Charli XCX’s amazingly produced album is instantly memorable

     Charli XCX – Crash (Cambridge, U.K.) Between her heights of pop and experimental phases, Charli XCX has clearly taken every turn as a lesson to refine her writing. Now with an arsenal of amazing production and tones behind her, and the sharpest two-minute pop bangers she’s dropped in ages,

Montreal’s Basia Bulat releases a lookback record with wings

 Basia Bulat – The Garden (Montreal) As a true legend of the Montreal music scene, it's great to see Basia Bulat giving her own work a reflective take. Often adding unexpected new twists on the original tracks, this is a lookback record with wings. "The Garden" is a stirring dance

Mitski turns a narrative into a full sonic torrent

 Mitski – Laurel Hell (New York City/Japan) Ever the master of the emotional moment, Mitski turns the narrative into a full sonic torrent on her new LP. While some of its catchiest moments do lean heavily on familiar writing, Mitski adds so much charm in the actual stories and deeper

Miles Kane’s new release will have you dancing in seconds

 Miles Kane – Change the Show (Birkenhead, U.K.) Bringing the level of acoustic range we get in his Last Shadow Puppets project, while churning it through vintage pop, Miles Kane makes a layered and catchy record. Though definitely interpolating on a narrow scope of classic sounds, Kane has so much

Chan Marshall reaffirms her place as a generational pillar

 Cat Power – Covers (Atlanta, GA) Though she’s certainly a great writer, Chan Marshall’s aesthetics and performances as Cat Power are such a unique force that her cover records are legends in themselves. Moody as ever, this is a confident swan-dive of a release that sees Marshall reaffirming her place

The Weeknd wins us over immediately with sinister but delicious riffing

 The Weeknd  – Dawn FM (Toronto) Seemingly always on the perfect blend of futuristic wonder and the best nostalgic tones, the Weeknd hits a pop stride here more akin to Prince and parts of Justice too. With a metric ton of neon synths and thematic narrative stretching here, this may

Self Esteem’s songs feels as addictive as they are unhinged

     Self Esteem  – Prioritise Pleasure (Sheffield, U.K.) It’s so rare to get an artist who so perfectly encapsulates great pop but who also likes to experiment a lot with their sound. With songs that feel as addictive as they are unhinged, Self Esteem is music that will sink under

Album Reviews: Damon Albarn, Jennylee Angèle

  Damon Albarn – The Nearer the Fountain, More Pure the Stream Flows (London, U.K.) Without the Gorillaz name, Damon Albarn maintains an amazing sense of collaboration on his latest solo record. With a more ambient and introspective feel than his other songs as of late, this is a great heady

Album Reviews: Adele, Courtney Barnett, Deap Vally

 Deap Vally – Marriage (Los Angeles) As one of the bands still able to make duo-garage rock sound primal, yet mature, Deap Vally continues their subtle evolution of satisfying bops. Grimy and memorable, this record is the extra kick we all need right now. With main riffs playing on “Threshold”

Christmas Music Special – She & Him, Arkells, Norah Jones

 She & Him – Holiday (Portland, OR/Los Angeles) Masters of a sense of vintage power, M. Ward and Zooey Deschanel offer up one more great set of holiday tracks. Revamping some Madonna with yuletide soul among others, the duo reminds us that they’re probably one of the few artists that

Album reviews: Elton John, Hand Habits, Snail Mail

     Elton John – The Lockdown Sessions (Pinner, England) Like many artists, Elton John has taken the tour setbacks of the pandemic to facilitate collabs that would’ve otherwise never happened. While the record isn’t quite cohesive, it’s a great scattershot image of all the colours that John can paint, and why

Album reviews: Abba, La Luz, Joan As Police Woman

     ABBA – Voyage (Stockholm, Sweden) The record we all never thought would come, it’s a few decades late, but at least it’s steeped in the best of the decades ABBA reigned in. While its slow ballads vastly outweigh the great upbeat bangers with dark stories, there’s at least a

