Hello, everyone! I can’t believe it’s already year-end list season! But it is, and that means it’s time for the first of my six year-end lists, the top 10 worst hit songs of 2023!

Now, I should make it clear that this is really just a list of my top 10 least favourite hit songs of 2023 … music is subjective, and these are the 2023 hit songs that I personally dislike the most, but I prefer calling them ‘the worst’ for a catchy title.

But before I get to the list, I just want to go over the eligibility rules … and it seems like more and more people have been going away from the standard ‘it must have debuted on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 for this year’ rule, because people are noticing more and more that Billboard’s year-end list isn’t really the most accurate way to find the biggest hits in the US … and why limit it to the US hits anyway? I mean, I’m Canadian and have lived in Canada my whole life, so why would I use the US chart? And there’s also the fact that Billboard has now decided that the year ended in mid-to-late October, which makes absolutely zero sense to me … but at this point it’s kind of a tradition for me to make these lists based on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100—even though this is only the second year I’ve posted these publicly, in years past I have made lists like this, before I started this website … although a lot of my rankings haven’t aged well in my opinion, as I have a very different taste in music now than I did when I was a kid.

But anyway, I’m going to stick with the same rules as last year, that the song has to have debuted on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in 2023. It doesn’t matter when the song was released, it just cannot have been on the Billboard Year-End Hot 100 in any previous year. So, this gives me 87 eligible songs, and today I’m talking about the worst of them.

I will say right now that I’m going to be quite harsh, so if you’re not really a fan of negativity, I don’t think you’re gonna want to read this post. But as harsh as I’m going to be in this post, I want to make it clear right now that none of this is meant as a personal attack on anyone, and while I do legitimately dislike all of these songs, I do understand that music is subjective, and I’m not trying to be mean here. There’s a difference between a harsh review and a mean review, and at the end of the day, this is all just my opinion. But my apologies if any of this does come across as mean.

Before I talk about the absolute worst hit songs of the year, I’m going to start with some dishonourable mentions. Last year I counted down 10-2 and then went through the dishonourable mentions before revealing my #1, but this year I’m going to try putting them at the start, and unlike last year I’m going to actually say a bit about each dishonourable mention. And in both my best and worst lists last year I had a lot of honourable/dishonourable mentions, and I’m going to reduce the amount this year, rather than trying to have as many as possible … I won’t have a set number, but I think in general I’ll want to aim for about 6-10. This year I’ve got 8 dishonourable mentions (in no particular order), starting with …

“What My World Spins Around” by Jordan Davis

Alright, so this one wasn’t super close to making the list. There are a number of songs it could have been swapped out for, but I decided to go with this one because while I have been getting into country music more and more recently, this feels like the definition of a stereotypical country song … I’m not saying it’s a fair stereotype, but I don’t see any reason to go back to this song personally. It’s full of country music clichés, and it’s got a very generic chorus with annoying jumpy instrumentation that just makes me want to turn this song off. There’s nothing about this that I find particularly interesting, and honestly this song can get quite annoying … so, yeah, I don’t like this at all.

“Try That In A Small Town” by Jason Aldean

Yeah, I guess I’m gonna have to talk about this one, aren’t I? And there’s a good chance you’re looking at this and wondering how this could possibly not be in the top 10 … but I’ve got things to say. Yes, this song caused a ton of controversy as a lot of people thought it was playing to racist stereotypes around the difference between big cities and small towns, and for a bunch of other reasons, too, including the music video—but this post is about the songs, not the music videos. And by the way, I haven’t seen the video and I don’t plan on it, and I highly recommend that you don’t watch the video, either.

But even the song itself … well, it seems like the most obvious choice for the #1 spot on this list, so why is it here instead? Well, part of it is that sonically I don’t think this is bad at all … this doesn’t sound particularly great, but it at least has some decent melodies and I don’t mind the production. But when it comes to the lyrics … as much as I kind of hate to admit it, I honestly think the song writers kind of have a point here … emphasis on ‘kind of’. Yes, this song is totally ignoring the grander scope of things, but while I don’t know the statistics of crime rates in towns vs. cities, it is true that some things are more socially acceptable in some locations than others, and I don’t fully interpret this literally being about crimes in small towns vs. cities … I can see it as a metaphor for the way our upbringing can affect our beliefs and morals, and the strange idea of things being ‘socially acceptable’ rather than just living in a world where people are more concerned about doing what they feel is right, and of course following the law. And it doesn’t seem to be criticizing the idea of ‘socially acceptable’, it’s more just asking questions about it. At least that’s my interpretation.

