Hello, everyone … so, this wasn’t originally going to be its own individual review. I was going to make it a mini review … but then I saw just how much critical acclaim this is getting, and I decided I should make it its own review. It seemed like the first album of 2023 where I think to myself, ‘This is going to be on almost every Best Albums of 2023 list that I look at, isn’t it?’ So, I decided to make it its own review … and then it took a long time to finally get it posted, as I was also working on lots of other reviews, but now it’s finally posted—and my favourite songs of last year as well as my Lana Del Rey review still haven’t been posted, but they’re coming.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that just because an album is one of the most critically acclaimed of its year doesn’t automatically mean that I will love it, or even that I’ll like it. I mean, I’ll probably like it … and there’s a pretty good chance I’ll love it, but I can think of some examples of super critically acclaimed albums that are among the most critically acclaimed of the year they came out that I personally don’t like that much.

Going back to last year, there were three in particular that stood out to me in that way … okay, maybe more, but the ‘big 3’, I guess were Ants From Up There by Black Country, New Road, Hellfire by black midi, and Dragon New Warm Mountain I Believe In You by Big Thief, the latter of which I wouldn’t consider myself a fan of … and that’s not to say it’s a ‘bad’ album, it’s just that I personally don’t like listening to it that much … and that’s okay. Just because so many people love it so much doesn’t mean I have to. As for the other two, they both made my top 50 favourite albums of 2022, but neither as high on the list as you might expect; Hellfire didn’t make the top 40, and while Ants From Up There was as high as #14, considering just how much critical acclaim that album got (probably the most critically acclaimed album of 2022 and the most ‘obvious’ choice for the best album of the year), #14 might seem shockingly low.

So, why am I saying all this? Well, to say that despite all the critical acclaim this album has been getting, I can’t say I had super high expectations going into this album. I had high expectations, but was I really going into this album thinking it’ll be anywhere near my album of the year? No. I mean, it’s extremely rare I’m going into any album expecting it to be in my top three or even my top five albums of the year, but I wasn’t even super confident I would love this album.

Now, I want to be super careful saying this next thing, because I don’t want anyone to feel judged here. But going into this album, I kind of had this feeling that a lot of the critical acclaim is just because of who the artists are. Am I saying that most people giving this positive reviews are just doing it because it’s by two super critically acclaimed artists? No. And am I saying that I’m totally unbiased? No. And am I saying biased music opinions are anywhere near the biggest problem in the world? Not at all. I’m just saying that I felt like this wouldn’t be getting as much critical acclaim as it is if JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown hadn’t gotten as much critical acclaim in the past … even before I heard the album.

So, now you might be wondering how I feel about these artists’ music, and honestly I can’t really answer that right now because I haven’t really listened to much from either of them. It’s something that I want to do, but I haven’t really gotten around to it. But I did go back to one album from each of these artists before listening to this album … one being Danny Brown’s amazing 2016 album, Atrocity Exhibition, and the other being JPEGMAFIA’s 2021 album, LP!, and … yes, I pretty much know that album is going to go down as a classic, and it’s already a modern classic, often considered the best album of 2021 … and it’s not that I don’t like the album, but I don’t love it, and I struggle to understand why it’s considered one of the best albums of the decade. Maybe there’s something in the lyrics that I’m missing (as I’m not very good at understanding lyrics), but some of the production holds it back for me, even though I do like a lot of the production on that album. So, yeah, overall, while “HAZARD DUTY PAY!” is probably one of my favourite songs of 2021, the album as a whole just didn’t click for me the way it did for so many people.

Anyway, I want to finally talk about this album … like I said, I think this will be making a ton of year-end best albums lists at the end of this year … but do I think it’ll make my list?

Well … I don’t think so. And part of that is due to me not fully understanding it—take my analyzation of the lyrics with a huge grain of salt—but while I like a lot of the production and flows, as a whole album it didn’t really blow my mind or anything. 

In other words, it’s an album that I like but don’t love.

Now, before I talk more about the album, it’s worth mentioning that quite a few paragraphs at the start of this review were written before I heard the album (the first draft of those paragraphs, that is), and that was months ago. Yes, this review was very delayed. I’m mentioning this because I said I wasn’t super confident I’d love this album, and it turns out I don’t love this album.

The album opens with the song, “Lean Beef Patty”, which features a high-pitched sample in the background that gets pretty annoying, and I’m not a huge fan of the mixing on this track, but JPEGMAFIA’s verse features some really good lyrics, for example, the line, ‘If I tweet then delete then I meant it.’ Danny Brown’s flow here is good, and overall I like this track, but it feels like something’s missing, and as a result I don’t love the track.

I like the loud synths on the next track, “Steppa Pig”, and there are some good lines in here, but something feels missing from this track, and I can’t quite place what it is, but it feels kind of underwhelming, even though I do like this song overall. Maybe it’s something in the flows? I’m not sure.

So, overall, I can’t really say I love the first two tracks here, but if you want to know a song on this album that I do love, that would be track three, which is the title track. This seems to be a sarcastic song making fun of people who dismiss different kinds of music as ‘not real music’ or whatever. I mean, there’s nothing wrong with not liking certain kinds of music, but that doesn’t make it ‘not real music’. And it’s especially funny to me, considering I used to be like that … honestly, I used to be like that with rap music, as I would always say, ‘rap music sucks … it doesn’t count as music.’ That has definitely changed.

Overall, the title track is a fun song with a great use of samples, awesome flows, and powerful drums that sound fantastic in the mix!

The next track, “Garbage Pale Kids”, features samples from commercials, and believe it or not, it leads to a really great instrumental when combined with the drums! I also really like the distorted guitar in the instrumental part of the song. Now, keep in mind that, like I said earlier, I’m bad at analyzing song lyrics, so take this with a grain of salt, but if I’m being honest, JPEGMAFIA’s verse feels kind of … honestly, I’m not sure what the word is that I’m looking for. But at the end of his verse, he says, ‘You can’t be broke and over thirty, gettin’ your ass beat where you sleep at. Come on, bro.’ I’m not entirely sure what he’s trying to say here, so maybe I sound totally stupid saying this, but it kind of sounds like someone blaming someone else for not having much money while having no context of why, which I’m sure isn’t what Peggy was trying to do here … but it just feels kind of off-putting? Again, I’m not saying there was bad intent here, and I’m sure I’m missing something here, I’m just saying it’s kind of off-putting to me.

“Fentanyl Tester” is kind of a banger, with some great flows, and the next track, “Burfict!”, features a great use of a horn sample for the instrumental, which sounds absolutely fantastic! That being said, the ‘playing the role of the villain’ lyrics don’t really fit with the instrumental in my opinion—for example, JPEGMAFIA calling himself toxic—obviously those ‘playing the villain’ lyrics aren’t meant literally, but for some reason when combined with the instrumental it doesn’t really work for me, and I’m not entirely sure why.

I really like the two-part song, “Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters”, both parts of which feature great flows and great usages of samples, but the following “Orange Juice Jones” I don’t like as much, partially because Danny Brown’s flow sounds kind of awkward over the instrumental—and JPEGMAFIA’s verse does a little bit, too.

“Kingdom Hearts Key” has some good sampling in it, but Danny’s and JPEGMAFIA’s vocals sound drowned out in the mix. I don’t notice that with redveil’s guest verse though, which is a nice addition at the end of the track.

I really like the mixing in “God Loves You”, and both rappers’ flows are great here. Danny’s verse is full of very sexually explicit lyrics, and some of the lines I find kind of cringey, but I’ve heard much cringier, and I still like this song overall. 

“Run The Jewels” is another song with some great samples, and it’s a great song that’s only about a minute long, but both rappers’ flows are great, and the production is really good.

The last few tracks are kind of underwhelming, and overall … well, I can’t help but feel like if these artists were less critically acclaimed already, this album wouldn’t be getting nearly as much critical acclaim as it is. Maybe I’m wrong about that, but I doubt it. And that’s not just because I personally don’t love the album.

But how do I feel about the album overall? Well, I can’t really say I love it. I mean, I mostly like the production, and I like a lot of the flows. I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics, and I don’t really understand what most of the lyrics here mean, so maybe that’s part of why I don’t love this album. I mean, I’m sure the lyrics that might seem problematic (for example, when Danny says, ‘They cannot breathe, I make ‘em all suffocate’) aren’t meant literally … I’m sure there’s a deeper meaning, so, as always, feel free to let me know in the comments if you have anything you want to say about the album. But it’s lines like that that are part of what holds this album back for me.

But overall … I mean, I don’t dislike this album. I mostly do like it—I’ll give it a 7/10. But it’s not an album that I think I’ll be going back to a ton, and it’s not going to be among my favourites of this year.

And yeah, I know I didn’t go super in-depth on this album … I’ve been wanting to get this review out for a while now, and I didn’t want to take extra time to look into every lyric super deeply, so, just take this review with a grain of salt. It’s an album that I don’t fully understand, and I’ll totally acknowledge that. It just wasn’t fully my cup of tea.

I still like the album, though, and there are a few songs here that I love!

And with that, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “SCARING THE HOES”, “Shut Yo Bitch Ass Up / Muddy Waters”, “God Loves You”, “Run The Jewels”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Jack Harlow Combo Meal”

Hello, everyone! Time for more mini album reviews! Some albums I go a bit more in-depth on than others, but all of these are just some brief thoughts on these albums.

As always, it’s all just how I personally feel, and even if it sounds at points like I’m trying to say ‘I’m objectively right,’ that’s not what I’m trying to say. None of this is meant as a personal attack on anyone, or me trying to control what kind of music people make/listen to … it’s just me sharing how much/how little I personally like these albums and why.

Now, let’s get to the reviews:

Dog Dreams (개꿈) by Lucy Liyou:

Well … this is an interesting album experience …

It’s three songs, the shortest of which is over nine minutes, and it’s very dreamy and atmospheric.

