Mitski - The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We
Genre: Americana; folk; orchestral pop
Review
Singer-songwriter superstar Mitski is back again only a year after her poppier album with a more somber, introspective release. Even though she’s become a superstar, I never got around to hearing a Mitski album before this one. It may have taken a couple of listens to fully click with me, but I see the hype behind her now! The lyrics are usually stories that deal with more intense problems. Sometimes they seem like personal stories, but other times they are clearly fictional. The sonic palette of this album isn’t mind blowing, but the combination of americana with the gigantic orchestral moments help this stand out from other projects in a similar vein. At times, it reminds me of a Lana Del Rey album, sonically. Except, instead of a 70-minute runtime like Lana’s from this year, Mitski’s album is just over half an hour. Even something as simple as that makes for an easier album to digest and replay over and over again, especially when it is as lyrically heavy as this one. Mitski’s new album is worth the hype and hopefully will continue to grow on everyone, myself included, with time.
Favorite Tracks: “Star”, “I Don’t Like My Mind”, “Heaven”
If You Like: Deep conversations with friends; psychoanalyzing yourself every waking moment
Sufjan Stevens - Javelin
Genre: Indie-folk
Review
Speaking of famous songwriters, Sufjan Stevens is back with his first solo album since the pandemic. This one comes with dire circumstances though. The album was created in honor of Sufjan’s partner, who passed away earlier this year. Even when it came to promoting the album, Sufjan was in the hospital himself for over a month due to an auto-immune disorder that affected him so much he had to relearn to walk. Similar to Mitski, Sufjan is someone I’ve wanted to check out for years and haven’t gotten around to it until this album. Again, like Mitski, I did find this album really fascinating. With how based around grief it is, it’s hard to say that this is entertaining. Especially if you listen to the lyrics, this album is heartbreaking. “Will Anybody Ever Really Love Me?” is gorgeous and more about his internal struggle of acceptance of love, whereas “Goodbye Evergreen” is pretty clearly about his partner. It’s not an album that will fully come across in passive listens, it needs to be doven into. Javelin is easily one of the most heartbreaking, but beautiful albums I’ve heard all year.
Favorite Tracks: “Will Anybody Ever Love Me?”, “My Little Red Fox”, “Shit Talk”
If You Like: His previous albums; are currently dealing with loss
Drake - For All The Dogs
Genre: Hip-hop; R&B; pop
Review
For All The Dogs is Drake’s newest album that he’s been hyping up for the past few months, and after multiple delays, it’s finally here. As usual, he was saying how it was his best album in a long time, a return to the old Drake, etc. But again, as usual, For All The Dogs is another bloated album with some highlights that, while high, don’t come close to Drake’s classic material. “First Person Shooter” has Drake and J. Cole’s first collaboration in over a decade! It may not have been mind blowing, but it’s a great track and Cole sounds fantastic on it. Teezo Touchdown sounds fantastic on all his parts! The same goes for Yeat on “IDGAF” and SZA on her two tracks. Even Sexyy Red sounds awesome on “Rich Baby Daddy”. Drake also sounded great over a Conductor beat on “8AM in Charlotte”, which is pretty much the only song on here that might go down as a Drake classic. But outside of everything mentioned, everything else on here ranged from passively enjoyable to discouragingly dull. This is making last year’s Her Loss seem more like a fluke than a return to form, but who knows. At this point, I’m not sure if Drake will ever do anything shocking anymore, but we’ll be here for his next project anyway.
Favorite Tracks: “First Person Shooter” (Feat. J. Cole), “8AM in Charlotte”, “Rich Baby Daddy” (Feat. Sexyy Red & SZA)
If You Like: His previous projects
Earthgang - RIP Human Art
Genre: Southern hip-hop; soul
Review
If you’ve talked to me in the past few years, you know I absolutely adore Earthgang! It’s been almost two years, but they are back with this new EP, RIP Human Art. It seems like they are doing another collection of EPs similar to their 2017 and 2018 run of Rags, Robots, and Royalty. They’ve mentioned that this overall collection of EPs is called Earthgang vs. The Algorithm. RIP Human Art is a promising start! They are consistent about the themes on this project, which is about free will and being artistic in this lifetime. This project also shows them being more musical than Ghetto Gods. Even though I love that project, this one feels more timeless and soulful. I know it’s a lazy comparison, but this one does give me Outkast vibes, especially with how they implement other genres into what are supposed to be primarily hip-hop tracks. Either way, at only 5 songs, and with one of them being an intro, this does feel a bit too short. It does seem like they have more music coming sooner rather than later, so I’ll take this as an appetizer!
