Music Reviews

So I know this review has been long overdue, but I really wanted to let this album sink in before I give my final thoughts about it, because I think this is one of Sufjan’s best works to date which is saying A LOT. There is a lot of really tragic context surrounding the release of this album, such as Sufjan’s partner Evans Richardson dying and his diagnosis of the Guillain-Barré syndrome, all of which does contribute to the tragic vibe of this whole album HOWEVER even if those events haven’t occured this album is still a monumental tragic yet beautiful display of decades worth of musical experience. The musical soundscapes of this album are truly something to behold, there isn’t a single song on here that isn’t masterfully crafted to the tiniest of little details.

The whole album opens up with the multi-layered enchanting „Goodbye Evergreen“, which starts of with this lush piano ballad intro, that introduces the listener to the headspace Sufjan is currently in before it all crashes into this heavily industrial colorful and bright explosion of sounds, synths and drums, which all collide together to create the perfect opening crescendo. It then transforms into this jungle-esk beat created from the same sounds as before, that sounds just so good. It also lead smoothly into the next song „A Running Start“ which is more of what we’re used to from Stevens, it being a pretty simple guitar plucky ballad with some touching lyrics and beautiful production all around. What really seperates this album from his other projects thus far though has to be the group vocals/chants present throughout multiple of the songs on this album, this one included. They really bring new life to the all around pretty sad yet hopeful atmosphere of the whole album. Lyrically this song is focused more on the start of the relationship with his now late partner and how all of this newly found love is making him feel. It’s a beautiful ballad with a straight up gorgeous orchestral outro that I just wish was a little more dragged out. Amazing song all around. Next is the song „Will Anybody Ever Love Me?“ which is just all around absolutely breath-taking. It’s once again mostly a guitar ballad but this with some just insanely lush orchestral elements and sharp, kinda even experimental, drums that make it feel much more urgent and grand. The chorus is also one of the most solid on the whole album, I get this one stuck in my head quite a bit. And just the way the violins hit the first time they come in makes me ascend every time, it’s just so well crafted, so far this is easily my favorite. The lyrics are pretty obvious from the name of the song, but the song really makes you feel the urgency and fear behind this question, it honestly resonates with me quite a bit. Just a totally gorgeous track. After that comes the song „Everything That Rises“ which weirdly enough was the first song I hearted on my first listen and now I think it’s still pretty great, but just a tiny bit less great than the first three songs are. That still doesn’t mean it still isn’t amazing, this is just taking it relatively to the rest of this album – the main repeated chorus is stunningly beautiful and just something about the way the guitar is played on this one really hits the spot for me. The vocals are also some of the best here I feel like as are the little electronic effects, which are actually quite detailed and creative, they mash with the very natural instrumentation surprisingly well. My biggest gripe with this song would probably be just that I think it could have been a little bit shorter, but that’s really just a nitpick. Now even though still great, the next song „Genuflecting Ghost“ is probably my least favorite on the album. I really like the plucky guitar on here and this one ESPECIALLY has some Carrie & Lowell vibes which is also one of my favorite Sufjan projects, so I still have a soft spot for it, but relatively speaking, this song doesn’t have THAT much going for it as the others. I really like the group vocals and some of the melodies here, I think the song is really well made from a technical standpoint, but it took me a lot of listens to fully appriciate this one and usually I tend to skip it. The electronic part at the end isn’t as tastefully incorporated as in the other songs, though it still sounds nice obviously. Not bad by any stretch of the imagination, just not as exciting. Things do pick up big time though in the form of the next song „My Red Little Fox“ which is just… Yeah, this one was an instant heart for me. I just love the almost christmasy sound palate, the comfy cold feel of it, the really beautiful chorus and just the all-around sentiment of it, it truly hits differently this one. The electronics are also much more natural and seemless in this one and they have their own little segment towards the end where they shine the most. Just another great yet really painful song and oh boy it only gets worse from here, because the next song is „So You Are Tired“ and this one is somehow even more brutal. This is essentially the other person being tired of their relationship and them both coping with it while also trying to salvage it all. It opens up with a really somber piano and Sufjan just doing his thing over it until it gets to this just purely eargasmic part with the group vocals that are EASILY my favorite of the whole album, the melodies on this song are unreal like actually. This song is like the very definition of gorgeous and I know I’ve use that word quite a bit in this review but just LISTEN to it, like how does he even do it. Spectacular song, words truly aren’t enough to convey how much I enjoy this track front to back. And if that wasn’t enough, then you have the last 3 songs that together form essenitally the one final closing track. First of those songs is the title track interlude „Javelin (To Have And To Hold)“ which is really beautiful just on its own, but combined with the other two is unreal. It connects the previous song to the longest song on the entire album, that being „Shit Talk“ where Sufjan and his partner finally resorve their conflict with the main takeaway lyrics here being „I don’t wanna fight at all, I will always love you“ which is just such an emotional gutpunch. The song is almost 9 minutes long yet it doesn’t feel like that in the slightest, even thought like a good third of the song takes up this ambient instrumental outro that, purely musically speaking, might just be the best sounding thing on the entire album. It really feels like the absolute calm after the storm. The one truly final song after that is the song „There’s A World“ which is essentially THE final goodbye to his partner after their death. It wraps up everything elegantly and serves as in my opinion the perfect closer. It’s short but sweet, it doesn’t need to be more than that.

