Hello, everyone! So, I know I just posted a mini review post yesterday, but I’ve already got another one ready, so why not just go ahead and post it already?

Just like with some of my other recent mini review posts, I’ll admit I’ve kind of half-assed these reviews. I have listened to these albums at least a few times each, and I’ve read the lyrics (if I could find them) but I didn’t give them all the time and effort that I wanted to. I mean, I’ve been really busy, and I wanted to get these reviews out anyway, so just take everything with an extra grain of salt.

With all that being said, had these albums really clicked for me more I probably would’ve given them extra listens to sink in … and unfortunately that’s not really the case. But anyway, as always these are just my personal feelings on these albums, starting with …

corpos de água by sonhos tomam conta:

This is the fourth solo album released by this artist under this name, and it’s the first one I’ve listened to … although I did hear sonhos tomam conta’s collab album with Asian Glow from last year, and I wasn’t really wowed by it.

Anyway, new sonhos tomam conta album … and unfortunately, it’s not really clicking for me. This album often has a very airy sound to it, which can work sometimes but the majority of the time it ends up feeling like it’s trying too hard to aim for a certain atmosphere. And sometimes the vocals get buried in the mix, like on the closing track.

I like the more punishing production of “de areia e sal”, which might be my favourite track here, and there are some moments I find pretty haunting as well …

But overall, I don’t find a lot of the vocal melodies all that standout, and the dreamy vibe just doesn’t fully click for me. So, I’ll give this a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “tuas pegadas”, “de areia e sal”, “scarborough fair”
Least Favourite Track: “o oceano de solaris”

Heal Process by Cash:

I don’t know who Cash is, as I just randomly came across this album when looking for new ambient albums online … but I decided to give it a few listens and review it, and …

Well, it’s certainly experimental … but I can’t say it’s really doing much that grabbed my attention a whole lot. I mean, at times it can be calming and sometimes kind of fun, but overall this just isn’t doing a whole lot for me.

The production is okay but I’m not really a big fan of some of the higher frequencies which can get kind of distracting.

And there’s not a lot melodically that really stood out to me, either. Still, though, there are some cool ideas here and there, and I’d recommend it to fans of ambient music. I’ll give it a 6/10, as I generally liked it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “cloudburst”, “A sentimental joint”, “Passthrough”, “walk together”
Least Favourite Track: “Some Space”

Funeral Sanctum by Witch Vomit:

Here’s a black metal/death metal album which I came across online recently, and after giving it a few listens …

Well, the production can be pretty hard-hitting at points, with some really nice snares and really good mixing, and I like some of the guitar melodies on tracks like “Endless Fall”, “Black Wings Of Desolation”, and “Dominion Of A Darkened Realm” … but something feels missing to me.

I guess I just wish I found these tracks more memorable, and sometimes the production does feel a little less punchy than I’d like, even though that’s only a small percentage of the time. And I’m not a huge fan of the vocals to be totally honest.

I couldn’t find the lyrics to this album and I can’t hear what they are, so this review is just based on the way the album sounds … and overall, I don’t mind it. It’s just not totally my thing. Light 6.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Endless Fall”, “Black Wings Of Desolation”, “Dominion Of A Darkened Realm”, “Funeral Sanctum”
Least Favourite Track: “Serpentine Shadows”

Gamma by Gesaffelstein:

Gesaffelstein is the stage name of Mike Lévy, and this is his third studio album. Although I’m not really sure why this isn’t credited to both Gesaffelstein and Yan Wagner, considering Yan Wagner does vocals on nearly every track here.

Anyway, this album is pretty short, and while I haven’t heard a Gesaffelstein album before this one, I was still curious … and it’s quite good! There are some cool experimental moments such as “Psycho” as well as some cool darkwave moments such as “Your share of the night”.

And the vocal production is really strong, giving this a very eerie vibe while still being a lot of fun to listen to!

I’m not going to say it blew my mind or anything, but the synths have some really cool timbres, and the way everything is balanced together creates an awesome vibe! And a lot of the higher frequencies add to the thickness of the sound really well! So, for me this is a 7/10! Very good album!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Hard dreams”, “Your share of the night”, “Hysteria”, “Lost love”
Least Favourite Track: “The urge”

Piano Reverb by Jasmine Wood:

Here’s an ambient album I recently came across online, and it’s by an artist I’m not sure I’d heard of until very recently.

And at points it can be calming, and at other times eerie. Overall, it’s not an album that really gives me a whole lot to say, although I do wish it had a bit less reverb at points (in that case would the album just be called Piano?), as it can get kind of distracting from the calmness of the piano.

But at points it does a good job of building tension, like in “VII”, which has a great attention to detail.

This album kind of feels like it represents the ups and downs of life, even though it’s an instrumental album. The contrasting moods from track to track really stand out to me.

And overall, I think it’s a pretty good album! I’ll give it a 7/10! I wouldn’t quite call it great, partially because of some of the production, but I still mostly enjoyed this.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “IV”, “VII”, “VIII (Tremolo)”
Least Favourite Track: “VI (Friends)”

Good Game Baby by Bats:

This is the third studio album by Bats, and it’s the first one I’ve listened to. I’m not really sure if Bats is a band or a solo project, but either way, Jess Awh is the mastermind behind this project, and I was curious to give it a chance …

And while I’m not totally wowed by this as a whole, it’s still a pretty impressive showing that makes me curious to hear Bats’ other albums.

