Music Reviews

Parannoul has done it again.

It should come as no surprise that I adore this band – if you’ve read my review of the band’s last solo studio album „To See the Next Part of the Dream“, that came out in 2021, you know I absolutely loved what the band accomplished there. The pure musical euphoria that album brought me was unmatched by almost anything I’ve heard that year, the seemless blend of shoegaze and dream pop and all other sorts of things resulted in, what’s at least in my eyes, one of the best albums of this decade so far. So it’s safe to say that the expectations I had for this album were set very high but I’m very pleased to report that for the most part they were very much met.

Right of the back I have to say that Parannoul is once again bringing their A-game when it comes to choosing album covers that match the sound – TSTNPOTD had a much more colorful and clear album cover and the sound of the album reflected that perfectly, it really did feel like a beautiful dream. So if that album felt like a warm cozy dream, this feels like the moment after when you wake up. Like the musical emodiment of a cold harsh winter, thinking about the beautiful warm summer. And I gotta say nothing is a more fitting example of that than the first three song on this album. First off we have the opener „Polaris“ – it kicks off with a lush somber guitar playing with only the singing humming a singing over it. Then in typical Parannoul fashion the at-first programmed drums come in with a bunch of orchestral strings backing it all up and it all resolves in this beautiful picture that’s being painted with the music. And then it just… Stops. And OUT OF NOWHERE this giant wave of just so much going on comes clashing right in, overtaking the entire song. And I don’t mean this lightly when I say that it really feels larger than life. All of that builds up right back into the chorus that was first shown in the opening of the song but this time with the whole band giving it their all and comes together just so effortlessly and beautifully, I can’t say enough good things about this song honestly. After that we have the song „Insomnia“ which builds up on the last song very nicely. The trademark Parannoul piano melody that’s being repeated throught this entire song really gives of strong „Beautiful World“ vibes. The song maybe isn’t as grand per se as the last one, but I maybe enjoy it even more then I do the last song – it’s just such a solid vibe throughout it’s entire runtime. The melodies are so gorgeous and it all feels strangely nostalgic – there also just isn’t a second wasted with this song, the structure of it is so free and unpredictable yet strangely logical, Parannoul just have this ability to make the most in theory complicated things seem so easy and effortless. Definetly another one of my favorites. And to finnish this insane three track run off, we have the song „Arrival“, that puts a bit of a spin on the Parannoul formula with them incorporating more horns on this song that work surprisingly well with this sound. I mean they are horns they sound good in basically any context bu once again Parannoul finds a way to make them really stand out and make them sound very pleasant to the ears at the same time. Which brings me to my next point, which is that I really have to commend Parannoul here for really letting loose on the experimentation on this album – it all still sounds very much like Parannoul but you can clearly hear that they are much more comfortable with their sound and aren’t afraid to try new things. Like this song in particular has a very strong GY!BE vibe towards the end of it, like insanely so, it’s definetly one of the most crazy musical moments on this entire album. Anyways next up we have the song „We Shine At Night“ which is like the definition of „the calm after the storm“ – the whole song is very light-hearted and more I guess down to earth and although I tend to skip it sometimes, when I don’t get pulled into it right away, I still think it overall adds to the album experience. It’s also a nice stepping stone between Arrival and the next song „Parade“ which is almost like a two part experience – the first half is similar to the previous song, but I think this one has a little more kick to it, the orchestral elements on this song especially are something to take note off, they seriously elevate the song to completely new heights. However the real magic with this song lies within the sudden build up to the second part of the song which only improves the song further and makes it really feel like the whole package. Also the transition from this song to „Sketchbook“ is like as smooth as it gets. And look, I understand that for some this song may not be as ground-breaking or I guess as what you would expect from Parannoul, but I have to say I was once again pleasantly surprised by this one – it’s definetly a lot different from the typical Parannoul style and I guess there is the criticism that it does drag on a bit too long and doesn’t have all that much to show for it, but I still just have to respect the willingness to go out of their comfort zone and try to experiment. So yeah, maybe not the most exciting song on here but in my humble opinion still a pretty solid addition to the track list. Next up we have the song „Imagination“ that is much more low-key and shorter then some of the other songs on here and while it is still very good I honestly could probably have it removed from this album and not much would really change about the experience for me, even though the outro is as expected again really cool. „Sounds Inside Me, Waves Inside You“ is the next track and I don’t have much to say about this one, not because it’s bad but it’s just kinda forgetable – it does feature a really cool kind of breakdown/bridge in the middle of the song that’s really unexpected but once again keeps the whole album feeling really fresh. That’s one thing with this album, you never really get bored when listening to it, even if you don’t love every idea presented to you, the album just keeps evolving and going through so many different ideas that eventually something is just bound to click with you, although admittedly with a few exceptions the first half of this album really out-shines the second in my opinion. „Blossom“ is the next song and again I’m grateful that it’s on here, but nothing about it really sticks with me that much – the phases this song undergoes are impressive even for this album though and the horns from earlier make another appearence here + there are some legitemately insane vocal passages towards the end of the song that sound almost emo-ish, which again, more versatility. Things do pick up pretty substantially with the closing song and also the title track „After the Magic“ which has probably the prettiest intro to any song on this thing, the variety of strings and synths always transport me to like a different realm of existence. The rest of the song also feels very climactic and like the end to a movie and the strings are just… Out of this world, they really make you FEEL like this is the ending credits to just I don’t l´know life or whatever corny thing – look it’s just really good okay?

So yeah, that was „After the Magic“ by Parannoul. Honestly I don’t have much of an outro to go along with this (I’m not as good at those as Parannoul are unfortunately) but this is just another really great album from Parannoul, that’s about all you need to know. For me personally it didn’t quite reach the highs of TSTNPOTD but it was still an amazing other-worldly experience that I highly suggest you give a shot.

-favorite tracks: yes

-least favorite tracks: parts of some of the songs in the second half

Strong 8/10

What the hell just happened.