And it’s worth mentioning that there’s no direct mention of race in this song—yes, there are points where it’s implied to possibly be about race, but as ignorant as this song is, it’s not hateful.

But again, I’m not saying this isn’t a terrible song, because I absolutely think it is. No, I’m not saying it’s okay to commit these crimes anywhere, but the writers seem to be implying that this stuff only happens in the city. And while I’m not saying it’s okay to be violent toward a cop, it does feel very ignorant to bring that up in this song without acknowledging the cops who have gotten away with it.

I don’t have all the statistics for these things, but this is yet another extremely right-wing political song which is extremely ignorant and disgusting. I’m not against all things right-wing, but this was damn close to making the top 10.

“Daylight” by David Kushner

Does anyone else get major mid 2010s vibes from this? When I hear this song, I can’t help but think how much it sounds like the kind of song that would have blown up back in 2015 or 2016 … and like a lot of the music in this style that blew up back then, this song kind of sucks in my opinion. To me this comes across as very faux-deep with the generic lyrics about an unhealthy relationship, when really, as far as I can tell, this is very surface-level and not interesting at all, in fact it feels so faux-deep and generic to an exasperating degree. And with a really annoying melody in the chorus with the awful vocal layering, reverb that doesn’t fit at all, and an awful piano timbre with a really annoyingly sharp sound … yeah, this is a mess.

“Peaches & Eggplants” by Young Nudy (ft. 21 Savage)

Cousins Young Nudy and 21 Savage collaborated together on “Peaches & Eggplants”, a song which I kind of find to be laughably bad, but not in a way I would ever want to listen to … this clearly isn’t meant to be taken seriously, but it doesn’t make it much less obnoxious. The flows are awful, and the lyrics … I don’t even know where to begin. If you really want to know why this is here, it has to be heard to be understood … because this is a very unique listening experience, although not in a good way. At least it’s interesting.

“Fast Car” by Luke Combs

So, I guess it’s time for me to talk about this one, isn’t it?

Well, no, I don’t feel like talking about “Fast Car” right now. There are enough other terrible songs I’m talking about right now, but despite all the critical acclaim, I have a very strong dislike for the original version of “Fast Car”, a song that I don’t feel like talking about right now … you can disagree with me, that’s fine, but that’s how I feel. Now, if this were the original “Fast Car”, I’d be explaining more about why I dislike this song so much, but for now I’ll just quickly say that I think this is a slightly more tolerable version of an abysmal song … I’ll leave it at that for now.

“Sure Thing” by Miguel

One thing that has happened a lot more in recent years is songs from years ago suddenly becoming hits, and this Miguel song from 2010 blew up on Tik Tok and became a 2023 hit … and it’s too bad it’s not very good. The vocals and instrumental each aren’t bad on their own, but the combination of the two just feel really off-putting for some reason, and the production doesn’t feel nearly as smooth as I think it’s supposed to.

This song doesn’t really give me much to say, but it’s just got this really unpleasant vibe to it, and I can’t fully place why. But overall, I think this is quite bad.

“La Bebé” by Yng Lvcas & Peso Pluma

On the surface, this feels like a very generic reggaeton song with clunky percussion and vocal melodies that do absolutely nothing for me … and I do think that’s a pretty accurate description of this song, but while I’m not sure how accurate the translated version of this that I found is, it seems like Peso Pluma is describing someone cheating on her boyfriend with him, and they both seem to have a ‘yeah, whatever’ attitude … again, maybe the translation I saw isn’t totally accurate, but either way I think this is an unpleasant reggaeton track that I don’t like at all.