I don’t always love the production—sometimes it can feel a little messy—but at its best moments it sounds phenomenal, such as the way the strings fit pretty much perfectly in “Sand Time Machine”!

And there are other standout moments, too, like that guitar solo with a really nice timbre in the closing track, and “Finger on the Tear” is very melodic and catchy and well produced!

At some moments it can feel way too reminiscent of other music I’ve already heard—I’d strongly guess there’s some Phoebe Bridgers influence here, and while that doesn’t have to be a bad thing, often here it feels like it lacks creativity. That’s not to say there’s no creativity here, but at points it can feel quite generic. Maybe that’s just a me thing, though.

Overall, I do still really like this, though! It’s got some strong standout moments, and I don’t think there’s a bad song here! 7/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Going For Oysters”, “Finger on the Tear”, “Sand Time Machine”
Least Favourite Track: “Thanks To U”

Bright Future by Adrianne Lenker:

Adrianne Lenker is the lead singer of the super critically acclaimed band Big Thief, who I’ll admit I haven’t listened to all that much, but based on my memory of their 2022 album it really didn’t do much for me despite the massive amounts of critical acclaim.

And this new solo album from Adrianne is arguably the most critically acclaimed album of the year so far, and thus I was really excited to hear this …

And I hate to say it, but to be totally honest it’s just not hitting for me in the same way as it is for so many others. I mean, this feels like it’s been the story of the last two years, where an album gets tons and tons and tons of critical acclaim, with nearly everyone agreeing it’s absolutely amazing, and I’m just here thinking, ‘It’s pretty good.’

But while there’s a lot of emotion here, and the production sounds mostly nice (even though I wish the vocal production fit more with the instrumentals), and I like some of the storytelling and detail in the lyrics, a lot of this just feels really forgettable to me, and I don’t find the melodies super strong.

There are some moments that I do really like, such as the acoustic guitar on “Donut Seam”, one of my favourite songs on the album which seems to be about trying to enjoy the present moment despite the uncertainty of the future. And I also think the album ends pretty well with “Ruined”, which has a gorgeous vocal performance.

But then there’s also a track like “Evol” which feels like it’s trying to be super deep and thought-provoking with all the lines about words having different meanings backward, and it just doesn’t feel nearly as interesting to me as I think it’s supposed to. Maybe I’m missing something, but I honestly find this track pretty annoying.

So, overall, as a whole album … well, I guess it’s just not really for me. I still mostly enjoyed it, which is why I’m giving it a 7/10, but as someone who’s really gotten into country music over the last few years, this isn’t anywhere near the top tier of stuff I’ve heard in the genre.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Fool”, “Vampire Empire”, “Donut Seam”, “Ruined”
Least Favourite Track: “Evol”

Akoma by Jlin:

This is my first time listening to a Jlin album, and it’s a mostly instrumental album which I think is also mostly likeable. It’s got some nice experimentation and I think it’s mostly well produced.

There are some moments where it can maybe feel a bit generic, but there are also some moments that really stood out to me, such as “Summon” with its super eerie vibe, and I love the way the tension builds in that track!

And “Auset” has a very hypnotizing vibe to it, with that percussion sounding awesome!

I do think the closing track leaves a lot to be desired, and I don’t find the album consistently great, but I do think it’s usually enjoyable, even in some of the moments that don’t really wow me.

So, overall, I guess I’ll give this a 7/10. It’s got its moments, and while I can’t say I’m fully wowed by this, it’s certainly intriguing.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Speed of Darkness”, “Summon”, “Iris”, “Auset”
Least Favourite Track: “The Precision of Infinity”

Tigers Blood by Waxahatchee:

This is the first time I’ve listened to an album by Waxahatchee, and it’s a pretty strong first impression!

I don’t always love the timbre of the percussion when placed in context of the overall sound of the album, but for the most part I think the production is pretty pleasant, and there are some good vocal melodies here, too!

And some of these songs are really strong standouts, like “Ice Cold” with its repetitive instrumental that feels kind of hypnotizing, or “Evil Spawn” which feels full of guilt and longing for things to change, and it also has one of the best vocal performances on the album! And the backing vocals on the latter of those tracks sound fantastic as well!

Overall, this is a really solid country album with good storytelling, good singing, and good production, and while I don’t find it super consistent, it definitely shows a lot of potential! 7/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Evil Spawn”, “Ice Cold”, “The Wolves”, “Tigers Blood”
Least Favourite Track: “Lone Star Lake”

Keeper of the Shepherd by Hannah Frances:

This is the third album by Hannah Frances, although it’s the first one I’ve listened to and it’s easily her biggest album thus far, getting way more attention than her previous two.

And it’s some pretty solid folk music in my opinion—at least I think I’d call it folk music; I’m bad with genres. Anyway, I quite like the vocal layering on this album, and there are some subtle details in a lot of the instrumental timbres which give this a very mystical vibe which I really like!

And Hannah Frances is a really good singer who expresses a lot of emotion with her voice on this album!

And with a lot of really good imagery in the lyrics and mostly solid production despite a little more airiness than I’d like … well, it leads to an album I would consider pretty good, but not quite great, in my opinion. Light 7/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Keeper of the Shepherd”, “Husk”, “Haunted Landscape, Echoing Cave”
Least Favourite Track: “Vacant Intimacies”