracks „One More Year“ and „One More Hour“ and how tie into each other. The opener sets the mood for the album just right, being one of the more low-key cuts here, it leaves a lot of room for the story/message to get across. The conept is pretty simple, with the protagonist on the first track just wanting to enjoy his year and on the last track just reflecting on it within the last hour. Both songs play off of each other very nicely and really tie this otherwise unorganised and somewhat disoriented album together.

And with that the album concludes, finnishing as strongly is at started. Now does this feel like a little bit of a let down from Kevin’s previous work? Kinda, but more then that it jsut feels like another natural artistic progression his music goes through – and even though this one is probably my least favorite of thos progressions, I stile enjoyed it quite a bit and genuinely can’t wait to see where Parker decides to go from here – whatever it is, I’ll be there for it.

strong 7/10

After enjoying Wilbur’s „I’m in Love with an E-girl“ and „Internet has Ruined Me“, both songs featuring some surprisingly beautiful chord progressions and clever comedic bittersweet songwriting, I was pretty hyped for this album when I first got it recommended. What I EXPECTED were songs with similar sense of ironic comedy to them, with some nice crisp production. What I GOT instead was something much more personal, and dare I say mature – of corse the comedic songwriting is still present in some form or shape, but he’s taking it much more seriously this time around, and as a result, I take him more seriously.

The songwriting is probably the selling point on this album, because the production usually just features Wilbur and his guitar, doing his thing, while he pours his expiriences on us. You could even call this a concept album, the concept being his expiriences with the city he’s been living in, London. The first song, „Jubilee Line“, illustrates that perfectly, with it’s lowkey guitar melodies, slowly raising in intensity as the song progresses and the lyrics talking about blaming the city for all the strugless in his life – the song takes a rather dark turn by the end, talking about the people that commited suicicde in the city’s underground. The song sets the mood perfectly for the album with it’s direct lyrics, but still leaving some room for interpretation. The following track „Saline Sollution“ follows a similar forula as the first one, this time focusing on solving the problems the city has forced upon him. The „sollution“ we’re presented with is kind of a sarcastic one, probably taken as a methaphor: salline sollution refering to the process of drinking salted water, for either regulating normal blood levels, or just throwing-up. Instrumentally the song, again, progresses to get more intense with some aditional low-key drums and horns this time round – it’s a really powerful moment on the album. „Since I Saw Vienna“ is instrumentally probably the least intresting of the bunch, but the lyrics are what sells it here, taking a different approach to saying, that London sucks, by basically comparing it to Vienna – it has a rather nostalgic vibe to it, but overall, there isn’t much to say about this one. „Losing Face“ has a much more direct and exciting instrumentation, with some intense but laid-back guitar chords, low-key crunchy drums and some aditional guitar tones in the background, really completing the atmosphere. This song marks the lyrical shift this album takes in the second half, now more focusing on a classic love drama. The lyrics compliment the tortured vocals really well, and you can feel the emotion pouring from the track – it’s a simple, yet effective way, of conveying the song’s message, something this album in general succeeds at. „Your Sister Was Right“ continues on that note with some nice vocal layering an adding context to what actually happened between these two in the lyrics – the instrumental is rather unintresting on here, but it does it’s job. „La Jolla“ is the longest song on here and it’s a pretty good way of summing up the whole album so far – the protaganist doesn’t feel good enough and sort of defeated and just wants to escape this god-forsaken city, which can be taken as a metaphor to all his problems in general. He hopes to one day move on from everything and live his happ life – that’s why Wilbur sounds so defeated and quiet on this one. The instrumentation is again really simple, but this time it actuall compliments everyhting elese that is going on pretty well, considering the track’s more low-key and defeated sound. The final song „I’m Sorry Boris“ is Wilbur reflecting on everything that has been leading up to this point and realising, that even though the goverment is destroying the city, he has all the people he cares about here and can’t just leave them behind – instead of running from his problems, he faces them. It transitions extraordinarilly well from the last track to this one, with the first cut having a more defeated tone and this one right here showing us the brighter side of things – in other words, the perfect closer.