“Superhero (Heroes & Villains)” by Metro Boomin & Future & Chris Brown

Alright, so I’ve got complicated feelings on ‘separating the art from the artist’—it’s something I’m planning to talk about in much more detail at some point, but if you want the short version: for the most part I will separate the art from the artist, but there are exceptions to that. And if you want an example of one of those exceptions … look, I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Chris Brown of all people is the one singing this song’s outro about how people don’t want him to be as successful as he is, so in that case, ‘who’s really the villain?’ If you know anything about the awful things Chris Brown has done, I don’t think I need to explain the problems with this.

But even outside of that, this isn’t any good … the repetitive instrumental and Future’s repetitive flows are so boring that I just want to fall asleep when listening to it, and the trap beat feels super out of place. And the mixing sounds really messy, too.

So, just to be clear, Chris Brown’s awful guest verse at the end isn’t the moment that ruins this song; it’s the cherry on top that turns an already unappealing song to total shit.

…

Well, that was a lot … and somehow, there’s much worse. So, now it’s time for me to count down The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2023!

#10 …

After listening to all the songs that made the 2023 Billboard Year-End Hot 100, there’s one comment in particular I’d like to make: TOO MUCH MORGAN WALLEN!

#10: “Ain’t That Some” by Morgan Wallen

This is one of eight Morgan Wallen songs eligible for this list. And while I haven’t listened to a full Morgan Wallen album, based on what I’ve heard of his music I’m struggling to get the appeal … honestly, my best guess would be that country radio is probably the biggest reason why he has so many songs on the chart.

The spelling in the chorus, the jumpy vocal delivery, the repetitive chorus melody that can get really annoying … yeah, there’s a lot that I don’t like about this song.

There’s also the production, in which the vocals are totally drowned out by the guitars, and it sounds awful.

This song feels kind of like an annoying campfire song, and is this just me, or does the line, ‘Ain’t that some shit’ feel too negative for what seems like it’s supposed to be a positive, happy song? I mean, I honestly can’t tell if this is supposed to be happy or angry … either way, I think it’s annoying.

#9 …

Wow, who would have ever guessed? Drake making a worst hits list!

#9: “Search & Rescue” by Drake

I don’t even know what Drake is trying to do with his music at this point. Is he even trying to make good music? I honestly can’t tell.

But either way, I think this song absolutely sucks. And the reason it’s here is because sitting down and listening to it feels mentally draining. The vocal effect sounds terrible, the melodies feel super sloppily written, and the trap beat sounds terrible when paired with the rest of the instrumental … and there’s one specific part of the song I find super cringey, which is when he says, ‘Don’t know how to express my love, that’s why I American Express my love for you” … especially with the way he stretches out the word ‘express’. And I have no idea what he was trying to do with that Kim Kardashian and Kris Jenner sample in the middle of the song, but honestly I don’t really care. This is a total mess, and it’s another song that makes me question why I even listen to new Drake music when it comes out.

#8 …

And no, we’re not done with Drake …

#8: “MELTDOWN” by Travis Scott (ft. Drake)

I wasn’t a huge fan of Travis Scott’s newest album UTOPIA … I mean, it’s got its moments, but it’s also got some huge lows, such as this song.

And I’m just tired of talking about Drake songs … although Drake’s verse isn’t the only awful part of this song … I don’t like the instrumental at all, and I don’t like Travis Scott’s verses at all.

But yeah, Drake’s verse feels super annoying and uninteresting, and both artists have super annoyingly repetitive flows here, and the instrumental feels like it’s supposed to have this really huge sound to it, but the production doesn’t give it the punch it could have, and even aside from that it doesn’t really feel nearly as epic as I think it’s supposed to … and that kind of makes it worse than if it were just plain boring.

And I feel the same way about the beat switch part way through … this feels like it’s trying to be “SICKO MODE” part 2, and in my opinion it’s a huge failed attempt, especially with some awful lines such as ‘I’ll shoot your ass in Walmart like I’m DaBaby.’

I wish I mentally had the energy to write more about this song … but I just don’t. It doesn’t feel worth my time. I’d rather put that effort into the best list.

