Album Reviews: Kendrick Lamar, Confidence Man, Amyl & the Sniffers

 Kendrick Lamar – GNX Compton, CA All thunder-stealing of Father John Misty aside, it was a wonderful surprise to not only get an unexpected Kendrick Lamar album this past week, but one this strong. Although it often feels like a more pop-centred Lamar, there’s a lot of vocal play and

Album Reviews: Peggy Lou, Isobel Campbell, Angélica Garcia

 Peggy Gou – I Hear You Incheon, South Korea/Berlin, Germany Whether you know her name or not, you’ve definitely already heard a song or two from Peggy Gou, perhaps thinking you were hearing a throwback station. Continuing the great recent run of house-inspired, retro dance gems, Gou creates a magnetic

Album Reviews: Tove Lo, Kate Nash, Pond

 Tove Lo & SG Lewis – Heat EP Helsingborg, Sweden/Reading, England Right on the heels of a recent collaboration with Nelly Furtado, Tove Lo returns with SG Lewis for a brief but exhilaratingly sweaty EP of dancefloor bangers. Riding a tight-yet-exciting line between honouring classic sounds and playing to her

Album Reviews: Charli XCX, Blue Hawaii, Billie Eilish

 Charli XCX – Brat Cambridge, England Though it seems like she’s about to hit the second popularity peak of her career, Charli XCX has been knocking out stellar heady-yet-catchy albums since the Vroom Vroom and Pop 2 era. While the pop is on point here, Charli has managed to inject

Album Reviews: Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross, Laura Jane Grace, Chromeo

 Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross – Challengers (Original Score) New Castle, PA/London, England Though we typically avoid scores for these reviews, Trent Reznor & Atticus Ross’s submission for the new film “Challengers” may be one of the best electronic albums we’ll see this year, period. While it certainly adds a

Album Reviews: Dua Lipa, John Carpenter, Ibibio Sound Machine

 Dua Lipa – Radical Optimism London, England It’s crazy to think that in just a few years Dua Lipa went from an up-and-comer to one of the most talked about pop stars of our time, and has kept the momentum going enough to make us forget about “Argylle.” While it

Album Reviews: Justice, St. Vincent, Cindy Lee

 Justice – Hyperdrama Paris, France After nearly a decade away from their albums, Justice hasn’t lost their polish, but simply feel like they’re missing a little punch. While this album may prove itself glorious for their next tour, on headphones it’s a lushly produced but sometimes anticlimactic return for one

Album Reviews: Beyoncé, Khruangbin, Elbow

 Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter Houston, TX While perhaps a larger genre shift from much of her recent work, Beyoncé’s raw talent as a vocalist and musician as a whole makes her latest effort less of what some have deemed a “Surprise” and more of an impressive show of versatility that

Album Reviews: Kali Uchis, The Vaccines, Marika Hackman

 Kali Uchis – Orquídeas Alexandria, VA/Colombia Coming off what may be the best new benchmark for her style and overall sound on last year’s Red Moon in Venus, Kali Uchis is back already with a much more experimental and genre-hopping album. While it certainly loses that album cohesion, this latest

Album Reviews: Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA, Yves Tumor, Everything But the Girl

 Danny Brown & JPEGMAFIA – Scaring the Hoes Detroit, MI & Baltimore, MD/New York City As two of the most idiosyncratic and unapologetic artists in the game, Danny Brown and JPEGMAFIA are surprisingly complimentary as a duo. With jams that either compliment or inspire a great set of verses, and

Album Reviews: The Drums, Helena Deland, Hannah Diamond

 The Drums – Jonny (Brooklyn) Jonathan Pierce has made an instantly identifiable sound with the Drums, and recently has made amazing variations on that solid foundation. With another album playing on these themes, Pierce might be starting to repeat themselves a little too much, but does it with such an

Album Reviews: Chai, Kylie Minogue, Jorja Smith

 Chai – Chai (Nagoya, Japan) Given how wonderfully unhinged and indulgent Chai have been in their career so far, it was only a matter of time till we got a more classic pop album from them. Though it definitely feels like the band is playing into more pastiche than they