Yeah so this apparently is actually real – Lil Yachty out of all people dropping a potential album of the year in the form of an hour long neo-psychedelic rock record and yes it is actually as bonkers as it sounds on paper. I mean I’ve seen many comparisons of this record to Tame Impala but this is legitimately better then Tame Impala’s last album and it’s somehow not even close. So let’s stop messing around and jump right into this thing, shall we?

The album opens up with the larger-than-life „the BLACK seminole.“ which when I first put this album on only having heard „Poland“ from Yachty at that time… Well saying my mind was blown is an understatement. This track is a 7 minute long epic that just only keeps on getting better – it starts with these swelling synths that slowely but surely transition into this Pink Floyd-esk explosion in sound that just sounds like something straight out of The Dark Side Of The Moon which is something I thought I’d never say about a fricking Lil Yachty song but here we are. Lil Yachty’s drenched in reverb voice goes surprisingly well with this sound, he sounds super natural and comfortable on this song and that’s only the beginning of the song – then out of nowhere come these heavenly guitar riffs that just overwhelm the rest of the instrumentation and sound legitimately just out of this world. After this whole thing is over a much needed break is provided to us before the final leg of the song kicks in and oh boy did Yachty save the best for last. Nothing I can say can really do those final 2 minutes of this song justice so just please go listen to it, if it has to be anything from this album make it this song. After that crazy intro we have the song „the ride-“ which actually builds on the previous song very nicely. It’s definetly not as explosive in sound nor as ambitious but it continues the vibe of the album very well and the guitar licks and synthwork are as amazing as ever. „running out of time“ is the next song and this one didn’t quite hit the musical peaks for me as the last two did but what really makes this one stand out is that the production on this song was done by none other than Magdalena Bay so I just have to love it either way. No but seriously, this is another pretty good song of the bunch – by this point you kinda accept that this is the sound Yachty is going for so the shock factor is kinda gone but the more you start to appreciate the little things in the production of this thing, it really feels like the musical equivalent of just an explosion of colors. Next up are the songs „pRETTy“ and „:(failure:)“ which I put together here because I think these are probably the most forgetable songs on the whole album and I actually just have nothing to say about them, except that the latter of the two is I guess a solid transition into the next two, which spoiler alert, are the polar opposite of the last two. So speaking of which the next two songs „THE zone-“ and „WE SAW THE SUN!“ are in a way two parts of one big song (yeah you can kinda tell where the Pink Floyd comparisons are coming from) and are both just amazing. „THE zone“ is a pretty solid way to kick this whole part of the album of, the highlight here is definetly the drumming, which you can say basically about the entire album, but this song especially just something about the way those drums are mixed is just so clean and crisp, it’s heaven to the ears. This song also has an amazing outro that just in the smoothest way imaginable transitions into the follow-up song „WE SAW THE SUN!“ which is equally as good or I’d say even better then it’s predecessor. I mean this song just makes you FEEL like the sun is shining right on you and everything is just the way it should be. Also whatever happens with Yachty’s vocals around the 2:20 mark in the song? Yeah just that. The next song right after that is „drive ME crazy!“ and there is just one word to describe what makes this song objectively good – the BASS. Well that’s technically two words but still – the bassline on this track is the reason I wake up in the morning. Even though the song itself is kind of all over the place and is lacking in focus a bit the bassline just makes up for all of that in my eyes, it’s seriously that good. Right after that we have „IVE OFFICIALLY LOST VISION!!!!“ and with this track I’ve officialy lost my ability to find bad things about these songs, because this one is RAW. Like Death Grips levels of raw, this tracks doesn’t waste a second in letting you know it’s gonna kick some serious ass. Once the distorted guitar build up kicks in you just know you’re in for a ride and it’s songs like these where I just have to keep reminding myself that I’m listening to a LIL YACHTY project. Definetly one of the most agressive and energetic things I’ve heard Yachty on period. However after that come a few songs that I enjoy but just have at this point nothing new to say about – like take for example „sAy sOMETHINg“, it’s a good song, there is nothing particularly wrong with it, it sounds good when it’s on, but there are simply just not any specific qualities differentiating this one from many of the other song on here. I do really enjoy „paint THE sky“ though, the loud kick drums mixed with the spacey synths sound almost like something that HOME would make and Yachty works surprisingly well on it, it’s once again something completely different but he just makes it work even though it really shouldn’t in theory. The closing track to this thing „REACH THE SUNSHINE.“ is as expected as insane as the opener is – it opens up with this really strange almost burried beat with gradually building synths and different sounds and Yachty just singing his lung out over it when this huge pay-off comes out of the blue that actually build up even more until it slowely fades away into this slowburn orchestral outro that really makes this whole song and album feel complete. So yeah, this song is the definition of a closing track, enough said.

WOW I mean I saw the average ratings for this album being so high and I knew that it was probably gonna be good but nothing could have prepared me for how REALLY good this actually was. Like I’m genuinely impressed this is the same guy that made „Poland“. So yeah, I mean it goes without saying but just give this album a shot, I think you’re seriously not gonna regret it.

-favorite tracks: the BLACK seminole.; the ride-; THE zone-; WE SAW THE SUN!; drive ME crazy!; IVE OFFICIALLY LOST VISION!!!!; paint THE sky; REACH THE SUNSHINE.

-least favorite tracks: pRETTy; :(failure(:; sAy sOMETHINGg

Decent 8/10

After what’s been what I honestly consider one of the best years for music in recent memory, I am finally happy to present my personal picks (so keep in mind that these are objectively correct and any other opinion is automatically false and invalid) for my TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2022! No but honestly though, I know this probably won’t reach a single musician out there, but a special thanks to everyone that contributed to the musical sphere this year, it really has been a hell of journey and here I’d like to show you some of my favorite moments from it – so without further a do, let’s get into it, starting off with…

10.) Björk – Fossora (strong 8/10)

Strange hearing all this fuzz about the Queen dying when Björk is still here releasing some of the finest albums of the year. In all seriousness though, this album is pretty fantastic – the psychedelic elements are through the roof with this one and there is always just this feeling present throughout this whole album of something just feeling a bit off but in like the best way possible. Björk really shows here that even after all these years she is still capable of releasing a conceptual masterpiece – check out the title track to see what I mean.