#7 …

Alright, this pick might make people mad, especially considering some of the songs that didn’t make this list. But if I’m being honest …

#7: “Kill Bill” by SZA

About a year ago, I did a mini review on SZA’s album SOS, and I didn’t love the album … but I do mostly like it, and it shows a lot of promise … but it also has this song on it, and unfortunately this ended up becoming the huge, massive hit from the album despite being my least favourite track on SOS.

I know a lot of people really like this song, with a lot people pointing out the creativity in the lyrics. And before I talk about why I can’t stand this song, I just want to make one thing clear: yes, I know the lyrics aren’t meant seriously, and she’s just playing a character.

But that doesn’t make this song likeable in my opinion. This is a song in which the character SZA is portraying murders her ex because she hates seeing him happy or something like that, and she’s framing herself as being super mature … and as far as I can tell there’s no real depth here, it just comes across as a faux-deep song that just sounds really cheesy and cringeworthy.

The big problem here is that for a ‘playing the role of the villain’ song, it doesn’t have any sense of darkness or menace, and the character doesn’t feel realistic at all … it doesn’t show any complicated emotions the character has, and it’s not even implied that the character thinks she’s doing the right thing … apparently she thinks she did it all for love, and that doesn’t feel believable at all.

And even aside from all that, this song sounds like a total mess. The vocals sound like they were produced for a completely different track, the meandering vocal melodies get really obnoxious, and the overall upbeat, happy sound of the song just contributes to even more of a disconnect between the vibe and the lyrical content. I honestly don’t understand why this has gotten so much acclaim, because I think this is terrible.

#6 …

Well, here’s an artist I wasn’t expecting to have a hit song in 2023 … and as much as it’s kind of become an unwritten rule for music critics to hate this artist’s music, I do respect that this is a self-love anthem … it’s just too bad it’s incredibly annoying!

#6: “Made You Look” by Meghan Trainor

Alright, so I’ll admit this song has … I don’t want to say ‘grown’ on me, but … yeah, I guess it’s grown on me. Although considering that it made my Top 25 Worst Songs of 2022, I don’t think that’s really saying a whole lot.

This song was written when Meghan was struggling with postpartum body image issues, and again, I can respect the message of the song about being confident in your body. But wow, this is incredibly annoying! That chorus is absolutely awful, with the super cringey line, ‘I could have my Gucci on, I could wear my Louis Vuitton, but even with nothin’ on, bet I made you look.’ I don’t know, something about the wording, ‘bet I made you look’ just really doesn’t work for whatever reason.

And it’s got the same style of music and vocals that make other Meghan Trainor songs I’ve heard so incredibly annoying, such as “All About That Bass”.

So, overall, it’s just a super unpleasant listening experience that doesn’t feel nearly as interesting as I think it’s supposed to … and it’s full of cringeworthiness.

#5 …

But as annoying as “Made You Look” is, it at least feels like a real female empowerment song, and not just disguised as one, unlike this:

#5: “Spin Bout U” by Drake & 21 Savage

Based on some things I heard about the collaboration album between these two artists from last year, I just decided not to listen to it at all, and based on some of the songs I’ve ended up hearing from the album, I think I made the right decision.

First of all, this sounds awful. The instrumental is pretty much just a sample with a generic trap beat, Drake’s chorus is really annoying, and neither rapper has any interesting flows here.

On the surface, this is quite bad, with nothing that interests me at all about it, and enough annoying repetition along with a terrible chorus to make this really annoying … but then there’s the lyrics, and I’m specifically talking about Drake’s verse.

Drake’s verse starts off with him criticizing the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and I like the pro-abortion-rights message … until you realize he’s playing into the ‘respectful guy’ façade that is all over so many mainstream hit songs and gets really aggravating. Now, I should mention that I don’t know a whole lot about Drake as a person, and maybe he’s not like this in real life, but in this song he comes across as incredibly unlikeable, as he’s ‘showing his respect for women’ to try to get this woman to fuck him. It all just has such a fake feeling to it, and while I’ve definitely heard songs like this one that annoy me for the same reason and are much worse, this still absolutely sucks. Awful song.