And yeah, that pretty much concludes the album – short, but straight to the point. I think the message of this one is something really unique and the simple sound of the album leaves a lot of room for the message to get across. Though it also leaves a lot to be desired – don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the hell out of this thing, but sometimes, when the lyrics didn’t instantly grab me in, I just became real bored real quick, and that’s essentially the biggest issue I could find with this album – sometimes it’s just not exciting enough. So yeah, I think the instrumentation could use a little bit more spice here and there, but other then that, it’s a pretty solid listen – the songwriting is there, the intensity aswell and the message comes across. So overall, not bad at all, for a first release.

strong 6/10

Ok, so real quick my basic overview of the band’s catalog up to this point: I found their deathcore roots to be really amateurish and too melodramatic, their more metalcore side is where they peaked in my opinion, with record like There is a Hell,… and Sempiternal. The experimentation with other genres on That’s the Spirit mostly payed off for the band, with the record’s more alt-rock oriented sound and catchy explosive choruses. They would continue with the experimentation on their next studio effort Amo, where they prooved that they were more then just another face in the crowd and that hey could pull of mulitple genres and aren’t afraid to go out of their comfort zone. Which bring here, to Post Horror: Survival Horror and I gotta say, this thing is amazing.

From the very start, you can tell that the band is dedicated to combine everything they’ve learned up to this point, to create one rather short, but cohesive expirience with this 9-track EP. Not a single song on here flops, everything is a hit, each track in different regards. The opener sets the tone – „Dear Diary“ is an agressive metalcore-fused rager, with the lyrics being a meditation on the current chaotic state the world is in right now. The guitars riffs are heavy, the screaming feels raw, yet fitting and the additional production choices from none other then the music god himself Mick Gordon only add to the intensity of the track. Also the breakdown is really tasteful and refreshing, all of the breakdwons on this album are honestly. After that we get a series of singles released prior to the albums release, all of which bring different things to the table: „Parasite Eve“ is a more heavily structured, long-winded look at things, with some really epic glitchy production and an absolutely orgasmic Mick Gordon breakdwon, that had to be brought up right from the pits of hell. „Teardrops“ is a Linkin Park worshipper, with some surprisingly moving lyrics – they didn’t come off as corny at all, rather they complimented the atmosphere of the track really darn well. Oli sounds genuinely defeated on this one and the chorus just absolutely slaps – it’s one of the many grand explosive choruses on here. And finally the song „Obey“ is a punk-aesthetic nu-metal banger with some insane synths and booming guitars – also the Youngblood feature was a surprisingly wise choice, probably the best he has sounded since – well, ever. Again, the chorus just absolutely rocks and the breakdwon on this one is probably the most passionate out of those three – like seriously, if Parasite Eve’s breakdwon sounded like the pits of hell, then this one are the demons coming out of there. After those three gems we get a much needed break with the interlude „Itch For The Cure“, which serves as a preparation for what is to come next. And what actually comes next is my favorite song on here „Kingslayer“ – not only because of the insane energy that is radiating of of this thing, but also because of the unexpected, but welcomed feature from BABYMETAL and again some amazing production from our lord and savior Mick Gordon – like if this combination doesn’t tell you it’s gonna be a banger, then I don’t know what does. The song is from start to finnish just packed with energy, with those fast paced guitars, epic synth leads and agressive vocals from Oliver Sykes – this is easily the most brutal he has sounded since the release of Sempiternal. The BABYMETAL feature, as mentioned before, somehow fits super well in this and offers a nice change of pace to the track – they also absolutely nail the chorus on here. Overall it’s just a fun and exciting track, and at the end of the day what else do you need? Oh, another Linkin Park worship? Well Bring Me the heavies got you covered with the song „1×1“, which may be the on-first-listen least intresting song on here, and admiteddly isn’t as exciting as per say Teardrops, but it’s still a nice nu-metalish alt-rock tune with a melodically pleasing chorus and some nice electronic effects worked in. Then there is the song „Ludens“, which sounds like something from the bands That’s the Spirit, but with a more glitchy and electronic production this time around. This is basically as experimental as it gets for the band, and even though some of the transitions between the song’s passages may feel a littler rushed nad akward, overall I found it to be a pretty cohesive listen, especially by the end of it, when it all just makes sense in the end. For the closer the band decided to go with a hell of a slow-burner of a ballad with the song „One Day The Only Butterflies Left Will Be In Your Chest As You March Towards Your Death“ (yes, that’s how the song is actually titled), which features the amazing Amy Lee from the band „Evanescence“ on the vocals. Her voice I’d say blends pretty nicely with the song’s more low-key and slow-paced easthetic – it’s haunting yet beautiful. The hauntingness, aswell as the tention, continues to grow throughout the whole track, finally reaching it’s emotional climax towards the end, with Oliver’s quiet screamed vocals, that are slowly turning up in volume, until the song suddenly stops – a really cool detail and a great way of ending the album off.