9.) Denzel Curry – Melt My Eyez See Your Future (strong 8/10)

On what is arguably his most cohesive and lyrically impactful album yet Denzel defends his status as one of hip-hop’s finest in the last few years – not only that but this album has my favorite song of the entire year „Walkin“ on it so yeah, the rest of it is bound to be at least great. If this peaks your intrest I’d also recommend you checking out the Extended soul edition of this album, just to answer your question if this album can even get any better.

8.) Kendrick Lamar – Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers (strong 8/10)

I know right, what a shocker this ended up on here. What can be said about this album that hasn’t been said a milion times throughout this year already – it’s Kendrick’s most human most voulnarable and flawed album to date and that’s what also makes it one my absolute favorites from him. I really think this is a serious step up from DAMN. and I can’t wait to see where his musical trajectory takes him next – check out „N95“ and „Mother I Sober“.

7.) Viagra Boys – Cave World (light 9/10)

Now we’re getting into the big ones, the 9/10s and so on – starting off with Viagra Boys’s Cave World and I have to say this is the most musically colorful and tasteful album I’ve heard probably the entire year – the album cover strangely reflects that almost alarmingly well. There are like one or two tracks that weight this thing down from being basically flawless but besides those yeah, this thing is basically flawless and more importantly, just so much fun to listen to – go listen to „Troglodyte“ and „Return To Monke“ to get a taste.

6.) Big Thief – Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You (light 9/10)

This album is the musical equivalent of a long warm hug. I swear find me an album this year that’s as just warm as fuzzy or as welcoming as this one is – and Big Thief still manage to sneak in some really intresting experimentation here and there without it sounding odd or out of place, everything on this album is just so natural, so non-forced, so just incredibly relaxed. I can’t recommend this album enough to basically anyone, I can’t really see how anyone can dislike this – some highlights definetly include the title track and the stunningly beautiful „Simulation Swarm“

5.) JID – The Forever Story (decent 9/10)

(sorry for the low quality picture on this one, I’m too lazy to find a better pic lol) Yeah this is my rap aoty and it’s not even close. This thing just absolutely never stops punching you in the face the entire way through, whether it’s the lyrics or the at point insane sampling and instrumentation or just the insane consistency this album keeps all the way through – there just is not a moment to breather with this thing, you’ll just be constantly hitting these different musical peaks that just never stop coming. This is also JID’s best album hands down and I have no doubt in my mind that he is only going to continue to deliver this quality of music even more – you don’t wanna miss out on banger such as „Surround Sound“ or “ Kody Blu 31″.

4.) black midi – Hellfire (decent 9/10)

I mean if you know this band you really don’t need me to tell you how good they are – the’ve come out with some exceptionally great stuff over the years but ladies and gentlemen I gotta say this one right here tops all of that of. The sheer insanity that’s just condensed into this 39 minute literal hellride is overwhelming even for someone who is used this kind of stuff let alone for someone who just found about these guys – either way it’s definetly worht giving it a shot, like if you don’t wanna miss out on a record this year than this one right here is that record, try „Sugar/Tzu“ or „Welcome To Hell“.

3.) Soul Glo – Diaspora Problems (strong 9/10)

Yeah for the longest time this has been my number 2 pick, when at the last second a truly unexpected album swooped in and took that spot, however that still doesn’t mean this album doesn’t absolutely kick my ass everytime I listen to it and I listen to it A LOT. This right here is just pure agression in musical form and all the proof in the world that punk is not dead and very much alive and well. „Coming Correct Is Cheaper“ and „Spiritual Levels of Gang Shit“ are my personal favorites.

2.) Quadeca – I Didn’t Mean To Haunt You (strong 9/10)

Never in a milion year would I have expected a fricking Quadeca album to even make such a list let alone be this high but here we are. I mean if you’ve read my glowing in-depth review for this thing you already know that I’m pretty much in love with this project, like besides like a cut or two all the songs here are flawless masterpieces which makes it all that impressive that it’s all been recordered by just some dude who used to make corny youtube raps. But yeah, nothing I can say about this record can really do it justice, if you want some key tracks then try „tell me a joke“ or „house settling“ but honestly just listen to the whole album.

Now before we get to the number one spot I’d like to just breefly introudce some

HONORABLE MENTIONS:

Pusha T – It’s Almost Dry

-key tracks: Let The Smokers Shine The Coupes; Diet Coke

Beach House – Once Twice Melody

-key tracks: Superstar; Over and Over

Black Thought & Danger Mouse – Cheat Codes

-key tracks: Because; Aquamarine

Saba – Few Good Things

-key tracks: 2012; Few Good Things

FKA Twigs – CAPRISONGS

-key tracks: meta angel; tears in the club

And now finally for the number one spot – the number one best album of 2022, in my eyes, is…

1.) Black Country, New Road – Ants From Up There (10/10)

Yeah, big surprise there right? This album is flawless for me – from the minute I put this thing on I knew that this was gonna be something special. I enjoyed the band’s last album „For the first time“ well enough but I just had a gut feeling that they were capable of making something even more ambitious and even more mind-blowing and low and behold I was right – this album is everything and more than that. This album means quite a lot to me – it was there for me during some really tough times this year and for that it hold quite a special place in my heart. Normally I’d recommend you like a track or two to check out but with this album I really can’t recomment enought just sitting down and listening all the way through – it may not be ompletely your thing at first but trust me when I say this album really grows on you with each and every listen until you just can’t stop listening at all.

So yeah, there you have it, a complete list of my top 10 favorite albums from this year with some honorable mentions thrown in there aswell (this honestly took way longer then it should have to make lol). Don’t really have much of an outro plan here, so let’s just say see you all here in another year!

So here it is, the brand new Metro Boomin‘ album and just from seeing the feature list on this thing you could already tell it was gonna be a good one. I mean he really pulled all stops with the features for this album and it’s not just name recognition, most of them do actually go really hard aswell.

