B0AH: In Between the Sky and the Stars
Genre: Indie Rock
Label: Independent
Score: 8.2
On his remarkably assured self-released project, the independent auteur orchestrates a dazzling, psychedelic masterclass in electronic pop, proving that high-concept experimentation can still be an absolute thrill to sit through.
In the current landscape of independent music, the term "experimental" is too often used as a shield for lack of structure—a hall pass for loose sketches and ... read more
Lizzo: BITCH
Genre: R&B
Label: Atlantic
Score: 3.0
In a desperate bid to reclaim the narrative following years of public relations turmoil, Lizzo’s new album runs aground on a sea of stale self-help clichés, moral contradictions, and an alarming lack of musical hooks.
There was a time when Lizzo’s brand felt like a beacon of radical optimism. At the height of Cuz I Love You (2019), her formula of empowering pop-funk and unbothered swagger worked because it perceived as ... read more
Ariana Grande: hate that i made you love me
Genre: Pop
Label: Republic
Score: 5.6
Ariana Grande has built an empire on stratospheric vocal acrobatics and colossal pop production. Because of this, her new single, "hate that i made you love me," feels initially jarring. In a pivot away from the majesty of her previous eras, Grande strips back the expansive synths to venture into decidedly minimalist territory. It is a bold change of direction, but one that ultimately feels quite ... read more
Kim Petras: Detour
Genre: Pop / Electronic
Label: Independent
Score: 8.8
For an artist who has spent the better part of a decade navigating the labyrinthine, often suffocating machinery of major-label pop, emancipation can sound terrifying. But on Detour, Kim Petras’s inaugural release of her newly minted independent era, freedom sounds like a beautifully controlled detonation. It is, without question, her best work to date—a masterclass in balancing pure, unadulterated club ... read more
Adam Snebold: I Hear A New World
Rating: 7.7
Label: Independent
Genre: Art-Pop / Glitch / Progressive Rock
To title an album I Hear A New World is to invite immediate comparison to Joe Meek’s 1960 outer-space masterpiece. But where Meek looked to the moon with a telescope, Adam Snebold seems to be looking into a microscope, examining the digital frayed edges of our current reality. On his latest project, Snebold crafts a sonic landscape that is as much an architectural feat as it is a ... read more