#4 …

So, how do I determine which songs are the highest on the list? Well, it’s tricky … there are a bunch of factors, and again, this list is just my personal least favourite hits of the year.

I guess what I’m really saying is … “Spin Bout U” has a certain kind of ickiness to it that this song doesn’t have, and that song pisses me off more than this one does … but when it comes to a pure unpleasant listening experience, this is hard to top.

#4: “PRC” by Peso Pluma & Natanael Cano

I don’t mind how Regional Mexican music has exploded on the charts this year; a lot of it isn’t bad, and I even like some of it. But this … wow, this is a mess.

And it’s a hard one to explain, because it’s just such an unpleasant experience. I mean, I could mention that the horns sound like a bunch of farts, although I feel like pretty much everyone who’s heard this song has noticed that already. And the guitar melody (if that’s even a guitar … I can’t tell what it is) feels annoying, too … and there’s just nothing about the song I find interesting.

But this is here because the overall listening experience is just super unpleasant … and I don’t even know how to describe it.

#3 …

So, yes, like I said, “Spin Bout U” by Drake & 21 Savage is an absolutely awful song that’s got such an icky feeling to it mostly because of the somewhat creepy vibes that Drake brings to it … but I’ll take it over this pretty much any day:

#3: “Rich Flex” by Drake & 21 Savage

I won’t mince words … this feels disgusting.

I get that there’s a complicated discussion about the difference between what’s acceptable in a song vs. real life, and also different people interpret songs in different ways. So, feel free to say what you want about this track, but while “Spin Bout U” felt creepy, this just feels gross, and I’m mostly talking about 21 Savage’s verse.

21 Savage seems to be showing no respect for this woman at all, as the vibes I get from this really imply that she’s not into it at all … and again, it’s a song, and that doesn’t necessarily reflect on who the artist is as a person … but again, this is a list of the worst hit songs of the year, and this song really makes me want to shut it off immediately every time I hear it. And I get that music is open to interpretation, but to me this feels to me like a misogynist anthem, and I think it’s disgusting. I don’t even want to talk about it.

And the song’s problems don’t end there, as it’s once again another terrible Drake chorus, the flows are awful, 21 Savage’s interpolation of “Savage” by Megan Thee Stallion is embarrassing, and Drake once again bores the hell out of me with his flow. And I don’t even like the instrumental here!

I mean, I can at least say one thing that’s impressed me about Drake’s hit songs this year—the fact that all four of his eligible songs managed to make it onto this list!

#2 …

There’s a good chance you were just thinking it was a matter of time before this showed up on the list—and if that’s the case, you’d be right. Because this is horrendous.

#2: “Thinkin’ Bout Me” by Morgan Wallen

“Ain’t That Some” is incredibly annoying, but this is the Morgan Wallen hit from this year that really pissed me off, and it’s mostly because of the lyrics, because apparently this girl who has clearly moved on must still be thinking about him, right?

Yeah, that’s pretty much the lyrical theme of the song, and while I don’t think it’s meant seriously, it still comes across as gross and incredibly unlikeable.

It’s another one of those ‘you should be with me instead’ songs where the framing paints the narrator as being in the right, much like Shawn Mendes’ “Treat You Better”, another song I fucking despise.

Now, you could make the argument that even within the song this is all just going on inside the narrator’s head, but it’s framed as if she’s made the wrong decision by leaving this relationship and that she ‘should’ still be with the narrator.

And even putting aside how godawful the trap beat sounds in this song as well as the horrible guitar production and the terrible-sounding vocal layering in the chorus, this song feels like it represents a douchey kind of country music which isn’t representative of the genre as a whole, but it still hasn’t left the mainstream after all these years … and maybe that’s what annoys me so much about this song, because it feels like a huge part of a much larger issue.

I mean, at the end of the day, it’s art, and art is open to interpretation … but what I can say for sure is that I never want to hear this song ever again … so, what could possibly be worse?

#1 …

After everything I’ve said about those last few songs, you might be surprised that this is the song topping the list. And let me make it clear that it’s not the 2023 hit that I respect the least, although it is the one that got under my skin the most.

