Future - Mixtape Pluto
Genre: Trap; hip-hop
Review
After already giving us over 2 hours and 42 songs this year in his two collaboration projects with Metro Boomin, Future saw it fit to drop another 17 tracks in his first solo mixtape since 2018! For those that don’t know, when Future was rising to prominence in the mid-2010s, releasing album-quality mixtapes were a large part of that success, so going back to his mixtape style is a big deal. In part, there’s not that much that separates an album and mixtape for Future, but this project does have the hallmark signs of a mixtape: seemingly underwritten songs, the project being more focused on vibes, and just a slightly rougher feel all around. As of now, I don’t enjoy it quite as much as his projects with Metro, but this is still a fantastic project! As usual, Future’s lyrics are mainly flexing, with the occasional personal moment. He’ll go from having a line like, “Popped so many tags, I forgot how many cars I got,” to an entire song on here about losing his friend to fentanyl. Not many people can simultaneously make both of those things sound authentic, but Future can. With most Future albums, songs start to stand out after a week or two, so we’ll have to check back at the end of the year to see how this actually compares to his other output this year, but as of now, Mixtape Pluto is another welcome helping of the Atlanta trap icon!
Favorite Songs: “Surfing a Tsunami”, “Lost My Dog”, “Ski”
If You Like…: Future; taking drugs and flexing to hide the pain deep inside your heart
MJ Lenderman - Manning Fireworks
Genre: Indie-rock; alt-country
Review
MJ Lenderman has been someone who’s been on some of my favorite songs in the past year or so. He was featured on Kevin Abstract’s latest project on the beautiful outro track, “My Friend”, and his song with Waxahatchee from the beginning of 2024 is still one of my favorites this year! Now that we got his newest album, I’m glad it’s just as pleasant as I expected! On the surface level, I just love the sound of these instrumentals and his voice. It’s such an easy project to not only listen to, but to repeat over and over. Lyrically, the album switches from devastating ballads to lighthearted commentary. “Wristwatch” is a look into critiquing the “alpha-male” phenom that has taken storm over the last few years. “Bark At The Moon” is a wonderful outro that ends the album on a high-note. The first verse starts off with, “I've lost my sense of humor. I've lost my driving range. I could really use your two cents babe. I could really use the change”. It’s such a weird collection of statements that are both devastating and hilarious, and those types of lyrics are all over the place on this album. Manning Fireworks is a wonderful, straightforward little album full of personality!
Favorite Songs: “Wristwatch”, “Bark At The Moon”, “She’s Leaving You”
If You Like…: Big Thief, but written by a hippie, self-pitying guy; easy-going indie-rock
Fred Again.. - ten days
Genre: Electro-pop; house
Review
Over the past few years, Fred has become one of the biggest names in electronic music! While his music is pretty diverse, it can all fall into two categories. One is these mind-melting bangers that all go into an ever-growing collection he calls USB. This is just a collection of all the tracks and not supposed to be considered an album. But with ten days, this is along the lines of his Actual Life albums, and Fred’s albums as a whole. These songs are often minimal, slower, and emotional. They tend to be built off of either vocal samples that he records in real life, or previously existing songs that he remixes and adds his own emotion to. For example, the final song on here is basically just a Fred Again remix of “Sunshine Baby” by The Japanese House. He does do some actual composing here though, like the opener “Adore U” with singer Obongjayar. Unfortunately, even though both of these songs are good, ten days is another project that while still good, lacks the consistency and skill that Fred clearly has. When Fred is at his best here, he’ll have the listener dancing with tears in their eyes. But when he misses, the songs feel lifeless and boring. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy listening to ten days, but there is so much potential missing that as a whole, it’s a bit disappointing knowing what he could make.
Favorite Songs: “Adore U” (Feat. Obongjayar), “Glow” (Feat. Duskus, Skrillex & Four Tet), “Places to Be” (Feat. Anderson .Paak & Chika)
If You Like…: Coldplay; Fred’s previous Actual Life albums
Floating Points - Cascade
Genre: Electronic; house
Review
The last time most people heard the name Floating Points was for his 2021 collaboration with the late Pharoah Sanders and The London Symphony Orchestra. It’s a stunning, gorgeous piece of classical and ambient music that ended up being the final album made by the great Pharoah Sanders. It was unlike anything Floating Points had done before, but it ended up being the biggest success of his career! After the success, he decided to go back to his electronic and techno roots, and Cascade ended up being another huge success! Sure, not everything on here is great, I especially think the final track on here is too minimal, but just about everything else on here is a danceable club banger! These tracks often rely on the way Sam builds them up. I mean, the average song here is over six minutes long, and most of them don’t vary greatly over the runtime. It’s all about the little things done to keep the listener entranced in not only the song, but the atmosphere that he is building. I’m not sure if this would be the album to convince anyone who’s not already a fan of this type of music, but for people that do enjoy meticulously put together electronic anthems, it doesn’t get much better than Cascade!