Favorite Tracks: “Die Today”, “Imagine”, “Flavors of Karma”
If You Like: Outkast; Dreamville; soulful hip-hop
Slauson Malone 1 - Excelsior
Genre: Experimental
Review
This is easily one of the most unique projects I’ve heard all year! Malone already made pretty experimental hip-hop anyway, but this goes way beyond hip-hop. Most of these songs feature him crooning over some acoustic guitars with various amounts of other instruments behind it. Malone himself changes on seemingly every song as well. Sometimes he’s singing his heart out, other times he’s rapping, and other times he’s just whispering over a haunting synth arpeggio. The songs themselves would make zero context outside of the album. I can’t imagine anything on here working as well outside of the album as it does being supported by the overall experience. So even though I’ll have a song below like always, the full album is really needed here to get in the right mindstate for this to work. I do highly recommend this project though, it’s fantastic! You haven’t heard anything quite like this, and I’m not sure when you will. Excelsior shows Slauson Malone 1 creating his own future that only he could create.
Favorite Tracks: “New Joy”, “Half-Life”, “I Hear A New World”
If You Like: New experiences
Jorja Smith - Falling or Flying
Genre: R&B; afrobeat
Review
It’s been half a decade since Jorja’s debut album, and it feels like she lost a decent amount of hype in the time off. Her and Kali Uchis were the two new R&B artists in 2018. Now, Kali is doing an arena tour and Jorja is still in a similar place she left off. That’s nothing about the quality of her music though, because Falling or Flying is still a good album. “Little Things” is an incredible groovy track that was a soundtrack to last summer. Jorja’s voice works beautifully on the slower tracks especially, such as the title track or on “Greatest Gift” with Lila Ike. My pain problem with this one is that it doesn’t feel like anything special. After how great the first album was and how much time had passed, an album that just feels like a collection of songs is a bit of a disappointment. It doesn’t feel like an improvement on her previous music. But still, even though this review might seem negative, it’s still a really good album that also has a few amazing tracks!
Favorite Tracks: “Little Things”, “Falling or Flying”, “What If My Heart Beats Faster?”
If You Like: Timeless R&B; her previous album
Cleo Sol - Gold
Genre: Soul; gospel
Review
Cleo Sol is back with her second album in the last few weeks, and this one manages to eclipse the first one! While both of them have the classic soul sound that her and Sault use, the main difference between Gold and Heaven is that Gold has more content directly about God. Cleo has always had religious references in her music, but this is a step up from before. There are lines on here that feel like direct prayers. Those are the lines that end up sometimes taking me out of it, but most of the time she’s mentioning God here, it works well. She even acknowledges that everyone has their own religions on “Lost Angel” when she says, “Our Gods may be different, but they see us all the same.” I genuinely don’t know what else to say about Inflo’s production that I haven’t said before countless times. It’s incredible, soulful, and healing. It’s the musical equivalent of therapy. Gold is another fantastic project from Cleo Sol, and I’m just so grateful to get two new albums from her this past month!
Favorite Tracks: “There Will Be No Crying”, “Please Don’t End It All”, “Lost Angel”
If You Like: SAULT; Cleo Sol’s previous music; therapy
Slow Pulp - Yard
Genre: Indie rock
Review
Former Madison-based band Slow Pulp has elevated their status in the past year by opening for Death Cab For Cutie, Alvvays, and Pixies. Yard is also their first album on a major label. With that comes more money to make a project, but more expectations, and they delivered with flying colors! It’s a 10-track project full of great indie rock! Emily’s voice fits every type of track they attempt on here, whereas the crunchy guitars provide a beautiful backdrop for most of Yard. The album dips when they go away from that guitar sound, like on the title track. They do have good ballads though, like on the next track, “Carina Phone 1000”, but overall, the fuzzed-out indie bangers are where they succeed the most. I’m obviously slightly biased towards them, as they are the closest thing Madison has had to a successful band in a long time, but this is still a really good little indie rock record!