And constantly hearing this song on the radio certainly didn’t help, although I don’t really think that’s the reason this song is here. But again, while I have more respect for this song than some of the songs on this list, if you want me to be as honest as possible about what truly is my least favourite hit song of 2023, I think I’d have to go with this …

#1: “I’m Good (Blue) by Bebe Rexha & David Guetta

Let me start by saying that in my opinion, the 1998 Eiffel 65 classic, “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” is an absolutely excellent song! But this takes an absolutely awesome timeless classic and turns it into a dumpster fire!

And I’m not sure I can fully explain why this is topping the list. I mean, I can explain why it sucks, as I think most music critics already have—it doesn’t do anything interesting with the original melody and outside of that it sounds like a generic EDM song that’s terribly produced, with a terrible drop that I cannot stand, and some awful vocal melodies … but once again, maybe it’s what this represents that I really dislike the most. But that doesn’t feel right to say, because there’s a difference between questionable lyrics and a musical trend that I just don’t like (in this case, the constant sampling of songs without adding much to them).

So, again, I don’t really know how to explain this one all that well. But this is one of those songs that can really get under your skin once you have to hear it a lot, and just because I don’t fully understand what makes me dislike it quite as much as I do doesn’t mean it’s not going to take the top spot on this list.

I guess it’s just another one of those songs that creates an insanely unpleasant listening experience … I mean, it was kind of an experiment, but in my opinion it didn’t work out at all … or, maybe it did, because it was huge on the charts, but you know what I mean.

I’m done with talking about bad music—or, well, I’m done with it for now … I guess I’ve still got more year-end worst lists coming up, but at least I’ve got the best hits of 2023 coming up before that.

Once again, I hope I didn’t come across as being too harsh in this post. I’m not trying to make anyone feel bad for liking these songs, nor am I trying to be mean to the artists or anyone involved in making these songs … but I just had a lot I wanted to say about these.

Well, this post was exhausting to make … but I’m excited about making the best list! That’ll be out soon! And with that, thanks for reading!

Hello, everyone! My name is Simon, and today I’m reviewing this new collaboration album between grindcore/death metal band Full of Hell and shoegaze band Nothing. At least those are some genre descriptions I’ve seen online … I don’t know much about these bands, though. I just saw this album getting quite a bit of critical acclaim and I decided to check it out.

And good thing I did, because this is an absolutely excellent surprise late in the year! I didn’t know what to expect going into it, but I wasn’t really planning on reviewing it (not even a mini review) … that is, until I heard the album and knew immediately I was going to want to write about this album!

Now, I should mention right now that this review isn’t going to be super long. I wasn’t really feeling prepared to write a full-length album review, and I even considered making this a mini review … but no, this deserves its own review. This is one of the absolute best albums I have heard from this year!

And it’s an album that I think works better as a whole than in pieces. Because while I’m not entirely sure about this, it seems like an album where the tracks fit together narratively … and also, musically, it creates an even more fascinating experience, and one that really clicked for me!

The production gives this album a really moody vibe, and while on paper it doesn’t feel like the most mind-blowing production or anything, when you actually listen to it with the full album, it feels very fitting, especially with some points which have a foggier sound to the production, such as the title track, which on paper kind of feels like it shouldn’t work … but when you combine the moody, mysterious vibe of the music with the lyrics—which seem to be questioning a lot of things about existence, and they’re fascinating—you get an absolutely incredible track that feels like the heart and soul of this album!

And right after that track is the closing track, “Spend The Grace”, with its absolutely awesome guitar distortion combined with some great drums that sound excellent in the mix, creating this super eerie atmosphere for an amazing closing track!

“Wild Blue” is an instrumental track that I wish had a little bit more to it, and it is my least favourite on the album, but it’s still a nice, calming listen … with just enough eeriness, too.

There’s a lot of really good guitar distortion on this album, with the opening track being a great example … it sounds absolutely crushing, and it’s awesome!

But I also do like the clean guitar in some parts of this album. For example, I think it sounds absolutely excellent when paired with the foggy drums in “Like Stars In The Firmament”!