Overall, it’s not really an album that gives me a ton to say, but I do mostly like it. It’s got some nice synths and I like the variety of moods throughout the album.

It’s worth noting that when I looked for the lyrics, I could only find the lyrics to the first song, and I can’t hear what all the lyrics are. But the lyrics seem interesting.

For me, this album is getting a 6/10. I don’t love it, but it’s definitely interesting, and I recommend giving it a chance. If you like mellow, atmospheric ambient music, you might love this. But that being said, as someone who likes that kind of music myself, even though I like this album, I personally don’t love it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Dog Dreams (개꿈)”, “April in Paris (봄)”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Fold the Horse (종이접기)”

Everything Harmony by The Lemon Twigs:

I’d heard of The Lemon Twigs before this album came out, but this is my first album experience with their music.

And, well, it’s very impressive, especially because of the production, which, I mean, just listen to it for yourself and you’ll probably hear the great production. And the vocals are really good, too!

And somehow … it’s not quite clicking for me the way it is for a lot of people, and I can’t really say I love the album.

Part of it is that some of the mellower songs kind of bore me, like “I Don’t Belong To Me”, and parts of the album feel like they kind of meander a bit, like the end of “What You Were Doing”.

But also, I’m not the biggest fan of a lot of the vocal melodies on this album. And it’s hard to explain why, but this sound for a whole album can be a bit much when the album is nearly fifty minutes long.

It’s definitely got its moments that I like, though. Overall, for me, it’s a 6.5/10—not anywhere near my favourites of the year, but I highly recommend you check it out! Like I said, at the very least, it’s impressive!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “In My Head”, “Any Time of Day”, “Born To Be Lonely”, “Everything Harmony”
Least Favourite Tracks: “I Don’t Belong To Me”, “Still It’s Not Enough”

The Gray In Between by Jeromes Dream:

This is one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year so far, and despite this being their fourth album, it’s the only Jeromes Dream album I’ve listened to so far.

And it’s some pretty hard-hitting metal with great mixing. I really like the snares for the most part here.

But that being said, some of the mellower moments don’t do much for me, and at times the album has a kind of jumpy sound that, for whatever reason, doesn’t really work for me.

I really like the start of this album, and overall I like the album as a whole, but I wouldn’t say I love it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Conversations: In Time, On Mute”, “Stretched Invisible from London”, “South By Isolation”
Least Favourite Tracks: “The Last Water Pearl”

Star Lore by Aindulmedir:

This is the third studio album by Aindulmedir, an artist whose first two studio albums I haven’t listened to yet, but I decided to start with this one, and it’s an instrumental album that’s very mellow.

This album doesn’t really give me much to say. I mean, I really like the mixing and production. And also, the repetition can work for or against the album in my opinion, depending on the song.

But overall, I think this album is pretty solid. It’s just a nice, calming listen, and the thirteen-minute closing track is a great example of that!

I mean, it can be a bit boring at points, and the album didn’t blow my mind or anything, but I’m going to give it a 7/10. Good stuff.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Celestial Studies”, “Always A Wind”, “Hidden Pillars”, “Star Lore”, “Silvery Fields”
Least Favourite Tracks: ???

Bunny by Beach Fossils:

This is my first time listening to a Beach Fossils album, despite having seen the band name online quite a bit.

And I’ve got to say, this album is pretty great in my opinion! It has an airy sound to it and uses quite a bit of reverb (or at least what sounds like reverb), but not to the point where it takes away the punch from these songs, and a big part of that is because of the sharper snares that sound fantastic and really elevate this album for me!

I like a lot of the vocal melodies, too, with one great example being the chorus of “Anything Is Anything”.

Other highlights include “Dare Me”—which has an excellent bassline, and I also love the blazing guitar in the chorus—as well as the excellent closing track, “Waterfall”!

Overall, this album is mellow and dreamy while also being quite upbeat, and it’s a great Summer album! 8.5/10 for me. I think this rules!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Sleeping On My Own”, “Run To the Moon”, “(Just Like the) Setting Sun”, “Anything Is Anything”, “Dare Me”, “Numb”, “Waterfall”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Tough Love”

What Matters Most by Ben Folds:

This is my first time listening to a Ben Folds album, and unfortunately it didn’t really click for me.

I mostly like the piano, and there are some nice melodies, but something feels missing. I guess I wish these songs sounded less generic to me. And I feel bad saying this, because I’m not denying there’s creativity here, it’s just that to my ears these songs sound kind of generic for the most part. That’s not to say these songs are generic, just that they kind of sound that way to my ears.

I like the synths at the start of the opening track, and there are some interesting lyrics on this album, but I also find some of these songs pretty cringey, like “Exhausting Lover”, which is easily my least favourite track here, partially due to the overpowering percussion.

So, for me, it’s a 5/10. Not a bad album, and I recommend you listen to it, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to it much.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “But Wait, There’s More”, “Kristine from the 7th Grade”, “Winslow Gardens”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Exhausting Lover”, “Fragile”

But Here We Are by Foo Fighters:

This is the first Foo Fighters album since the tragic passing of drummer, Taylor Hawkins. Some of the lyrics on this album are about Taylor’s passing and also the passing of Dave Grohl’s mother.

And I hope Dave and his friends and family are all doing well, but that doesn’t mean I have to love the album … and do I love the album?

Well … I wouldn’t say I love it, no. But I do like it quite a bit.

I’ve seen/heard some people saying the mixing/mastering on this album is really bad–and it’s worth acknowledging that I’ve been listening to it without headphones–but I haven’t noticed that. I mean, yeah, the snares are a bit quiet at points, but I mostly don’t mind the mixing and mastering, and in some cases it sounds fantastic, like in the title track, which has an awesome chorus, and the drums on this track are really hard-hitting! I also love the mixing in “The Teacher”, a ten-minute track near the end of the album with multiple parts to it, and this song reminds me a lot of “The Depression Suite” by The Tragically Hip.

I mean, sometimes the vocal melodies can be a bit boring, and some of these songs don’t really do much for me, but the best songs are great, and the distorted guitars sound awesome!

This is some really emotional, hard-hitting alternative rock that I recommend you listen to. I’m going to give it a 7/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Hearing Voices”, “But Here We Are”, “Show Me How”, “The Teacher”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Nothing At All”

My Soft Machine by Arlo Parks:

I’ve been seeing the name, Arlo Parks, all over the internet, but this is the first time I’ve listened to one of her albums.

Now, that being said, it’s only her second album, but anyway, do I like the album?

Well, I think it starts really strong, with three tracks that are very well produced and very well mixed. But eventually I get kind of bored the later it gets in the album.

I’m not entirely sure what it is … I think it’s partially that I start to find the vocal melodies less interesting as the album goes on, but also the kind of airy production starts to sound messier.

There are some songs here that I love, like “Devotion”, which features a great snare, great vocal melodies, and some excellent electric guitar, and I like a lot of the lyrics on this album, too, but overall I can’t say the album really wowed me.

The first three tracks are my three favourites, and then the jumpy synths in “Blades” show up and sound kind of awkward in my opinion, and from there, the album goes downhill in my opinion. But I’d still recommend you hear this, as there is a lot to like, even though it didn’t fully click for me. My feelings on this album are more positive than negative, so … I’ll give it a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Bruiseless”, “Impurities”, “Devotion”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Room (Red Wings)”

Take Me Back To Eden by Sleep Token:

So, I’ve seen/heard some very mixed opinions on this new Sleep Token album. It seems like lots of critics love it, lots of critics strongly dislike it, and lots of critics are somewhere in the middle. So, I had no idea what to expect going into it. I’m not super familiar with Sleep Token’s discography, but after listening to their debut album once, I can’t say I was a big fan of it … maybe if I listen to it more, it’ll grow on me, though. Who knows?

Anyway, going into this album, I kind of had a feeling I wasn’t going to like it all that much … but I was pleasantly surprised! This is a metalcore album which features some really good melodies, and I really like a lot of the production!

I mean, yeah, sometimes the guitar sounds underpowered, and the vocal effects are hit-or-miss for me. And while I like a lot of the melodies, some of them can get quite boring. And while I mostly like the lyrics here, and a lot of them are fascinating, there is the occasional moment where the lyrics feel … maybe a little cringey?

So, yeah, this album has its low points—for example, the trap beat in “The Apparition” really doesn’t work for me—but it’s also got some incredible high points, like the emotional “Are You Really Okay?”, which shows the narrator trying to save someone from self-harm.

At times the vocals and guitar hit super hard, like in the song, “Chokehold”, which is an excellent album opener!

Overall, while this album is quite long, and it’s not a super replayable album for me, the best songs here are fantastic, and I recommend giving it a listen if you’re into metalcore like I am! I’m giving this a 7/10! But with that being said, if you’re not into metalcore, even if you’re looking to get into the genre, there are other albums I’d recommend over this one.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Chokehold”, “Are You Really Okay?”, “DYWTYLM”, “Take Me Back To Eden”, “Euclid”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Aqua Regia”, “The Apparition”

Failed at Math(s) by Panchiko:

So, this band has been around since the 1990s, but this is their official debut studio album. That being said, there are different versions of some of these songs that have been released already, and it’s worth mentioning that I haven’t listened to those versions yet.

Anyway, did I end up liking this album?

Well … a bit, but not that much. I mean, I really like the mixing, and the snares sound good. And I like a lot of the vocal melodies … and it’s not that I really notice any big, notable flaws with the album.

So why does it feel like something’s missing?

Well, I would have liked if the production sounded a bit more clear, and some of the repetition gets slightly annoying, but I’m still not really sure what’s holding me back from liking it more.

But “Gwen Everest” is a great track that reminds me of U2, and overall I do like this album. 6/10 for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Find it (A Song)”, “Gwen Everest”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Breakfast Séance”

Hello, everyone. Yes, I’m working on those other posts I’ve been working on for a while now. My goal is to have them all out by the end of June, but if not, well, better late than never.