Look, I was pretty hyped for this thing, especially considering how much I LOVED every single one of the teaser tracks, but what we got is so much more then I could ever expect – it’s the definitive Bring Me The Horizon expirience. Yes, there are some flaws here and there, and the runtime of the album could use a little bit more tracks, so it feels little more cohesive, but at this point, I’m really just nitpciking. This was a really solid listen and I can’t wait to see, what the band continues to do next.

strong 8/10

6ix9ine stands out as one of the most provocative and hated controversial figures out there right now, but you gotta give it to the guy. he can make some kick-ass songs. The first single of of this thing „Gooba“ is what got me initially intrested in checking this whole project out, if it can live up to the energy that that track gave off. The following singles „Trollz“ featuring none other then Nicky Minaj and „Punani“ featuring autotune were both solid songs with „Trollz“ being kinda a guilty pleasure for me – so with that being said, I went into this thing expecting nothing bangers. So is that actually what we got?

The answer is simple – no, not even close. What we got INSTEAD is a bunch of unfinnished forgatble songs, if you can call them that. I genuinely can’t recall a single other track on here. Well, maybe besides the opener „Locked Up Pt. 2“, which is probably the most ambitious cut on here – the production is direct and it serves as an alright introduction to the album. But beyond that? Except the mentioned singles, there is literally nothing of substance here. To take it track by track, the second track „TUTU“ has that generic tropical vibe to it, with some really awful braggadocious lyrics and forgetabble autotune passages – no reason to come back to this song ever again. The song „Wait“ pisses me off, because the beat had so much potential, but is utterly ruined by 6ix9ine’s sloppy vocals that don’t compliment the gentle accoustic instrumentation at all. The production is essentially the only selling point here, but again nothing else of a substance to be found. „Charlie“ tries to go really hard with those typical 6ix9ine’s screamed vocals, but the produciton is so bland and forgetabble, that by the end of it, I genuinely couldn’t recall how the song actually sounded. Though by far the worst offender on this thing has to be „NINI“ with the featured Leftside on the vocals, which follows the same formula and production choices as songs like „BEBE“ from the 6ix9ine’s previous studio effort – that is essentially just a latin American beat with a modern trap twist to it, that sounds like if torture was a sound. Luckily the song is just around 2 minutes long, even though it feels like 5 minutes. Similar waste of time and space is the song „YAYA“, which for a change features 6ix9ine on the vocals, which really isn’t a saving point – also the beat is just horrendous, I can’t stand it. Then we get some more forgetable tracks such as „LEAH“, „GATA“ and „GTL“, all of which I can’t recall a single note or vocal passage from – there is literally no reason for these songs to exist. The last song „AVA“ tries to go for a rather emotional climax, but it completely and I mean COMPLETELY rips off Travis Scott’s „Yosemite“ – from the sound, to the structure, to the production – everything about this song screams Travi Scott. Except maybe 6ix9ine himself, which just screams awful.

This really is what it means to fall off – because belive it or not, I did quite enjoy some of the moments from the guy’s first studio album „Dummy Boy“, especially in the latter half – the production on that thing was out of this world compared to this. And the quality gap between that album and this one right here is really kinda unreal. Not only in production, but also in 6ix9ine’s flows, his delivery – basically everything, the only exceptions to this being the singles. Si in conclussion, this was just not that great and more than that just boring – can we just end the 6ix9ine trend now?

decent 2/10

Gorillaz will forever have a special place in my heart, even though their, up to this point nearly flawless, discography was kind of dumbed down by the virtual band’s last two LPs „Humanz“ and „The Now Now“, both of which have their own problems – Humanz was blouted with features, safe production choices and really uncohesive structure, while The Now Now was in my opinion just really boring and only had a few stand-out tracks – it more felt like Damon Albarn, the mastermind behind Gorillaz, was just trying to cover up for the mixed reception of Humanz with an even more mixed release. But here we are now, Song Machine is finally out, so let’s take a closer look, shall we?