I’m not really gonna be going in depth on all of these features and songs since there are so many of them and not all of them granted stand out all that much however I will go over some highlights for me whether they were good or bad. You got John Legend on the opening track „On Time“ doing his thing and even I, who isn’t as crazy on John Legend as some other people might be, find his contribution here really charming and a great way to start this album off – also all the swirling strings are just a nice cherry on top. It also just transitions into the next song in like one of the most smooth ways I’ve heard any song this year transition period, it’s so grand and cinematic and just gets your super hyped for what’s about to come. The Homelander sample which yes is a real sentence is somehow also a perfect inclusion to the song, honestly there is very little negative I have to say about this intro. The next song „Superhero (Heroes & Villains)“ is a nice continuation of said sample that right off the back just delivers the pay off the last song was building up to and even though it’s basically a Future song with a really last minute Chris Brown feature thrown in at the last like 30 seconds of the track which doesn’t mash with the rest of the song at all, I still find this to be one of the best songs of the album. The horn sample is so simple yet so effective and Future just sounds so hungry and in his element here, it ticks all the right boxes. „Too Many Nights“ with Don Toliver and Future yet again is definetly the best Don Toliver feature song on this which is kind of a shame since there are a whole 3 of them and I think Don could have overall done better on this project but oh well – still his feature here and this song as a whole is pretty solid, I especially enjoy the really abrassive and chunky bass here, that’s definetly the biggest selling point for me here. „Trance“ with Travis Scott and Young Thug is another intresting one since I think that song easily had like one of the biggest potentials going into it of this entire project with this whole „Maria, I’m Drunk“ vibe the song is clearly going for, however I just feel like the song doesn’t really live up to it’s whole potential all that much – I still like the ethereal kinda other-worldly production and Travis and Yount Thug both do pretty well over it, especially Travis, however there is just such a big portion of the song where nothing really happens and it just comes of a bit empty, maybe a bit more time on the chopping board would have helped with this one. I REALLY enjoy „Creepin“ with The Weeknd and 21 Savage and yeah of course there is my obvious The Weeknd bias playing a bit into that sure, but this genuinely is the best on the album like no contest. I’m honestly not sure which song it is sampling but from what I’ve heard The Weeknd definetly does it justice and yeah, he sounds better than ever on here – his voice just cuts through the entire track like a knife through butter and when the trap beat is replaced by actual live drums? Man at that moment everything in life is just right. 21 is also on here as I mentioned but he does just okay, I could honestly take it or leave it but he doesn’t ruin the song or anything. „Niagra Falls“ with Travis Scott and 21 Savage is another one of my favorites from this album – if it wasn’t for the The Weeknd song this one would have definetly had my favorite melody from the whole album, the piano lick with the strings and Travis’s melodies combined is music to my ears and 21 with his cold-hearted delivery only adds to that enjoyment, they play off of each other super well here. The song is honestly super infectious, it crawls under your skin and just refuses to leave. „Walk Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians)“ with 21 Savage (yeah he is on this album a lot if you couldn’t already tell) and Mustafa is probably my favorite just all out banger on this album, 21 is just absolutely merciless over this trademark Metro Boomin‘ bassy piano trap beat, he absolutely steals this track and Mustafa’s outro is honestly really surprising but in like the best way possible, kind of like a calm after the storm – this song is honestly the whole package.

There are obviously more song that I liked than just that (for example „Umbrella“ and „Raindrops (Insane)“) but I’d just be repeating myself talking about those, the only songs I honestly wasn’t all that crazy about were „Lock On Me“ with Travis and Future, that one interlude song that I already forgot, Around Me with Don Toliver which is just okay and perhaps the bonus track with Gunna that also just exists, but other than that, this album is just non-stop fun all killer no filler and a huge improvement on some of Metro Boomin’s earlier output.

-favorite tracks: On Time, Superheroe (Heroes & Villains), Too Many Nights, Umbrella, Raindrops (Insane, Creepin‘, Niagra Falls, Walk Em Down (Don’t Kill Civilians)

-least favorite tracks: I Can’t Save You (interlude), Lock On Me, Around Me

Strong 7/10

Let me just preface this by acknowledging the fact the I am a little biased towards these guys – after all they are THE band that defined my childhood. Still, even with all that in mind, this new album of theirs is pretty darn solid if I do say so myself, almost to the point where I wouldn’t mind calling it an instant classic.

