Just enough of a thematic throughline to tie this jumbled mess of styles and ideas together. Plenty of highlights, but also quite a few sonic deadends.

In a move that will surprise no one, Denzel Curry has released a good album.

A beautiful lounge record that shows Fiona Apple's prowess as a songwriter even at age 19. Not every song is as instrumentally interesting and envigorating as highlights like 'Criminal', and the lyricism isn't as mature yet across the board, but "Tidal" is nonetheless an achievement of sorts.

For a soundtrack, this compilation album preceding "Tago Mago" feels decidedly less cinematic compared to its follow-up. There's still plenty of great ideas here, whether you're talking about shorter cuts like 'Don't Turn the Light On, Leave Me Alone' or the 14-minute 'Mother Sky', but a lot of these tracks feel a little one dimensional.

At the battleground where modern existence and our primal urges irrevocably clash, that is where you'll find "The Downward Spiral". It's spiteful, ferocious, and bleak: all in all, probably one of the most well-crafted Industrial Rock out there.

With "Charm", Clairo expands upon her previous venture into Chamber Pop with a dusty yet warm sonic palette that feels authentic to the soulful music of the 70s whilst subtlely taking advantage of the technological advancements that have occurred since then. It's intimate, but more direct than "Sling" with Soft Rock bangers like 'Sexy to Someone' and 'Add Up My Love'.

Once again, Remi Wolf has made a damn entertaining funky pop album that exudes personality.

With "LOOM", Imagine Dragons present us with a mix of the standard pop tunes that anyone could've written and the unlistenable bombastic trash they are most known for.

Sharp and fluid like the samurai’s blade slicing through the air.

Lil Yachty's evolution as a musician continues, leading to this stellar collaboration with James Blake. Despite these two appearing to be a strange pairing at a glance, "Bad Cameo" is surprisingly coherent, with their two artistic voices blending together spectacularly. Sometimes Lil Yachty's goofiness shines a little too brightly, but ultimately I can't deny how well he works even during the record's most intimate and sober passages. "Bad Cameo" is the ... read more

"We should just take the things I say as truth" - Drake, 2024

I don't know if I should be glad or not that Camila didn't stick with the 'I LUV IT' shtick for this whole album. On the one hand, that song sucks ass, but on the other hand, it's interesting to talk about. The same can't be said for the rest of this album.

"Hey, should we maybe record a moodier song to reflect how scared the flora and fauna of the Valley of the Rainbow are due to the arrival of the Rainbow Goblins?"
"Nah, just keep jamming!"

As much as I want to stray away from tired one-liner reviews, I cannot help but view that "I Want To Disappear" can only be described as 'one of the post-punk albums of all time'...

In a pop landscape where there is no draught of emotionally vulnerable and boundary-pushing music, Gracie Abrams' latest album feels unnecessary.

Haunting, melancholic, and transcendental. A slow, patient siren song that numbs all other sensations and demands your attention as it builds upon itself. This is what the Romans must've been thinking of when they described Thule; the edge of the world, where sky, sea, and soil are no longer separate but blend into one another. If "To Be Kind" forces the listener to look straight into the face of God, "The Glowing Man" sees them walk the land beyond His reach. It's ... read more

Music that reaches highs as high as the tower of Babylon, only to come crashing down in such a spectacular fashion that it shatters the mind and leaves the body breathless. "To Be Kind" isn't just music; it's the frenzied screams of a bacchanal, the hammering down of a wrathful God, the heartbeat of the most primal being. It's frankly difficult to describe it, just as Dante could barely describe what he saw at the heart of the Empyrean. It can only be experienced to ... read more

Well, I'm officially done with university work for the year, which means that I finally have the time to listen to a Swans album all the way through again. Or albums... maybe? Because The Seer is, of course, the first installment in the eponymous trilogy that saw the band release some of their most ambitious and acclaimed material to date.

Like the two albums that followed it, The Seer is large. Gargantuan even. It's two hours of utterly brutal Post-Rock that is both uniquely ... read more

The best breakcore-shoegaze fusion album of 2024

The ultimate "90s kid" album.

"brat" has a real rough charm to it. It's not an amazing pop album, but it feels authentic.