If You Like: Easy going indie rock
Armand Hammer - We Buy Diabetic Test Strips
Genre: Experimental hip-hop
Review
Super-duo Armand Hammer is back with their newest album, We Buy Diabetic Test Strips. It’s easily their most out there project yet. The production on here is significantly noisier than anything they’ve ever done before. Sure, lyrically, it is still a similar stylistic approach of very abstract ways of talking about everything from sex to late-stage capitalism. A big part of this is due to the producers, which include people like JPEGMAFIA and El-P, each of which is a legendary underground/experimental hip-hop artist in their own right. At this point, Armand Hammer themselves are in this echelon, especially billy woods. This is woods’s second album this year, and even though I do prefer his solo release, him releasing this many high quality projects that all sound different in this short period of time is unprecedented. He’s making himself a legend in this genre after these last few projects. We Buy Diabetic Test Strips is another great look into the minds of these two incredibly unique rappers.
Favorite Tracks: “Woke Up and Asked Siri How I’m Gonna Die” (Feat. JPEGMAFIA), “The Gods Must Be Crazy” (Feat. El-P), “Don’t Lose Your Job” (Feat. Pink Siifu & Moor Mother)
If You Like: Weird hip-hop; either of their solo work; have heard the phrase late-stage capitalism
Raye - My 21st Century Symphony (Live at the Royal Albert Hall)
Genre: Pop; orchestral
Review
After releasing what is easily my favorite pop album of the year, Raye is back with a live album recorded in London last month with a choir, orchestra, and full jazz band. It’s an extravagant reimagining of the album that is up there with some of the best live albums I’ve heard. Raye’s voice is incredible! The live versions only showcase the control she has over her voice even more. There are moments where she sounds powerful, but also others where it’s heartbreaking. “Ice Cream Man” was already an emotional track about her experience with sexual assault, but this live version absolutely destroys the studio version. The little quivers in her voice add so much character and emotion to the track that emotionally decimates the listener. But even with all the beautiful tracks on here, she still manages to take the dance tracks and make them work with an orchestra. “Black Mascara”, for example, somehow sounds just as good with all live instruments than it does with all electronic ones. The hit track “Escapism” is now a seven-minute long odyssey with a beautiful string section to open up the track. This is a gorgeous companion to the original album, and it’s just making me even more excited to see her live in Milwaukee next week. [Editor’s Note: She was incredible! She’s such a seasoned performer, and even did a completely improvised 20-minutes on piano while only playing what the crowd recommended!]
Favorite Tracks: “Ice Cream Man. - Live at Royal Albert Hall”, “Worth It. - Live at Royal Albert Hall”, “Black Mascara - Live at Royal Albert Hall”
If You Like: The original album; orchestral sized pop music
G Jones - Paths
Genre: Electronic
Review
After teasing the album for most of the year, Paths was finally released this October! G Jones is known for his sound design and ability to make both hard hitting bangers and melodic ambient moments, and this album is a clear example of why. It’s a bit softer than the other material he’s done, but there are still some upbeat tracks here. They’re just not mosh pit style tracks. A song like “Which Way” would still be considered a head-nodding tune, but it’s not something you would create a mosh pit for like a fair amount of electronic music. Therefore, I’m not sure how most of these songs would work live, but the wonky time signatures and melodies make for some fantastic headphone listening! It’s a perfect combination of weird upbeat tracks and pleasing ambient synth melodies. There’s still much to unpack here over the next couple months of listening, but off of the first few listens, it seems like the wait was worth it.