So this was quite the emotional rollercoaster… I am serious when I say this is easily one of my favorite projects of the entire year and I was considering giving it like a 7 on my first listen! This album definitely takes a bit of time and a few listens to be fully digested but please just give it that, because it will reward you handsomely for doing so.

-favorite songs: Goodbye Evergreen, A Running Start, Will Anybody Ever Love Me?, Everything That Rises, My Red Little Fox, So You Are Tired, Javelin (To Have And To Hold), Shit Talk, There’s A World

-least favorite songs: Genuflecting Ghost

decent 9/10

Okay SOUR definitely wasn’t a fluke.

Not gonna lie I wasn’t really all that hyped for this one – I heard only one of the singles released before this album came out in the form of „bad idea right?“ and thought it was kinda just alright. I liked SOUR well enough and thought Olivia proved that she can compose pretty catchy pop songs with rock elements without them feeling corny or feeling out of place. Overall with some occasional duds SOUR was a big success critically and commericially and I liked it quite a bit. But still I just for a while now didn’t feel like listening to this one for whatever reason, I can’t quite put my finger on it. I’m really glad I finally decided to though, because this album kinda slaps.

It opens with the song „all-american bitch“ which kinda says a lot about this album edginess (which don’t get me wrong I think is to the album’s benefit actually) but the song itself is also really good. Short but sweet with some really open and relatable lyrics from Olivia as per usual and some really dope guitar riffs too. Not too bad for an opener, actually a really catchy and hard-hitting one ,kinda like SOUR’s „brutal“, I like it a lot. Then there is the aforementioned single „bad idea right?“ which grew on me quite a bit actually – I really like the guitars on this one and the solo is a nice touch too. Continues the feel of the album really well and the hook is kinda funny honestly, it ain’t half bad. Still like the opener a smidget better though. Now „vampire“ is really where this album’s at up until this point – it’s the first piano ballad of the album, but the chords are just so good and the way the song goes from really slow and somber to this almost dance piano beat is kinda genius? Like I get how it can come off as a bit cheap but I personally really enjoy it. I don’t know, I just think the tune is really there, it’s super fun and catchy and also really heartfelt, like the singing has some unbelievable high points on this one. Gives me just a little Fiona Apple vibes honestly. The profanity feels a little out of place in the chorus though, I’ll say that, but that’s mostly just a nitpick, I really like this song, easy big hit from this album. Next is the song „lacy“ which is this Phoebe Bridgers-esk guitar plucky ballad which serves as kind of a nice comedown from „vampire“. There isn’t all that much to be said about this one to be honest, I like the vibe but it isn’t really all that memorable, but it’s a nice moment regardless. „ballad of a homeschooled girl“ really caught me off guard when I first listened to it, after the short and sweet „lacy“ this song is like an actual punch in the face. A fricking good one at that though. The bass is super tight here, the guitars probably the rawest on this album so far, the chorus is super catchy and almost punk-like, I like it quite a bit. The lyrics are also strong, honestly this song is like one of my favorites on this album easily. „making the bed“ comes after that and this one is another slower one but the lyrics and atmosphere are really what makes this one work. There are some guitars that are brought in after the chorus and they only help built the atmosphere, the distortion works really well with the more gentle instrumental elements. But the lyrics really sell me the most on this song, I really like the way she portrays how miserable she is doing the things she does but she knows that it’s her who’s making the decisions. Really well portrayed, good song. It also transitions really well into the next song „logical“ which is a pure piano ballad that honestly gets a little derivative after a while. Not bad, but it’s probably the closest this album gets to that so far – it’s honestly just kinda boring, even though Olivia’s performance carries the song heavily, her voice is beautiful and it’s given a full opportunity to shine here. „get him back!“ is once again more on the rock side of things, with sharp drums and heavy bass, but this one kinda misses the punch of some of the previous songs. The electronic elements in the second verse are nice though and the chorus grows on me the more I listen to it. Still probably in the bottom half of the songs on here so far. „love is emberassing“ picks things up a bit for me, I really like the cheery-sounding chorus, the straight-forwardness of the song and the honestly really creative guitar work on this song in particular, especially in the chorus, I wish this song was way longer than it is, because it’s a banger. „the grudge“ is one of the more effective slower ballads on the album in my eyes, once again especially in the lyrics/Olivia’s delivery department. And this one has a real indie vibe too, not too shabby this one. Can’t say much else about it, it’s just an alright song. The second to last song picks the tempo up a bit once again with the song „pretty isn’t pretty“ and I really like the message behind this one as I do the instrumental, both compliment each other quite well, the more airy almost shoegazy guitars work really well here. Now for the closer „teenage dream“ I think this is probably the piano ballad that turned out the best on this entire album – granted there is the drum freakout at the end, but that doesn’t last long and up to that point it’s mostly just pure piano so I say it counts. The lyrics summerize all the themes of the album such as anxiety, self-image, abusive relationships, beauty standarts etc. really well and make the album feel really cohesive. Great closer

