Poppie Platt
There are plenty of artists who make music occupying the same space as Mitski – reflective, weepy, introspective – but she stands alone in her lyricism and heart; on this album, she also seems less frightened by the potential fruits of her own talent.
There are a few tracks that could be spicier (Envy the Leaves, At Your Worst), but overall, Silence Between Songs seems like the album Beer has been wanting – and waiting – to make for a long, long time.
The Drivers License singer’s second album is a precision-made slice of Gen Z melancholia – but her lyrics sometimes stick in the throat.
Overall, Snow Angel is a confident, accomplished debut, possessing the makings of a fabulous 21st century popstar. If Rapp continues to inject her music with the natural wit we’ve seen on television, we’re in for a treat.
Swift's re-record flaunts how much her vocals have improved, but fans will be disappointed with her revisionist take on Better Than Revenge.
As far as fonts go, you can’t get much more status quo than Times New Roman. It’s a canny title – QOTSA now know what is expected of them after a decade of commercial appeal: rock ‘n’ roll that’s not too heavy, lyrics that aren’t too vicious.
The blend of genres means that he doesn’t fully manage it here, but, other than Styles, it’s evident he has the most promising future outside of One Direction.
Joy’All seems like the work of an artist content with floating through life, just having fun – and she’s brought us along for the ride.
My Soft Machine lacks the clarity of Parks’s exceptional debut, and can veer too often into repetition; there’s a lack of journey in the individual songs, meaning you end in much the same place as you started. Her lyrics are, as ever, expertly crafted, but they deserve much more musical supporting oomph.
Listening to their sixth studio album This is Why, 13 years on, it’s striking to reflect on how much Paramore have changed. This is an album filled with bops, markedly more pop than punk, although there remains an alternative edge.
Sometimes, Forever, though on the whole a rockier, more grown up record, still has its moments of teenage innocence: Shotgun and Feel It All The Time seem like continuations of the biggest singles from color theory, royal screw up and circle the drain, that became sad anthems for disenchanted youth.
After ‘quitting’ music in 2019, the emotionally-charged Japanese-American singer is back, and sounding better than ever.