But for now I want to talk about this new Protomartyr album, Formal Growth in the Desert.

This is the first Protomartyr album I’ve listened to, and as of right now it’s the only one. So what made me want to check out this album specifically?

Well, I saw it labelled as post-punk, and I’ve been getting into post-punk in the last few years.

Okay, maybe I’ve been a post-punk fan for a lot longer, but when I was a young kid, I didn’t really listen to music all that closely. So, I didn’t really think much about sub-genres of rock music that I listened to, and realistically an album like U2’s The Joshua Tree—which I used to listen to all the time—could be categorized as post-punk, and so could The Killers’ debut album Hot Fuss, another album that was a big part of my childhood.

But maybe those aren’t post-punk albums, I’m not sure. I don’t know how to define what is and isn’t post-punk, and that can be said about pretty much any genre.

But more recently I’ve gotten into albums like Archive Material by Silverbacks (which is one of my favourite albums of 2022) and the absolutely mind-blowing debut album by Squid, Bright Green Field—also, off-topic here, but Squid are putting out a new album this week and I’m really excited about it—and I’ve also been listening to other kinds of punk music.

One band whose music I’ve become a fan of in the past few years is IDLES, who may be closer to hardcore punk than post-punk (but again, I’m not good at giving music genre labels), but it’s easy to compare this album to IDLES, considering the vocal delivery and the tackling of serious issues with a sense of humour.

But even as someone who loves IDLES, that comparison isn’t always going to be a positive one. Because IDLES are such a unique band who seem impossible to even come anywhere close to replicating.

But honestly … as a fan of IDLES, I’ve got to say this new Protomartyr album really surprised me in a positive way, and in this case, to me that comparison is absolutely a good thing!

But with all that being said, the album this reminds me of the most is Endure by Special Interest, which was in my top ten favourite albums of last year! I mean, it’s a very different album in a lot of ways, but it’s got a similar eerie, haunting feeling while still having quite a bit of groove, and much like Endure it’s a strangely fun album to listen to despite the heavy subject matters.

And honestly … I think this album might be even better.

This is easily going to be among my absolute favourite albums of 2023 at the end of the year, with the punchy snares that add lots of power to these tracks, and the excellent blazing guitars, the incredible variety of moods created by the instrumentals and vocals that all connect together into an incredible album experience, and the excellent lyrics!

A lot of this album’s lyrics are political, and I’m not the most knowledgeable person when it comes to politics. And yes, I’m learning more about politics, as I think it’s especially important for me to understand now that I’m an adult … but I’m just saying, take my analyzation of the lyrics with a grain of salt, not only because of the political lyrics, but also because I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics anyway.

But I’m going to start by talking about the lyrics, some of which—like I said earlier—use humour while tackling serious issues. One excellent example of this is the song, “Fun in Hi Skool”, which seems to be about ageism, as a character in the song is saying things like, ‘Hey you old fuck, take a chair, see if you’re gonna win the tontine.’ And the eerie instrumentation is really fitting, especially considering the scary thought that if you’re bullying someone for their old age, you’re essentially bullying your future self. But despite all this, the song is written with a sense of humour, including the line, ‘Gotta keep the mummy entertained.’

Another example of this is “3800 Tigers”, which begins with the line, ‘There’s 3800 tigers in this world, but there’s far too many of you, of you fools.’ I love the double-meaning about the risk of tiger extinction and also the Detroit Tigers, who Joe Casey is a fan of, and speaking of humour, I love how the song ends with, ‘Now beat the Sox.’

I think the sound and lyrics go together really well on this album. “Fulfillment Center”, one of my favourite songs on this album, has a kind of upbeat but also kind of haunting sound to it that I think goes really well with the lyrics which seem to be describing a dream in which two people believe they’re in someone else’s dream—or maybe only one of them is dreaming … I mean, could these two people be having the same dream? But either way, there’s the knowledge that they can escape, but the haunting-yet-upbeat sound fits really well here—because again, the characters seem trapped, but there’s a way out, as it’s just a dream … but which one of them is dreaming? Maybe that made no sense (honestly I’m not even entirely sure what I meant by all that lol), and I get that the lyrics are probably metaphorical, but I can say for sure that I find this song very fascinating.

Lead singer, Joe Casey, has revealed that “Graft Vs. Host” and “The Author” are both about the passing of his mother, and the former is an excellent song that shows a complicated situation, where he’s devastated about it, but he thinks his mother would want him to try and move on and just be happy. The latter is also a great song, and I love the line, ‘Time’s your enemy. Every gift you see will be taken for sure.’

This album opens with the song, “Make Way”, which seems to possibly describe someone who’s only worried about themselves and doesn’t pay attention to anyone else’s struggles. But it also could just be about not letting bad things that happen ruin the day. And maybe there’s a bit of both meanings … I think double-meanings are a big part of this album, and it makes this already excellent album so much more fascinating and complicated, but also so much better!

But there’s more to an album than just the lyrics, and especially as someone who listens to music more for the way it sounds … how does this album sound?

I think it sounds fantastic! I love the punchy snares, the blazing guitars, and the album is musically compelling pretty much the entire way through, and it’s a very replayable album, too.

But right now, I want to talk about the mixing, which is some of the best I’ve heard on any album this entire year, as the guitars are powerful and subtle at the same time, if that makes any sense. The drums are pretty much at the perfect volume throughout the entire album, and the bass isn’t too overpowering but it’s loud enough to add a ton of punch to these tracks!

But honestly, the mixing and production here are so amazing that you have to hear it to believe it!

The vocal melodies are very catchy, too, and the instruments and vocals are timed really well. “Elimination Dances” features some excellent groovy bass which goes really well with the guitars, and the timing of everything sounds kind of ‘off’ but in a good way—and it’s the kind of subtle detail that makes this song really stand out even more to me!

And there’s a lot of great, catchy instrumental moments on here, too, like the aforementioned bass and guitar on “Elimination Dances”, and the excellent guitar groove in “3800 Tigers”

And sorry if I’m repeating myself too much here, but like I’ve said, the way these songs sound fits really well with the lyrics. “Let’s Tip the Creator” seems to be about the rich getting richer, and how most of us are a part of causing that to happen. But it also seems to be acknowledging that it’s okay to support people who are rich—but hopefully the rich help out the poor. And maybe I’m totally misinterpreting this song’s lyrics—actually, I probably am. But even if this wasn’t the intended meaning of the song, it can still be what the song means to me. Either way, this song is great!

And I haven’t even mentioned the super catchy “Polacrilex Kid”, which also features some really interesting lyrics, including the line, ‘Can you hate yourself and still deserve love?’

So, yeah, like I’ve said, this album is absolutely incredible! It’s compelling from start to finish, there’s not a single skippable track here, the mixing and production is some of the best I’ve heard all year—maybe in the last few years—and there are so many subtle details in the lyrics and the sound of the album that make it so much better!

But before I give this album a rating, I want to talk about the last track, “Rain Garden”, which is such an excellent closing track! The eerie, haunting sound adds some incredible atmosphere with those excellent guitars and synths, and the drums are very hard-hitting! And lyrically, it’s a great way to end the album, as complicated as the lyrics are. But despite the eeriness, and despite me not fully understanding the lyrics to this track, it seems like a mostly optimistic way to end the album, as this song includes the line, ‘I am deserving of love’, which may be a callback to the aforementioned “Polacrilex Kid”. And yeah, what an excellent album closer!

I mean, I could nitpick about how “We Know the Rats” could have used a booming snare to make it hit even harder—even though that song is absolutely fantastic already—or how the vocal melodies are kind of boring at points in “For Tomorrow”, or maybe the occasional tiny little detail that is slightly underwhelming, but overall this album is next level amazing!

If you’re into post-punk at all, I highly, highly, highly recommend you hear this album! It’s dreamy, atmospheric, intense, heartbreaking, and so much more, and it all comes together to create one of the best albums I’ve heard all year!

For me, this album is getting a 9.5/10! Obviously you don’t have to listen to it, but I think you’re really missing out if you don’t! I can’t say enough how much I love this album, and you very well could end up loving it as well!

But if you have heard the album, what do you think about it?

As always, thanks for reading my review, and I’ll be back with more reviews soon.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Make Way”, “Elimination Dances”, “Let’s Tip the Creator”, “Graft Vs. Host”, “3800 Tigers”, “Polacrilex Kid”, “Fulfillment Center”, “We Know the Rats”, “The Author”, “Rain Garden”
Least Favourite Tracks: “For Tomorrow”

Hello, everyone! You may have noticed I’ve been posting more than usual recently … and a big part of the reason why is because there are a bunch of reviews I started working on a while ago but hadn’t finished, so I’m just getting caught up on those reviews.

And yes, I’m back with more mini reviews … I’m still working on my review of SCARING THE HOES by JPEGMAFIA & Danny Brown as well as my review of Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd by Lana Del Rey. I’m also still working on my list of my favourite songs of 2022. All three of those posts have kind of been ‘side projects’ for me as a reviewer for the past few weeks … or maybe even the past few months. But now that I’m getting more caught up on mini reviews, I’ll be working on those posts more. I might even have one of them out by the end of May. We’ll see.

But for now, here are five mini reviews! As always, this is all just based on how I personally feel about these albums. None of this is meant to be mean or anything, it’s just someone who loves music writing about albums and how much/how little he likes them and why.

Also, I know these reviews aren’t very in-depth, but to me that’s kind of the point of a mini review. I’m just briefly sharing my feelings on these albums.

Alright, time for the reviews!

