The lyrics aren’t always the best, and the vocal deliveries can falter a bit in quality at times, but the production on most songs is killer, and the flow of the album from track to track is great as well. The albums’ brisk length ensures that few songs overstay their welcome, and Dev Lemons also did a good job at not cutting any tracks too short in my opinion. I do think that the softer and more lowkey tracks lack some of the potency that the rest of the project has, but even with ... read more

This thing goes for a pretty messy and unconventional sound, which makes some songs uniquely enjoyable, but the way it goes about it leaves many others feeling pretty uninteresting or even a little annoying to listen to. The vocals kind of get on my nerves on a few songs, but they do work well on most others. The writing can be quite charming at times, but can also feel pretty forced in trying to be quirky or funny, or can just feel very rushed. I do respect the oddity of this record to some ... read more

Inventive production and sound design, with lots of bizarrely dark soundscapes crafted on many of these tracks. Despite how much is often going on and rapidly changing sonically, many songs still give you a good amount of room to breathe, which makes some songs less compelling for me, but at the same time makes others more uniquely captivating. The writing is solid for the most part, and the same can be said about the vocals, which range from chaotic and shouty to more sung or even spoken word ... read more

Bland, flavorless, and over the top instrumentals, slightly annoying vocals, and very mid and cringy writing. The melodies feel so bog standard for pop music, and most integrations of other genres and instrumentation just feel randomly thrown in, and often only serve to make these songs even more grating. Even with all my issues with this project, it definitely could be much worse, and there still is the occasional decent creative decision or tolerable enough moment. Unfortunately though, that ... read more

A bright, colorful, and sugary sound that’s easy and very pleasant to digest. It can feel a bit too sickeningly sweet at times, though the more personal and darker lyrics do help to counteract that, and add more depth to the record as well. I have my qualms with certain elements of the album here and there, but the experience it provides is consistent in quality and enjoyability, and it makes for a pretty great project that resonates with me quite a bit.

Lots of fun tempos and grooves throughout the album, with quite wonderful vocals and some solid instrumentation as well, even with its occasionally cluttered production. The writing here is slightly spotty for me, though I would say there’s more good than bad, and it all works well enough regardless. Despite my enjoyment of many tracks here, most of them overall leave me wanting something more from them, whether that be more progression or just a different sound compared to the rest of ... read more

The concept of this album is super sick, and it’s a unique experiment that makes for a very fun and quite easily replayable project. Despite the randomized order, each track flows surprisingly well into one another, especially with crossfade enabled. Some of the instrumentals can be a bit generic or lacking at times, though that’s not to say there aren’t plenty of great moments and effective ambient tracks along the way, because there certainly still are. Even if some tracks ... read more

Constantly gorgeous and enticing vocals all throughout, which perfectly compliment the incredibly dynamic and colorful instrumentals present across every single track. The writing is engaging and very fitting alongside all other aspects of the album, and the production and pacing of the record is fantastic as well. The sound and tone of this thing is exactly what I would hope for from the genre, leaving me both impressed and immensely satisfied at nearly every turn. All elements of this album ... read more

Such an impactful and haunting sound and atmosphere, with powerful lyrics and deliveries by Moor Mother on top of some fantastically creative instrumentation by Sumac. Whether it’s a long or short track, each song offers something distinct yet equally as potent and engaging as the last, and doesn’t often waste any time along the way. Despite some moments feeling slightly less impactful during the last leg of the record, It’s a uniquely incredible combination of sounds and ... read more

Lots of high octane instrumentals and powerful vocal performances, with a strong driving force behind it all. I find that the album tends to work better when it goes for an especially intense and aggressive sound, though the more punk-centered songs still contain plenty of energy, and are still carried out nicely. It’s a very enjoyably noisy project, with a crazy good closing track to top things off.

I love how minimalistic and unobtrusive the beats often are on this project, as it naturally makes me focus much more on Aesop Rock’s great lyricism and deliveries. That’s not to say the instrumentals are weak or lazy though, as they are still very punchy and attention grabbing on every track. There’s lots of bizarre and unique lyrical topics here too, which make for some very fun and engaging songs, and also help to keep the album from feeling like it’s dragging on or ... read more

Such an alluring and otherworldly album that pulls me in right from the start. The sound of this thing is often changing lots within each track, but every shift and new addition feels very natural, yet still unique, creative, and unpredictable. Although no song struck me quite as effectively as the opener, I still find lots of wonderfully mystical soundscapes and textures throughout the rest of the album, which makes for a really strong ambient project, surprisingly so to me given how long ago ... read more

Very sunny and pleasant sound across all tracks, with some nice instrumental loops and samples adding to the vibes. I do think that some of the samples aren’t always the most fitting though, but most of the time they still serve their purpose well enough to add to their respective track. I also feel that some songs don’t have enough progression to fully keep my interest all the way through, which I acknowledge is likely at least partially a personal issue, given the fact that the ... read more

Wonderfully entrancing atmospheres that are different in their sound and tone on each song, but are all close to equal in their fantastic execution. The trip hop elements are a very welcome addition to the tracks they appear on, and the same can be said for the many synths and electronics that often accompany Madonna’s beautiful vocals. I suppose a few tracks hold my attention slightly less than others, but that really doesn’t dampen my overall enjoyment much. It’s super ... read more

An interesting experiment of a project, with plenty of changes and developments in the swirling soundscapes as each track progresses. There’s also a lot of variation in the creative ideas and sounds this album provides, which helps give each song its own identity, and helps keep them relatively interesting despite their long lengths. Some segments felt like they were cut a bit short, whilst others felt like they dragged on a little too long, but the end result leads to some pretty solid ... read more

If there was more cohesion within the chaos then a handful of these songs would likely be pretty solid, but most of this album just feels very half baked, and doesn’t really offer much outside of some cool sounds and experimentation. The lyrics are pretty bland for the majority of the project as well, though there are some occasional highlights throughout. I think the band pulls too much from its influences and combines elements of those sounds together quite sloppily, leading to music ... read more

An album with uniquely enticing vocals and many captivating moments that make it quite intriguing to me. There’s lots of very intricate writing that works well at making each song more compelling as well, and regardless of the fact that the instrumentals range in quality a bit between tracks for me, they almost always work well alongside the pretty vocals Judee provides. I have a few issues with the mixing at times, and some tracks just aren’t as interesting or memorable as the ... read more

Unnecessarily dramatic and annoying writing lacking in any real substance, and full of uninteresting ideas and shitty, generic, and flavorless instrumentals and production. A couple tracks are slightly less painfully boring and grating to listen to, but even those are very far off from being anything actually worth your time, and don’t come close to making up for how torturous the rest of the album is.

SPELLLING does a great job at transitioning to a more rock oriented sound while still carrying over all the touches of beauty and magic that made their last project so wonderfully enchanting. Not every song hits me equally as hard, and the album does lose a little bit of steam towards the end, but even the weakest tracks here are often still pretty greatly enjoyable and convincing in their sound, which all leaves this as a very satisfying record for me as a whole.

A batch of tracks that start off strong, but pretty quickly migrate into more mid territory for the rest of the album. The second half of the album in particular doesn’t switch things up all that much between tracks, leaving everything sounding a bit bland and uninteresting, leading to the overall sound of the album becoming pretty repetitive as it goes on. This record definitely had a good amount of potential, but given its flaws and somewhat lazy production, it unfortunately ... read more