March 2025 Project Roundup (Playboi Carti, Lady Gaga, Paris Texas, Food House...)
- Andrew Doucette
- Apr 10
- 11 min read
Genre: Hyperpop; electro-pop
Review
Man, I love this so much! Sure, the traditional hyperpop sound that Food House encompasses does sound a bit dated in 2025, but there’s so much nostalgia around that sound for me that I don’t care. Two House doesn’t only emulate that old sound, but takes it to a new place where people haven’t done it quite like this before. The main difference here is that Food House is simultaneously more absurd and more sincere than anything I’ve heard from this scene. Fraxiom’s lyrics are right on the border of cringy and hilarious, as much of the Internet is. There’s so many lines to choose from, but a couple favorites are on “jumpin the cacc” where she says, “I won’t say shoo to gays, but I love shoegaze” and, “And I f****n love bad music”. And of course, if we’re talking about great lines, “Wink at you and make you gay for a month like TD Banks” might be the funniest line about performative capitalism I’ve ever heard. But even though there is plenty of fun to be had, the album is still a very sincere look into what it’s like as a trans artist.
Since their debut album in 2020, both Fraxiom and Gupi have transitioned. Fraxiom is now transgender, and it is unclear if Gupi is nonbinary or transgender, but this theme of accepting yourself and wanting that acceptance from others is prominent. The most prominent example of this is on track ten, “everybody’s eyes”. During the first verse and the chorus of the track, Fraxiom is talking to us, the fans. We have accepted her for who she is wholeheartedly, but the same can’t be said for her family. The second verse is about her confronting her parent’s transphobia. She goes between straightforward pleading with the line, “Come on man, just call me your daughter for the hell of it,” to providing actual evidence of them just being transphobic, “I heard you call Twitter X. I’ve been trans for longer than that, and I still don’t get respect”. I also absolutely love the little segway she does in between the verses about mental illness where she says, “You know, my head is not screwed on correctly. And yeah, it pisses me off because that's not even my fault. But, also, it's my responsibility to be and act normal so come on! Unlearn that helplessness, let's go”. It doesn’t even need an explanation. Like everything else on the album, it’s right there in your face. Food House bares it all on Two House, and hopefully they continue to make more music together!
Favorite Tracks: “credit card knife”, “td banks”, “jumpin the cacc”
If You Like…: Hyperpop
Genre: Synth-pop
Review
It’s been a while since Lady Gaga put out an official album, and even though Joker 2 definitely didn’t hit the way she wanted to last year, Mayhem ended up being a success! It is her most critically acclaimed album to date, and even though it hasn’t yet hit the top 10, I’ve seen “Abracadabra” all over television this March Madness. The majority of this album revolves around these 70s and 80s influenced synth-pop bangers, but then it mellows out towards the back third. While the ballads are objectively good, it’s really the front two thirds where she shines in my opinion! “Zombieboy” is an instant classic pop track that sounds like a new version of Prince, but with a little of Gaga’s weirdness. The same goes for the Gesaffelstein-assisted “Killah”, which had an absolutely incredible performance on SNL! It almost convinced me to join the bloodbath it’s going to be to get tickets for her upcoming tour. Overall though, the album is overall a return to form for the slightly outlandish superstar!
Favorite Tracks: “Zombieboy”, “Killah” (Feat. Gesaffelstein), “Perfect Celebrity”
If You Like…: Lady Gaga; 80s synth-pop
Genre: Experimental hip-hop
Review
It’s been since 2020 since we got an album from the experimental hip-hop legends clipping, and even though Dead Channel Sky is my least favorite album of theirs, it’s still an awesome release! While their past two albums have been conceptual horror releases, this one is a loose collection of cyberpunk stories. These stories are about the different possibilities of the future, from straightforward club anthems to detailed crime epics. “Polaroids” is a descriptive look into the darkness of someone’s past, whereas the song “Mirrorshades pt. 2” is unlike anything clipping has done before. It’s literally just a simple techno-inspired beat with Daveed rapping really well on it about how you’re not cool unless you have your mirrorshades. The only knock I can really give the album is that as of now, the individual songs haven’t come together to make the whole album feel more than a sum of its parts. It just feels like a collection of songs, which is completely fine, I just have very high expectations for clipping. But still, the songs on here are fantastic and I’m very excited to see clipping in Madison this August!