Broken By Desire To Be Heavenly Sent by Lewis Capaldi:

Before listening to this album, I decided to check out Lewis Capaldi’s 2019 debut album, Divinely Uninspired To A Hellish Extent, and while I like “Someone You Loved” more than the vast majority of online music critics, I can’t say I really ended up liking the album much. The album starts strong in my opinion with the song, “Grace”, but I felt like the rest of the album paled in comparison, and a lot of it I just personally didn’t find very interesting. That’s not to say it’s ‘uninteresting’, it’s just that I personally wasn’t all that interested by it.

But “Forget Me”, this album’s lead single, gave me higher expectations for this album, so … did I end up liking this album more than his debut?

Well … I’m not sure. I mean, just like his debut, it’s got its moments that I like. But it’s also got some very low lows in my opinion. For example, the song, “Pointless”, which features some really boring melodies in my opinion, and I also find the instrumental boring. And in what sounds like it’s supposed to be a romantic song, the line, ‘Everything is pointless without you’ is really off-putting. I know it’s not meant literally, but it really doesn’t work for me at all.

There’s also “Any Kind Of Life”, which has one of the most boring instrumentals on this album in my opinion, with a chord progression that doesn’t click for me … and while I mostly like the vocals on this album, when he belts out in the chorus of this song, I don’t really enjoy listening to it. Also, “Love The Hell Out Of You” is another of my least favourite tracks here, as I don’t find the melodies interesting at all, and the guitar is mixed super quietly, and I find the chorus really annoying, as I find the lyrics in the chorus kind of cringey.

I like the second half of the album better than the first half, but overall, for me, this album is a 5/10. But that being said, I love the song, “Burning”, which is my favourite Lewis Capaldi song to date … this song shows the narrator leaving a relationship after realizing it isn’t going to work out, and the snare sounds great in this song, and I like the vocals and vocal melodies, too! But back to the album overall, while I like the vocals and I like a lot of the production, the compositions for the most part don’t really work for me, and that really holds me back from liking this album more.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Forget Me”, “Burning”, “The Pretender”, “How This Ends”, “How I’m Feeling Now”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Wish You The Best”, “Pointless”, “Love The Hell Out Of You”, “Any Kind Of Life”

…So Unknown by Jesus Piece:

Two years ago, sixteen-year-old me would have listened to this and given it a super high rating because I thought I was so ‘cool’ for loving pretty much any metal music … but now, eighteen-year-old me listens to this and thinks, ‘this really isn’t for me.’

It’s not that I don’t like intensity in music, but I personally don’t find the guitar riffs on this album to be my cup of tea, and the screaming and the instrumentals here don’t really work for me when put together, and I’m not really sure why.

I get that this just isn’t my cup of tea, and there’s an audience for this kind of music, but to me it mostly sounds like noise. That’s not to say it’s ‘just noise’, it’s just that that’s how I personally hear it. And I rate albums based on how much/how little I personally like them …

So, with that being said, this is getting a 3/10 from me. I mean, it ends with a great track in my opinion, but up until that point I personally don’t find it very interesting, but there’s a good chance you’ll like it more than me. So, if you’re a fan of metal with lots of screaming, I’ll give it a recommendation. Otherwise, if you’re looking to get into metal, this isn’t the album I’d recommend first.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 3/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Bond”
Least Favourite Tracks: “In Constraints”, “FTBS”, “Silver Lining”, “Gates of Horn”, “Profane”, “An Offering to the Night”, “Stolen Life”

Stereo Mind Game by Daughter:

So, you may have noticed from reading my reviews that I’m not the biggest fan of music with an airy sound to it … but that’s not to say there aren’t exceptions, and to me, this new Daughter album is absolutely fantastic!

And I think part of it is the sharper percussion on some of these songs, and also the subtler percussion on some of the other songs—both of those, in my opinion, sound good with the airy sound. For the most part, the snares don’t feel too clunky … keep in mind that I said ‘for the most part’, as the clunky snare on “Dandelion” is a big part of the reason this is one of the weaker songs on the album in my opinion.

Meanwhile, the sharp snare on “Party” is part of the reason I love this song so much! And also, the distorted guitar in this song sounds fantastic!

There are a lot of interesting lyrics on this album about a variety of topics (although a lot of them seem to have to do with the feeling of loneliness during the pandemic), and the melodies are really good, too … I’m giving this an 8.5/10! I think it’s excellent!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Be On Your Way”, “Party”, “Future Lover”, “Isolation”, “To Rage”, “Wish I Could Cross the Sea”
Least Favourite Tracks: Maybe the intro track? Maybe “Dandelion”? I think I like every track here, though

Exotico by Temples:

Recently, I decided to check out Temples’ 2017 album, Volcano, considering I’d heard really good things about it … and I can’t say I really ended up loving it like so many people did, but I did end up liking it quite a bit, and “Mystery of Pop” is an absolutely phenomenal track!

And while I still haven’t heard any of their other albums, that album made me excited to check out this album, and … well, this was quite the disappointment.

First of all, I don’t find the melodies as catchy as the melodies on Volcano, in either the vocals or instrumentation. And some of the catchier melodies here are kind of annoyingly catchy in my opinion, like the string melody (or at least I think it’s strings) at the start of the song, “Cicada”.

But I’m also not a big fan of a lot of the reverb here. Or maybe it isn’t reverb, but it sounds like it is. Either way, it gives these songs an airy sound that, to my ears, stops these songs from having more punch to them. And it’s not that I don’t ever like airy production in music–I mean, I just gave the new Daughter album an 8.5/10 … but in synth-pop I’m not as big a fan of airy production. And yes, I think this is a synth-pop album, at least somewhat.

Overall, this just didn’t really do much for me outside of a handful of tracks, and there are also some tracks I find quite annoying. So, for me, especially considering how long the album is, it’s a 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Liquid Air”, “Crystal Hall”, “Giallo”, “Inner Space”, “Time Is A Light”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Gamma Rays”, “Exotico”, “Meet Your Maker”

Real Life by Kat Duma:

I randomly came across this album when I was on Apple Music, and it’s the debut album by an artist whom I’d never heard of before.

And this album starts very strong, with a really great, dreamy sound with great production and mixing—and I love some of the details like the first lead synth in “Real Life”, the snappiness of the snare in “Land & Sea & Sky”, and the echoed guitar (or maybe it’s a harp or something, I’m not sure) in “Fated” … but not only do I start wishing for more variety in the sound as the album goes on, but the songs themselves start to get weaker in my opinion.

There’s “So Long” which features some pretty boring vocal melodies, and while I like the cover of “Ana” by Pixies (this cover kind of sounds like Beach House), right after it is “Flame”, which features clunky-sounding percussion, and the echo on this track makes me like it less … and it’s not like I really like the vocal melodies on this track, either.

I think the album ends pretty well with “Sun Rise”, but the overpowered bass holds me back from liking this song more, even though the guitar does sound really nice.

Overall … I mean, I wouldn’t say I love it. I like the first half way better than the second, but that’s partially because I really like the first half! So, overall, I’d recommend giving this a listen. For me, it’s a 6.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Real Life”, “Land & Sea & Sky”, “System”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Flames”

Hello, everyone! Today I’m reviewing the newest album from Grandbrothers, Late Reflections.

This album is this duo’s fourth studio album, and it’s the first one of their albums that I’ve listened to … it’s an instrumental album, and it’s just under forty-five minutes long.

I’ve been listening to a lot more instrumental music this year than usual. Part of that is because it’s easier to review, so I can review more albums … but I’ve also gotten into instrumental music more. I used to almost never listen to instrumental albums, and I’m not sure why, considering that I usually listen to music more for the way it sounds than the lyrics … I mean, I listened to a lot of music in which I didn’t understand the lyrics at all, so why not instrumental music?

Well, part of it is that I do care about lyrics, just not as much as a lot of people do … and also, even if I don’t understand the lyrics, vocals are a big part of the reason I love a lot of the music that I love.

But most of all, I think it’s because I was used to listening to music with vocals, and I didn’t feel like going out of my comfort zone. But as a music reviewer, I think it’s best to go out of my comfort zone sometimes … so, after listening to more instrumental music over the past year or so than I usually listen to, and finding some real gems, I decided to check out this new album from Grandbrothers. Did I end up loving this album?

Oh yeah! I absolutely did! And it might be kind of tricky for me to fully put into words what I’m trying to say about this album, but I’ll try, and hopefully it makes sense.

So, why does music resonate with us emotionally? I mean, that’s a complicated question to answer, but lyrics definitely play a part. Now, why is that? Well, I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, relatable lyrics often resonate and contribute to how I feel about a song/album/etc … but it doesn’t guarantee that I’ll love it.

If I’m going through something, often hearing music about that thing makes me feel a lot better … but sometimes it doesn’t do much for me at all. And also, sometimes I’ll listen to a song with lyrics that I don’t relate to at all, but I feel like I relate to it even though I don’t … maybe I interpret it to have a specific meaning even though I know it wasn’t the intended meaning.

But I also think a lot of the time it has to do with the way the music sounds, or how the lyrics and sound go together … so, can instrumental music have emotional resonance for me?

Absolutely! And it’s hard to describe why, but I associate different sounds with different moods, and different emotions. And in this case, this new Grandbrothers album has a huge emotional resonance for me.

One thing that I struggle with—and I know I’m not alone in this—is accepting the passage of time. Not only the fact that I, and everyone else, will eventually die, but also the fact that I’ll never be younger than I am now. I mean, I just turned eighteen less than a year ago and I’m already starting to feel old—not that there’s anything wrong with being old, but I think most of us often feel a sense of longing for the past, maybe in part because we know we can’t go back.

And I don’t know what it is about this album, but I’m so, so, so glad I discovered this album! Because it’s the kind of album that not only provides comfort right now despite the inevitable fact that I’m going to get older, and things won’t always be the same, but it’s an album that I think will have the same meaning to me decades in the future, as the passage of time is something that never changes.

