While his 2015 Brainfeeder release The Epic covered a lot of ground and was massive in scope, Heaven and Earth is a more tightly wound mechanism, encapsulating Washington's imagination and emotion in finely packaged ethereal harmonies.
High As Hope is a true pop album. Not as stylish as How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful (2015), it expresses a more mature, unhurried tempo for the pop outfit.
In the case of Lush, the debut album by Snail Mail, confessional doesn’t translate to cheesy or cliched; clearheaded would be a better word for 19-year-old Lindsey Jordan’s music. Yes, her lyrics are intimate and soul-baring, and her music easily fits into the jangly indie-rock category, but there’s something refreshingly unwavering and straightforward about her approach.
What resonates the most from the ten songs on offer here is Ashcroft’s unbridled love of songwriting. He injects the ten songs here with a musical joie de vivre that, while certainly manifested across its precursor albums, achieves full, fantastic bloom on Natural Rebel.
Czarface Meets Metal Face doesn’t reinvent the wheel and it really doesn’t need to. There’s just something to be said for all three emcees delivering the exact type of album that their longtime fans hoped that this collaboration would bring.
In short, Golden is unequivocally something that Minogue can be proud of.
Perhaps what’s most encouraging is that while Hive Mind elevates and updates their formulas, it’s still very clearly not the band’s final step.
Book of Ryan conveys a lot of pain, but Royce balances it with moments of nostalgia and encouragement.
Someday Marauder will probably matter, but it’ll be for the glimmers that suggest all is not lost. And so, I await album number seven from this capable band while conceding these last two have certainly tempered my expectations toward anything new.
Primal Heart is solidly compelling pop. A middle ground between a noisier Lorde-style sound and stripped down FKA Twigs vocals, Kimbra has quietly released an incredibly strong album.
God’s Favorite Customer is less than half the length of his 2017 LP Pure Comedy but the details are still there, Tillman’s verbose nature still intact.
Mitski’s Be the Cowboy is a fabulous album, one you didn’t know you needed. More comfortable with her anxieties, and articulating them beautifully, she has taken a pop turn on her fifth studio affair. She is more playful, content with her discontentedness, but still deeply feeling.
Musgraves is considered one of the standout voices of modern country and with good reason. Golden Hour is well-crafted and as pleasant as an early sunrise.