Silk Sonic - An Evening With Silk Sonic
As great as this album obviously is, let’s first credit it with the worst rollout of the year. This album really should’ve come out in May or June, right when “Leave The Door Open” was finally on the downslope, because by November, the level of hype I had was drastically diminished to just a normal album instead of a cultural moment it felt like in March. Thankfully, the album was exactly what I was hoping for! It doesn’t take itself too seriously, which is evident with the over-the-top lyrics at some points and the playful music videos. But for what the album lacks in seriousness, lyrical content, or originality, it makes up for in musicality. The production could be considered a bit too clean, but it’s a Bruno Mars album, that’s the expectation. Either way, every track is full of incredible horns, guitar lines, bass, and of course, Anderson Paak’s drumming. A song like “Fly As Me” shows the duo at their funkiest and even has Anderson rapping the verses and delegates Bruno to background vocals during the chorus. But Bruno still takes charge on the slower songs, like “Put On A Smile,” which is easily one of the best ballads I’ve heard all year. Whether it’s the key change towards the end of the song or Bruno’s incredible vocals with some surprisingly heartfelt lyrics, this song has that extra something special. My only complaint of this album is that the last three songs are just really good and not as great/amazing as the first 2/3rds of the album. But even that is barely a complaint, since they’re not bad songs at all. Hopefully they continue to release Silk Sonic albums and maybe even go on a tour, because they’ve proved they can do no wrong.
Mick Jenkins - Elephant in the Room
Few rappers have the writing abilities of Mick Jenkins. The way he pens double entendres together is unlike anyone else. A personal favorite from this album is on the single “Contacts” when he says, “Shit hit different, I need scissors now, cutting ties.” On the surface, it’s about him getting a haircut but the combination of the phrases “hit different,” “scissors,” and “ties” all play into the 2020 SZA single with Ty Dolla $ign last year called “Hit Different”. No one else is writing bars like that currently. Elephant in the Room isn’t a big overhauling of sound for Mick though, he stays in his comfort zone of watery, Chicago-style production and subject matter he’s talked about before, except now he’s more explicit about it. Just look at the title of the album, he’s explicitly talking about racism and how it’s impacted his life. There’s even a song called, “Things You Could Die For If Doing While Black,” which shows Mick listing different things that Black people have gotten killed for, including references to Philando Castile, Eric Garner, and many more. “Scottie Pippen” is another personal highlight, especially for the messy, jazz-inspired beat with this nasty guitar lick and piano chords supporting it. As usual with Mick Jenkins projects, this one is going to take a while to fully digest. I still feel like I’m missing 60% of what he’s saying on this album, but he came through with another fantastic piece of introspective, Chicago hip hop project.
Megan Thee Stallion - Something for the Hotties
I really appreciate how someone as big as Megan will just drop a collection of loosies and freestyles just because her fans want them on streaming services. This project feels similar to back when artists would release mixtapes of nothing but bars. Megan’s not worried about crafting the best songs on here, but is instead just proving why she’s an acclaimed rapper. Songs like “Southside Forever Freestyle” and “Megan’s Piano” are bangers of the best caliber and will be in rotation for a long time. In fact, most of the first half of the project is nothing but fire. It does get a bit samey towards the back half of the album, especially when her subject matter doesn’t change at all, but her energy stays high no matter what. She still pays homage to Houston once again with the chopped and screwed outro of “Let Me See It” and Paul Wall spoken outro, which is always endearing to see someone putting on for their hometown. This project will definitely be in rotation for at least a little bit, and will for sure hold fans over until whenever she wants to put out her next official album.
Terrace Martin - Drones
Terrace has been talking about this album since at least 2018, so I had fairly high expectations for this album and even though I’m not sure this completely met them, it's still a great listen. Before I go into what I liked about it, which was the vast majority of the project, my main critique is that I miss the jazz influence that was on Velvet Portraits. But ignoring my personal expectations, Drones is a fantastic body of work that embodies the west coast. The feature list is vast and full of talent from plenty of genres; including people like Kendrick Lamar, Leon Bridges, Kamasi Washington, Snoop Dogg, and so many more. It’s not that surprising considering Terrace has produced for all of these artists before, but seeing them all on one project is impressive. Because of the huge feature list, Terrace does play second fiddle vocally most of the time, but it’s ok since he makes the entire project have that cohesive, west coast hip hop feeling perfectly. I do hope he doesn’t abandon having full jazz songs, but Drones is still a quality album from a great producer.