And so yeah, that was „GUTS“ by Olivia Rodrigo – I get a lot of Billie Eilish vibes with this one, because it’s not maybe as catchy or memorable as her first album but I think it’s much more mature and improved on a lot of things from the previous project to overall make it better than it’s predecessor. There is still a lot of room to grow obviously, but Olivia really killed it in my eyes and I can’t wait to see her grow even more.

-favorite tracks: all-american bitch, bad idea right?, vampire, ballad of a homeschooled girl, making the bed, love is emberrassing, pretty isn’t pretty, teenage dream

-least favorite tracks: part of get him back! and logical

Strong 7/10

(light profanity warning at points for this one) I REALLY should be writing the Travis Scott review by now but man I just had to review this – I was casually browsing album of the year as per usual when I stumbled upon this… Thing. I couldn’t belive my eyes! I haven’t even listened to it yet, that’s how badly I wanted to write this one. So what I’m gonna do, is give each song its own little review segment in real time as I listen to them and then summarize my thoughts at the end as usual – oh boy, let’s… Yeah, let’s do this or something.

„Slow Down“ – right of the back the vocalizer at the beginning SUCKS Jesus Christ, 3 seconds in and I want to already rip my fricking ear-drums out, who approved this. Then you have the lyrics and the singing… I mean it’s Dream, what did you expect this to sound like even listenable? It’s genuinely impressive how much of a nothing burger this song is all around, lyrically and instrumentally. It’s like Dream’s little anime fantasy, it feels super disconnected and delusional. The chorus is genuinely God awful too, like HOW is this the highest rated song on here, I can’t even imagine this somehow getting worse.

„Kind Of Love“ – oh yeah, it got worse alright. The plucky guitar beat with the finger snaps sounds like Linkin Park’s „Sharp Edges“ but if all the members were having a stroke. The singing is somehow even less passionate here, the lyrics are as generic as it gets, as is the instrumental, this is barely background music. Even the orchestral elemens feel like super programmed, I can’t stand this, let’s move on.

„Paranoid“ – please just stop. The kickdrum/guitar loop is like something off of the new MGK album, which is NOT a good thing. Then you have the vocal effects after the chorus that are abismal, to say the least, like what the genuine shit happened there, they sound awful. Dream’s harmonizing throughout this entire tracks is like beyond annoying, it’s really unlikeable the way he sings here. With this song I can at least say that the tune is more there than with the previous songs, even though quite literally nothing else improved and some things such as the verses got somehow even worse, so honestly it pretty much evens out. NEXT.