You can hear that right off the back with the opener as well as the title track „EL PRESIDENTO“. The signature Kabát sound is there immidiately with a few electronics thrown in there that are actually really subtle and blend in very nicely and also make together with the rest of the song for one hell of an opener. The track absolutely kicks ass and wastes no time in doing so. Right after that comes the big hit „RUMCAJS MILOVAL MANKU“ and sweet mother of god this track absolutely solos. The chorus on this thing makes me want to just drunkenly moshpit with a bunch of sweathy 40 year olds – so basically everything a Kabát song should be. The solo before the last chorus is also a nice touch, honestly with most of these songs my biggest complaint is I wish they were just longer. Anyways after that comes „KAZAČOK“ whitch is another trademark Kabát song, this one especially sounds like something they would have done early on, the nostalgia is almost overwhelming. The weird voice interpolations fit right in with the rest of the song and overall make for another banger. „OPILEJ KLAVÍR“ is perhaps the first song I’m not super crazy about, it’s just a decently well made slower song. Nor the chorus nor the riff are all that memorable compared to some of the other songs here, the song just sort of exists, it’s fine. „ZATOULANEJ JAPONEC“ picks things up immidiately though, the riff is super energetic and just screams fun. The whole song is like a wave of positive energy and the lyrics are super goofy – also the really short country-esk switch-up that happens towards the end of the song is a really nice touch, it comes completely out of nowhere but works surprisingly well, I just wish it was longer. „TESTOSTERON“ I think just takes too long to actually get started and by then the song is basically just over and it feels very ammateurish when compared to other songs here, even though there are parts of it I enjoy. „ZA ZTRACENÝ NÁMOŘNÍKY“ is one of my absolute favorites from this album – both the riff and the similar orchestration that kick the song off are super catchy and creative and almost have a Nightwish feel to them. I also like the little segment that happens after the chorus, the guitars absolutely steal the show here. The solo is short-lived but welcomed regardless, overall this song is an easy highlight. „TŘI SOBY“ has one of my favorite choruses on this album and also has some really fun riffs and the solo is also one of the better ones (mostly because it lasts longer than just 5 seconds), I’m kind of running out of things to say about these songs, just know that this one is definetly one of the better ones on here. „TROLL“ is a song I was really excited to hear (yes, it’s just cause the name) and I gotta say this one really did deliver. I really like the way the drums are mixed on this one, they are super crisp and punchy, also the electronics are tastefully incorporated as well, this one’s not bad as well. „SLADKÝ TÓNY“ has a really nice sentiment and a really sweet melody to back that up, but again, I just kinda don’t have much else to say about it, I like it. „ZÁTKY“ is perhaps th most adventerous and experimental song on here – the jazzy elements really make this one of the best songs on this whole album, the trumpets and western-esk pianos are an awesome addition to the song that really bring it to new heights. It’s also just super fun and you can just hear through the music that they had a ton of fun with it too. However I did maybe speak too soon with the experimentation, because the next song „NESMRTELNÁ TETA“ has like almost a Death Grips type opening which is a comparison I never thought I would ever make – this gets brought back a couple of times throughout the song but I wish they did a bit more with it to be honest, the industrial sound works surprisingly well with Kabát. There is also this bizzare almost spoken word breakdown at the end that also just comes and goes – overall I appriciate the risks this song takes but I really wish they would have maybe build more on some of these ideas, because they have amazing potential. Anyways the closer „ONI“ is just your typical melodramatic trying to pluck at your heart strings type song which is a little disapointing I have to say, not that this format in general is bad at all, but Kabát don’t really bring their own spin on it in any sort of way – it’s an okay closer either way.

So yes, this new Kabát album actually kinda delivered – like there are some of their best songs period on this album and they sound like they really enjoyed making this album, which is what’s most important, especially when most of these songs sound this good.

-favorite tracks: EL PRESIDENTO, RUMCAJS MILOVAL MANKU, KAZAČOK, ZATOULANEJ JAPONEC, ZA ZTRACENÝ NÁMOŘNÍKY, TROLL, SLADKÝ TÓNY, ZÁTKY, parts of NESMRTELNÁ TETA

-least favorite tracks: ONI, OPILEJ KLAVÍR

Strong 7/10

… wow.

Alright so… I’m kind of speechless right now. The numbers are running through my head and honestly I’m seriously considering giving this the perfect score. Like… Is this even the same guy who made „From Me To You“?? Because this seriously is on another level, this surpassed all and any expectations I ever could possibly have for this man. I still just have no idea where to even start with this, this album is just too much.

I guess the best way to start is just do you know, just do it – the album opens up with the multi-phased „sorry4dying“, an amazing tone-setter that right off the back sounds like nothing Quadeca made up to that point, the improvement on all fronts is apparent right from the start with the lyrics, the aesthethic and just the overall quality of sound off this song, I really feel this is Quadeca at his most realised yet. And the streak of stellar song doesn’t stop there, right after we are blessed with the song „tell me a joke“ which was actually a single release prior to this album and it’s not surprising to see why – once you get used to the burried sound the song is easily one of the most instantly infectiuous and catchy of the whole album, the chorus gets stuck in my head like at least 3 times a day. It’s also just one of the most cohesive songs on the whole album, the song structure is super unique and unpredictable and it never becomes stale or boring, you’re always just at the edge of your seat thinking about where will the song go next. And if that wasn’t enough the song finnishes off with a rather grand finale, a crescendo if you will, that’s just the absolute cherry on top. The next song „don’t mind me“ has probably one of the weaker tunes of the whole album, however it more then makes up for it with honeslty what is just an even catchier chorus melody than the last song, the „closed eyes and a dream“ is just sung so beautifully I can’t get enough of it. It kinda drags in the middle portion of the song admittedly, however I can honestly look past that with all the other amazing things this song does right, it’s just comparing this one to some of the other songs on the album, this one’s just ever so slightly not as impressive I’d say. Even less so maybe with the next song „picking up hands“ which is perhaps the only song of this album I’m not just super in love with – don’t get me wrong it’s still great and continues the narrative concept really well, but the sound isn’t all that memorable compared to the others and the climax at the end just feels a bit rushed and un-deserved, like there was pretty much no build up leading up that – still a pretty good song, but if I really wanted to speedrun through this album and had to skip a song, this would probably be my pick even with the 8 minute closer. Fortunately this is as „bad“ (which is a joke to say obviously) as this album gets, so it’s really only up from here. Speaking of the next song „born yesterday“ is a prime example of that – this song honestly rules. This is the song that also marks the „banger territory“ as I like to call it on this album, which is basically the entire rest of this thing. Anyways the song just paints such a serene and hauntingly beautiful picture with these atmospheric guitars and glitchy instrumentation, it all feels super other-worldly and kinda off but in a good way. The vocal harmonies on this one are also just genius, can’t get enough of the „ooo“s, again, just the way they are sung clicks with me heavy. After this song we have the only interlude on this album titled “ the memories we lost in translation“, which I gotta say for interlude standarts this is a pretty good one not gonna lie. Then again it’s still an interlude so there is not all that much to talk about, but I definetly think the harp strings and swirling orchestration should just absolutely take your breath away either way. It also just leads perfectly into the next song „house settling“ with DANNY FRICKING BROWN. Yes, you’ve heard that right, the guy that made Atrocity Exhibition is on this track and is rapping in the most hungry way from the perspective of carbon monoxide (I couldn’t make this up if I wanted to) and the best part is that it absolutely solos. Like my man absolutely kills it, Quadeca does really well on the song too, but once Danny comes on he honestly absolutely steals the show, who are we kidding. The verse also just goes on and on and on, he just never stops dropping these weird but strangely fitting bars, like there is just something really unsettling (get it) with this whole song and I think Danny has probably the most merit in this. So yeah, this is a pretty good one if I do say so myself and it only gets better from here with the next song „knots“ which is a song I was probably the most conflicted on my first listen, mostly because I just didn’t expect this extremely experimental grungy harsh Death Grips-esk thing from Quadeca and even if I did nobody could have prepared me for how extremely well he would pull it off – like this might just be my favorite song from this entire album now. It definetly takes a while to get used to, but once you do oh boy this song just keeps on giving each and every time. It’s probably the least accessible song from this entire album but with that also the most experimental and boundary-pushing, like even if you don’t like it (which like how) you gotta at least respecet Quadeca for just making this one, like this just shows his artistic evolution. Anyways after this raging banger comes the 7 minute long behemoth of a song „fantasyworld“ which is probably the album’s emotional opus, the build up throughout the song doesn’t get tiring for one second and once everything finally crashes down on you, you are instantly just transported into a different dimension (a fantasyworld if you will). I’m getting tired of just repeating myself over and over again but yeah, another pretty good one, honestly no words can’t really do these song justice. Speaking of these words don’t do you justice the next, and also second to last song, „fractions of infinity“ is essentially the calm after the storm. The mezmerizing keys with the haunting atmosphere of everything is really unnerving but also weirdly comforting and it all manages to not be cheezy or tacky throughout this whole album mind you. This song also feature and I kid you not the Sunday Service Choir, like how does one even get that on a song?? But yeah, just for that this song is a must listen, the repeated mantra „these words don’t do you justice“ (now the transition finally makes sense) is honestly just a complete tearjerker, I cry to this song like 90% of the times I listen to it and I ain’t even ashamed to admit it. And finally the album closes up and ties everything nicely together with the last song „cassini’s division“ which is this spoken word piece with really gorgeous instrumentation that I think fits perfectly right here at the end of the album, it just puts a nice little morbid bow on everything. Once that’s over the song in the last few minutes fades out into this buzzing mess that eventually just stops which was a really nice touch.

