Mid 8/10
Rina Sawayama returns with her second album, Hold the Girl. Rina grew prominence with her EP titled RINA, where we see her being completely able to balance the different genres she experiments with—and only proven further with her debut album SAWAYANA. She focuses her music not only on pop. She tends to add electro-pop, rock, and punk styles throughout her catalog. Many of her styles were inspired by the music trends of the 2000s. But she finds a way to reinvent them with her ... read more
Mid 9/10
Cave World is the third album of the Swedish post-punk band Viagra Boys. Their music with a heavy country twist in many of their tracks, especially in their two previous LPs. This album decided to tone down the country sound to focus more on the punk side and took advantage of that to create a great album. And it isn't right to say that country sounds are ruining their music. Their first album, Street Worms and Welfare Jazz, incorporates country sonics very well. This album also has ... read more
High 3/10
Beabadoodee's debut album is not good. She struggles too hard with the overall mixing, lyrical content, and singing. She does have talent and can make excellent tracks, especially within her next and more conceptual album, Beatopia. And both albums similarly have good instrumentation. Beatopia's biggest flaw is the lack of a vocal range, making many tracks boring and repetitive. But Fake it Flowers is a struggling album, trying to make its individual style music but ending being too ... read more
High 6/10
Beabadoobee's second album, dream and indie pop artist, come with a very introspective break-up album. I praise her for her excellent production, especially when she mixes genres like rock and country. But her vocal range is very dull and leaves more to be desired. Many of the best tracks in this album have her vocals complement the excellent instrumentals. But looking at the vocal performances throughout the way makes me feel confused and disheartened. It's so one-dimensional. It ... read more
High 5/10
With Taylor having the peak of her career post-Reputation, this was placed in a very high standard. And this is an original album since Evermore. I didn't have expectations style-wise. I just expected it to be good or excellent. But I ended up getting a more consistent version of Reputation. Although I consider Reputation the weakest album in her discography due to its being messy. I still respect it for being the album that shows Taylor's ascent to her current peak. And her ... read more