And it makes this review tricky to write, because for me it’s not as much about each individual song as it is about the album as a whole … but I’ll start by telling you this: this album absolutely blew my mind, it’s damn near a perfect album, and it’s the kind of album that resonated with me emotionally in a way that is extremely rare … so, yeah, this is an incredibly special album to me, and I’ll even go as far as to say that as of right now it’s the frontrunner for my favourite album of 2023.

So, where do I begin?

Well … honestly, as much as I love this album so, so, so much, it’s not really an album that’s going to give me a ton to say. I mean, it’s instrumental, so it’s not like I can analyze the lyrics.

Well, the first thing I want to mention is the pianos, which might be my favourite thing about this entire album, as they not only sound pretty much perfect in the mix with just the right amount of airiness to them to give them texture that contributes to the gorgeous sound of these tracks, but they also feature some beautiful melodies, for example, on the song, “Bloom”.

Some of the percussion on this album has this almost ‘exploding’ sound to it that I really like, on songs like “On Solid Ground” and “North/South”, as it really adds to the stormy feeling of this album. But there’s some other percussion that I think sounds fantastic as well, like at one point in the song, “Bloom”, where it kind of sounds like someone knocking on a door, and I also like the echoed percussion in the song, “Adrift”.

“Adrift” also has some kind of industrial sounds, and it’s a very eerie track that is a really nice change in the album. Another nice change in the album is “Yokohama Rascals”, which, on its own, is a great, calming, mellow track, but in the context of the album it’s even better! There’s not much melodically to it that really stands out to me, but it’s got such a nice calming feeling to it, and it really clicks for me! 

I love how a lot of the synths on this album drag out, giving these songs an eerie feeling and a calming feeling at the same time, if that makes any sense.

I mean, I could go on and on talking about little details that add so much to this album, like the static that adds a stormy feeling to the song, “Golden Dust”, or the jumpiness in the piano on “North/South”, or the sound of the percussion with about a minute left in “Adrift”, and I could go on and on about how much I love the opening and closing tracks … but I think I’ll let you just hear the album for yourself … if you want to, of course.

But I highly, highly recommend that you give it a chance. Even if you’re not into instrumental music at all, I think you might really love this! I mean, I used to try to avoid listening to instrumental music, but then when I gave it a chance, I discovered some real gems … I mean, I included A Memory of Something Vast and Elemental by Spunkshine on my list of my favourite albums of 2022, and that album is almost entirely instrumental, as is Patricia Taxxon’s Aeroplane (although that album has one song with quite a few lyrics), which made it even higher on that list! And now this year, Grandbrothers released an entirely instrumental album that is, as of right now, the album to beat for me this year!

Like I said, there’s a stormy feeling to this album, and the sounds feel like clouds moving in the sky, or people walking past you, or just time passing in general … and to me, it represents how scary that is. But the pianos add the calming feeling to help with accepting the passage of time, and it’s an album that I dearly, dearly love. So, for me, it’s a 9.5/10. If you haven’t listened to this album, I cannot recommend it enough! Obviously you don’t have to listen to it, but you might be really missing out if you don’t.

And I say you ‘might be’ because … well, maybe you wouldn’t like it. I’m not sure. Music is subjective, so just because this album resonated with me emotionally as much as it did doesn’t mean that you’ll love it, too … maybe you’ll hate the album, I don’t know. So, like with any of my reviews, feel free to leave a comment down below. I’m curious what you think of the album and/or what you think of my review of the album.

I’ll be back soon with more reviews, and eventually with my favourite songs of 2022 list, but for now, as always, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9.5/10
Favourite Tracks: All of them
Least Favourite Tracks: I don’t want to pick any

Hi, everyone! Yes, I know I just posted my Ed Sheeran review … but why not post more mini reviews?

As always, none of this is meant as a personal attack on anyone, even if I give a negative review. It’s just me sharing how I personally feel about these albums AKA how much/how little I like these albums and why.

Jackman. by Jack Harlow:

I didn’t even know Jack Harlow had announced a new album until after it came out … but I guess that’s probably no surprise when the album came out just a couple days after it was announced.

Anyway, this is the follow-up to Come Home The Kids Miss You, one of my least favourite albums of 2022, and … well, I like this album more than that album. I personally find the lyrics on this album more interesting, and I like a lot of the lyrics here, including some which show complicated situations about morals.

But I can’t say I’m a big fan of Jack’s flows on this album … I’m not sure why, but something about the way the flows and instrumentals combine just feels kind of awkward.

There are a lot of samples used here, and I think some of them sound really good, like the sample of “I Love You Dawn” by Bill Withers in the song, “It Can’t Be”. But I can’t say I find the instrumentals super interesting for the most part.

Overall, I don’t dislike this album, and despite not liking all the lyrics, there are a lot of lyrics here that I do like, but I’m not really a big fan of the album. I’m giving this a 5/10, but that’s coming from someone who’s not the biggest hip hop fan in general, so if you’re more of a hip hop fan than I am, there’s a good chance you’ll like this a lot more than I do.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Common Ground”, “Gang Gang Gang”
Least Favourite Tracks: “They Don’t Love It”, “No Enhancers”

Concrete Sunrise by A Reason to Travel:

So, this is an instrumental album which I guess is … ambient-metal? I guess?

At points it’s very mellow, but the instrumentals often build to become instrumental metal. And while I like this album, I wouldn’t say I love it. I mean, I mostly like the production and mixing, and some of the melodies are pretty good, but I can’t help but feel like something’s missing here … and that is something I noticed quite often throughout this album.

The album opens with my favourite track here, which is the title track. The piano sounds great, and I love the eerie feeling of the track. But from that point on, some of these songs feel like they meander a bit, and while I mostly like the production here, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some elements of the production that I don’t like, such as how quietly the snare is mixed on the closing track, or something about the piano in “Refuge” just sounding kind of ‘off’ and I’m not really sure what it is about it.

But still, it’s an eerie listen with some excellent moments … I’ll give it a 6/10. And I’d recommend giving it a listen. You might like it more than me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Concrete Sunrise”, “Dust Wanderer”, “I Miss the Sight of Chimneys”
Least Favourite Tracks: The rest don’t do much for me but I don’t really dislike any of them

Higher Than Heaven by Ellie Goulding:

Before listening to this album, I decided to check out Ellie Goulding’s previous albums … and I didn’t listen to them enough or read enough lyrics that I could really give you my full opinion on all four albums, but I will say this: overall, it wasn’t really my cup of tea. I mean, maybe if I listen to those albums more they might grow on me, but so far I can’t say I’m that big a fan.

But how do I feel about this new Ellie Goulding album? Well, I’m not really a fan of it, and like with Ellie Goulding’s previous albums, a lot of the vocal melodies hold the album back for me.

A lot of the vocal melodies on this album just don’t do anything for me at all, and at times get kind of annoying. There aren’t a lot of standout choruses to me on this album, and it becomes a slog for me to get through despite being a pretty short album.

There’s a lot of bouncy production on this album that I don’t like, and overall the instrumentals don’t really do much for me, at least without vocal melodies to help the songs really click for me.

The title track is my favourite track here, and even that song isn’t one that I love, mostly because the percussion being so loud gets pretty distracting.

So, overall, for me, this album is a very light 4/10 … I’ve definitely heard albums this year I like less, but it’s still far from being an album that I love, or even one that I like. If you love pop music, I might recommend it, but even as someone who loves a lot of pop music myself, this just isn’t for me at all, and it might be my least favourite Ellie Goulding album.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “Higher Than Heaven”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Love Goes On”, “Let It Die”, “Waiting For It”

catharsis by COVET:

This is a mostly instrumental album which only features one song with lyrics, that being the opener, “coronal”, which I couldn’t find the lyrics for when I looked them up, and it’s hard to hear what the lyrics are with the vocals sounding drowned out by the instrumentation … but I do love the way this song sounds!

Anyway, how do I feel about the whole album?

Well … as impressive as this album is, it’s not one that really gives me a lot to say. I mean, the guitar distortion sounds great, there’s lots of great melodies, there’s great drumming, and the mixing is fantastic! It’s got a great sound quality to it, and again, it’s very impressive … but it’s a hard one for me to review in-depth.

I kind of get the feeling I’m not going to return to these individual songs as much as the album as a whole … and I’m not entirely sure why. I feel like it’s one of those albums where everything I say about it will make more sense if you hear it yourself … I mean, maybe you’ll feel differently about it than I do, but you’ll probably get what I’m saying if you listen to it … or maybe you won’t and I just don’t have a good explanation, I’m not sure.

Overall, it’s just some really solid post-rock, or math-rock, or whatever … I don’t know what those genre labels even mean, but whatever it is, it’s really enjoyable to listen to! I’d say enjoyable enough to get a 9/10 from me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “coronal”, “bronco”, “vanquish”, “interlude”, “smolder”, “merlin”, “lovespell”
Least Favourite Tracks: “firebird”

That! Feels Good! by Jessie Ware:

Jessie Ware just released one of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year so far, the follow-up to her 2020 album, What’s Your Pleasure?, one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2020. And while I still haven’t listened to that album, I decided to check out this new Jessie Ware album, and …

Well, I like it a lot! It’s really well mixed, which really contributes to the grooves of these songs really clicking for me, with the percussion sounding fantastic in the mix. A great example is “Pearls”, which features some fantastic melodies that really pop off with the excellent sound quality, with the vocals sounding great in the mix, and the percussion has this nice, breezy feeling to it which I’m sure will make this song an excellent summer jam! And as much as I love the chorus on this song, I don’t think it’s my favourite chorus on the album … that would be the chorus of “Free Yourself”!

But I can’t help but feel kind of disappointed that I don’t like it more … yes, the production/mixing is great, and there are lots of great melodies, too, but there are times when the bouncy instrumentation doesn’t really work for me, and the vocal melodies get less interesting to me in the second half, and there is the occasional cringey line … and yes, these are nitpicks, and they don’t ruin the album for me, but when you see me giving this album a 7.5/10, at least I’ve given an explanation for why that rating isn’t higher.