And there you have it folks, my album of the year contenders made by a youtuber, never in a milion years though I’d say that but here we are – however don’t get it twisted, this thing truly is a masterpiece in the purest sense of the word and I just can’t wait to see where Quadeca goes from here, because in my eyes I think there is still a chance he might top this one of someday in the future – either way, go stream this thing, bye.

-favorite tracks: all of them lmao

-least favorite tracks: picking up hands (if i had to PICK one get it)

Strong 9/10

The long awaited 3rd studio album by the infamous youtuber turned singer Joji is after what felt like an eternity finally here and right of the back I gotta say this one kinda flopped. I’m not sure if Joji’s label was just forcing him to release something but besides a few key tracks this album feels more like an EP than his literal EPs. Like the enitre second half of this album is as undercooked as it gets – also on that note this is the last album in the world that would need 2 fricking discs, like the material on here can barely be counted for one disc considering it’s just around 20 minutes long. However there are, as always with Joji, few incredibly high highlights but even the short runtime can’t save those from being burried beneath just so many filler and clearly unfinnished tracks. Let’s go through some of those now, shall we?

The album kicks off with the literal best track on the album and also the big single from this thing „Glimpse Of Us“ a heart-wrenching piano ballad that sets the bar up so high for the rest of this album that even actual non-rushed tracks would have trouble measuring up to it. The lyrics are really heartfelt and Joji’s singing is very on point, everything just clicks with this one and it also just sticks with you for a long time. Things go south from here super fast though. The next song „Feeling Like The End“ has a solid trap beat that I think could have worked if the song just had a little more meat on the bones – it just comes and goes before you even get used to the switch in sound from the last song and it just leaves you kind of confused and craving for more. I do like the song overall, I just think it would have really benefited from just being longer, maybe have anohter verse also something like a bridge and you’ve got yourself a pretty decent Joji song, but like this it’s just decent. However the next song „Die For You“ does picks things up quite substantially, it’s another really solid ballad, with actual drums this time around and honestly just ear-gasmic Space Song-esk guitar licks and synth work that just transports you into another dimension – this one’s another hit for me, really wish this album had more songs like this one. After that comes the song „Before The Day Is Over“ where the only redeeming quality is honestly the lyrics, they for some reason really hit close to home for me, but I just wish the rest of the song was as intresting to convey those lyrics. Like if I don’t get grabbed by the lyrics and the story immidiately, the song just starts to drag so much and I usually tend to skip it. The first disc if you can even call it that closes of with the song „Dissolve“ that’s kind of hit or miss for me – there are some parts of it I really like but overall it’s just super forgetable and uninspired, not much else to say about it, the autotune is used really poorly here and the watery guitars just do nothing for me, it’s just a nothing burger of a song.

Now the second half has only 4 songs out of which 1 is an interlude, 1 is a demo and 1 is apparently a freestyle that’s honestly barely a song. And the only actual song on this side „NIGHT RIDER“ just straight up is not good. The sound effects are obnoxious and super distracting and again, there is just nothing to talk about here, like if you removed this song and honestly the entire second half and just released this as a weird EP mixtape thing it would have honestly been just so much better. The „BLAHBLAHBLAH DEMO“ sucks, like the song is just bad. The vocal melody is kinda nice? But yeah, the song literally says to you it’s a demo, like why is it even included on here. „YUKON (INTERLUDE)“ is probably the best song out of the bunch here, it’s just the most listenable and solid cut on this side, but again nothing mind-blowing, I could take it or leave it to be honest. And finally the outro song „1AM FREESTYLE“ is just barely a song, it’s a nice outro song I guess, but it just tries to make this whole thing somewhat of a full experience when it’s just clearly just not.