Favorite Songs: “Birth4000”, “Del Oro”, “Afflecks Palace”
If You Like…: Techno; clubbing in the UK
Jamie xx - In Waves
Genre: Dance; electronic
Review
It’s been nine years since the last Jamie xx album, and seven years since the last album from The xx, so it’s nice to finally have something new from Jamie! I think the expectations that come with a Jamie xx album can overshadow what we actually got, but as someone who hasn’t delved deep into the Jamie xx hype-train, I very much enjoyed this album! Sure, nothing here is especially amazing and some of the spoken word vocals can come off a bit corny, but everything else about the project is fantastic! “Baddy on the Floor” with Honey Dijon was an incredible lead single that was clearly made for dance clubs, whereas “Waited All Night” with his xx bandmates is a bit more of a slowburn. “Life” with Robyn feels almost like a Renaissance throwaway, but in the best way possible! And of course, I can’t forget the six-minute “Breather” that even though it does feature a probably corny spoken word passage in the middle, is entrancing throughout the entire runtime in a way not many songs are! In Waves is a fantastic, wide-ranging electronic album perfect for any party!
Favorite Songs: “Breather”, “Baddy on the Floor” (Feat. Honey Dijon), “Waited All Night” (Feat. Romy & Oliver Slim)
If You Like…: Dancing
Nala Sinephro - Endlessness
Genre: Ambient; spiritual jazz; electronic
Review
This is the month for new music from awesome London-based jazz artists! Yes, I know that’s a pretty specific category, but London has had most of my favorite jazz releases these past few years, and most of the big names all decided to drop in September. The best part is that each album sounds completely different! So let’s start with Nala Sinephro’s Endlessness. This is only her second album, after her first album, Space 1.8, was widely viewed as this epic space-odyssey that combined her beautiful harp playing with layers of synths. Endlessness doesn’t stray too much from that formula, but it’s still unique enough to stand on its own. The main difference is the lack of harp on Endlessness. Sure, it still pops up in a couple tracks, but this album is more focused on synthesizers and composing from Nala instead of the harp. As with her other album, it’s not something to think about as a collection of individual songs, but rather one whole experience. So if you feel so inclined, I would highly recommend playing this on a walk, while meditating, while reading, or whatever peaceful activity you may be doing to increase your mental health.
Favorite Songs: I don’t know, it’s basically one whole album
If You Like…: Meditating; walks in nature; ambient synths
Nubya Garcia - Odyssey
Genre: Jazz; nu-jazz
Review
Nubya Garcia is probably my favorite out of the three London jazz artists, and this also ended up being my favorite album out of the three! Nubya is a saxophonist that not only puts out her own work, but works with many others in the London jazz scene, including the aforementioned Nala Sinephro album! The main difference with Odyssey compared to her fantastic debut from 2020 is the addition of strings. There are still plenty of saxophone-led grooves like on “The Seer”, but there are also so many string sections that she composed that help dominate the slower songs. For example, listen to the song “Water's Path”. It’s a gorgeous four minute track consisting of nothing more than a string section, both being played and plucked intricately. I had never heard her do anything like that song before! While I’m not quite sure if Odyssey is my favorite jazz-oriented release of the year, it’s still a wonderful project and a well-deserved follow-up to her 2020 debut!
If You Like…: Jazz mixed with some other genres; string sections
Ezra Collective - Dance, No One’s Watching
Genre: Jazz-fusion
Review
Last of the London jazz albums this month is arguably the most acclaimed group, Ezra Collective! Ezra Collective actually won the Mercury Prize last year for their album Where I’m Meant To Be! (For those that don’t know, the Mercury Prize is basically the UK equivalent to the Grammys Album of the Year category) They were the first jazz album to ever win the prize, so there were lots of expectations on this next album, and they delivered! If it’s not clear from the title, the album was made to be danced to. It’s still very much based in jazz music, but everything is made to be groovy and upbeat. Now, this is probably my least favorite of the three, but that’s just because I haven’t been in the mood for happy dancing. As the voiceover says on “our element. (Act 3)”, “You can’t be angry and dance.” No, everything hasn’t been terrible in life, it’s just been a busy few days and the day I’m writing this, Trump was in town. So with Trump comes a lot of negativity that even their dance music can’t take away. But still, I can see people of all ages loving songs from here and Ezra Collective’s fandom growing even more!
Favorite Songs: “Ajala”, “God Gave Me Feet For Dancing” (Feat. Yazmin Lacey), “Everybody”
If You Like…: Jazz dance parties
The Dare - What’s Wrong With New York?
Genre: Electro-rock
Review
The Dare is someone who started becoming popular recently after producing the Charli XCX song “Guess”, which itself got a huge boost after a remix came out with Billie Eilish. It became the biggest song from the already iconic album Brat, and it was, in a large part, due to the production from The Dare. To many people, The Dare’s sound will be very reminiscent of LCD Soundsystem’s more upbeat, electronic material. It’s so party-centric that listening to this anywhere besides a club won’t get the full experience. There are some party anthems that I think show his strengths the best! “Perfume” is an infectious anthem with a chorus for the ages! “Girls” is under two minutes long, but the sex-crazed banger shows the grimey, immediate sounds that The Dare excels at. Now, when he starts to get more introspective and slower, it falls apart a little bit. But, there are still quite a bit of highlights that show what The Dare could do both for himself, and for others!
