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

I've always liked MUNA but rarely loved them - there's always a bit of distance between appreciating their craft and never fully being blown away by the actual songs themselves, which occasionally end up feeling a little rigid. That still describes how I feel about this project for the most part, but I'm definitely sensing a little more ambition in their song structures and writing. This is some of their best stuff yet!

Favorites: "So What", "Eastside Girls", ... read more

Miscellaneous uncs still got it! I'd like to give a warm welcome back to David Newfeld, who has helped deliver the best-sounding BSS album in two decades. After such a long absence, I was worried this album wouldn't "sound like Broken Social Scene," whatever that means, but my fears were unfounded: this project stays true to the band's communal spirit and ragged lush-ness while still finding just enough new ground to cover. It's a legacy project, for sure - it ... read more

Extremely up my alley. Mon Rovia's indie folk sound is sometimes a more sophisticated brand of stomp-clap, sometimes a Carrie and Lowell era Sufjan guitar-plucking pastiche, all in the service of some truly harrowing storytelling about his upbringing in war-torn Liberia. It's a unique marriage of sound and subject matter that absolutely stood out to me, even when the second half of the album leans into some more generic textures.

Favorites: "Somewhere down in Georgia", ... read more

It's sort of difficult to get notably excited about an American Football release in 2026 - they just kind of sound the same way they always have, with more nocturnal yearning in the instrumentals and more irritating vocals this time around - but the baseline of quality and style is still quite good. I wish I had a little more to latch onto here.

Favorites: "Patron Saint of Pale", "Wake Her Up" feat. Wisp, "Bad Moons"

I love the way this brings back some of the quirkier, wittier energy Kacey Musgraves used to be so well known for. Some of these songs still end up a little overly mellow, but it's overall a hoot.

Favorites: "I Believe In Ghosts", "Horses and Divorces" feat. Miranda Lambert, "Rhinestoned"

It's too damn long, the themes/imagery are too repetitive, and the final stretch feels oddly tacked-on... but Noah Kahan has grown so much as a writer since the last project that I couldn't help but fall in love with this anyway. Despite the easily-identifiable issues, there are plenty of extremely strong individual moments. At least one song will inevitably end up preposterously high on my year-end list.

Favorites: "American Cars", "Willing and Able", "The ... read more

I ended up feeling generally positive about "Hell for a Basement" but this does not have me feeling so charitable. I'm not sure what happened with the mix quality between these two projects, because this EP is kinda brutal to listen to: it's so blown-out and messy compared to the full-length project, with the vocals in particular failing to find any sort of pocket. Props for a little more vocal expression on the final track, but otherwise this is mostly unpleasant stuff. I ... read more

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this project, but I think I've landed on a vaguely positive impression. I do still have reservations, with the main one being the vocals: Alex generally struggles to carry the emotion that this production style seems to demand. It's not a bad thing to sound like the guy from Beirut, I'm just not sure it meshes very well with these loud, varied instrumentals. Combine that with some fairly disjointed song structures, and I was initially ... read more

A lot of fun as usual, even if there's a couple overproduced/messy tracks and the flow gets interrupted a few times too many.

Favorites: "Mon Amour", "Sauna", "I Could Get Used To This"

I'm not surprised this has gotten somewhat of a muted reception, but I really connected with it. Murkage Dave deftly captures the disillusionment of everyday life through his sharp, conversation lyricism, and it makes for a listen that's both consistently entertaining and thought-provoking. Sure, a couple production choices may feel a little out-of-place or underdeveloped, but it never detracts from the album's impeccable flow. It's very likely to land among my favorites of ... read more

An extremely competent project, but I do mean that in a slightly backhanded way. Holly Humberstone is a good vocalist and the production is very consistent and pretty, but I'm not sure how often her writing style works in context.

These 80s-inspired synthpop palettes are often beautifully done ("White Noise" is a really fun Wham! pastiche, for one), but the muted energy doesn't fit every song concept. "Drunk Dialling" is the most straightforward example: there are ... read more

I think I would've preferred this to be an instrumental album - Picton's voice (and the way it's been layered here) simply does not work for me, and I'm not sure his lyrics do either. That said, the acoustic instrumental palette is super unique and appealing, and I really like the more expansive songs that have time to explore a lot of concepts.

Favorites: "Actress", "Heart of Darkness", "Love Story"

This honestly hasn't really been a kind of music I've been able to connect with since I was a lot younger, but it was a reasonably fun project regardless. The social commentary is perhaps comically blunt, but the core melodic writing is strong throughout and the genre fusion is much better than some of their peers.

Favorites: "Shipwrecked!", the whole "Spaceship Earth" sequence

Not really something I see myself going back to often, but a pleasant listen overall. Sinclair leans heavily on some chord progressions that have been absolutely done to death in the past, but his songwriting is otherwise fairly sharp and his guitars sound great.

Favorites: "chemical smile", "dust to dust"

Really solid stuff. The danger of this brand of languid dream-pop is that it can get repetitive and stale, but this album's song structures are varied and interesting enough to keep that from happening. The instrumental arrangements here are layered and gorgeous throughout.

Favorites: "Alfie", "Alma", "Blue Ribbon"

Honestly kinda stunned this one isn't getting more buzz cause I was really impressed. Auder's voice is mesmerizing, and the instrumentals here are lush and gorgeously-arranged. I can see why it might not click with everyone, but it certainly clicked with me.

Favorites: "praxis", "yes", "say nothing"

Extremely well-crafted, if a little one-note. Gets a little slow in the second half, but the instrumentals remain impressive the whole way through.

Favorites: "Get Go", "Senses" feat. Sampha, "Nightswimming"

Whoa. My streaming algorithm knows me too well because I'm immediately in love with this. It's the first I've heard from Florence Road and I'm certifiably hooked. This group has so much energy, and they're expressing it really well with varied song structures and really powerful vocals. There's more to dig into in these four tracks than in many of their peers' recent full album releases in this genre space. It's a really excellent EP, and I hope it serves ... read more

Well, if Harry Styles doesn't wanna be our new gen Phil Collins anymore, I guess Charlie Puth is as good a guy as anyone to pick up the mantle!

This looks particularly embarrassing right next to my middling RAYE review from earlier this week, but yeah, I thought this was pretty enjoyable. Charlie has always been a talented, vaguely likable guy with... inconsistent instincts that are often difficult to stomach, so with this project he made a good choice: emulating an older genre that ... read more