...and yet with their second single for the forthcoming Being Funny in A Foreign Language, a set of polarizing (yet equally entertaining) lyrics following Part of The Band's more high-brow, serious track, I'm completely captivated this time around by The 1975's feel-good, toe-tapping, and heart-pumping dance hit. Yes, imo, I'm already deeming this a potential favorite among the 11-track LP releasing this fall. Unapologetically sincere and addictively simplistic, Happiness recalls the grand, ... read more

With two years gone by since The 1975's last record, closing the saga of "so many cringes and heroin binges," unsurprisingly a new chapter of Matty's journey as an artist is fronted by this frankly polarizing single—even more head-scratching, for me, than their return with Give Yourself A Try, which seemed to channel a deeply electronic rock sound. This single, however, continues the folk and baroque elements found throughout their discography, the latter of which has been ... read more

[6/25/22] (86/100) — Illusory and yet comprehensible & fantastical while yet relatable, The Grand Illusion functions as a simple yet powerful narrative following a man as he faces disillusionment, hope, and—perhaps most importantly— the uncertain (and sometimes nihilistic) nature of his very purpose in a world perhaps even more mysterious than his own existence. The ambiguous lyricism doesn't behold itself as a down-to-earth coming of age story any more more than a grand ... read more

Listen #1 [undecided/100] — in its 30-track lineup, Maryland's rapper 'anomaly' Logic has produced a modern mixtape that's both reflective and humble despite a challenging journey with Def Jam, the record label that practically injected Logic into the hip-hop mainstream—for better and worse. Though Logic's frustrations towards Def Jam are clearly evident in Vinyl Days, he's equally appreciative of the platform they gave him so he could give himself and his passions to hip-hop by way ... read more

Listen #1 [67/100] (6/15/22) — Hospice somehow shifts fluidly between minimal lyricism to rich imagery and metaphor, conveying somberly (if not down-right depressingly) its primary themes—trauma and death—in a sometimes accessible way for the listener. In its 51-minute runtime, the atmosphere is contained yet presents a rather plump narrative thanks to its aforementioned rich lyricism. With all this considered, however sonically the album wasn't as interesting as the story ... read more

Listen #1 [45/100] (6/5/22) — While i definitely appreciate the range (or at least an attempt to make reaches) Post is trying to flex through the most intimate project of his yet, it's similarly comparable to the sentimentality seen in Hollywood's Bleeding. However, unlike Hollywood, this album struggles to stand toe-to-toe with Hollywood in almost every respect, imo, but nonetheless the heavy tracks throughout the album deserve some level of respect or at least recognition in this buy ... read more

Listen #1 – [60/100]: Unlike Discovery, Human After All has even fewer stand-out tracks/moments, although I can't overlook the otherwise interesting thematic through-line that's simply absent from Discovery. Human After All takes the same sound and elements of what came before it and builds a conceptual narrative around them (albeit with relatively minimal lyrics and a lot more repetition than your average concept album) and seems to decently pull off a timely commentary on the new ... read more

Listen #1 (5/19/22) [65/100]: For me, I discovered a decent amount of golden nuggets, but overall the album didn't excite me much. Of course, I understand the repetitive lyrics and melody is sort of the whole gimmick of this kind of music and takes some warming up to for a full appreciation. So with that in mind, this initial score is subject to change with future listens, and I hope more of the songs grow on me, Anyway, with a mix of hits and misses, this album's a fun time overall but didn't ... read more

Despite the album's shifting tones throughout the runtime, I quickly overlooked this mere gripe (which is even hard to say) in favor of the cinematic production carrying an otherwise simplistic narrative. Acting as a cautionary tale, this album flawlessly explores many kinds of love—and how they shape and direct the MC's life; along for the ride are themes of regret, religion, and identity, all of which establish a haunting yet beautiful character study. Throughout its three-act ... read more

If i had to describe this album in one word, it would be: unpredictable. Although, given their discography up to this point, this seems to be their specialty; while there's no cohesive plot-lines, per se, across BH's discography, what they provide instead are projects that I think serve as respectable alternatives. Speaking of which, that's another term I'd use to describe their music, although "experimental" is more an accurate term, and iridescence is no exception. With a few ... read more

