The record is disjointed, uniformly shambolic and irritating in its inconsistencies.
The album title may be as clichéd as it comes, but California Nights is the sound of the band developing a full comprehension of exactly what Best Coast can be.
It’s up there with Blur’s best albums, and a reminder of just how well the band reconcile their divergent ideas.
Melbourne, Florida is a mature, confident record, taking the band out of the old neighbourhood and into the world.
It can at times be a head-swirling, disorientating listening experience but ultimately it’s a kaleidoscopic trip through psychedelic musical pop art.
_ I Don’t Like Shit, I Don’t Go Outside_ doesn’t stand out for advancement for Sweatshirt or the rap genre, but offers something the other releases lacked – a human relatability.
The expectation was there for a good return to form from a band that always followed their muse no matter how much it threatened to derail their commercial potential. The reality is they’ve far exceeded that with Sol Invictus, an album that in its finest moments matches the best of their golden years.
An intimately close-to-the-bone emotional exploration that not only fulfills his potential that was glimpsed three years ago, but trumps the folk masterpieces of his old outfit through sheer conviction.
It might not succeed as well as select predecessors; but, as an album, Why Make Sense? allows for the band to be interesting, to be relevant and – perhaps the most important of them all – to be them.
To Pimp A Butterfly is like a modernist novel, one that rewards re-reading, comes with unreliable narrators, has lengthy interior monologues, and embraces a grand narrative.
Short Movie plays very much like an album of seeking rather than settling down, of picking away curiously at life choices rather than committing to one.
Prass’s winsome coo is a beautiful instrument, and the way her melodies dance and soar can be sublime, but the lyrics fall just a little short of the level that everything else on the record achieves effortlessly.
There’s so much of the band’s past in here, from their spikiest hostility to their sleekest accessibility, but they also seem to be rewriting the rules as they go, which makes this album just fine for newcomers too.
You won’t walk away humming the tunes, but Carrie and Lowell will stay with you. Sufjan has prettier albums, and sweeter albums, but none has the impact of Carrie and Lowell.
If you need something to keep you company while you lick your wounds, Range Anxiety will do very nicely indeed.
We have arrived at a notable highpoint for both Nielson and the rest of the Orchestra. Multi-Love marks their best LP yet.