In my opinion, the mixing on this album is absolutely excellent … or at least it fits amazingly well considering everything else going on in this album!

I’ve mentioned every other track here, so before I wrap up this review I would like to talk about “Forever Well”, which starts off with some excellent bass and some great tension-building … and I think it fits really well with the terrifying lyrics, especially with that haunting synth that floats around, in a way that might feel annoying at first, but the song wouldn’t be nearly as powerful without it! And it’s worth mentioning that the lyrics don’t start until later, but still, it feels really fitting.

Still on the topic of “Forever Well”, this song takes an absolutely fantastic turn part way through that might surprise you!

I understand why this album might not click for you … I mean, it’s a bit of a slow burn, and if you’re not a fan of this style it probably won’t really appeal to you … but I found it to be a very fascinating listen, and one that really grabbed my attention in a very positive way! And again, as many great moments as there are, it’s even more magical when you put it all together as a whole album!

The synths, the drums, the guitar, the vocals … it’s all here, all combining together to create some incredible vibes, and it’s very open to interpretation as well … and the mystery of it really fits with the sound, too!

So, overall, I really love this album! It’s an album which seems to have a certain kind of nihilism/cynicism to it that doesn’t feel too over-the-top but still feels real, and the music represents it amazingly well … maybe I didn’t describe that well, or maybe I’m totally misunderstanding it, but that’s the way I hear this album. But anyway, as an overall album experience this really wowed me! And it’s the second 9.5/10 I’ve given out this month! What a fantastic surprise late in the year!

Before I end this post … well, first of all, yes, I know this review was kind of a mess, and I’m just going to say right now that I don’t think this was a particularly great review … I’ve been super busy with year-end lists and I didn’t feel like putting in a ton of time to writing a super in-depth review right now, and again, I wasn’t super prepared to write a full-length album review … but I really wanted to give this album its own review, because again, I think the album is absolutely incredible.

But now I want to share some exciting news: I am almost done my first year-end list of 2023! It might even be up tomorrow (although I would say that’s unlikely … I wouldn’t totally rule it out, though)! It’s The Top 10 Worst Hit Songs of 2023 … then I’m going to do The Top 10 Best Hit Songs of 2023, The Top 25 Worst Songs of 2023, The Top 10 Worst Albums of 2023, The Top 50 Best Albums of 2023 (spoiler alert: When No Birds Sang will be on that list), and finally, The Top 100 Best Songs of 2023 (I’ll probably post this one in two parts like I did with my top 100 favourite songs of 2022).

But no guarantee as to when any of these posts will be up … but I’m hoping to have them all done by early January, unlike last year.

Anyway, thanks for reading, and I’ll be back soon with more posts!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Rose Tinted World”, “Like Stars In The Firmament”, “Forever Well”, “When No Birds Sang”, “Spend The Grace”
Least Favourite Track: “Wild Blue”

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another mini review post! I’m not sure how many more of these mini review posts I’m going to make before the end of the year … I’m almost positive there will be at least one more after this one, but I’m not sure if there will be any more after that.

But for now, here are 10 more mini reviews! As always, these are just my personal feelings on these albums. And once again some of these reviews are very, very brief, but hopefully I’ll get back to making my reviews at least slightly more in-depth soon.

But for now, enjoy these reviews!

STILL EMO by Emotional Oranges:

This came out all the way back in August, and I finally decided it was time for me to listen to an Emotional Oranges album after hearing such great things about their music for years … so, here I am, finally listening to one of their albums, and …

Well, this album grew on me with more listens. At first I found it to be pretty mediocre and not very interesting, but now I mostly like it!

I don’t think the lyrics are particularly noteworthy (although like I always say, lyrics are not my strong suit as a critic), and I don’t always like the vocal melodies, but there are still some standout vocal melodies at points here, and also the production is incredibly smooth and gorgeous!

I mean, I could nitpick the production in certain points, like how the trap beat does feel a bit too loud at the start of “Justified” (it feels like it fits more later in the song), but there are so many moments where the production sounds fantastic, like that subtle bass sounding awesome in the mix on “Lies You Tell”, the fantastic sound of the percussion in “Be Somebody”, or how the guitar blends in with the rest of the instrumental pretty much perfectly in “Not Worthy”!

