Ged

This album may truly be the most one note, monotonous slog of a project that I've heard this year. Clocking in at almost 2 hours and I struggled the whole way with the only brief relief coming from the brilliant track 'Believe What I Say', a true gem surrounded by really uninspired quasi-trap and drill beats that fail to leave their mark completely. There are some moments where I can hear a little of the magic that made Yeezus so special such as on 'God Breathed on This' which makes it far more ... read more

Big return to form for IDLES after Ultra Mono on this album. The sarcastic biting lyricism is back without any hint of the self fellating backpatting cringe of Ultra Mono. There's definitely a bit of one-notedness about, but when this album is good it's really, really good. I always loved when IDLES were unashamedly aggressive and heavy, and this album definitely has tracks that deliver, such as Car Crash which is up there for my favourite song of the year.

++ Car Crash

THIS BITCH / 10

After Malibu and Ventura I've been waiting for that truly special album from Anderson Paak that would really elevate him, and I really thought that if that was going to happen it'd be on this album. However, this just does not do it for me, it feels far longer than what it actually is, and while it's for the most part quite energetic and pleasant to listen to, this album just is not compelling in the slightest. On top of that, I really feel like this collaboration is far more ... read more

Yeah this is a very pleasant listen, some of the most easy listening and straightforward songs that Sufjan has ever released. I do think that this album is a little front loaded though, towards the end of the album my interest was starting to wane a little. I feel like if this album was released earlier back in the summer that I would have loved this album a lot.

++ Back to Oz