Album Reviews: Mitski, Corinne Bailey Rae, Woods

 Mitski – The Land Is Inhospitable and So Are We (New York City/Mie Prefecture, Japan) Able to capture the world by bearing her entire self again and again wholeheartedly, Mitski has nailed the swan dive on her latest album. Mixing in touches of country, intense cinematic orchestration and devastating stories,

Album Reviews: Be Your Own Pet, Cindy Wilson, Flasher

 Be Your Own Pet – Mommy (Nashville, TN) When they broke up 15 years ago, Be Your Own Pet had some of the most furious punk albums of the era, and now they’ve returned to fight for their spot on top again. While we never expected any album from them

Powerhouse Miles Kane Mixes Vintage Pop Pith Modern Rock Fire

 Girl Ray – Prestige (London, England) After opening their career on one of the most memorable indie-pop albums the U.K. had produced in the 2010s, Girl Ray have moved towards dance energy more with each record. While the disco side of this record undoubtedly lands them some more instantly catchy

Jepsen firmly moves into adult dance-pop phase with some great bangers

 Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loveliest Time (Mission, British Columbia) By this point, Carly Rae Jepsen is the go-to pop crooner of Canada’s scene, with a knack for knocking out amazing hits that get you jumping every time. While it isn’t changing up her game, it’s lyrically great to see

Let it Slide is a Solid Rock Record that Makes You Want to Party

 Beach Fossils – Bunny (Brooklyn) While at times their music can come off as so soothing that it’s hard to connect to it on a deeper level, Beach Fossils find the sweet spot between their writing and production on their new album. While seemingly laidback and accessible, the layering in

Janelle Monáe has crafted an album to perfectly score a summer of hangouts, relaxing & loving

 Janelle Monáe – The Age of Pleasure (Kansas City, KS) From reflecting on love in the digital age, Janelle Monáe has crafted an album to perfectly score a summer of hangouts, relaxing and loving. Full of sensual lyrics, soothing sounds and an overall warm feeling, this record is one of

The 1975 drop another smooth record full of bangers

 King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard – Changes (Melbourne, Australia) With such a constant turnout in recent years, it’s been great to see King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard start to return to more focused, yet unpredictable efforts. Short, but ultimately a strong record for the band in production, scope

Alvvays strikes gold again and blows their previous work out of the water

 Alvvays – Blue Rev (Toronto/Charlottetown, PEI) It’s a rare feat for an indie band to essentially strike gold so consistently, but Alvvays have seemingly managed to emerge from another long break with their best music in ages, and a production scale that blows their previous work out of the water

 “Re-Tilt” highlights the amazing work Confidence Man puts into their music

 Melody’s Echo Chamber – Unfold (Aix-en-Provence, France) After Melody Prochet seemingly took a six-year break from the studio following her debut, it was fair to think she had simply stepped away for a while. But with an EP’s worth of dreamy “lost” material much closer to her first album, Prochet

Bywater Call’s latest single is monumental in sound and production.

 The Beths  – Expert in a Dying Field (Auckland, New Zealand) Mixing a rustic charm with a lot of shoegaze elements reminiscent of Veronica Falls, The Beths continue to make brilliant indie rock with a 90s charm. With so many addictive hooks and production details layered into their effervescent sound,

Exploring the pain of starting over Stella Donnelly’s “Flood” is less venom & more ache

 Stella Donnelly – Flood (Perth, Australia) After one of the most contrastingly sunny-sounding yet biting records in recent memory, Stella Donnelly ups the scale of her writing on this latest record. Digging into a fully realized sound and exploring the pains of honesty and starting over, this record is less

Album Reviews: Gorillaz, Angel Olsen, Casper Skulls

 Gorillaz - Meanwhile EP (London/World) Damon Albarn seems to be thriving musically during the pandemic, perhaps able to tap into collaborations more than ever. As a wondrous taster release, this smaller release is the project's first of this nature in a while, but thrives in its ability to focus on

Album Reviews: Black Midi, Bachelor, PACKS

 Black Midi — Cavalcade (London, U.K.) Grime, freestyle and a furious melding of solo styles from both rock and jazz make every Black Midi record soar. Unpredictable as ever, this record wastes no time grabbing you and saying "Let's go all out!" This is immediately apparent as John L rolls