Favorite Tracks: “Maybe”, “Which Way”, “Too Far Gone”
If You Like: Eprom; weird electronic music
Bad Bunny - NADIE SABE LO QUE VA A PASAR MAÑANA
Genre: Latin trap; reggaeton
Review
Bad Bunny is back after releasing what is already one of the biggest albums of the 2020s and one of the highest selling albums in Spanish of all time! While it did take quite a while to grow on me, I did eventually come around to love it. With this new album, I don’t know if it will ever grow on me as much, but I do enjoy quite a few tracks on here. The obvious negative of this album is that 22 songs is a mammoth amount of music. The latin trap turn that he is reverting to on this project is far from my favorite sound that Bad Bunny does, but there are some bangers on here. The single “Monaco” has a fantastic, luxurious beat with Bad Bunny flowing well on it. But for the most part, I enjoy the songs on here where he sings the most. A song like “Gracias Por Nada” shows his knack for catchy melodies, and it also has lines that I can translate myself, so that’s nice. Overall though, this does feel like a step down, but it sounds like he’s having a lot of fun on here. There are lots of tracks on here that will be on repeat, I just hope we get a smaller collection of tracks next time.
Favorite Tracks: “Monaco”, “Gracias Por Nada”, “Baticano”
If You Like: Latin trap; Bad Bunny in 2017
Boygenius - the rest
Genre: Indie; folk; singer-songwriter
Review
After their amazing debut album, indie-darlings boygenius is back with an EP of leftovers to close out the year. The songs themselves are still good, but I understand why they weren’t on the original album. They start off with a song that is co-lead, but then each one takes a turn leading a track. As with the album, the Lucy and Phoebe tracks are fantastic, while Baker’s more rock direction provides a nice break from the other two. There’s just something about the calm feeling and poignant lyrics from the two that makes me enjoy their music more. Even just a line like, “I want to live a vibrant life, but I want to die a boring death,” on the track, “Afraid of Heights” just sticks with me more than Baker’s lyrics. Julien is still a fantastic artist though, as evident by the great closing track to this project, her music just doesn’t connect with me as much on an emotional level. This is a nice little EP to go along with the album, but it doesn’t eclipse it in any way.
Favorite Tracks: “Afraid of Heights”, “Voyager”, “Powers”
If You Like: the record; psychoanalyzing your friends
Westside Gunn - And Then You Pray for Me
Genre: Hip-hop; trap
Review
The new album from Westside Gunn is a sequel to one of his most legendary projects, Pray For Paris. This album is the longest I’ve ever heard from Westside Gunn, and it doesn’t need to be. There are quite a few songs on here that just feel like filler. What Westside Gunn does deserve props from is for still trying new sounds this late in his career. He could’ve easily done a bunch more projects that sound like all his other grimey hip-hop, but he decided to incorporate more trap beats into this album. For example, there is always a Griselda posse cut on every Westside Gunn project, but this one is produced by Tay Keith. It sounds different than any of their previous cuts. Benny and Conway both sound fantastic over it, whereas Westside sounds a bit awkward. Therein lies the problem for the album. While I appreciate Westside trying to switch sounds, he doesn’t sound good over trap beats. There are still more than enough great tracks on here that make it worth a listen. Heck, the JID and Stove God Cooks features alone make this album worth a listen. But as a full project, And Then You Pray For Me is the most surprising Westside Gunn release so far.
Favorite Tracks: “Mamas PrimeTime” (Feat. JID, Conway the Machine, & Cartier A Williams), “Kitchen Lights” (Feat. Stove God Cooks), “Suicide in Selfridges” (Feat. DJ. Drama)
If You Like: Westside Gunn
Oneohtrix Point Never - Again
Genre: Electronic; experimental
Review
Influential and acclaimed electronic artist Oneohtrix Point Never is back with his newest release, Again. His profile has risen greatly in the past few years, including doing the score for Uncut Gems, working heavily with The Weeknd, and being the musical director for The Weeknd’s Super Bowl performance. Again shows that even with his newfound fame, he’s not going to make more accessible music because of it. This project is very ambient and experimental. There’s no traditional song structures, just ambient electronics and strings that meld in and out of each other with him tooling around on the guitar and synths over it. But even though that seems like it could be garbage, it’s not, it sounds immaculate! Look at a song like “Nightmare Paint” for example. The song builds up over almost five minutes to this mammoth guitar solo that would fit in many rock songs, not just something that would only work in this weird context. I would even say this project is heavily rooted in sound collage and soundtracks as well. As with most of Oneohtrix’s music, it’s impossible to accurately describe, but it’s a menacing, gorgeous listen!
