The concept here is perhaps stronger than the execution - Marisa Anderson's playing is sharp, but her compositions are perhaps a little too languid and repetitive to really get the point across. The strongest tracks are able to create a compelling atmosphere, but some of them left me wanting a little more development.

Favorites: "Hamd", "Sarvi Simin", "Pair of Duduk"

The craft on display here is insanely impressive, with Ngonda's stunning voice blending perfectly with the lovingly-recreated old-school instrumentation... but at some point I had to wonder what it's all in service of. The songs themselves are at times a little lacking, with lyrics and chord progressions that feel like we've already been there, done that. Four of ten songs here have the word "love" in the title, and while that's accurate to the music Ngonda is ... read more

I am perhaps not the most qualified to talk about metalcore as it's never been my scene, but I played this on a whim and had a lot of fun with it. Urgent, sludgy, and cathartic!

Favorites: "Dream Debris", "Hum of Hurt", "I Won't Let You Go"

Nope. I don't like his awkward, strained singing voice, I don't like his blown-out production, and I ESPECIALLY don't like his lyrics, which range from cringy to skeevy to genuinely kinda reprehensible at times. That weird-ass line about bi girls on the second track immediately made me turn my nose up, and things didn't get better from there... credit for a few decent grooves, but if you're ever at a party with this guy you should keep an eye on your drink.

Favorites: ... read more

Pleasantly surprised here! Grace Enger's music isn't quite refined or consistent yet, but she has legit talent and is taking some pretty big swings compared to her acoustic confessional pop girl peers.

...man, I can't believe billionaire plant Stella Lefty gets to be the famous one instead of her. We still have time to correct this grand injustice!

Favorites: "Falling For You Anyways", "All My Songs", "Undiscovered"

It might not be quite as captivating as Dark Times, but it makes up for that with pure fun factor and blunt, coiled commentary. Definitely a highlight of the year for me so far.

Favorites: "The Big Bad Wolf", "Cotton", "White Flag"

I always appreciate an album that feels like it's really going for broke! There's a crackling joy to Francis of Delirium's music, and their work here is brought to life with huge choruses and busy-but-cleanly-mixed instrumentals. Combine that with ear-catching confessional lyrics, and you get a real highlight of the year that I hope doesn't fly under the radar. Yes, this kind of indie rock isn't necessarily bringing much innovation to the table... but when the hooks are ... read more

Concise, pretty, and well-written little folk album. Greg Mendez's soft touch is perhaps sometimes a little TOO soft - some of these songs might be more memorable with a little extra meat on the bones - but he certainly accomplishes what he's trying to do here, and it makes for a nice, wistful listen overall.

Favorites: "It Breaks My Heart", "Sunsick", "So Mean"

"Avalanche of Snow", "Rock o' Stone" yeah man that's usually what those things are made of. Funnily enough, those are both among my favorite tracks here - I like this ramshackle, jammy mode that Kurt Vile is operating in here, even if some of these tracks run a little unnecessarily long.

Favorites: "Rock o' Stone", "Avalanche of Snow", "You don't know cuz it's my life"

A fun, high-energy showcase of Freddie's rap skills, with some cool production to boot. Feels like a warm-up for a more expansive project, though!

Favorite: "Immigrants"

This is competently made, but that's a little backhanded - there's truly very little going on here in terms of creativity or boldness. If you like spacey guitar-driven indie pop, this project will deliver exactly that and nothing more. All that being said, the production is really sharp and there are some neat hooks that elevate this a little above an entirely average level - "Seventeen" is the immediate standout, and it's not the only catchy track here.

Favorites: ... read more

I think I spent this whole project waiting for Dua Saleh to truly let loose, but it never really happened. She's a great poet and these songs generally sound excellent, but they're so short that the concepts are rarely given time to develop. There's a lot of potential here (and it hits a fairly strong run in the second half), but at only 26 minutes, it still feels like something is missing.

Favorites: "Keep Away" feat. Bon Iver, "Speed Up", "Glow" ... read more

As someone who really enjoyed her last project The Good Witch, I was frankly rather worried about this one: the singles seemed to cast off her unique, quirky songwriting and all-over-the-place pop sound in favor of a more generic folky atmosphere with uninspired, broadly-sketched lyricism. In retrospect, at least some of this seems like a bit of label fuckery. This album rollout was absolutely excruciating, with Maisie's management throwing five singles at the wall (most of them being ... read more

There are (very!) good songs here, but the returns on this sort of blatant heartland worship have been diminishing over the course of the last couple projects. The Bleachers project is stuffed so full with Jack Antonoff's personal "lore," which comes at the cost of the more relatable writing the early projects could carry.

Favorites: "we should talk", "upstairs at els", "dancing"

Generally pretty enjoyable, Zay Dante is a charismatic performer and brings a lot of energy to these songs. Other than some slightly dodgy production, the main issue is a lack of ambition in the lyrical topics - these songs are pretty tropey and straightforward, with the notable exception of obvious standout "SIX". Even then, that song's conscious commentary is somewhat undermined by lyrics on the songs around it which play into some of the rhetoric it's attempting to call ... read more

Haunting and lush political alternative hip-hop from a Romanian group that's been honing their craft for years now. Production-wise, this might be their most consistent project yet. There are still moments where I wish they went a little harder on the atmosphere, but overall this is some extremely unique stuff worth checking out.

Favorites: "Balada Barbarului", "Ethos", "Frunzulita Ruginie"

A true breath of fresh air after listening to those three Drake albums lmao. The second half doesn't have quite the fire of the first, but there's still so much to love here. Owusu's rip-roaring production and urgent delivery is just SO engaging.

Favorites: "THE WORLDWIDE SCOURGE", "BIG DOG", "PIRATE RADIO"

The worst of the triptych, for reasons so blatant that I don't even really wanna list them. If the lyrics on Habibti had me repeatedly telling Drake to fuck off, these mostly had me saying "...what the hell are we even doing here???" And if he was too old to pull off the immature relationship writing on that other project, then he's DEFINITELY too old to make any of THIS work. Grow up, Drake.

Favorites: "Stuck", "Which One" feat. Central Cee

There's one moment on his album where I actually felt a little bit of sympathy for Drake: the penultimate track "Fortworth", a clumsy-but-sort-of-emotional ballad about clinging onto a likely-doomed long-distance relationship in the middle of a lonely tour. That's the only moment in which I heard the old Drake's appeal creeping through just a little bit. But then the very next song is some of the most misogynistic drivel Drake has ever written, and that just about sums ... read more

This is some of Drake's best beat selection in ages, which makes it all the more frustrating that it's handled so sloppily. A lot of these songs have a truly great instrumental with a horrendous vocal mix lazily slapped on top, shockingly shoddy stuff. And the material is pretty rough too, with the first half of the album essentially consisting of a bunch of normal Drake songs about normal Drake topics, with haphazard disses vaguely thrown in here and there. The second half gets more ... read more