Right of the back the album kicks off with the keys-heavy „Strange Timez“, which is just a great opener – it sets the dark, but still that remarkable Gorillaz sound, with those haunting piano melodies and wirling keys, while Robert Smith give us a pationate vocal performance, with some fitting lyrics, that compliment the sound pretty well. Then it explodes into these walls of sytnhs towards the end of the track, with 2D and Robert Smith singing the chorus – by the end of it, it just comes full circle and feels like a complete song, but more importantly a grand opener. The following track „The Valley Of Pagans“ is just a good time, with the track’s up-beat sound and fast tempo – also the featured artist Beck really kills his performance here. I also can’t stress enough how insanely detailed the sound of not only this song, but the whole album is – the layers of pianos, guitars and sharp drums just sound so refreshing and sweet to the ears. What also sounds sweet to the ears is the follow-up track „The Lost Chord“ with it’s spacy and mysthy production and the absolutelly GORGEOUS ascending vocals on the chorus. It’s a nice more slow-paced moment on the album and it somehow still keeps the momentum going. The next song „Pac-Man“ is easily the most catchiest tune here – the chorus on this thing is absolutely phenomenal and could go toe-to-toe with something of of the band’s „Plastic Beach“. The ScHoolboy Q feature was also a nice touch, with the second half of the track changing from the electronic crispy beat, to a more natural and free production, where ScHoolboy really shines and takes on a more introspective last verse. The next song „Chalk Tablet Towers“ is probably one of the weaker ones here, especially momentum-wise, where the song is basically just a filler. Though it features some really good production and vocal melodies, but you could say that for the whole album really. Though the next song „The Pink Phantom“ picks things up again, with that absolutely stunning Elton John feature, low-key production and some really impresive vocal layering in the later half. 6LACK is also on here, but he is just kinda there, even though he compliments Elton surprisingly well. The song „Aries“ was probably one of my favorites released prior to the album’s release – the gentle guitar plugs, the synth-based summer-oriented beat and 2Ds passionate vocals make up for one of the best songs in the band’s catalog. „Friday the 13th“ is an intresting one, because originally, I didn’t really care about this one, but damn if this isn’t a huge grower – this song is the definition of „the more you listen to it, the better it gets“, because it really grows on you substantially with each listen – the summery production with the off-beat Octavian feature combine into a pretty laid-back expirience with a nice piano beat-switch in the second half. The song I was most worried about, when I first heard it though was probably „Dead Butterflies“ – right off the back the more trap-inspired beat made me kinda worried at first, but once those pianos come in and 2D starts singing, then I instantly knew this was going to be one of my favorite here – and I was right. This is the most passionate 2D’s vocals sounded since the Plastic Beach era – like seriously, those vocal melodies and the overall performance are just stunning. It also smoothly transitions into the next track „Désolé“, which is a French ballad, with some of the best and most gorgeous produciton I’ve heard this year – the sharp drums with the gentle guitar melodies make for a haunting, yet somehow soothing atmosphere. And don’t even get me started on the feature – Fatoumata Diawara absolutely kills her vocal performance here, easily one of the best features of the whole album (which is saying a LOT). The closer is the one song, that started it all – the first single released before the album itself „Momentary Bliss“, which if that isn’t a statysfying finnish, then I don’t know what is. It is perhaps the most raw-sounding song of the whole album, which compliments slowthai’s rather agressive style really well. The booming guitars and agressive keys just make for a banger of a tune, that is a worthy closer, for such an amazing album.

This album is what you call learning from your mistakes – it takes everything the last two Gorillaz albums failed at and makes it succeed at every single one of those things. The production is top-notch, the features are amazing and it all comes together by the end – it just felt like a really cohesive compilation of songs. That’s right, I said compilation, because if there is something to be left desired on this album, then it’s the fact that it doesn’t really feel like a Gorillaz studio album and more just like a collection of Gorillaz songs – though great songs at that. But beyond that, there is nothing negative I can really say about this one – it’s just a hit after hit and I’m only curious, where the band take their sound from here.

light 9/10