„Spotlight“ – THE GUITAR IS SO PREDICTABLE I KNEW EXACTLY HOW IT WOULD SOUND BEFORE IT EVEN REALLY STARTED HOLY SHIT. Man this song is ESPECIALLY bad. I can’t recall who this is ripping off but it so obviously sounds like somebody else it’s laughable. Also the lyrics in the chorus? Kinda give me the creeps honestly, they don’t sound flattering or wholesome at all. It’s generic, unoriginal, boring beyond words, uninspired, lazy, melo-dramatic, void of any substance or emotion and sounds like something the radio would even refuse to play. How are there still 3 more songs to go Jesus…

„Everest“ – just… no. Young Gravy’s verse is probably the best part of this album so far and that’s saying A LOT. Like I don’t even enjoy the guy’s music basically at all, but his inclussion was an actual breath of fresh air in this. The keys are horrible, one of the worst mixes on the entire album on this one. Without the feature this would handily be the worst song here so far.

„Invincible (like u)“ – I don’t remember a single thing from this song and I just finnished listening to it. Void. Emptiness. Nothing.

„Until I End Up Dead“ – uhhhh, this is trying sooo hard to be like the impactful hopeful closing track and it falls flat on its face. The post-chorus effects are pure auditory torture, they sound actually just horrible. Once again there is just nothing to say here, I’m trying really hard to find any positives here, but it all just sounds so bland, so disconnected and so unexplainably boring, like you have noo idea how boring it all is. It has quite literally the most basic uninspired tasteless musical palette there is. I’m done with this, let’s get this review over with finally…

So yeah… Dream’s first little project here is to the surprise of absolutely no-one devoid of any actual substance and instead it all sounds like bad covers of i-Carly songs, if even those had zero punch to them. Dream sounds bored to tears on his own project (which I would be too if this was what I was making) and is the centerpiece and the main reason of why this album doesn’t work. His delivery and lyrics are childish and really dull and he brings zero actual character to his music. The production choices are mostly questionable, with some occasional decent sounding tracks (at points) that however still get overrun by different issues – there isn’t a single track on here I don’t have a major gripe with or isn’t just overall unlistenable. In short – it’s shit.

-favorite moments: uhhhh chorus of Paranoid maybe??? Let’s see, what else… Oh, some production choices on Slow Down I guess??? And the Young Gravy feature on Everest wasn’t like horrible (even though it’s VERY out of place)… Look I’m really trying here.

-least favorite songs: c’mon…

Decent 1/10

I was originally kinda worried going into this one, considering I wasn’t really head over heels for the singles – „Seaforth“ actually grew on me quite significantly, but „If Only It Was Warmth“ I never really got. So knowing that I was kinda scared of whether or not I’d enjoy this one. Turns out I still did quite a bit.

The album opens up with the beautifully haunting „Filmsier“, another single to this album, one I’ve come to really really love. It’s also just the perfect album opener – the opening chords hit you right away and then as fast as they came the fade away into the main melody that starts slowy creeping in – it’s a really impressive way to easy the listener into the album experience. The song is really melancholic and chill, the guitars are super smooth and the electric guitar with all the synths and everything is also a nice touch, makes the song feel like it’s progressing somewhere – overall just a really solid opener front to back, sets the mood pretty well. This song is followed by the fast-paced „Pink Shell“ that is centered more around this hi-hat/bass combo beat with some nice guitars in the background and some really pleasant brass inclussions. It kinda comes and goes but it’s a really solid banger – the chorus is surprisingly agressive, I enjoy it a lot. Also for some reason this song really sounds like how a song titled „Pink Shell“ would sound, I don’t know, it’s all just very fitting. The aforementioned „Seaforth“ is the song after, and this one REALLY stuck with me. I’ve come to absolutely love the different melodies here and the sea feeling that’s just seeping through this song. It’s just so calming and almost puts me in a trance every time it comes on – definitely one of my favorites here. „That Is My Life, That Is Yours“, the next song, starts off with a slowed down version of what I think is essentially the Seaforth melody, or at least a really similar one. It slowly transforms into it’s own song with the brass section coming in with some more crisp and sharp drumming all appearing out of nowhere, until it slowly eases you back into that innitial calmness – this album’s sense of dynamics is really strong. As for the song as a whole, it’s alright, fits nicely after „Seaforth“. Next up is the song „Tortoise of Independency“, a short but sweet little track, almost interlude-like. I really like the chords on this one, it doesn’t overstay it’s welcome and the little freak-out towards the end is also nice, although besides that the song doesn’t really bring anything all that intresting nor memorable to the table. It does transition waay too smoothly into „Empty Stomach Space Cadet“ though, which has this really spacey ethereal sound that I really enjoy. It has this feeling of floating through space that I really like – everything is so reverbed and atmospheric, I kinda wish this one was a bit longer but also it’s kinda the perfect length, this one’s really neat, all the saxophones and what not are super clean on here. „Flimsy“ is an actual interlude to the next big song „Hamburgerphobia“ and yeah, this one is also pretty solid, the fast beat feels really urgent, the main riff sounds kinda scary and it all collides together really beautifully Also one of the more memorable songs on here + the name is funny, so it’s the whole package. „From The Swamp“ is another one of my favorites on here, just something about the main melody really grabbed me – I also like all the different guitar and brass licks in the background, especially the little solo in the middle of the song where they both play off of each other, that’s a really nice moment honestly. Yeah, this one is really up there as one of the best on the album for me, the instrumentation is just really good and Archy’s voice is also top notch here. „Seagirl“ is another one of my favorites (yeah I really like this portion of the album), the female vocals are super nice here, the little ad-libs she does are heavenly, I really love them. The instrumentation works here too, this whole song is easily one of the best on the album, feels like a shorter more depressed continuation of „Seaforth“. And man the instrumental outro with the synths… That’s like the cherry on top. A really strong moment for sure. „Our Vacuum“ has the little leitmotiv repeated from the first song „Filmsier“ – the song itself isn’t as crazy, but it’s a powerful emotional moment and makes the album feel more tight. The title track „Space Heavy“ starts off very lowkey, but starts really building up after a while and becomes one of the most intense moments on the album – the build up is done very naturally without it feeling out of place in the context of this overall lowkey album. The instrumental palate is really tasteful here, with different heavy guitars, shar drums and pretty keys – then the song comes back to it’s more calmer state and slowly finnishes. Not my favorite on here but definitely a good song. „When Vanishing“ is this really gorgeous orchestral piece with some really nice sax inclussions, a really pretty instrumental moment in my eyes. Following that is the song „If Only It Was Warmth“ which I’m still not all that crazy about, however it doesn’t hurt the album in any way, it’s just sort of there. It does lead pretty well into the last song „Wednesday Overcast“ though. The song starts of really ominously and keeps that tone throughout. The soundscapes are really dark here and super intresting – the orchestral elements return towards the end of the song making it feel really final. The lyrics are definitely the main focus on here and they do pretty well in closing the whole thing off – overall a really solid closer.

