Despite musically and tonally distancing herself from her internet meme moment with "Moo" on her big breakout album "Hot Pink", Doja Cat's carefree spirit and ridiculously fun personality still brims throughout the album especially with tracks such as the playful "Cyber Sex" and the aggressive "Rules". However, the album's strongest quality is unmistakably its versatility, her effortless blend of pop rap with the sensual and enticing R&B ... read more

Sophie’s impressively unique production and combination of lush soft sounds with aggressive metallic interjections would only be further perfected and fleshed out in her subsequent endeavors. Consequently, Product sounds more raw, unrefined and unkempt in comparison, but still these songs retain exceptional quality. Especially when you consider songs such as ‘Bipp’ and ‘Hard’ being so quintessentially Sophie, not to mention the irresistible groove of ... read more

The biggest issue with Olivia Rodrigo’s otherwise solid debut album is inconsistency. The tracklist consists of songs with such a large variation in quality that could almost be described as dichotomous, which is unfortunate, because — without the lack of sophisticated wording — the good songs are just really good. Pop rock bangers such as ‘jealousy jealousy’ and ‘good 4 u’, in combination with the slower pop tunes such as ‘deja vu’ and ... read more

So shamelessly dreadful that it almost makes working with Dr. Luke on a feminist song a moot point.

Women, can you feel it? You just got… EMPOWERED!! I didn't know that women, in 2024, can feel “sexy, confident”, “so intelligent”, this is EXACTLY what feminism is!! A message that has totally never been reiterated many times before! What a brave voice you are, Miss Katy Perry!

Look, I'm a man, I'm obviously not the voice of feminism, but in my ... read more

Havana-ooh-na-NAH NAH WHAT IS THIS?

You have to give some credit to Camila Cabello’s management team, considering this new album rollout of hers is the most attention she has garnered in a considerable amount of time. Due in part, however, not to some gross PR relationship with another basic pop singer (Shawn Mendes), or the terroristic ubiquity of one of her songs, but from an apparent radical shift in Cabello’s musical direction. Earlier this year she dropped the lead single to ... read more

unfortunately I am not a 365 partygirl but I am an annoying little BRAT so I fuck with this heavily.

Olivia Rodrigo for lesbians.
and straight girls who hate the fact that they’re attracted to men and REALLY want to be lesbians

Pitchfork called Ariana Grande “Pop’s Teflon Princess”. Lol. After a months-long disastrous news cycle about her alleged infidelity with Broadway’s own Spongebob Squarepants Ethan Slater. I heavily anticipated the inevitable musical return of Grande. Mostly because I am a long-time fan, but also because I was dying to hear her response towards the incessant online thrashings. Ironically however, in contrast with her current public image, Eternal Sunshine presented a ... read more

I almost feel like my ears are underequipped, to listen to the ethereal and haunting beauty of the song “Bachelorette”, Björk’s evocative voice rings with almost an alien quality, as she tells a tale of romance against a backdrop of theatrical strings and synths. “Drink me, make me feel real/Wet your beak in the stream/Game we're playing is life/Love’s a two-way dream”. She makes the listener feel the urgency in this world-consuming love, her vocals beg ... read more

The Late Sophie Xeon’s debut-cum-swansong is every bit as powerful as her legacy.

Sophie's an acquired taste. Go give a spin on the album’s second track “Ponyboy”, the sheer, unabashed brashness and garishness of it all is enough to overwhelm most listeners of contemporary music away. Try the adjacent tune “Faceshopping” next! Equally industrial, equally abrasive, equally unsettling. Maybe the album should come with a glass of holy water to first-time ... read more

One of Kanye West’s biggest hits was his 2007 single “Stronger”, the song is musically derivative of Daft Punk’s “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger”, with a slowed vocal sample of the track playing in the background. When West first heard it after release, he was perpetually convinced that it was inferior in all facets compared to the original from the French House duo.

And he was right.

For “Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger” is quite possibly ... read more

At the age of 17, Billie Eilish released her critically and commercially successful debut studio album When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go. She exploded onto the music scene fully formed, her horrorcore aesthetics, whispery vocals combined with electronic-influenced production courtesy of her brother Finneas, established her as one of the most unique voices in present day pop.

Notably however, many of Eilish’s initial identifiers are largely absent on Hit Me Hard And Soft, the creepy ... read more

The album opens with Polachek performing piercing falsetto runs in “Welcome to My Island”, a striking welcome indeed, that leaves an unforgettable impression on the listener, piercing falsettos are a recurring characteristic on the album, just another aspect that disntiguishes “Desire” from other contemporary pop albums. “Desire” is Polachek’s overflowing cornucopia of creativity, a collection of pop songs that brandishes bountiful amounts of innovation ... read more

Go girl, she gave us something at least!

While we were marooned in our respective apartments during a recent turbulent event in history called the Pandemic, music was one of the few anchors that halted us from allowing the days and nights to simply drift away. Dua Lipa’s serendipitous sophomore effort Future Nostalgia was one of those anchors, its irresistible dance grooves and retro influences reminded us of a time absent of constraints, abundant of freedom.

And that is perhaps the ... read more

Let’s poke the bear shall we.

It’s quite disheartening really to see someone who was capable of albums such as Red and Folklore, to vomit out the featureless sludge that The Tortured Poets Department is. Frankly I have never expected Taylor Swift to ride the creative high of Folklore and Evermore for too long, as they say, everything that goes up inevitably has to come down, I just never expected that she would do a PLUNGE, an astronomical one at that.

The Tortured Poets ... read more

Characterized by its glitchy, bright and sometimes abrasive production, Pop 2 absolutely excels in creating an incredibly enjoyable listening experience. Songs such as ‘Femmebot’ and ‘Out of My Head’ are some of the most energetic and effervescent pop tunes released in the past decade, and other tracks such as ‘Backseat’, ‘I Got It' and ‘Track 10’ toy with experimentation to triumphant results. It must be said however, that there seems ... read more

Allie X's newest album embraces 80s era synth-pop, and manages to avoid the genre's many cliches through its lyrical ambition.

With a cover art as creepy as this you probably won’t be surprised by the album’s subject matter, but certainly with the way Hughes’ conveys it — through some of the hardest-hitting synth pop bangers you’ve ever heard. Even though it may pull from some obvious influences, as pop music connoisseurs may critique that the album from start to ... read more

Most meritable in its execution, Taylor Swift’s now-classic opus is a powerful handshake between the polished songwriting abilities of Swift and the Midas’ touch of renowned producer Max Martin

When Taylor Swift revealed to her record label in 2013 that she would be abandoning her country roots and diving headfirst into full-fledged pop on her subsequent album, they were initially skeptical of the decision, fearing that it would alienate her audience. In hindsight however it seemed ... read more

Charli XCX’s career progression from young pop starlet to niche, experimental cult icon is one for the books, and the inflection point for the radical transformation is the 4-track EP “Vroom Vroom”, which was when Charli began associating herself with the music collective PC Music, a group of record producers and artists noted for their eccentric and over-the-top interpretation of pop music. For this EP, the majority of the production was handled by SOPHIE — a producer ... read more

SOS is unabashedly intimate, offering an introspective glimpse into the complex mind of SZA over its long and ambitious 23-track run, but manages to be thematically and sonically concise and cohesive. With her major label debut ‘CTRL’, SZA presented the industry with daring, unconventional melodies that were completely absent of any standard song structures. With SOS, though opting for a more pop-centric approach, retained her unique appeal. If anything SZA has only become more ... read more