And yeah, that’s Joji’s latest album SMITHEREENS – an album that had a lot of potential for being his best but ended up being arguably his worst. I’m sorry, I definetly can appriciate his growth as a singer and his song-writing capabilities have definetly improved as well over the years, but this is just blatantly unfinnished. I really think his label was just pressuring him to release something, because this album is the third of the length of his last and it has somehow double the ammount of filler.

-favorite tracks: Glimpse Of Us, Die For You, parts of Feeling Like The End and YUKON (INTERLUDE) and lyrics on Before The Day Is Over

-least favorite tracks: Dissolve, BLAHBLAHBLAH DEMO

Light 6/10

Paraglow is the second collaboration project between the band Parannoul and the singer/songwriter Asian Glow. My experience with these artists is very short but so far very positive – I loved Parannoul’s album that they released last year „To See the Next Part of the Dream“ which was if I recall correctly my second or third most favorite album of that year – the almost magical blend of shoegazy guitars and colorful synths and soundscapes made for what was probably the most beautiful-sounding album of that year, at least for me anyways – now for Asian Glow I first heard about her through her first collaboration album with the band (also with Sonhos Tomam Conta on board) on their album also released last year „Downfall of the Neon Youth“ which I did enjoy but thought that it lacked some of the more catchier moments that Parannoul provided on their solo album. But now they’re back with just the two of them this time around and I gotta say, this one kind of blew my expectations out of the water – it’s not perfect, there are still a few nitpicks I have with it, but I’ll get to all that in a bit.

The EP consists of only 4 tracks however they all pack such an incredible punch (especially one of them) that it more than makes up for it – the first of which being the opener „Hand“ and man does this song have hands. I absolutely love the accoustic guitar on this, it’s just mixed so well, it’s like heaven to my ears and the rest of the instrumentation kicks ass too – the drums are super sharp and over the top (as always) and create this super washed out crazy shoegazy vibe that is only amplified by the electric guitars which once again are just stellar on all of the songs here. What really sells this one though are the synths and especially how they play of the rest of the instrumentation, it just mixes together super effortlessly and the chords constantly keep switching between absolutely gorgeous and kind of spooky, it makes you feel all sorts of things. The singing is also very on point, these guys just have amazing chemistry with each other. Anyways next up we have the song „The Light Side of the Eyes“ that starts of with these mezmerizing keys with just simple drums and really burried strings that create an amazing haunting atmosphere that gets completely just thrown out the window once the rest of the instrumentation kicks in, it’s like a musical punch in the face. Honestly after that though the song starts to drag on a bit, there just aren’t enough intresting ideas in this one I feel like – it starts picking up again towards the end with some seriously impecable harmonizing that I just wish they stretched out a bit longer – I also like the random pauses on the guitar riffs on this one, it keeps the song feeling more fresh and also obviously the outro is just mad on this one, like when I say they go off I mean they go OFF. Well after that comes „Swamp“ that starts with these absolutely beautiful piano keys that once again get cut off by the walls of guitars and drums that come in, however this song does it much more seemlessly than the last one and it feels more natural rather than like an interuption – then once those fade out you’re left with just a few strings that slowly die down too. This one’s pretty short and to the point but it doesn’t leave much of an impact, however it’s runtime justifies that, it’s still a nice addition overall just not as impressive one as let’s say the opener. What is that and even more impressive than that is the fricking 15 AND A HALF MINUTES LONG closer „Wheel“, that is somehow even more epic than it sounds. The song starts off similarly to the first one with just a somber accoustic guitars, some gentle electric guiar licks and a few horns actually, it honestly gives off pretty strong Black Country, New Road vibes. After that the song undergoes many many different phases that all sound better than the previous one, it just constantly keeps throwing new ideas at you and somehow they all just work – they really saved the best for last with this one. The repeated chorus in like the first major section is just so goddamn infectious, the way it’s sung sounds like something Kurt Cobain would have done back in the day, it’s so raw and passionate. The second big section after the build up between the two features some god-like keys and burried melodies, this song really demands your close attention, but the details are so worth it, this song is just so layered and textured, it’s very impressive the ammount of attention to detail here. I also love the weird switch where at first you think the song ends but then comes back again in the most weird way possible with these keys, orchestral strings and weird effects that blend together surprisingly well – then it builds again into what is essentially the climax of the song and yeah this thing just sounds so larger than life it’s insane. This song is easily the best of the album and all the others honestly just feel like a build up to this one.

So there you go, that’s basically Paraglow for you, a beautiful, masterfully crafted project between two amazing artist that have insane chemistry with each other. This is honestly my front-runner for the EP of the year so far and I doubt something will manage to top it off.

Decent 8/10

So, the boys are back in town! Okay yeah, I’m kind of having a burn out with these intros, let’s just jump into it – Red Hot Chili Peppers, you know em, you love em, or not, that’s okay too – either they’ve been around for a while now and over the years have released many many albums, some better than others but overall stayed somewhat consistent until lately, where I’ll admit I have a sneaking suspicion that the band is now more of a quantity over quality type of deal – like this their SECOND album this year alone. „Unlimited Love“ was the first one and that was a real mixed bag if I’ve ever seen one – so can they manage to top themselves with this one? Well sort of.