Favorite Songs: “Perfume”, “I Destroyed Disco”, “Girls”
If You Like…: LCD Soundsystem; clubbing on ecstacy
Paris Paloma - Cacophony
Genre: Indie-pop; folk-pop
Review
Paris Paloma was someone I randomly found at Summerfest in 2023, and her spell-binding performance has had me hooked ever since. Her songwriting is beautifully personal and always full of heart, so when I saw she was finally putting out her debut album this year, I knew I had to cover it! Now, to get the negatives out of the way, she does a few things on here that I think a lot of these newer singers should stop doing, especially for their debut album. For example, some of these songs have been out for a year and a half, and there were still singles being released somewhat consistently since the end of 2023 leading up to this album. In my opinion, these extended rollouts and a project half-filled with singles takes a lot of the steam out of debut albums. But, if we take away those obvious flaws, it’s clear that Cacophony is a fantastic look into the music and songwriting skills that Paloma possesses. “Triassic Love Song” is a gorgeous ballad that sounds like something Billie Eilish would’ve written if she was a natural history nerd. “Yeti” is one of those tracks that have been out for over a year, but it’s still a wonderful closer that again shows Paloma’s love for nature metaphors. I do hope we get a more concise and focused album from her at some point, but as of now, Cacophony is proof that she has more to give!
Favorite Songs: “Triassic Love Song”, “Yeti” (Feat. Old Sea Brigade), “Labour”
If You Like…: Billie Eilish ballads; Disney folklore movies
MPH - Refraction
Genre: Electronic; uk garage
Review
I had never heard of this person until I started to see the praise for this album online, and I’m grateful I checked it out because it’s a fantastic electronic album! It feels closer to a DJ set than an album, which is definitely something I enjoy about it. Everything transitions into each other, which helps the entire 53-minute experience just fly by. Even though the songs are similar enough that they can transition into each other, it’s also diverse enough that it doesn’t feel like you’re listening to the same song over and over. Sometimes he’ll add a vocal sample speaking during the verse section, while other times there’ll be a string section introducing the song. It really is an album that you have to listen to as a whole, because most of the songs don’t work as well outside of the full listening experience. But if you’re looking for an easy listening, dance party of an album, definitely check out Refraction!
Favorite Songs: “Funk Master”, “Brainwashing”, “Shoot To Kill”
If You Like…: Dance parties to electronic music; bass
Terrace Martin - Nintendo Soul
Genre: Soul; jazz-fusion
Review
It’s been a while since we got a new album from Terrace Martin! Even though this is his third project this year, the other two are specific genre EPs, this is his first widely spanning project of 2024, and he sounds just as awesome as ever! “Solo” with Arin Ray and Elena Pinderhughes is a beautiful, slow moving jam with a fantastic vocal performance from Arin. Terrace takes the lead himself on “Forever” with 9th Wonder, and hearing him doing a full talkbox-style vocal over a jazz-inspired hip-hop beat brings me back to my highschool days! We did also get one jazz track on here, which is the six-minute closing track, “Love (Crenshaw Mix)”. It eases the listener out of this already buttery album with a plethora of beautiful saxophone and keyboard solos. Sure, Nintendo Soul also isn’t the greatest thing Terrace has ever done, but I’m so glad he’s back with a fantastic release this year!
Favorite Songs: “Love (Crenshaw Mix)”; “Forever” (Feat. 9th Wonder); “Solo” (Feat. Arin Ray & Elena Pinderhughes)
If You Like…: Soulful music; easy listening west coast soul
Nilüfer Yanya - My Method Actor
Genre: Indie-rock; alt-rock
Review
This is the third studio album from Nilüfer Yanya. She’s an indie-rock artist from London that I’m somewhat familiar with. Her 2022 album Painless was a pretty good release, but it didn’t leave much of an impression on me after a week or two. Now, I’m not sure if My Method Actor will make more of a lasting impression since it’s only been a week as of writing, but it does feel like her best release so far! The first thing that comes across is her voice. It’s definitely one of the most sultry voices I’ve ever heard sing indie rock. It sounds like she should’ve been an R&B singer in a different lifetime, but yet it still sounds beautiful over these instrumentals. Speaking of the instrumentals, almost everything on here was done by Will Archer, who absolutely kills it! There are minimalist ballads, but also plenty of heavy distorted chords that would fit a hard rock track. I do want to dive more into the album lyrically when I have more mental capacity, but as of now, the album is a fantastic work from an already pretty solid artist!
Favorite Songs: “Binding”, “Method Actor”, “Ready for Sun (Touch)”
If You Like…: Artsy alt-rock
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