Favorite Tracks: “Code”, “Scams” (Feat. Tia Nomore), “Mirrorshades pt. 2” (Feat. Cartel Madras)
If You Like…: Experimental hip-hop; sound design
Genre: Trap; hip-hop
Review
I never thought this album would be released. So when it was officially announced, I wasn’t really excited. He delayed it before, so why wouldn’t he do it again. But now that we’re here with the actual album, I do have to say, it’s a pretty entertaining listen! To get the negative out of the way, 30 songs and 77 minutes of Playboi Carti is too much. Even though most of these tracks are good, a 15 song album could’ve been up there for the best of the year. What we actually got is a bloated collection of awesome bangers in the same style as Playboi Carti’s previous singles in 2024. The production here is never bad, and some of the producers absolutely carry their songs. “Charge Dem Hoes a Fee” may have a Future and Travis Scott feature, but the beat from Wheezy carries the track. Carti matches the manic production of “Pop Out”, but that beat is the star. It’s unlike almost anything released today! It takes the “rage” sound that Carti has popularized, but takes it to another level of extremity! There are a lot of features on this project, and most of them end up being on more than one track. Travis Scott gives Carti a classic Travis banger on “Philly”, while Kendrick’s adlibs and verse on “Mojo Jojo” and “Good Credit” respectively are a nice change of pace to the album. Overall though, most of these songs are just bangers and don’t need any explanation. “Toxic”, “HBA”, “Cocaine Nose”, “Dis 1 Got It”, and more are just bangers of the highest caliber. So while I do wish it was shorter, there are enough good songs that make it worth listening to multiple times.
Favorite Tracks: “Philly” (Feat. Travis Scott), “Pop Out”, “Good Credit” (Feat. Kendrick Lamar)
If You Like…: Mosh Pits; Rolling Loud; Bangers
Genre: EDM; electro-pop; plunderphonics
Review
Electronic duo Zeds Dead has been around for more than a decade, but this is only their second studio album. As I’ve been getting more into EDM, I learn that they don’t drop albums very often, so I try to make sure to check it out whenever we finally do get one. Now, although I actively dislike the cover art they chose, it fits the vibe of the album nicely. There aren’t any festival-sized bangers, instead, most of the songs are subtle enough to be played around one's grandparents. In fact, they may even recognize quite a few of the samples that Zeds Dead chooses, such as the prominent sample of Ann Peebles’s, “I Can’t Stand The Rain” on the lead single, “Sweet Memories”. While I can’t say many of the other individual tracks on here standout, it’s still an easy to listen to, fairly restrained electronic project that only unravels itself after multiple listens.
Favorite Tracks: “Sweet Memories”, “One Of These Mornings”, “Hold My Hand”
If You Like…: Quieter electronic music; sunrises
Genre: Saharan Rock; acoustic
Review
While this is technically a new album from Mdou Moctar, it’s more like a sister project to their album from last year. All of these songs are acoustic recordings of the songs on Funeral For Justice. While Funeral for Justice did have some acoustic moments, the vast majority of it was full of blistering guitar solos and pummeling percussion. There is still some jamming on here, it’s just full of acoustic guitar instead of electric guitar. The “Imouhar (Injustice Version)” is the best example of this, as it stretches to over eight-and-a-half minutes, which is more than three minutes longer than the original version. The original already had a long solo, so this new version is full of even more extended moments. Personally, I definitely don’t like this one more. Their electric and frantic playing is what draws me in more than the acoustic and traditional recordings, but I still enjoyed my time with this album.
Favorite Tracks: “Imohaur (Injustice Version)”, “Funeral for Justice (Injustice Version)”, “Imajighen (Injustice Version)”
If You Like…: The original album; African protest music
Genre: Rock-rap; experimental music; Paris MF’n Texas
Review
It’s been a couple years since Paris Texas put out new music, and this surprise EP caught me off guard. A big part of it was because I saw them open for Tyler the Creator only two weeks before, they didn’t play any new songs or mention anything about new music. Sonically, They Left Me With A Sword isn’t much different than what they’ve done before. It combines rock and hip-hop in a way that no one else does. It’s hard to describe exactly what they sound like without just listening to it. Just look at the song “Tantrum”. They are clearly rapping on it, but the beat is full of wild electric guitar and electronic drums. And just to make everything more complicated, it’s preceded by a track that is clearly a rock instrumental with them singing over the whole track. As awesome as I think it is, I don’t know how many nonfans will be convinced by this, but for people that love the Paris Texas sound, this is a fantastic helping!
Favorite Tracks: “Dogma 25”, “Tantrum”, “Holy Spinal Fluid”
If You Like…: Paris Texas; energetic music that sounds both familiar and unique
Short Reviews
Oh yeah, they then put out a sequel EP the very next week also as a surprise. Everything I said about the first one is also true about this one. It’s so much fun to listen to this unique, genre-free style! I’ve been combining this with the other EP as a little half an hour album, and it’s stayed heavily in rotation this past month!