Don’t get me wrong, I still like this album a lot, but if I’m going to say I love an album I want to mean it … and I can’t quite say I love this album.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Free Yourself”, “Pearls”, “Begin Again”, “Beautiful People”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Shake the Bottle”

The Album by Jonas Brothers:

Jonas Brothers are one of the first bands I ever really got into as a kid, as I used to listen to some of their earlier albums, and while I haven’t listened to any of those albums in a while, it is something I’ll probably do soon to see if I still like those albums or not … I mean, I probably haven’t listened to those albums since I was … I don’t know, six years old maybe? And adult Simon has a very different taste in music than six-year-old Simon.

And I haven’t listened to their 2019 comeback album, Happiness Begins, but I will admit, I am a fan of the song, “Sucker”, despite me not liking the majority of the songs of theirs I’ve heard on the radio in the last few years.

But this album does pretty much nothing for me … except for annoying me when I listen to it. I’m not judging anyone for liking this, but I honestly don’t get the appeal of this album. If you love the album, though, feel free to let me know why … maybe we can have a discussion about this album in the comments. So, yeah, if you love this album, that’s great, but as of right now I can’t say I understand why, and it’s certainly not for me.

At least as far as I can tell, the lyrics aren’t very deep (maybe there’s something I’m missing, but they don’t seem very deep to me), and it’s not that I have to find the lyrics really deep for me to love an album, but I don’t find the melodies very interesting for the most part, and a lot of these songs are annoyingly repetitive. And I’ve got to say, “Summer In The Hamptons” might be one of my least favourite songs of the year so far, mostly because of that super annoying chorus.

I’m also not a big fan of the production here, as a lot of it sounds messy, and some of the stiff percussion is overpowering, for example on “Sail Away”. And in some points there’s this bouncy production that feels annoyingly jumpy and messy, like the chorus of “Waffle House”, which, by the way, features a line I find really cringey, ‘That’s why some nights we tried to kill each other, but you know it’s always love.’ I’m sure this isn’t meant literally, but … what?

Again, if you love this album, that’s great! And I’m not trying to send hate to the band or anyone else. But this album just isn’t for me at all, and if you’re looking for album recommendations, I just can’t recommend this album over so many others … I mean, in this mini review post alone there are multiple other albums I’d recommend over this. 2.5/10 for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 2.5/10
Favourite Tracks: None, really
Least Favourite Tracks: “Miracle”, “Montana Sky”, “Waffle House”, “Summer In The Hamptons”, “Summer Baby”, “Walls”

Jump On It by Bill Orcutt:

Here’s an instrumental album by an artist whom I’d never heard of until recently. It’s about half an hour long, and it’s very mellow.

This album is very impressive, but I can’t say it really clicks for me that much. I mean, I mostly do like it, but it didn’t really wow me.

The recording quality is great, and there are some nice melodies here and there, but I get less interested in the second half, and at points the melodies don’t do much for me at all.

Overall … I’ll give it a 6/10, and I’d recommend you listen to it. Personally, I don’t love the album, but there’s a very real possibility you’ll like it a lot more than I do.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “What Do You Do With Memory”, “The Life of Jesus”, “Some Hidden Purpose”, “A Natural Death”
Least Favourite Tracks: “In a Column of Air”

Hello, everyone! Yes, I know, I’m really far behind on those album reviews I said I’d be posting … but here’s a full-length review of an album, and I have a few more on the way that I’ve started working on. Just to give a bit of an update, I’m working on a review of the newest album from Lana Del Rey, as well as the collab album from JPEGMAFIA and Danny Brown. I also have another album review coming up soon which will be a surprise.

But for now, I’m reviewing the newest Ed Sheeran album, –. Yes, that’s the name of the album … and now that he’s got albums called +, X, ÷, =, and – (yes, I left out No.6 Collaborations Project), I wonder what his next album will be called … ‘%’?

But on the topic of the music … well, Ed Sheeran is one of those artists whose music has received a very interesting reception. I mean, he’s been one of the biggest pop stars in the world over the past decade or so, and while that means he has a very large, passionate fanbase, it also means there’s a large amount of people who are tired of hearing his songs on the radio all the time, and who are tired of hearing people talk about Ed Sheeran … and even as someone who hasn’t listened to all of his albums, I can’t help but feel like a lot of the disliking of his music is due to people thinking they’re ‘too cool’ to like his music. And that’s not to say you have to like Ed Sheeran’s music … I mean, based on the Ed Sheeran songs/albums that I haveheard, a lot of it doesn’t really click for me. But whether consciously or subconsciously, I think there are a lot of people who want to be ‘cool’ by saying negative things about Ed Sheeran’s music, and instead praising any underground, critically acclaimed music no matter what. And I’m not trying to be too judgmental here—I mean, we’re all biased, myself included—but I just think it’s worth mentioning that I can’t help but feel like Ed Sheeran’s previous album, =, got a lot of the negative reviews it got in large part because … well, because it’s Ed Sheeran, and, ‘Oh no, it’s Ed Sheeran, this music sucks.’

I remember listening to = multiple times when it came out, and I wasn’t really a big fan of the album. Going back to it now, I also can’t say I’m a big fan of the album—it has some incredibly cringey moments, and a lot of the instrumentals sounded kind of generic to me (despite some huge exceptions)—but unlike a lot of critics, I don’t dislike that album. And again, there’s nothing wrong with disliking that album, or liking critically acclaimed music … it’s just that I can’t help but feel like the reception to that album would have been a lot more positive had Ed Sheeran’s music previously been critically acclaimed.

= has a lot of emotional song writing on it, a lot of which didn’t really do much for me, but I respect it a lot … and I know I always say I respect almost all music, but = is the kind of album where even the parts of the album that I don’t really love (or even the parts of the album I find very annoying) I at least get the appeal of, and it’s one of those albums which—even though I don’t believe in music being ‘objectively good’ or ‘objectively bad’—I kind of feel like is a better album than it is an album that I like … even if it’s not totally my cup of tea, I feel like even in my own personal opinion, it’s a very good album, if that makes any sense. But again, that’s not the point … no music is objectively good or bad. But I guess what this is all leading to is me saying that = is an album I don’t really love, and it’s very hit-or-miss for me, but it kind of gave me an optimistic feeling about this new album … and, as I expected, this album is not getting a lot of critical acclaim, but I wanted to give it a chance.

And … well, it’s a very emotional album that discusses grief, depression, and much more, and it really shows the human side of Ed Sheeran, and it’s a reminder that life can be tough for all of us, even the biggest celebrities.

But there’s a lot of emotional, personal song writing on =, and again, while I don’t dislike that album, it did feel like an album that showed promise for his next album to be one that I liked a lot more … so, how do I feel about this album?

Well … it’s the type of album where you hear it, and you instantly know it isn’t Ed ‘selling out’ or trying to make as many hit songs as possible. And there’s a real magic to Ed’s song writing on this album, which makes this album a very easy listen and a very difficult listen at the same time. But it’s got this very comforting feeling to it, and I personally like nearly every track … yeah, this album clicked for me! And I recommend you hear it, too!

So, now, I’m going to talk about the individual songs on this album, and one thing this album has in common with = is that both albums had very misleading lead singles in my opinion … I mean, I think I like “Bad Habits” more than the majority of critics, but if you only knew that song from the album and then listened to the album, you’d probably be quite surprised.

“Eyes Closed”, the lead single from this album, is a very emotional song, written about the death of a close friend, but musically it sounds totally different from the rest of the album. It’s much more of a pop song than most of the songs on this album, despite the heavy subject matter.

In my opinion a song that represents the album more, at least sound-wise, is the opening track, “Boat”, which features some great acoustic guitar and great melodies, as Ed sings about resilience, and I love the line, ‘But the waves won’t break my boat.’ I mean, it’s a very simple song, at least it seems that way to me, but it’s a very nice song that’s a great way to open the album.

But that being said, while I do like this album, for me there’s a big elephant in the room that holds this album back for me quite a bit, and I’m going to get this out of the way right now … and it’s not some consistent issue I have throughout multiple tracks that holds a bunch of these songs back for me … no, it’s an individual song, that being “Salt Water”, the second song on the album.

I want to be careful with what I say about “Salt Water”, because I really don’t want this to be taken the wrong way. I want to make it clear that I’m not saying Ed had bad intentions with this song, and I understand that different people interpret art in different ways. With that being said, though, I personally strongly dislike this song, and it’s easily my least favourite song on this album, by far. My main issue with this song is in the lyrics, in which the narrator ‘takes one step and says, “Well, here it goes”’, ‘embracing the deep’ and ‘leaving everything’, and ‘being free.’ Was this song intended to be about suicide? I’m guessing it was just a more metaphorical way of describing the end of someone’s life regardless of how the person dies, but it still comes across as if it’s about suicide. And I’m sure Ed wasn’t trying to glorify suicide here, but the optimistic, positive lyrics in a song in which the narrator is (possibly) committing suicide doesn’t sit well with me at all. When paired with this really calm instrumentation with this emotional-but-hopeful feeling to it, it gives this song a really icky feeling that really makes me want to stay the hell away from this track. Again, those are just my own personal feelings on the song, and I get that the lyrics aren’t meant literally. I understand that different people interpret art differently … but in my own personal opinion, this song is terrible.

“Life Goes On”, on the other hand, is a song that I love … and it’s another very emotional track, about the difficulty of just ‘moving on’ after the loss of a loved one, and the mellow acoustic guitar and the piano fits really well in this song. 

The next track, “Dusty”, is about Ed listening to music with his daughter the morning after a very difficult night, and enjoying the moment despite what happened the day before. And it’s a gorgeously produced song, with the percussion sounding damn near perfect in the mix, and every instrument combining together incredibly well! And the bridge brings this song to a whole different level! It’s probably my favourite track on this entire album!