Parcels - Day/Night
I’m not sure if progressive disco is an actual genre, but that’s what this double album by Australian band Parcels sounds like. The production is extremely clean, groove heavy, and layered with these lush string sections that make this the most cinematic album I’ve heard all year. For example, the intro track “Light” is a six-minute opus that gently leads the listener into the album with nothing but building sections and instrumentals until it drops perfectly into the second track “Free”. There are moments of extended instrumentals everywhere on the record, even on the ballads. “Outside” is a personal favorite on the album, and fits this description perfectly with the first half being a ballad about being alone before it moves into this three-to-four minute long instrumental passage with this orchestral movement fit for a movie score. There are also some extremely uplifting bops on here, like the pure disco number that is “Famous” and maybe the group’s best song ever with “Somethinggreater”. Now, the double album does feel a bit lopsided with the first album, presumably titled Day, being significantly more enjoyable than the latter half, but maybe the slower half will grow on me more. Either way, Parcels have leveled up once again and prove they’re here to stay with this release.
Dijon - Absolutely
As of now, I’ve just finished listening to this for the second time and need to write about it now because this thing is absolutely bonkers! Dijon manages to capture a feeling that is so unique, but yet feels extremely familiar. It’s a combination of a plethora of alternative R&B artists, but then there’s elements of Americana that sound almost similar to a Springsteen album. The entire album is extremely scattered and is recorded many times using room mics, which helps the album feel like you’re in the room. Dijon’s voice is absolutely insane, especially on the track “Rodeo Clown”. The only comparison for the vulnerability in his voice on this track is Frank Ocean during a couple of his minimal ballads. “The Dress” is another early highlight on the album with it’s infectious chorus and more traditional song structure. There’s so many little musical moments on this album that I’ll be picking out for dozens of listens, and I’m so glad I decided to check this out tonight.
Curtis Harding - If Words Were Flowers
I just found out about Curtis through this project, and he’s got a similar throwback soul sound as Leon Bridges, and executes it just as well, if not better! One thing he does on these tracks is letting the instrumental ride for a long time. Even just looking at the first couple tracks, each one has a minimum of a minute straight of nothing but instrumentals just evolving. He also does a bit of rapping on here as well, which doesn’t go over perfectly, but his singing voice sounds straight out of the 70s. There are some modern elements though, like the autotune he uses on “So Low”. And even though that song doesn’t incorporate the modern elements the smoothest, others on the record have a more modern flair and make it work better. Songs like “Hopeful” and “Explore” are straight old-school soul bangers, while ballads like “With You” and “I Won’t Let You Down” show how great his voice can sound. I’m not sure how much I’ll return to this project, but Curtis definitely needs a bigger audience than he already has.
Sega Bodega - Romeo
I’ve only ever listened to Sega Bodega and Dorian Electra’s cover of “Teenage Dirtbag” before going into this album, and I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome. Sega’s music exists somewhere in-between the poppier, voice-altering sphere Dorian Electra’s in, and the hard-hitting, clubbier sound Arca has. A song like “All Your Friends Think I’m Too Young For You” is a very electronic and club-inspired anthem that sounds fantastic, but then there will also be a slow jam like “I Need Nothing From You” with these amazing vocal harmonies that fill the atmosphere. Arca herself even shows up for the single, “Cicada”, that’s another warped piece of hyperpop. Most of these songs balance the line between emotional lyrical content and these warped sonics. The opener “Effeminacy” is a perfect example of this with these vocals being played backwards and heavy drums to start off the song, but Sega’s vocals themselves and the synth chords later in the song feel heavenly. I still have a lot of listening to do to fully understand this project, but if you like the hyperpop sound, don’t let this one slip past you.
Adele - 30
Adele doesn’t need any introduction. She’s arguably the biggest artist in the world, and her previous album had the highest first week sales of any album ever released. It may have taken 6 years, but a new album has finally come out, 30. This is my first full Adele album listen, but I agree with most that this was a really solid listen! To get the negative out of the way, an hour of this was too much for me, it just hasn’t clicked for me enough to justify the runtime, but there’s some great songs in here. “I Drink Wine” progresses beautifully over the 6-minute runtime and has a fantastic vocal performance. The way they turn her voice into something that sounds like a sample on “Cry Your Heart Out” adds lots of character to the track. Three of the final four songs are solely produced by Inflo, who has produced some of my favorite albums of the past couple years (Little Simz, Cleo Sol, SAULT), so seeing him get a placement like this is amazing! And the songs that he produces have impeccable percussion, as that’s the main thing that makes him stand out in my opinion, but especially for a song like “Hold On” that has a choir made up of Adele’s friends on it, being able to instrumentally progress that track by yourself is incredible! If you like Adele or are curious what a full album sounds like, 30 is a great place to start.
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