Favorite Tracks: “Nightmare Paint”, “Memories of Music”, “A Barely Lit Path”
If You Like: Soundtracks for weird indie movies people have never heard of
Dorian Electra - Fanfare
Genre: Alternative; electronic
Review
After their first two albums were some of the best that hyperpop had to offer, Fanfare is a slight step down for them. Don’t get me wrong, there are still plenty of fantastic songs here. “Idolize” is a catchy single that gives some nice insight into the themes of this project. The extra-ness of everything about “Touch Grass” works really well for me! Even something like the nasty guitar line in “Sodom & Gomorrah” is one of the best uses of guitar I’ve heard all year. My main problem with this album is the lyrics and overall theme. They are using many themes in religion, and especially sex, to poke fun at consumerism. For example, let's look at the song “Puppet”. The weird industrial breakdown is genuinely one of the coolest things I’ve ever heard Dorian do! But I don’t want to hear a song about fisting. Even typing that, it makes me feel disgusting. Dorian has always toed the line with being too sexually explicit for me to enjoy, especially with their outro to My Agenda “Give Great Thanks”, but I think this one has quite a few songs that are a little over the line. The production on here though is still fantastic, and I’ll continue to listen to the highlights on here for a long time!
Favorite Tracks: “Idolize”, “Sodom & Gomorrah”, “Touch Grass”
If You Like: LGTBQ+; know what BDSM stands for
Hannah Diamond - Perfect Picture
Genre: Electro-pop
Review
Famed label PC Music is officially shutting down with new releases after 2023, so it was only right that one of its innovators released one last album under the label. Hannah Diamond has been around the label since its inception in 2013, but Perfect Picture is only her second studio album. This album is easily the best of these releases PC Music has put out so far this year! Everything here is electro-pop and bubblegum-pop perfection! Hannah’s vocals fit this computerized production extremely well. Meanwhile, having someone as tried as David Gamson on the boards and helping with writing is always a positive. The overall theme of being a popstar in the computerized world is really cohesive, while also finding the details in there. For example, there are still plenty of love songs, but there are also songs like “Lip Sync” that’s about building up your self-esteem to live your truest self. It’s a heck of a pop album, and one that is worthy of being one of the last PC Music albums.
If You Like: PC Music; electro-pop; dancing in your room
Doja Cat - Scarlet
Genre: Hip-hop; R&B
Review
After purposely alienating her entire hardcore fanbase, Doja is back with her most polarizing album yet, Scarlet. For the most part, this is Doja’s attempt to be taken seriously as a rapper. Ironically, the problem I have with a lot of the album is Doja’s lyrics. Her flows, ability to make a catchy chorus, and beat picking abilities are undeniable, but rarely am I surprised by anything she says. Take the track “Wet Vagina” or “Demons” for example. Both of these beats are great, and Doja’s vocal performance during the chorus on each track is really good. But her lyrics themselves are rarely clever. It feels like Childish Gambino’s rapping. A lot of people love his raps, but the lyrics have always felt surface level in terms of creativity to me. But this is also coming from someone who loves when Childish Gambino sings, and in a similar way, I do think Doja has the potential to be an incredible pop artist if she wanted to. Even though Scarlet does feel like her first album that is not just a collection of random tracks, it still doesn’t live up to the potential that Doja has.
Favorite Tracks: “Paint The Town Red”, “97”, “Love Life”
If You Like: Doja Cat; Because The Internet
Lil Wayne - Tha Fix Before Tha VI
Genre: Hip-hop
Review
Announced only a few days before its release, expectations were slightly raised for this project after his features, but this sounds like a completely different artist. The first track with Jon Batiste is cool, but most of this is horrendous for someone with Wayne’s talent. Wayne has always had problems with his projects, so it’s not that surprising this ended up being bad, but still. His feature run the past few years is still fantastic! Even his feature on the Tyga and YG song that came out the same week as this album was show-stopping. But like, the majority of the songs on here have moments that are hard to listen to. The beat on “Birds” is so annoying with the metallic bird sounds throughout, and the whole song of “Tity Boi” is laughably bad. “Tuxedo” is just a poorly done rock track with Wayne rapping and singing on it. Wayne really needs to get someone to executive produce a project for him. At his best, he’s one of the best rappers to ever touch a mic, but his projects often end up being a mixed bag at best. This one is mainly the worst, but who knows, maybe he’s just getting the bad songs out of the way before Tha Carter VI.