“End Of Youth” is the next track, and it seems to be about growing up and realizing that not everything ends well, and that life can be very difficult … I mean, we know these things as kids, but a lot of us—at least myself—at one point barely worried at all … or at least looking back at that time in my life, it feels like I barely worried (even if I did), and sometimes it leads to a feeling of longing for the past, when everything was easier, or at least now it seems that it was. But even with situations you’ve been in yourself … you can’t relive the past, so you don’t always know exactly how much more difficult it could’ve been back then, even if it just seems like ‘the good old days.’ I know I’m kind of getting off topic, but the point I’m trying to make is I really like this song, especially the line, ‘We spend our youth with arms and hearts wide open, and then the dark gets in and that’s the end of youth.’ And the great production really elevates this song for me.

“Colourblind” features a really nice melody in the chorus, and the piano sounds great on this track. There are some interesting lyrics with some interesting imagery, and while the references to different colours does start to get slightly annoying, it’s still a nice song with great production and an interesting idea comparing life to colours.

I like the kind of rock-like instrumentation of “Curtains”, and I like how Ed in the song goes from hiding his feelings to eventually realizing it’s a good idea to open up and tell someone he’s struggling. With that being said, the kind of messy production does hold this song back for me, and I wish the guitars were less underpowered so the song could have more punch to it … overall, I’d say it’s probably one of the weaker songs here.

After another nice, mellow song in “Borderline”—which features some really nice piano and strings—we get “Spark”, which seems to focus on optimism for the future despite difficult times in the past … and while the snare sounds a bit awkward, it’s still a very good song with production I mostly like, with an airy sound—which is something I often don’t like in music, but the pianos give the instrumental some power to avoid the airy sound being too dreamy and drab.

“Vega” has some nice strings, and it seems to partially be inspired by Ed’s wife’s cancer diagnosis during her pregnancy, and the song also seems to have to do with fame. I love the line, ‘We were made to be stars, but it burns like hell to be Vega.’ 

The following “Sycamore” also seems to be about his wife’s diagnosis. Ed said he wrote this song in a time of fear and uncertainty, and it’s such a well-written song. And I don’t mean to make this all about me, but in a review where I write about my personal feelings on this album, it’s worth mentioning that, as someone who’s often afraid of uncertainty myself, I find this song comforting, as there seems to be a feeling of optimism despite the darkness … I mean, I can nitpick about the strings being distracting, as I think the song would have worked much better without them, as a more stripped-back track, and it’s what holds me back from truly loving this song, but still … like a lot of this album, it’s another reminder that even the biggest celebrities are going through stuff, too. And it’s songs like these that represent what makes – such a good album in my opinion.

The album ends with two of its best songs in my opinion, those being “No Strings” and “The Hills of Aberfeldy”, the former of which features pianos that sound incredibly well produced, and it’s one of the most optimistic songs on the album. This song is very stripped back, and I think it really fits for this kind of late-album song with a ‘light at the end of the tunnel’ feeling to it. And the closing track, “The Hills of Aberfeldy”, is such an excellent way to end the album, with great imagery, great production, and some of my favourite vocal melodies on the album, with some excellent-sounding guitar as well! The strings sound great, too, and I love how the album ends describing a strong relationship that can survive through the most difficult of challenges.

And I think the ending represents the album as a whole very well … life can be very difficult, but there’s always optimism to be found.

I mean … are there some production choices that don’t really work for me? Yeah. Can the vocal melodies be kind of boring at points? Yeah. Is there a song on this album I love as much as “Visiting Hours” from =? No. And none of the positive things I have to say about so many tracks here make me dislike “Salt Water” any less—I still very strongly dislike that song—so, with all that being said, is this an album that I truly love? I wouldn’t quite say it is, but I personally like it more than =, and like I’ve said, it’s an album that really shows the human side of Ed Sheeran. And also, in my personal opinion, it’s a very good album. And it’s getting a 7/10 from me.

But regardless of how I feel about the album, I hope Ed is doing well, and I hope his wife is healthy, and I hope his family is happy.

But back to the album … if you can get past the idea that you can’t like an Ed Sheeran album, which I really hope you can, I highly recommend you give this album a chance. And even if you think you can’t get past that mindset, I highly recommend you listen to it anyway … it might change your mind.

And with that, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Boat”, “Life Goes On”, “Dusty”, “End Of Youth”, “No Strings”, “The Hills of Aberfeldy”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Salt Water”

Hello, everyone!

I know I haven’t posted in a while, and the first thing I’ll say is: yes, I’m still planning to post my list of my top 100 favourite songs of 2022. I’m not sure when, but it’s coming … hopefully before the end of June. I know it keeps getting delayed, but I am actually optimistic it’ll be out before the end of June.

Anyway, I was away for over a week, and during that time I wasn’t working on reviews much. I do have a few reviews of individual albums coming up … I’m not sure when they’ll be out, and they’re going to be out much later than I was hoping, but better late than never.

Also, I have more mini reviews that I’m working on.

Anyway, for now, here are six mini reviews! And as always, it’s all just based on how I personally feel about these albums.

The Weakness by Ruston Kelly:

This is my first time listening to a Ruston Kelly album, and while I respect almost all music, this album in particular is a huge example of an album I respect way more than I like. It’s super emotional and very personal, with a lot of it having to do with his divorce. And I’m not trying to be disrespectful, but if I’m being honest the album isn’t really clicking for me as a whole.

I’m not a big fan of the airy production, and a lot of the vocal melodies bore me. But there are some individual songs here that I love … for example, “Michael Keaton”, which has some of my favourite vocal melodies here, and I love how the guitar sounds in the chorus. And there are some moments here that really resonated with me emotionally, it’s just that I can’t really say the same thing about the album as a whole.

Overall, I highly recommend you listen to this album, even though it’s not really for me. There’s a lot to it, and there’s a good chance you’ll absolutely love it.

That being said, for me personally, this is getting a 5.5/10. But that’s just because the album didn’t really click for me personally. But I don’t dislike the album, and I absolutely love the closing track!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Michael Keaton”, “Mending Song”, “Holy Shit”, “Cold Black Mile”
Least Favourite Tracks: “The Weakness”, “Dive”

Just Me and You by Lilac:

This album is mostly instrumental, and in the parts of the album with lyrics I can’t hear what the lyrics are, nor could I find them when I looked them up.

Anyway, this album is quite calming, and I mostly like the production, but it kind of feels too long and too short at the same time, if that makes any sense.

I mean, it’s less than a half hour long, but it feels like it could use more variety in the sound to make it fully click for me more … which would make the album longer but also it wouldn’t feel like it drags on as much. But still, I like the synths here and it’s mixed really well, and it’s not that there isn’t any variety here, it’s just that I think I would like it more with a bit more variety.

For me, this album is a 7/10, and I recommend you give it a chance!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Phone Call”, “M1221451x234”, “My Lifesaver”, “I Thought It Was Over”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sleep Pattern”, “Outside Your House”

Glorious Game by El Michels Affair & Black Thought:

After Black Thought’s collaboration album with Danger Mouse last year which ended up making my top 50 for the year, I was very excited to hear this new Black Thought collaboration album, this one being a collab with El Michels Affair, a band whom I don’t remember hearing of until recently, even though they’ve been releasing albums since the 2000s.

Anyway, this is a hip-hop album with very interesting lyrics, with clear-sounding instrumentals where none of the instruments feel distractingly loud or quiet, and there’s lots of variety in this album’s sound … I mean, this feels like something I ‘should’ love, right?

And yeah, I do! The percussion sounds great, Black Thought’s flows are great, and I love these instrumentals. I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics, but I do really like this album lyrically. There are a lot of good rhymes, but there are also a lot of socially conscious lyrics. I love the line in “I Would Never”, ‘When polices breakin’ laws, knockin’ hinges off of doors, and the only explanation you’ve received is ‘just because’.’

Even aside from the lyrics about society as a whole, there are a lot of personal lyrics, too, like on the closing track, “Alter Ego”, and I love the line, ‘I sit there in the mirror, starin’ at myself intensely, thinking, ‘I should act my age, shit, I’m approachin’ half a century.’

All that being said, in some parts of the album the production feels a bit messy despite how clear everything sounds, and it does hold the album back for me a bit … and as much as I like a lot of the instrumentals and flows on here, “The Weather” features some really awkward tempo changes that don’t work for me at all.

But overall … I think this is pretty great! Do I love it as much as Cheat Codes with Danger Mouse from last year? No … but I still like it a lot!

So, for me, Glorious Game is getting an 8/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “Grateful”, “Glorious Game”, “I’m Still Somehow”, “I Would Never”, “Alone”, “Miracle”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Glorious Game (Reprise)”

No Highs by Tim Hecker:

Despite the massive amount of critical acclaim that multiple of Tim Hecker’s albums have gotten, and despite the fact that he’s been putting out albums since the early 2000s, I had never listened to a Tim Hecker album before listening to this one. And I still haven’t listened to any of his other albums, but I saw this one getting a ton of critical acclaim, like a lot of his albums, so I decided to check out this fifty-plus minute instrumental album …

And it’s not really clicking for me. Yes, I know, this has been getting tons and tons of critical acclaim, but it’s just not really my cup of tea. I mostly like the production and mixing, but it just kind of feels like it drags on.

I love the eight-plus minute opening track, which is very eerie. But nothing comes close to that for me on the rest of the album.

Overall, I’m going to give this album a 5/10. I don’t dislike it … I find it mostly enjoyable while it’s on. But I just personally don’t find it very interesting. That’s not to say it’s not interesting, it’s just that I personally don’t find it interesting.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Monotony”, “Glissalia”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Monotony II”, “Pulse Depression”

Light and Space by Nashville Ambient Ensemble:

So, this is a mostly instrumental ambient album which I get the appeal of more than I actually like.

