Charli XCX’s claim that her music isn’t political is a little ironic considering that she, as a public figure, definitely was- in 2024, her image became the figurehead of modern liberal optimism that crashed and burned with the reelection of Donald Trump. This gives her music some amount of socio-political relevance, regardless if she wants it to or not.

“SS26” is much more compelling than “Rock Music,” but it carries a similar, worrying trend of submitting ... read more

"Imitation of Imitation of Life" by R.E.M. is what this is. I would respect Dracula a lot more if it didn't poorly ape a much better music video.

Most dishonest video in pop music. It would work well with the absolutely-not-sorry-at-all song if I wasn't convinced Bieber meant it to be at least partially genuine.

Thrown together and tacky for the sake of being thrown together and tacky yet it still looks thrown together and tacky. The song makes me feel nothing and neither does the video. Match made in heaven.

This Caribbean-style hodgepodge of imagery is not only a wonderful utilization of her cultural background, but also is the perfect compliment to a similarly fun, brash and erotic song.

It doesn't dramatically decontextualize the song, but Rihanna looks fantastic and the Candy Land visuals add a sense of overwhelming ecstasy.

I'm not inherently opposed to "grab bag" albums, I've scored some doubles and even triples very high, but Sideshow misses a very important rule of these expansive projects: you gotta make each song memorable. Not pointless but totally puzzling.

Even with the disappointing dip into bald-faced commercialism during the second half of the record, this is easily Nicki Minaj's most comprehensive project: nothing balances catchy, experimental, and propulsive like tracks 1-12.

Essential tunes? Check. Irresistible rhythms? Absolutely. Expansive lyrics whose topics range from social issues to pureblood party anthems? You heard it here. This and "There's a Riot Goin' On" form quite possibly the greatest musical distich in history. 10/10.

One slice of heaven: "Wichita Lineman." Two fantastic songs: "If You Go Away" and "Dreams of the Everyday Housewife." The rest is unremarkable.

A great picture of a legendary artist. A few duds, but who cares? Buy/stream this if you like life and/or yourself.

A menagerie of electronic dance musics bubbling and colliding in a voliatile cocktail that serves one single emotion: ecstasy. Underscores was smart to keep this sugar-bomb of an LP at a brief 34 minutes, any more time and the rush may have become an overdose. This and Jane Remover's "Heart" have assured my confidence in the songwriting prowess of these internet favorites- they just need to tighten/expand their craft a little.

Two good bookends with a bunch of meh in the middle. My main problem with Jane is their unwillingness to tone down their eclecticism, and this is largely the case here, although writing straightforward love songs helps quite a bit. Unfortunately, Spotify played "100,000 Fireflies" by The Magnetic Fields immediately after this EP ended, which threw Jane's songwriting shortcomings into sharp perspective.

Gorillaz makes a 15-song, 66-minute-long project somehow devoid of any decent hook, interesting lyric, or memorable feature. Damon Albarn’s muffled croak muses on love, life, and loss but presents absolutely no songwriting wit. Everything behind him is just as bad—an ensemble cast of features, cheap Hindustani Classical portions, and lifeless electronic beats make for well-meaning but nearly unlistenable sludge.

Mitski has always been dedicated to explaining, or at least lamenting, contradictions in herself. Pure self-examination without any context or broader image is rarely great, but the album can be sneakily profound, like the manic “Where’s My Phone?” decrying internet obsession, or the lines “"If I'm dark, all the better / To reflect the moonlight / It I mourn, all the better / To behold the sunrise" on “Lightning.” Mitski, though- why would you ... read more

Bruno Mars’ music has never risen above its pastiche, and I guess that’s part of the appeal. He sells it, whatever genre costume he slots himself into. A costume is all his music is, though, and though I don’t care much for authenticity I would appreciate if anything other than Bruno Mars’ voice sounded animated. Everything is uncharacteristically empty and limp, though a searing solo on “Nothing Left” ends the album on a kick.

The damning feature of Jack Harlow’s latest left-turn Monica is its lack of a defining tune. Harlow relies heavily on the chilled out, Neo-Soul aesthetic to buoy him through this suspiciously brief 28-minute “vibes” album. Unfortunately, making music in a certain genre is not impressive on its own, and beyond that there is frustratingly little—his intimate professions of love and lust are not vapid but wholly unoriginal. Some may see it as a show of versatility, but ... read more

Blake specializes in barren. electronic pop music that has always been frustratingly personal and self-obsessed. His sound seems tailor-made for addressing issues bigger than the turmoil of his own mind, and with the title “Trying Times” I was hopeful that would be the case. I was mistaken, but this is a step-up from the truly abysmal BAD CAMEO, and the three singles “Trying Times,” “Doesn’t Just Happen,” and the future standard “I Had a Dream She ... read more

Another album like the ones E L U C I D and billy woods have been making for over a decade now—exhilarating politics and bars rapped too fast without the focus to back them up. If they took their intellectual trappings down a notch they’d be some of my favorite working rappers right now—what’s wrong with some pop music? Some inspirational lines: “Sing a song to make the flood cease” “Bite my style, I’m fine, you wear it” “They ... read more

The baroque, maximalist sensibilities seemingly displayed on the cover are not musically corroborated—the whole project is surprisingly flaccid; its basic sound not having the expressiveness to match the flamboyance of its topics. A song named “I Like My People Weird” should not sound so pedestrian. The best song on the album is the one where they finally accept their own normalcy: “Sophie” is a tender, desperate ballad that is refreshingly straightforward and ... read more