Although this album is generally agreed upon as a culmination of literary allusions to selected Issac Asimov's short stories, I think the album (or more specifically the tracks themselves) isn't necessarily beholden to this general consensus, as the lyricism is vague enough to allow for more than one interpretation, However, the themes and tone of I Robot are rather indisputable thanks to the futuristic, dystopian paranoia seeped in some of the tracks and, of course, the on-the-nose album ... read more

My first concept album of 2022, Sinatra gives an easy but thought-provoking narrative filled with his signature delivery and many emotionally evocative moments. Simplistic and even heart-warming, Sinatra relates a rather melancholy love story that's vague enough to incite intrigue but also presents very matter-of-fact lyricism that's not drenched in metaphor or ambiguity. Going through the modest 10-track LP, the intrigue is appeased slowly through this cinematic (not in grandeur, no) ... read more

Despite the narrative for this album being nothing particularly interesting (maybe even annoying given how saturated music is with this topic in the mainstream), the diverse presentation and super accessible lyrics are definitely worth admiring. I agree with the sentiment that almost every song is considerably different musically (not so much lyrically, though) and this favors the album with at least an intriguing disposition. Though, don't get too excited with what it brings to the table, as, ... read more

By the time you reach this track, you've taken a roller coaster of heaviness, an emotional journey you still don't fully understand (even after multiple returns). The highs have been some of the highest you can remember, and somehow the catharsis has exhausted and simultaneously freed you mentally. You might wonder how she'll top it all off: how could it get any better; how could the highs get any higher, any more emotionally epic? And yet you're overwhelmingly surprised by an epic three-act ... read more

Having only listened to Dawn FM (which is coincidentally seen as a sequel to After Hours), my introduction into The Weeknd's recent sound, which I'm hearing is a "reinvention" when compared to older albums, has been a super pleasant one, with lots of positives to be mined from the two albums combined. Regardless of whether After Hours and Dawn FM are seen two sides of the same coin, they both nonetheless pull off the deeper, retrospective angle of lyricism through their sonically ... read more

To echo a sentiment I made in a separate review: sometimes things need more than one look, more than one chance to be fully understood and therefore fully appreciated, especially things that aren't straight-forward and are instead ambitious and uncomfortable at first. It's so easy to fall into this comfortable trap of evaluating/judging things so quickly when we find ourselves in these situations. My initial listening experience for this album exemplifies what I'm talking about exactly.

The ... read more

Ugh! There's so much word-play, metaphors, similes, etc. that I think my head is gonna explode. Need to give this one a breather and come back for a few more listens. First impressions: this high-concept album seems oddly ahead of its time, or at least it presents itself as some prophetic statement on rap, music, and society in general. Again, there's sooo much to unpack here, but I'm seeing the outlines of everything through the witty lyricism and really engaging instrumentation. Definitely ... read more

Narratively, dressing a rather corny plot with an equally expected theme of teenage angst was definitely an interesting (and ultimately rewarding) move imo. The relateability of the track's themes and tropes definitely services itself as your stereotypical crowd-pleaser. However, it's thanks to the unexpected resurgence of its pop-punk/rock sound that this song is receiving its phenomenal level of praise; not to mention, the radio-friendly, alluring 3-min runtime is a huge appeaser for its ... read more

Being my #1 album by them, years later since my initial listen I still think this album holds up as being an amazing experience every time (although it's been a while since I've actually listened to it from start to finish sequentially). Luscious, dreamy, soaked in instrumentation, this album definitely encompasses everything I love about this artist (but also what I'm currently falling in love with in the world of synth-pop, which is slowly becoming my go-to sub-genre), but also demonstrates ... read more

When compared to its surrounding sibling-albums (Mylo Xylto & Head Full of Dreams), obviously this album might be glaringly confusing or maybe even slightly disappointing for the listener, as its cold, melancholic ambience is heavily contrasted by the grandiose, gushing-with-life world of MX & AHFOD (moreso in the latter). But this stark difference sandwiched between such similar sounds isn't cringe-inducing to me, and is rather an amazing regarding its place in the discography as a ... read more