I mean, it’s pretty impressive, but it just doesn’t do much for me personally. The instruments sound kind of disconnected from each other in the production at points, and it feels like it drags on a bit despite only being a little over forty minutes long.

I couldn’t find the lyrics to this album when I looked them up, and it is hard to hear the lyrics in some parts of the album, so the lyrics don’t really change my feelings on this album … but again, the album is mostly instrumental.

I’m going to give this album a 5/10. There are some nice melodies, and it’s got a nice, calm feeling to it … but it’s just not really my cup of tea.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Prism”, “Refraction”, “Horizon”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Crystalline”

The Worm by HMLTD:

So, here’s an album that’s been getting a ton of critical acclaim, and it’s quite something!

It reminds me a lot of Black Midi, but I don’t like this nearly as much as Black Midi’s albums. First of all, despite this album only being a little over forty minutes, it feels like it drags on a lot.

But a lot of these songs just don’t really click for me. Part of it is that I’m not a big fan of the production, with the different instruments often sounding disconnected from each other—I guess a simpler way for me to say that is that there’s kind of a messy sound in the production here.

I really like the piano on this album, but a lot of the group vocals kind of annoy me.

There are some interesting lyrics here, but I do get pretty tired of hearing the word ‘worm’ so many times, as it makes it feel less deep than it really is. And that’s too bad, especially because I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of depth here in the lyrics, but maybe it’s just me not being as much of a lyrics guy as a lot of people are. But even though I think there’s depth here, it sounds like a band running out of ideas and just repeating the same thing over and over again … I said it sounds like that, not that it is that.

And I know you could make the argument that that’s hypocritical of me, when I just end up repeating the same things over and over again in my reviews, and my response to that is:

You’re right.

But hey, I never claimed not to be a hypocrite. For me, this album is getting a 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Wyrmlands”, “Days”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Saddest Worm Ever”

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my website—or, if you’ve read my posts before, welcome back! Today I’m doing six mini album reviews! As always, the ratings are just based on how I personally feel about these albums.

I’m planning to have my Top 100 Favourite Songs of 2022 posted by mid-May, but we’ll see if it’s done by then or not … yes, it’s later than I was hoping, but better late than never.

I’m keeping my thoughts on these albums pretty brief here, and while I could go into more detail, they are ‘mini reviews’. Anyway, let’s get this post started!

93696 by Liturgy:

So, this is a metal album that I’ve seen getting lots of critical acclaim. And even as someone who hasn’t listened to any of Liturgy’s other albums yet, I was very excited to hear this!

That being said, I often have a hard time getting into really long albums, and this album is over eighty minutes long … but I still had high expectations, so after giving it multiple listens, what do I think of it?

I think it’s fantastic! The drumming is great, the guitars are great, there’s a lot of great melodies in the instrumentation, and the vocals are fantastic as well!

I think the instrumental tracks add a lot to the album, too, and they’re a big part of the reason why I love this album—with the exception of “Red Crown II”, which just doesn’t click for me at all.

There’s a lot of really interesting lyrics here, too, even if I have a hard time understanding a lot of them. And the production sounds amazing, with the excellent guitar distortion standing out a lot!

Sometimes the mixing doesn’t quite work for me with the drums feeling a bit quiet at points, and the eighty-plus minute running time doesn’t fully feel earned to me, but I still think this is excellent! 8/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “Caela”, “Before I Knew the Truth”, “93696”, “Angel of Individuation”, “Antigone II”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Red Crown II”

Always Lifted by Richard Batchelor:

So, how did I find out about this album by an artist with less than 60 monthly listeners on Spotify?

Well, I saw Mark Grondin’s review of this album on Spectrum Pulse, and I was curious to hear the album … so, I decided to check it out. What do I think of it?

Well, it’s an instrumental album that doesn’t give me much to say, even though I really like it. First of all, I can’t say I love this album … partially because it does feel a bit too repetitive at points. But overall, it’s just a really nice, calming listen with great production and great piano melodies, and while I don’t find it super consistent, and it often doesn’t really wow me, I enjoyed it, and it’s got replay value.

Overall, this is a 7/10 for me … while I like the way some of these songs build, I wish some of them built a bit more. But I like it overall, and I recommend giving it a listen.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Fresh Threads”, “Lovebirds”, “Slow Dancing in the Rain”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Starlight Hour”

PORTALS by Melanie Martinez:

Before I share my feelings on this album, I just want to mention that I’ve seen some people say some of the lyrics on this album have something to do with the allegations against Melanie Martinez. I haven’t looked into the situation much, and I don’t know whether or not Melanie Martinez is guilty. Either way, I was able to separate the lyrics from this situation, partially because the lyrics don’t seem blatantly related to it. Obviously this is a very serious situation, but I just want to make it clear that it doesn’t impact my feelings on the album itself … speaking of which, do I like the album?

Well, despite this album getting lots of negative reviews, I actually like the album quite a bit!

This album is full of great melodies, both in the vocals and the instrumentation, and I really like the production for the most part!

Some of these songs do feel a bit uninteresting to me compositionally, like “SPIDER WEB”, but I wouldn’t say I dislike any song here. Also, some of the lyrics on this album are pretty bad in my opinion, but I also like a lot of the lyrics here about life and death.

And “TUNNEL VISION” is such an incredible track! Not only do I love the lyrics (which seem to partially be about fame, and sexualization of celebrities, and obsessions with celebrities), but the vocal melodies are fantastic, and the production sounds amazing! It’s such a haunting track, as are multiple other songs on the album.

So, overall … yeah, I know this will be controversial, but for me this album is a 7/10. I like it quite a bit!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “DEATH”, “TUNNEL VISION”, “LIGHT SHOWER”, “BATTLE OF THE LARYNX”, “NYMPHOLOGY”
Least Favourite Tracks: “SPIDER WEB”

Figura by The Canyon Observer:

When getting close to finishing this mini review, I found out this album may have been released in late 2022, not 2023 … I saw different things depending on where I looked. I’m pretty sure it’s from 2023, so I’m not going to call this a throwback review, but I could be wrong.

Anyway, this is the third studio album by The Canyon Observer, a band formed back in 2011 whom I’m not sure I’d ever heard of until recently. And while I still haven’t listened to their first two albums, I decided to check out their newest album, Figura.

This album’s lyrics are in Slovenian, and as someone who only knows English, I just translated the lyrics online, but I’m not sure how accurate the translation was. But from what I saw … the lyrics didn’t really wow me or anything, but this seems like it’s supposed to be a haunting, terrifying listen that’s more about the combination of the lyrics and the sound.

And … I can’t say it’s really clicking for me that much … at least as a full album. Don’t get me wrong, I like some parts of this album, like the buildup on the first song, and the intensity with the screams and great production on “Slepič”, but there are also points where it just sounds like noise to me, like the second half of “Koža”, and in the song “Križ” that noisy sound gets very annoying.

This album is an interesting mix of a few genres, including metal and jazz (at least if I understand what jazz music is … I’m bad at determining what genre different albums are), but at times it just feels like a mess. And I’m not saying that to be mean, it’s just what I hear when I listen to it.

I’m not saying this album is ‘just noise’, I’m just saying a lot of it just sounds like noise to my ears. But, as always, that’s just how I felt listening to this.

“Dih” and “Slepič” are both songs that I love, but overall, I’m not really a big fan of this album. I’m going to give this a 5.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Dih”, “Slepič”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Križ”

The record by boygenius:

I’m not super familiar with the discographies of any of the boygenius members, but I mostly like what I’ve heard from all three of them. So, I was excited about their full-length debut album! Did it live up to my expectations?

Well … not really. And don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike this album … I just expected to like it more than I do.

But what I think is more surprising is that one of the biggest reasons why I don’t like this album is Phoebe Bridgers. And the reason why that surprises me so much is because of how much I love her 2020 album Punisher. She’s an excellent vocalist, but on this album she sounds like she’s falling asleep, and her vocal melodies don’t do much for me, either.

There are a lot of lyrics here that I like, but I’m also not going to pretend the lyrics blew my mind or anything. And I’m not the biggest fan of the production here, either, with the snares and guitar sounding kind of awkward together on songs like “$20” and “Anti-Curse”, and I often find the vocal production doesn’t really fit with the instrumentals.

“Not Strong Enough” is probably my favourite song on the album, and I love how the guitar sounds on this track. “Leonard Cohen” is another big highlight for me, but eventually we get to the closing track which features some of my least favourite vocal melodies on the album and a very boring instrumental in my opinion.

So, yeah, I didn’t like this as much as I thought I would … for me, it’s a strong 6/10. I like it, but it’s not fully clicking for me as much as I expected.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Not Strong Enough”, “Leonard Cohen”, “Satanist”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Letter To An Old Poet”

Modern Life by The New Division:

Someone from The New Division’s publicity team sent me this album, so I decided to check it out.

Well … after giving this album more than a half-dozen listens, I think it falls into the category of, ‘I like it, but I feel like I ‘should’ love it, and I don’t quite love it.’ And I used quotes on the word ‘should’ because I don’t actually think I should or shouldn’t love this album … it’s just that it seems like the kind of album I would love, but I don’t.

I mostly like the mixing, and the production, with the synths sounding awesome! And there are lots of great synth melodies, too! The percussion sounds great, especially the snares … so, why isn’t this clicking for me more?

Well, I guess I just find it inconsistent. Most of the elements that I like I don’t find super consistent throughout the album, and there are a couple tracks that don’t really click for me at all. That being said, the title track is amazing, there are a few other songs here that I love, and I mostly like the lyrics, too, so … 7/10. If you haven’t heard it, I recommend it, at least if you’re into synth-pop!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Modern Life”, “Southside”, “System Shock”, “Sequence”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Stateside”