And there you have it, King Krule’s newest album while maybe not his most exciting at first is definitely one of his most cohesive and complete records. I have to be in a very specific mood for this album but I think it definitely succeeds at what it does. Maybe a bit boring at points, but it has it’s charm, a really really solid record.

-favorite songs: Filmsier, Pink Shell, Seaforth; That Is My Life, That Is Yours; Empty Stomach Space Cadet, Hamburgerphobia, From The Swamp, Seagirl, Our Vacuum, Space Heavy, When Vanishing, Wednesday Overcast

-least favorite songs: Flimsy, If Only It Was Warmth, Tortoise Of Independency (kinda)

Light 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

… 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

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

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

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

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

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

-least favorite tracks: Question…?; Bejeweled

Light 6/10

The return of the queen.

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

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

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

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

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

Strong 8/10

Damn, didn’t know the ship from Sabnautica made music.

Jokes aside for me AURORA has always been kind of a weird case – a friend of mine showed me her music like a year back and unlike them I didn’t instantly fell in love with it – I liked some elements of it, especially her voice, but I didn’t really care about anything else that was going on, though I understood why people were attracted to her music. So naturally going into this I didn’t have any super high expectations, even though I did have some, beacuse whether you like her or hate her music, you can’t deny there’s a certain level of quaity and pristineness that comes with AURORA’s music – she clearly puts a lot of work and effort and cares about the stuff that she puts out there. But truly and honestly, this album is right up my alley with what I like about modern pop music – the lush layered instrumentals complimented by her intimate voice together feel like a warm blanket wrapped around you that you just never wanna leave. And if you can get past the occasionally over-blown Imagine Dragons-esk choruses, there is actually quite a lot to be liked about this record. There is still your typical dramatic AURORA sound present, but this time there is a more experimental edge to it all and I think that is that something that, at least for me, was missing from AURORA’s music for me to really love it.

