Despite being typified as a helpless wallflower, Lucy Rose is always proactive in her lyrics: her characters are determined, always eager to take the wheel and mend strained relationships, to let go of hurtful things, to really work it out. Her work is forgiveness through song, a call for mutual understanding. But in ‘No Words Left’, Rose needs to forgive herself, and we learn that she’s much less tolerant of her own misdoings.

The differences immediately startle; ... read more

After very nearly hitting the gold-standard with their second LP “Perfect Velvet”, K-pop dynamos Red Velvet seemed unstoppable. At their best, the group was as experimental as K-pop could get: chirpy love songs delivered with steely detachment, sappy ballads transformed into soaring dance numbers, their discography continuously subverted the rigid binary of superficial girl group ‘concepts’ in the build-up to something new. Each new release built upon the last, inching ... read more

There was no way that Carly Rae Jepsen was going to meet everyone’s expectations with “Dedicated”. “E•MO•TION” mythologised Jepsen as some unsung folk hero, worshipped by a newly-established cult whose increasingly performative praise felt more and more disingenuous as time passed, because ‘Jepsus’ herself has never been performative. So perhaps it’s no surprise that in “Dedicated”, she doesn’t bother to reach pople's ... read more

She would have had tough competition last year, but for 2018 Janelle Monáe can rest safe in the knowledge that she released my most disappointing album of the year. Congrats, girl.

Because while 'Dirty Computer' has an important message, it's a message she's delivered three times before, and each was better than this. In a New York Times interview, Monáe claimed that for this record she had ditched the metaphors and narrative arcs surrounding the adventures of Cindi Mayweather to ... read more

It's very tempting to view "Honey" as a total revision of Robyn's style, a shift away from the swaggering fembot from her self-titled and "Body Talk" in order to synthesise a completely new product. But that's not quite right — we have to drop the synthetic imagery altogether, now. Because this is an evolution, a gradual process of growth that happened over a tumultuous eight years, in which the singer broke up (and eventually reunited) with her long-term partner and ... read more

IDLES frontman Joe Talbot claims that the aim of "Joy as an Act of Resistance" is to show the band's vulnerability by offering "a brave naked smile in this shitty new world." But the end product is neither brave nor naked—in fact, it feels downright insincere.

On "Joy...", Talbot endeavours to lay all his social politics out in the open, from Brexit and immigration to religion, to gender roles, and even street violence. A lot to cover in forty-two minutes, ... read more

For all the acclaim and love that Beach House have received over their fourteen-year career, a common criticism aimed at the Baltimore duo is that their sound never really "evolved"; in fact, their last studio LP "Thank Your Lucky Stars" was seen by some as a step backwards to the sounds of their earliest works. While I don't quite agree with either claim, I can certainly see why Beach House's trajectory as a band has been frustrating to some people—rather than ... read more

In "EVERYONE AFRAID TO BE FORGOTTEN", ionnalee declares war on everyone. This is no laughing matter—her very identity as an artist is on the line, and, armed with a fifteen-track arsenal, she tussles with record labels, her fans, the wider public, and even herself. Because after nine years in the public eye, she feels no one quite understands her art.

"SAMARITAN" is certainly her bluntest weapon: a provocative response to idol worship from her own obsessive fandom, ... read more

Realistically I don't think anyone was expecting this to be a stunner — Via Her Representatives seems very much marketed solely with Top 40 aspirations in mind; all of her singles so far stayed hot on chart trends, and as such we've got a standard package of smash-hit "Havana" plus some potential singles and the usual filler meant to show off her voice because we all love to stan a vocal queen!!! 💅💅

Perhaps the most notable aspect of "CAMILA" is its focus on ... read more

BØRNS' debut "Dopamine" drew a lot of comparisons from listeners to the works of Lana Del Rey, and no doubt will his second full-length be viewed in much the same light: "Blue Madonna" is heavily focused on creating a dense atmosphere of blurry synths and reverb-soaked vocals, and the Languid Lady even contributes guest vocals to two of the tracks. To call him simply "The Male Lana" is a little reductive – the warped pop-rock of "Faded Heart" ... read more

The chanting refrain "Et tu, USA! / Et tu, et tu, USA!" at the end of album opener "USA" sums up "POST-" rather well; the current political climate in the US has left many feeling betrayed by their neighbours, families, and colleagues. But in "POST-" the betrayal takes place in the first act, and opens up a narrative of a frustrated and restless society who are desperate for /something/ to change. But what?

Rosenstock fails to come up with a definite ... read more

Though she's been garnering positive critical press over the past year or so, I'm not sure if cupcakKe will ever be taken seriously as an artist, certainly not unless she changes her lyrical style to something much less explicit.

Nevertheless, cupcakKe seems intent on doing whatever she wants without bending to social pressure. As a result, we get lines like "Coochie guaranteed to put you to sleep so damn soon / Ridin' on that dick, I'm readin' Goodnight Moon" and "I remember ... read more