This album is very much not my usual lane. I almost didn’t review it at all, because ambient music is just not my thing. I usually want something with a higher BPM, something that actually moves. But this record showed up on basically every major end-of-year list, and I didn’t want to write it off without giving it a real shot. I’ll say up front that I need more time with this album. This is very much an initial reaction, and I can already tell it’s the kind of project ... read more

Some absolute bangers on this album!

🌟 London Song, iPod Touch, Fuck My Computer, CSIRAC, Infohazard, Battery Death, All At Once

In the unofficial race from TikTok personality to mainstream pop star, Addison Rae clears Alex Warren easily. And that comparison matters, because in contrast to Addison's musical output, Alex’s feels like a near-perfect encapsulation of where culture is right now, and I mean that in the worst way.

2025 has been a genuinely bleak year for culture overall, so it feels almost poetic that I round out this year from hell by reviewing an album like this. The music is all boom-stomp ... read more

It’s undeniably pretty, and her voice is sultry enough to carry a lot of it. I just can’t shake the feeling that something here is a little gimmicky. I can’t fully explain why, but parts of it feel almost too polished, especially the opening track with all the click-clacking. There’s a faint Christmas-ad energy to it, and not in a way that feels intentional or clever.

Maybe it’s the lack of edge or risk, maybe it’s how carefully curated everything sounds, or ... read more

Truthfully, this album just wasn’t particularly compelling to me.

⭐️Kissing in Public

This album opens like the moment gravity finally gives up on you. You’re lifted clean off the ground, weightless, skin buzzing, drifting upward as the world below blurs into clouds and city lights. The gates of heaven don’t swing open so much as breathe apart, and you float through them suspended in deep, overwhelming love, the kind that makes your chest ache and your vision glow. Everything feels vast and tender at once, like you’re hovering above the earth and finally ... read more

I waited to play this until I was on a beach in Florida, and honestly, that was the right call. It’s breezy in the best way, the kind of album that hits like a warm strip of sunlight and goes down easy. I don’t really see myself reaching for it much outside that setting, but for what it’s trying to be, it absolutely works.

🌟 I’m Not Sure, Big Daddy

There’s one thing about this album that pisses me off extra-musically, and I need to get it off my chest: sampling a Janet Jackson song does not mean you have a Janet Jackson feature. Slapping her name on the tracklist for a decades-old sample is so beyond misleading.

Including “WAP” and “Up” on an album released years later just to goose streaming numbers is equally as embarrassing. That’s Khia behavior. That’s Bebe Rexha I’m Good ... read more

The opening stretch is easily the best part. For a moment, it genuinely feels like Michael Jackson reincarnated. Those first three uptempo tracks are spectacular, sharp, kinetic, and fully locked in. Once the album slows down, though, it loses me. This style just doesn’t hit the same at lower tempos, and when those slower songs start to dominate the tracklist, the momentum completely drains.

The bloat makes it worse. The runtime is absurd, and the whole thing starts to feel more like a ... read more

I checked this out because of the Pitchfork buzz, and while I don’t buy it as pop album of the year, it’s a very solid body of work. One rule, though: do NOT listen to this before midnight. This album wants to be played at 1 a.m., alone, driving down a half-empty highway with your windows cracked.

It sounds like cigarette smoke hanging in cold air, fog blurring the glow of street lamps, headlights streaking past on wet pavement after it just rained. The city feels quieter than it ... read more

Can I be honest? Every song here sounds like it would slot perfectly into a Heartstopper episode right between Nick and Charlie kissing. It’s cute, sweet, and very polished, but also weirdly sanitized. Not juvenile, not immature, just… PG. It sits in this in-between space where nothing is risky, nothing is messy, and nothing fully grows up either. Pleasant, but a little too safe to leave much of an impression.

🌟 Can We Talk About Isaac, Judas (Demo)

I decided to take a little detour to the Khia asylum and scheduled a conjugal visit with the asylum's most recent inductee. It's safe to say that after this mixtape, Lizzo is officially being transferred to ALKHIATRAZ with the likes of Katy Perry and Bebe Rexha. There is nothing clever about these lyrics and they are absolutely going to age like milk.

The only real bar is the Candace Owens line on “Still Can’t Fuh,” but the sample is so atrocious it somehow ... read more

Overall, the EP is solid and his flow has honestly never sounded better. I just wish there were more tracks that hit the same high as "HOTBOX."

🌟 Hotbox, Light Again, Dream Boy, Need Dat Boy

A new diva has entered the villa.

🌟 SuperScar, SexOnTheBeat, Go, DeathByDevotion, FinallyApologizing

The Irish Chappell Roan. This record has such a poignant and unique point of view.

🌟 Euro-Country, Take a Sexy Picture of Me, Ready, Three Six Foive

I first listened to this album when it dropped back in February, and coming back to it now, my opinion hasn’t really changed. None of the songs are bad, but outside of “Sugar Water Cyanide,” none of them fully grab me either. They’re solid hyperpop tracks, just not especially catchy or sticky, which is kind of what I want most from a hyperpop release.

🌟 Sugar Water Cyanide, American Doll, Twist the Knife

The best way I can describe this album is BRAT meets Lemonade. It feels like the drunk girl at a party who corners you and starts trauma-dumping about her dad or a toxic ex. Uncomfortable? Yes. But also genuinely compelling. The narrative arc is raw and personal in a way that actually pulls you in. What ultimately holds it back is the sound itself. The melodies and production occasionally drift into bland territory, which dulls the impact of what’s otherwise a really strong emotional ... read more

Fun and enjoyable overall, even if it runs a bit long and drags in the middle. That said, when he really commits to the Latin side, especially salsa, plena, and reggaetón, it delivers some of the best dance-pop tracks of the year. I also appreciate that the album actually has a political point of view and isn’t afraid to sit with it.

🌟 Nuevayol, Baile Inolvidable, Bokete, Café Con Ron, Lo Que Pasó a Hawaii, DTMF, La Mudanza

Maybe my taste just leans too pop for this, but I genuinely don’t get the hype. It shows up on nearly every year-end list and I’m still not sure what everyone else is hearing. Nothing here is actively bad, but nothing ever grabs me either. It’s pleasant, sure, but it drifts by without leaving much behind. No chorus, vocal moment, or production choice really sticks. Honestly, it sounds exactly like the album cover looks: beige. I get the Sade comparisons stylistically, but ... read more

The features and Charli XCX’s writing do most of the heavy lifting. Without them, there’s not much here that sticks.

🌟 Call Me When You Break Up, Ojos Tristes, Bluest Flame