If this album was merely the first 3 songs and continued on this path - leaning so heavily into the "So" and unapologetically mid-80's funky Brit pop influences - I'd almost respect is more. But once we hit the lead single, As It Was, things run into a massive slow down. It's hard to not credit how it starts, and there's a few small highlights in the midst of it all, but it feels like potential left on the table for an artist that has usually been perfectly fine leaning into the retro ... read more

If "After Hours" was Abel embracing a new sound, this is the mastery of it. It's almost astonishing how much of an impact Dawn FM makes in just it's first eight tracks. If not for things significantly slowing in the final 1/3rd (including the near album-derailing collab with Lil Wayne) this would be sniffing perfection. It really is pop excellence in action.

Gonna be 100%, this is my favorite project from James Blake. It's a perfect merging of R&B, alternative, pop, electronic, and from the opener ("Assume Form"), through the ROSALIA feature ("Barefoot in the Park"), it might be the best 5-song-run of any album in 2019. Purely excellent, from production to hooks to themes and everything inbetween.

There's a joke here but it's just not that funny. I don't understand it - Hobo Johnson was never an artist (by design) that was going to set the world on fire but it seems he decided to meme an album. The whole thing is needlessly...needless. If you got something out of this mess, great, but it's an unmitigated disaster of an album...following up another unmitigated disaster of an album. What more do you even say?

Seriously, what the hell is this? Nelly has always had a certain flair for blending in his southern roots with his music and has been crossing genres for some time, but...what is this? It's music for no one, it sounds awful, and it's just a slog to get through. Hard. Pass.

Kate Bush is constantly in her own genre, carving her own path and remaining much ahead of the times in which she's performing. This is pure pop perfection from start to finish and one of the most wildly influential albums of all time for a damn good reason.

The 1975 through Healy and crew have constantly built upon their own self-referential ethos and pathos, but this is the best they've come to actualizing a pure concept record - which becomes increasingly dystopian on further listens. This is millenial depression at its purest, as songs like "TOOTIMETOOTIMETOOTIME" feel much more *purposely* vapid on repeated listens. Am I looking into this far too deeply? Probably. But it would be a harder sell to tell me this isn't a modern age Ok ... read more

As close to pure sonic perfection as it gets. The more distance from release, the better it has become. Everything has deep, unending symbolism while also, clearly, meaning barely anything at all. The electronic beats and loops, the maddening sorrow in songs like "715 - CREEKS" and "29 #Strafford APTS" and "8 (circle)" are so gripping and eat at your soul. Purely love this album.

I always have a hard time getting into Owen Pallett's work on the first flush but my god, this is just lush, cinematic greatness. Calming, theatrical, moody, lyrically moving, it's astoundingly good right from the drop.

Sometimes, you just need to reign it in. I don't think this is as terrible as some have labeled it, but this has far less of a coherent album concept than "A Brief Inquiry...", borderline insulting the listener with a strong start from "The 1975" and "People" as a punk, political, unapologetic punk album, and then kicking the leg out from under that entire idea by the third song. What sucks even more is there are damn good tracks here ("Frail State of ... read more

Solid beats and Latimore doesn't have a bad flow (albeit he's owing a ton to August Alsina), but nothing really stands out. Although it blends into the background a bit, it isn't a bad record.

Shocking music is much more effective when it at least has some kind of measure of musicality to it. For as intentionally grimey and unappealing as this act has made their image and music (see "Ugly Boy" for it in its purest form), at least it still had enough to say that some people could enjoy it. This feels like trying to chase trends that no longer exist, and it's almost uncomfortably bad. There's no underlying attempt at satire or a message to get behind the attempts to stun ... read more

He can't. [/thejoke]

Blueface's gimmicks are worn as thing as ever when exposed in the context of a full album. The humor doesn't hit, the beats feel like rejects from more worthy projects, and...man, I don't get why Blueface has been allowed to persist in rap's lexicon beyond being a one-hit wonder. Based on how bad this has been received, that position may be soon fading out.

Why does this exist? Whether its a victory lap for Young Thug, or yet another attempt to keep Chris Brown in the lexicon needlessly, there's not even a decent single here. Most unnecessary project of the year thus far.

I...don't get it? This feels like it should've been something very personal for Noah, but it's just a mish-mash of nonsense, that slowly devolves into playlist filler. The album is overproduced and at its weakest when the country and modern pop try desperately to play with one another...and fail. Pass.

Polo G benefits from a pretty damned solid slate of beats, but the further you get past them and the singles that have led Polo's ascendance, the more it seems that there's nothing but a few gimmicks. Lyrics are decent but the flow is just boring as hell. Closest to seeing Polo move beyond his own limitations is the finale with BJ The Chicago Kid, but it takes way too long to get there. I'm sure there's some singles you can turn up to, but beyond that, eh.

It's not offensive but it's ultimately just a bit too middling and generic; I could confuse most of this record for Tove Lo without blinking an eye. Production is still fine but definitely not as transcendent as some suggested this record could have been for ALMA as an artist, but it isn't *bad*, just not very memorable.

If last year's Charli was a declaration of pop music superiority, this is leaning into something more visceral and decidedly anti-pop. Disorienting, jarring, and fully capable of both tapping into anger and depression while making legitimate club (or, in this case, at your own house) bangers, it's Charli XCX at her best. A lot of this album does draw on some of her contemporaries and collaborators (there's a lot of Dylan Brady of 100 Gecs fame present here) but Charli's presence elevates a lot ... read more

"Dizziness" is one of my favorite pop songs of the year but a lot of the rest of this collection feels unfinished, with ideas that never fully form. Grab the singles though, for sure.

It's a depressing and moody bit of songs that's perfect for...well, a moody and depressing year, but due to the subject matter and tambre of things not changing much, it can start to become one note. Still, the clear poetry being developed here is commendable and it's worth a listen.