This is like so funny. I really dislike her as a person but I think this is a really fun gimmick.
Somewhere along the lines of their history, MUNA started calling themselves “the best band in the world.” Not the best synthpop band, or the past queer band, but the best, period. It’s a tall order for three people who make excellent pop music, a genre that, for most people, doesn’t hold a lot of weight or seriousness. But MUNA makes pop music, and even though they’ve done it for almost a decade now, it was surprising to hear the synths and pulsing beat that kicks ... read more
A decade ago, Kacey Musgraves was an odd duck. Emerging into the country scene of the 2010s, a heterosexual and homogenous crowd of bros, she stood out by writing songs about smoking weed and being okay with gay guys. With sharp songwriting and a honeyed voice, she was able, on her first two albums, to shoot daggers, always getting away with her “aw, shucks!” demeanor.
Then came 2018’s Golden Hour, a glittering, enveloping record about a vast and powerful love, the ... read more
Why haven’t there been more Italian popstars?
It’s a relatively minor pool of talent, despite Italy’s overpowering contributions to culture, fashion and art. After winning 2021’s Eurovision contest for “Zitti e buoni”, rock band Måneskin rested on a different song, a cover, “Beggin’”, then faded away. Lady Gaga and Madonna (Stefani Joanne Angelina Germanotta and Madonna Louise Veronica Ciccone, respectively) have Italian heritage, ... read more
RAYE should have just written a musical.
Her new album, THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE., is bursting at the seams to be something other than a flat experience attained through headphones or speakers. It clamors for the stage and reaches for the stars with its spoken word interludes, overwhelming grandiosity, feel-good messaging, and wordy dialogue that resembles bad, presumptuous slam poetry, whether through the intro (Allow me to set the scene / Our story begins at 2:27 a.m. on a rainy night in ... read more
It’s fitting that the most provocative—and perhaps best—song on Sexistential, Robyn’s first album in eight years, revolves around a line about perpetual anxiety. “This shit is existential,” the Swede and new mother sing-raps on the title track, a deadpan, staccato rap where she regrets impulse Etsy purchases and dishes with her IVF doctor over finding Adam Driver sexy. “I’ve been on Raya while on IVF,” she raps, “PTSD from all the ... read more