It’s still nothing ground-breaking but overall I feel like this is the more enjoyable rhcp experience. Let’s take it more track by track, the album starts off with „Tippa My Tongue“ like one of their most goofiest songs PERIOD. I’ll be the first to admit that on release I really couldn’t stand this one – the „YA YA YA YA“s all over the song and the goofy ah lyrics just rubbed me the wrong way but as the time went by I learned to appriciate this one a bit more even though it’s still far from great. However things fortunately do pickup quite significantly after that with „Peace and Love“ with a drum pattern and bassline that are as smooth as it gets – the chorus is also one of the more memorable ones, not much to complain about with this one, just a pretty smooth and solid rhcp song, nothing more nothing less. „Reach Out“ is another one of my favorites, when the electric guitars hit for the first time it transports me into another dimension, it really comes out of nowhere but in a good way. The chorus is pretty good aswell, it’s just another solid tune. Now after that comes „Eddie“ the other single besides „Tippa My Tongue“ released for this thing and innitially I wrote this song off as just a pretty boring and mediocre b-tier Red Hot Chili Peppers song, however as time goes by I’m seeing more and more that this is not only one of the best songs from this album but best rhcp songs period. Like genuinely, the bass and guitar licks are on another level on this song, it’s super nostalgic and ambitious and infectious, eveerything a good rhcp song should be. Now I just can’t get enough of it – and the guitar solo oh my GOD, that solo absolutely solos (get it). Yeah, this is a pretty good one, can’t believe I used to call this one boring. Next up is „Fake as Fu@k“ and MAN the streak of good songs just doesn’t stop here – this is the first song I confidently said I loved from this album, the guitar chords are supper nostlagic and pleasant and the vocal performance really matches the tone – and then whene the rest of the instrumentation hits I get some serious „By The Way“ vibes, it goes super hard. This song is like the musical embodiment of funky, it’s super groovy. And when the guitars come in like a wave crashing towards the end of the song it just makes it all that more complete, great song. After that we have „Bella“ and honestly this song is where I start loosing focus again – it’s not bad at all, but just nothing about it stands out that much, even though out of the less memorable ones I still think it’s one of the more memorable ones. I like some guitar licks in the second half and I like the chorus but I also kinda don’t, I’m not sure, I‘ really conflicted with this one, but I enjoy it in the right mood. After that comes „Roulette“ that I kinda dug in the first 30 seconds or so, but it really fastly overstays it’s welcome and becomes just super unintresting – the guitar ballad-esk chorus doesn’t really do it any justice either. Not great but certainly not the worst this album has to offer. I kinda like the bridge on this one though, it somewhat saves it. Anyways next up we have „My Cigarette“ and yeah… This one’s a bit goofy alright. Yeah it’s not that great – again, not terrible but this time around definetly not good. I get the vibe the song is going for but it just comes of really cheezy and I get sick of it real fast – and once again, the song doesn’t really evolve anywhere to justify it being so long. I usually just skip this one when giving this album a full listen, it’s not offensively bad but just really boring. „Afterlife“ picks up a bit, I really like the chorus on this one and the noisy outro aswell, however it doesn’t have all that much going for it besides that, but after the last song I’ll sure as hell take it. Next is „Shoot Me a Smile“ and I feel like this is perhaps the most underrated song on the album, the chords are just super nice and the chorus is just a total earworm, I really enjoyed this one. And it’s weird because I really don’t see anyone even mentioning this one, like not in a good or even bad sense, for most people this one apparently just sort of exists, but I can’t help but really like this one. Also it’s not five fricking minutes long like every other song on this thing, so it also has that going for it. Anyways next is the song „Handful“ and this one could have worked, I really like the inclussion of horns, they add a nice little charm to the song, but overall the song just basically crawls its way through the 4 minute doing basically nothing. There is this neat little switch up with a guitar solo and all that but it just has no balls, no punch to it. Really kind of a wasted potential of a song. What’s however like the opposite of that is the next song „The Drummer“ an absolute anomally in this subpar middle portion of this album – I’m just gonna go ahead and say it, this song kicks some serious ass. Like it’s just so different but in the best way possible. The horns or whatever it is throughout the whole song sound amazing and the energy of this song is really hard to ignore. Also the chorus?? That will go down as one of the best rhcp choruses ever – and when they start harmonizing the guitars with the singing I just explode with pure musical bliss, that short like 15 second passage is probably the best musical moment on this whole album. It’s short, it’s sweet, it absolutely rules, i love it. And what’s even better is the next song „Bag of Grins“ is another banger! Like I don’t know what happened for the last couple of songs but it feels like you put on this album, it’s really good for the first few songs, then it just switches to a completely different project and then remembers that it’s supposed to be good again. Anyways yes, this is like the upraded version of „Reach Out“, the electric guitars here sound even better than on that song and the electronics aren’t obnoxious at all. The chorus is actually really dark and I get some serious Queens Of the Stone Age vibes from it. The whole song feels like a slow descend to hell. Also the harmonizing around the 3:50 minute mark is super orgasmic, I really like what they did there and when the electronics come back in it all just comes full circle, really pleased with this one. Anyways next is the song „La La La La La La La La“ which is this piano interlude thing that honestly even though I’ve seen a lot of hate on it is just fine – it’s not mind-blowing or anything, but I feel like it’s a nice comedown after the last two songs. However I’ll say that one again it has no business being 4 minutes long, 2 minutes would cut it perfectly. Anyways next up we have „Copperbelly“ on which I really like the guitar plucking, it’s sort of mysterious, I like it. Other than that though the song is just copy and paste of what they’ve been doing this whole album, although I’ll point out that the switch up bridge part whatever you wanna call it is probably like the best of this entire album, I really wish they stretched that part a bit longer, it’s over like as soon as it starts. Good song. Now for the last 2 songs on this album we have the first one which is „Carry Me Home“ which I actually really like, it feels very appropriately placed and very climactic. The guitars are super sharp and elevate the song to new heights, this one’s a banger. However the last song „In the snow“ I’m kind of split on – I think all the attempts at incorporating electronics and effects on this song just fall flat on their face, it sounds super garage band demo-esk. However as a closer I don’t mind it all that much – sure it’s not great and it DEFINETLY shouldn’t be 6 minutes long but as a closer it works, even though that as a song not that much.

So there you go, the new Red Hot Chili Peppers is… Surprisingly solid? Like there are some SERIOUS highlights on here and overall I had more fun with this album them with their last one even though just by a little bit. Kind of excited to see them come more into their own here, I feel like they are more confident here to experiment and to just be themselves, it’s clear that this is the album they wanted to make.

-favorite songs: Peace and Love, Reach Out, Eddie, Fake as Fu@k, Shoot Me a Smile, The Drummer, Bag of Grins, parts of Copperbelly, Carry Me Home

-least favorite songs: Bella, My Cigarette and probably Handul

Light 7/10

… 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