Alright, so let’s break this whole thing down bit-by-bit, shall we? I honestly don’t have much to say about the album’s 40 second opener „The Forbidden Fruits of Eden“ other than this is the most AURORA way to start a project and if you played me this without any context I would INSTANTLY recognize it’s her – like this has AURORA written all over it. That more surprising is when the next song „Everything Matters“ doesn’t really follow the typical AURORA sound – or in a sense it does, you have your typical guitar/piano ballad with AURORA singing her heart out over it, but what seperates this from every songle song in this style she has done is the percussion – the moment the drums kick in it INSTANTLY locks you in and refuses to let go. Then on top of that the raging bass that just gives the whole song new life. She has been hinting on going all out with this type of sound with her last LP and I think she truly embraced this sound right here. The distorted kind of deep vocal bits are another detail that may not seem like much but in reality make this song kinda work – it’s the whole package honestly. The next track „Giving In To The Love“ doesn’t waste any time in letting you know that THIS is AURORA – the heavy synths with electric guitar blend effortlessly and if not for the kinda cheezy chorus this would be instantly one of my favorites. Still one of the more intresting songs presented. I LOVE the next song „Cure For Me“ though, even though it’s a bit generic and over-blown, but the SECOND the drop hits, it just gets me everytime – honestly one of the most dancable tracks I’ve heard all year too and another W on AURORA’s part. „You Keep Me Crawling“ is more of what we’re used to from AURORA, but even though it’s been done before, here she really flexes how WELL EXECUTED it is. The melody is haunting and the drums super crisp and AURORA’s voice makes it all click. It also transitions super nicely into „Exist For Love“, which the moment I heard the gentle guitar plucks I knew this was gonna be a tear-jerker in a good way though. And yeah, I was right, this song hits all the right spots – probably the emotional high point of the whole album. The next songs „Heathens“ goes through many intresting ideas, especially the outro of the song which the first time I heard it completely threw me off-guard. „The Innocent“ I like more in theory then in practice – again one of the more dancable tracks, but this one just doesn’t have the same punch as „Cure For Me“ had, but honestly what song does – this one just has a different vibe and it’s still one of the more memorable and intresting songs on this album, so maybe I’m just nitpicky. Now i don’t know what’s up with albums in 2022 having the first half significantly better than the first one, but this one honestly fits that criteria aswell. „Exhale Inhale“ isn’t a bad song and it serves it’s purpose pretty well as sort of a transition point in the album, but some of the electronics don’t really stick the landing and overall this song easily just could have been left on the chopping block and honetly nothing woud change with the expirience I had with this album – maybe it would only enhance it. „A Temporary High“ is a song I WISHED I liked more, beacuse in concept this should have been one of the best songs on this album – all the pieces are there, but the full picture is just missing. The 80s sound this whole song has honestly kind of makes me feel like AURORA has also fallen for this 80s revival trend that The Weeknd started 2 years back and has honestly only been matched by himself in that field. „A Dangerous Thing“ picks things up a bit – I especially like how the song in a way parallels the song „Exist For Love“ with lyrics like „there is no love in the end“, just another showcase of AURORA’s genius writing. The next song „Artemis“ I like for what it tried to do with what seems to be harmonica if I’m not mistaken? It sounds okay and I commend AURORA for trying new things honestly not only on this song but on this whole album – it’s just that not all the ideas work as much as others and this song just should have been like a bonus track or something. The first and only time I can say the chorus REALLY hits the way AURORA intended is on „Blood In the Wine“, my personal favorite song on the album – it feels like a huge army marching towards me and I LOVE IT. The final 2 tracks on the album „This Could Be A Dream“ and „A Little Place Called Moon“ serve as a comedown from „Blood In the Wine“, but they both kinda overstay their welcome – like did they BOTH need to be 4 minutes? The answer is no – and you know me, I can listen to a 34 minute song and not bat an eye, but these songs just don’t have much of anything going for them to keep my attention for even the 4 minutes. I guess I like the trumpets on „This Could Be A Dream“, but they just appear for like 3 seconds and are then again written out of the song – like come on, there was so much you could have done with that, but instead you took the boring route. „A Little Place Called The Moon“ is the better one of the two closing tracks in my opinion as it wraps this whole album together in a satisfying way and credit where credit’s due, the song does have one of the better sounding instrumentals.

So overall, I think this album sees AURORA trying just many new things and while some work better than others, they all cumulate together into one surprisingly cohesive mess of an album. Still if the question is „is this my favorite AURORA project“ then the answer is yes, it is. I’m really excited to see where she takes her sound next on her next project and until that day comes gonna overplay this one to death.

-favorite tracks: Cure For Me, Exist For Love, Blood In The Wine, Everything Mattters, Giving In To The Love, Heathens, You Keep Me Crawling, A Dangerous Thing

-least favorite tracks: Exhale Inhale, Artemis, This Could Be A Dream

Light 8/10