Salyrus

Simple yet enticing. Short and approachable yet carrying lots of depth and emotion. Really enjoyed this!

I appreciate the instrumentals and the clear display of skill and talent but I found this to be a boring album. It's too long, with too many songs. It was impossible for me to sit and listen to this in any meaningful way. It hasn't landed at all, perhaps it would with a third or fourth listen, but frankly I doubt there will ever be a third listen.

Favourite track: The Predatory Wasp of the Palisades Is Out to Get Us

Moroccan-Dutch indie artist Roufaida debuts with an interesting mix of Western-style modern pop with North African and Arabic influences. She switches between English, Arabic and Tarifit Berber seamlessly on this 22 minute EP. Sometimes it's even hard to tell at all what language she is singing. All-in-all a very unique experience. Recommended!

Extremely uninspiring and generic. Ghost have never been a top tier band, but at least their older albums were enjoyable, they tried new things and had their unique shtick, a lot darker sound with some complexity in the song structure and the sound. Then came IMPERA, with the most boring pop rock I heard in 2022. And this is somehow even worse. It's hard to believe this is the same band that released Meliora.