Album Reviews: Nao, Brandi Carlile, Marissa Nadler

 Brandi Carlile – In These Silent Days (Ravensdale, WA) With an ability to harness the magic of raw emotion, Brandi Carlile’s latest record serves as a record that constantly veers between intimate and explosive. Topped off with the sheer magnitude of her voice, Carlile delivers a record that feels devastating

Album Reviews: Casper Skulls, BadBadNotGood, Audiobooks

 Casper Skulls – Knows No Kindness (Toronto) From their grimy early material to their emotionally sharp LP Mercy Works, Casper Skulls found a way to make a record that feels all the more intense. With amped up arrangements and a sense of storytelling to make every little detail feel important,

Album Reviews: Wet Leg, The Vaccines, Colleen Green

 Wet Leg – Wet Dream (Isle of Wight, U.K.) There’s an ability to harness chaos that bands like Wet Leg just exemplify with seemingly effortless nuance. With two-track release, the project manages to fit in lush layers that blur indie rock, electronica and art-pop into a wonderful haze. The alluring

Album Reviews: A Place to Bury Strangers, Lady Gaga & Tony Bennett, JEEN

 A Place To Bury Strangers - Hologram (Brooklyn) Lineup changes are the true testing ground of any project’s staying power, Oliver Ackerman has seen that enough in his tenure with A Place to Bury Strangers. As the band moves more away from its latest noise-punk iteration to a shoegaze/new wave/dark-pop

Album Reviews: Bess Atwell, Poppy, Park Hye Jin

    Poppy - Flux (Boston, MA) From internet enigma to quirky art darling, Poppy has really kept us on our toes. With tracks that constantly zigzag between pop and bizarre electronica, this is a wonderful trip to put on and just get lost in. There’s a wonderfully digital and metal

Album Reviews: Arkells, Sleigh Bells, Ada Lea

 Arkells - Blink Once (Hamilton, ON) If any Canadian band is constantly trying to find ways to evolve and collaborate, the Arkells make a fun exercise of it. While their newest record definitely lacks an edge at times, and may alienate some listeners in their new sonic routes, it does

Album Reviews: Ginger Root, Lorde, The Joy Formidable

 Ginger Root - City Slicker (Huntington Beach, California) Modern records that play on a vintage kind of kitsch aesthetic can suffer from emulating more than they create, but not so with Ginger Root. With so many delicious riffs, and the right mix of cheeky but infectious writing, this latest EP

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: Liars, Jade Bird, Jungle, City Fidelia

 Liars - The Apple Drop (Brooklyn/Australia) Over the years, Liars have constantly merged the worlds of experimental rock and electronic-influenced work, to create music that harts its own path. While certainly navigating a darker ambiance here, Liars make really satisfying music that has the sonic and emotional depth that  takes

Album Reviews: Public Service Broadcasting, Torres, Marisa Monte

 Public Service Broadcasting - Blue Heaven & People, Let's Dance (Single) (London, England) In an era of so much isolation, it's wonderful to see a few artists finding ways to collaborate across international lines. With both Gurr's Andreya Casablanca, and EERA, the group make some true magic on these singles.

Album Reviews: Billie Eilish, Marina, Half Waif

 Billie Eilish - Happier Than Ever (Los Angeles) After becoming one of the single-most popular singers on the planet and making a documentary charting how tumultuous that journey can feel, Billie Eilish's latest record maintains darkness. With a lot more flourish, tempered moments and the emotional intimacy that has people

Album Reviews: Leon Bridges, Charlotte Day Wilson, Chinese American Bear

 Leon Bridges - Gold-Diggers Sound (Atlanta, GA) While he's not the first, Leon Bridges has certainly learned enough from his peers to know when to expand his retro sounds to something less immediately identifiable. With a smoky cool and a mystery in its bones, Bridges makes a new kind of

Album Reviews: Altin Gün, Molly Burch, Clairo

 Altin Gün — Âlem (Amsterdam, Netherlands/Indonesia/Turkey) With an already very steady stream of music, Altin Gün has somehow dropped a second 2021 release in less than six months. With a little more genre fusion, the group takes a moment to explore a whole aesthetic through a record, though perhaps with