Tag Archives: music-album-reviews

Chlöe Bailey’s anticipated solo debut, In Pieces, follows nearly two years of delays, a handful of failed singles and, perhaps worryingly, a duet with controversial singer Chris Brown in the form of “How Does It Feel.” It’s that last detail that rankles R&B fans who have spent over a decade …

Singer, songwriter, and producer Melanie Martinez makes sleek, dark pop with a satiric edge and real emotional bite. Martinez debuted with her fantastic 2015 LP Cry Baby, a concept album about a young girl who gets kidnapped and eventually kills her captor that’s full of sparkling, self-aware tunes like “Pacify …

Over the course of their 20-plus-year career, the New Pornographers have often specialized in catchy ambiguity. If leader Carl Newman was just a machine cranking out power-pop tunes, it would get boring. But there’s also a lot of mixed emotions going on under the surface of their studiously nuanced pop-rock …

Like all the emo and pop-punk bands that blew up during the ascents of those genres in the aughts, Fall Out Boy have had their share of growing pains in the process of building a name outside of a scene. As they got bigger, they focused more on the pop …

It’s been a rough few years for young men. The role models offered up in today’s crop of alpha male podcasters and crypto grifters provide little in the face of the world’s dizzying buffet of hostilities. So it’s comforting to see Detroit hip-hop maximalist Danny Brown’s virtuosic brand of weirdo …

Music history is full of supergroups, but there’s never been one like boygenius, which is why the label doesn’t do them justice. They’re simply a world-beatingly great band, with three of the most brilliant singer-songwriters in the game. Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers, and Lucy Dacus all came into boygenius with …

The solo debut from BTS’ Jimin starts off with something unexpected—horns that sound like they’re coming from an energy-depleted carnival band, bleating out a few jaunty notes before completely falling into a heap. It’s not a harbinger of how the six songs that follow will go, but it does indicate …

Puerto Rican rapper Myke Towers is undeniably a product of the underground, even on his most chart-friendly projects. Since arriving in 2016 with his debut, El Final del Principio, his star has risen on the strength of his uncanny flow and cadence, sharp lyrics, and prolific work ethic on a …

Atlanta singer and rapper 6lack is so good at making a specific type of R&B — think Maxwell’s neo-soul by way of Massive Attack’s trip-hop — that it’s tempting to want him to keep doing it forever. His first two LPs, 2016’s Free 6lack and 2018’s East Atlanta Love Letter, …

Early in Did You Know That There’s a Tunnel Under Ocean Blvd, Lana Del Rey highlights a sermon from megachurch pastor-to-the-stars Judah Smith. In the most Del Rey fashion, it was clearly recorded on her phone during a service — you can hear her and a friend’s giggles bump up …