earthquay

Equal parts empowering, witty, and gut-wrenching. Bolt Cutters is strengthened through Apple's intense and differentiated vocals and unique percussive motifs. Apple has an expertise in song-crafting, weaving all the little parts together to make a beautiful album where almost every track is an instant classic. The only weak spot of this album is choosing to end with "On I Go."

Standout Tracks: Shameika, Relay, Heavy Balloon, Cosmonauts, For Her

This album is like a little box of emotion and dancey beats wrapped with a neat little bow. The heavily 80s-inspired production pairs well with Héloïse Letissier's strong vocal performance. It's short but sweet and packs singing in 3+ languages in 22 minutes.

Standout Tracks: Je disparais dans tes bras, La vita nuova

At its best, Bebey is a fun album begging you to dance with it. At its worst, it is an album trying to accomplish too many things at once. The first half of the album is extremely solid and the songs flow well into one another, while the second half is all over the place genre and theme-wise. Theophilus London's production and song-crafting is great throughout the album, but it is undercut by the lack of unity in the track-list.

Standout Tracks: Bebey, Only You, Cuba

As always, Justin Vernon delivers gorgeous vocals over the spacious landscapes he builds. While his continued experimentation with a more glitchy electronic sound is executed well, the genre has become so over-saturated that i,i struggles to stand out in the way 22, A Million did.

Standout Tracks: Holyfields, & Hey, Ma