Favorite Tracks: “Act Up” (Feat. Jon Batiste), “To The Bank” (Feat. Cool & Dre)
If You Like: Everything Lil Wayne does
Offset - Set It Off
Genre: Trap; hip-hop
Review
Just a couple months after Quavo’s solo album, Offset is back with his first solo album after the official break up of Migos and Takeoff’s passing. Unlike Quavo’s project, Set It Off is not steeped in trauma. That’s not to say he never gets personal, but most of this album is just the normal trap subject matter. Sonically, much of this album is steeped in homages to Three 6 Mafia. One of the most blatant homages on here is on “Fan”, where he does the classic Project Pat flow for the entire second half of the track. He does it fairly well though, it’s still a banger of a track. Set It Off is just plagued with the usual problems that trap albums have had recently. It’s 21 tracks and an hour long, which is way too long, even for Offset. The songs where he switches it up and tries to do a more R&B-based love song don’t work very well. But when it comes to the bangers, there are quite a few awesome ones on here. Offset is still a fantastic rapper, I just feel like he’s yet to make a project that lives up to his rapping ability. These projects are just good, but he has the talent to make something great.
If You Like: Migos; trap
Lutalo - Again
Genre: Indie-rock
Review
In all transparency, I just want more people to give this project attention. Lutalo is a new indie-rock artist from Minneapolis that is making some quality stuff. This is their second EP, and it expands more into the anthemic space of singer-songwriter and indie music. The biggest pull for this project is their voice. Lutalo’s voice is full of character. It’s instantly recognizable, especially among this type of music. It was even more apparent after seeing them live last month, where all they did was sit in a chair with a guitar and play these songs. The stripped down setup really helped their voice and lyrics shine through. Even with the studio recordings on the project, there are still other elements to enjoy, such as the shoegaze-inspired guitars. Hopefully they continue to improve over the next couple years and come out with a fantastic debut album! Keep an eye on Lutalo!
Favorite Tracks: “PLPH”, “Push Back Baby”, “Hold My Head”
If You Like: Slow Pulp; Alvvays
Jamila Woods - Water Made Us
Genre: Neo-soul; R&B
Review
After almost a half a decade of waiting, Jamila Woods is back with another fantastic project! She’s someone that you never worry about the quality of the music, because it’s always going to be great. This time, Water Made Us focuses heavily on her past relationships and love in general. Sonically, this album is fairly upbeat for a neo-soul project. Most of the tracks here are full of these fast-paced drums and airy synths that suit Jamila's light voice very well. It’s easily the most upbeat project she’s ever done, but it works nicely. I’m not sure why I never put this together before this album, but she occupies a similar lane as Solange. They both make this airy, soulful, R&B-based music that brings in many other influences and is always telling a full story with each album. If her only comparison is Solange, then you’re clearly doing something right! Water Made Us is another superb release from Jamila Woods.
Favorite Tracks: “Headfirst”, “Practice” (Feat. Saba), “Backburner”
If You Like: Solange; great soul music
Ken Carson - A Great Chaos
Genre: Rage; trap
Review
Ken Carson is another one of the artists signed to Playboi Carti’s Opium label that has been taking over hip-hop the past couple years. He’s someone I’ve only heard about before now, but A Great Chaos is easily a better project than either of the last two Destroy Lonely projects. A big reason for this is the shorter runtime, which is nice. The production here is the most distorted version of this sound I’ve heard, which fits Ken Carson’s voice really well. Lyrically, there’s obviously nothing here. None of them, Ken Carson included, ever say anything of substance. But the energy behind this album is what carries it. I’m not sure if this would be better as an instrumental tape, but the production here absolutely carries this album. At times, it’s so distorted that it borders on parody at points, but the production somehow works. I also still don’t 100% get this sound like a lot of people are, but A Great Chaos is a pretty good introduction to people who have never heard it.
Favorite Tracks: “Fighting My Demons”, “Singapore” (Feat. Destroy Lonely), “Me N My Kup”
If You Like: Opium; all black skater fits; TikTok memes
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