Boldy James has already put out too many albums this year and I haven’t checked all of them out. But this one with Chuck Strangers is a nice throwback to his best material, even if it doesn’t get near it in terms of quality. If you like his Alchemist projects, Token of Appreciation is at least worth a listen.
I remember last year on my birthday, Adrianne Lenker released a Bandcamp exclusive EP to help raise money for Palestinian children, so when Big Thief put out an EP exclusive to their website in order to benefit California fire victims, I made it a special birthday surprise as well. There are five songs on here, but one of them is an Adrianne Lenker cover with the full band. All of these songs are fairly minimalistic, which is always nice. About the most noisy it gets is the shoegaze, fuzzy outro of “Imagination”. I’m not going to act like I love every little thing about this, but I’m definitely glad I purchased these songs and am even more happy that the money is going to a good cause.
Yet another example that Rebecca Black actually makes good pop music now! I didn’t like the singles on here that much, but the deeper cuts are awesome. “Tears In My Pocket” is a wonderful hyperpop-inspired ballad that is some of the best music made in this specific genre in a while!
Nardo Wick isn’t very original, but I do enjoy this sound in small doses. As soon as he tries to do slower songs though, I lose interest. Doing his own version of “Stan” with “Drew” was weird, hilarious, and better than it should’ve been. You don’t need to check this out unless you love dirty trap music.
Albion Files is a collection of fleshed out tracks from early demos Terrace was working on 15-20 years ago. They were finished recently though, as he just found the hard drive last year. It’s probably because they’re fleshed out demos, but I didn’t end up loving this project as much as Terrace’s normal material. It’s still entertaining and decent though, especially if you like Terrace’s other material.
You can add Saoirse Dream to the list of hyperpop associated artists that ended up making a pretty solid indie-rock album. It does sound a little too much like Underscores, especially with the tone of her voice, but it’s still a good album for people that like that sound.
While the collaboration EP Wink put out with Nikko last year left me slightly disappointed, this new EP on Sable Valley was awesome! It’s just five quality trap bangers from an up and coming producer! There is a Peekaboo feature on here, which helps bring together the maximalist elements of this track. Wink redeemed himself with this project in my eyes, and it makes sure I’ll continue to check out for his upcoming music.
After his awesome EP from last year, Bloom is the newest full length album from the R&B up-and-comer! The theme this time is extravagance. The average song on here is over 5 minutes long, and it feels like it. In fact, that’s the only thing holding this album back, the length. Seventy-six minutes is a long time, and even though I’ve listened to it a few times, it still needs a lot more time to digest. Still though, Durand’s voice is fantastic, the production is timeless, and it’s something you shouldn’t miss at all if you like R&B music!
After the awesome combination of metal and indie-pop Sasami had for her previous album, Blood on the Silver Screen is a bit of a letdown. It definitely feels like she decided to go pop, which didn’t end up being a good thing, at least for my personal enjoyment level. While there were a couple good songs, unless any of the singles sound interesting to you, I wouldn’t really recommend the album.
This is, by far, the most straightforward blues album ZZ Ward has ever put out, and after not liking her previous projects that much, it’s also the most I’ve enjoyed her material since 2017! Now, about half of the album consists of blues covers by everyone from Son House to Robert Johnson, but a good portion of the originals don’t feel that out of place either. Hopefully she’ll continue to trend in this blues direction for her next release.
Chicago’s own Neal Francis is back again with a new album, and this one’s more dancey than anything he’s put out before. It’s not that his other music hasn’t been groovy, but this one is more of a pure 70s funk/dance album. While I do miss some of the piano-oriented material he used to do, Return to Zero is a pretty fun album!
This is the debut album from the duo Alfa Mist and Richard Spaven, and it’s made for some good background music while reading these past couple weeks! While clearly being a jazz project, they incorporate many different genres, especially hip-hop. The drumming is definitely the highlight of the project, but the whole thing is good background music!
I don’t know much about Griz besides that he has a huge cult-like fanbase and has influenced a lot of the EDM artists today. It took a little bit to get used to the sound and just how cheesy and shimmering the production is, but I did end up enjoying this little project! “2-Step Nassau” is definitely my favorite track, as the minimalist drop after the funky introduction will give listeners the stank face. The saxophone on the tracks is a bit too corny for me right now, but who knows, maybe I’ll come around to it later. As of now, I’ll take this appetizer for what I’m sure will be a big year for Griz.
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