Madonna sacrifices sex for spirituality as she completes her 90s trilogy of transformation from Madam to Yoga Mom.
This spacious album has Madonna's best pop vocal performance, as subtle melodies swirl fully-formed over a bed of electronic ear candy.
For the first time, six studio albums in, Madonna sidesteps rather than strides forward. With lower highs and higher lows than it's predecessor, the album continues Erotica's sonic pallette but gets tangled in its tempo; sultry but slow-paced.
A massive jump in production can be found in this half conventional half weird album. Highlights include the plush pop of "Cherish", a tantric duet with Prince and the raw vulnerability of "Oh Father". Pretty perfect.
There is a clear evolution in the songwriting on the main 4 singles, they feel so indelibly Madonna. The rest of the album is more generic but still enjoyable except the Rose Royce cover which is dull. The Chic production gives it a timeless quality.
It's interesting to hear how much of a club album it is. For dance music, it is very of its time, somewhat too repetitive and the songs are often not interesting enough for the 4/5 minute runtime. However, the compelling instrumentation and catchy hooks did move the dial on pop music, which can't be overlooked.
Encompassing a wide range of sounds; hip hop, bounce, carneval and sub-saharan blues, Disclosure abandon their debut sound to flex their production chops. Released amidst the backdrop of the COVID-19 pandemic , the album bursts with exuberance and joy; a needed pivot to show us they still have it, for the most part.
Guy and Howard create a cohesive, if not relentless, world of dark, smokey synths from which each song forms and then returns. Despite a more impressive roster of collaborators, the duo sound better solo, failing to elevate their guests who entirely consume the Disclosure sound.
By introducing a more subtle baseline and losing the piano, Disclosure create their own garage infused deep house on this record. Razor sharp high hats, liquid synths and soaring strings aid the duo in getting career-defining performances from an array of contemporary British talent.
This is a "must listen" album; the innovation of punk meets hip hop, the precision production of the backward 808s, the rock samples and pop culture nuggets all interwoven into a continuously mixed record which acts as a launch pad for hip hop musicians since, and still, today.
This is not a "want-listen" album; the vocals are brash and irksome, the lyrics juvenile and offensive and the melodies often feel borrowed (NSTB sounds just like Joan Jett). "She's ... read more
Howard abandons the woods for a more spacious sound, with echoing electric guitar licks, bigger vocals and programmed drum beats. At it's best, like on 'End Of The Affair', it can be epic of scale, but often the songs come and go without impression. He feels stuck between pop and hard place.
Howard achieves exactly what he wants; to further isolate fans of his debut my creating these swelling and skin-tingling soundscapes, laced with dower drones and swooping strings, interwoven with a stream of opaque and inaccessible hook-less lyrical poems.
Although I appreciate it's execution, it's not the type of music that would have me coming back for repeat listens.
On his debut, Howard plucks folk infused loops, scored with delicate meolodies; the squeak of the fretboard underscoring the vulnerability of his crooning, and at times whispering, vocals. While the instrumental can over-meander, and the metaphors about nature can wear thin, whether you're in a forest or in an arena, the songcraft here packs an equally mighty punch.
Through all 9 tracks, 49th & Main manage to bottle sunshine, whether it's on the Fontaines DC nodding 'Waster', or the warm house keys of the LF System inspired 'Lovin You'. The album's meander through genre flexes their versatility but also prevents them from finding a common perspective as a project.
On 'Gag Order' the production maps an ever-changing, harsh landscape of abrupt and jagged sounds that represents the artist's isolation, trauma and anxiety. Kesha finds freedom in this open space to practice her best songcraft post-Dr Luke. A steady flow of hooks and choral vocals helps deliver gut-wrenching lyrics, depicting an artist emerging out of the other side.
This festival ready pop seems clearly inspired by the likes of Florence or Birdy, the sing is big and designed to fill space. Across the record, the punches here range from mighty to meak, and while Ridings excels when her lyrics are at their most poignant, the rest of the album treads well worn paths and feels tame, though always pleasant, due to a lack of new ideas.
Amidst an album of dialled up distortion, PQ find a beautiful resonance between their shoegaze stings and haunting harmonies. The best example of this is "Historian" or "House That Sailed Away" in which their vulnerability veers into Sinéad O'Connor territory. While they explore a new blues-infused sound at times, the album ultimately falls victim of it's mid-tempo malaise and the choruses lack the arms-around-eachother's-shoulders anthemic appeal of the debut.
Although this album promises a great live show, the production fails to capture the 6 person strong band with sufficient punch. Melodically, the vocals contribute very little to the songs, such that, it's at it's most interesting when instrumental. I won't come back to this, but may check it out live at a festival.
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