There are some strong hooks here, and also, Tkay Maidza absolutely steals the show on “Be Somebody”, which might be my favourite track here!

I do think there’s a lot of room for improvement here, but it’s still super well produced and overall I think it’s consistently good with a few great songs … so, for me it’s a fairly strong 7/10! This was a nice surprise after it didn’t really click for me at first.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Be Somebody”, “Justified”, “Not Worthy”
Least Favourite Track: “Olympics”

Spiritual Cramp by Spiritual Cramp:

Post-punk band Spiritual Cramp formed back in 2017, although this is their debut studio album, and it’s been getting quite a bit of acclaim … and as a post-punk fan, I was excited to hear this!

And honestly, it kind of reminds me of that album by The Hives that I reviewed this year, and at points it felt like some of these songs were about to suddenly turn into those songs, like how “Better Off This Way” keeps feeling like it’s about to turn into “Two Kinds of Trouble” from that album.

But overall, do I like this album? Well, yeah, I do. It’s a mostly fun listen with mostly good production, and there’s also some social commentary in the lyrics. But overall, even aside from that one comparison I made, it kind of feels like I’ve heard this before … and outside of a few specific moments, this just doesn’t really feel all that special to me personally.

The guitar and drums sound good together, and I like the vocals, and overall it is a mostly enjoyable listen … but I don’t think I’m going to go back to it much. Light 7/10 for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Herberts On Holiday”, “City On Fire”, “Catch A Hot One”
Least Favourite Track: “Blowback”

I Killed Your Dog by L’Rain:

So, here’s one of those albums where I can acknowledge there’s a ton of creativity, it’s a fascinating listen, and it’s very experimental, and I highly recommend giving it a chance … and yet it’s not really clicking for me.

Yes, there are moments that I like, but often with music this artsy/experimental I’m going to find it clicks for me more in moments than as a whole album … I mean, I guess that’s usually what happens when an album takes this many risks, and that’s what’s happened here for me.

I do mostly like the production as I think it gives this a really nice atmosphere, but the majority of these songs just aren’t really grabbing my attention all that much.

So, overall, it’s a haunting, eerie listen, and I often like the synths and percussion (and other elements as well), but as a whole it’s just not really sticking with me as much as I’d like, so from me it’s getting a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “I Hate My Best Friends”, “5 to 8 Hours a Day (WWwaG)”, “r(EMOTE)”
Least Favourite Track: “I Killed Your Dog”

Quaranta by Danny Brown:

Danny Brown is one of many artists I want to listen to more but just haven’t yet taken the time to listen to much. Yes, I’ve listened to the excellent Atrocity Exhibition, and I also listened to and reviewed SCARING THE HOES, but that’s it. And considering I’m not nearly as big a fan of SCARING THE HOES as the vast majority of critics, I had no idea what to expect from this …

And of course this is getting a lot of critical acclaim … I mean, it’s a Danny Brown album, and a lot of people are going to praise the hell out of it no matter what simply because it’s a Danny Brown album. But personally, while I do like this album, I don’t love it. But I do really like a lot of the lyrics, a lot of which seem to be about Danny’s career, and there’s a lot of really clever wordplay here, too, such as in the chorus of “Celibate”.

But the instrumentals often feel just okay and not all that interesting to me. I do think it’s mostly well produced, but the album just isn’t fully clicking for me personally, and that’s a me thing.

I do still like it, though, and there are a couple big standout tracks for me, with “Jenn’s Terrific Vacation” probably being my favourite track here—it’s incredibly catchy, and I love the jumpy feeling of the instrumental combined with the great flows, the shuffling percussion sounds great, and there are some fascinating lyrics about gentrification.

So, overall, I’ll still give this a 7/10, as there is a lot to like here … it just didn’t really wow me. 

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Tantor”, “Y.B.P.”, “Jenn’s Terrific Vacation”
Least Favourite Track: “Celibate”

Silhouette Machine by Flooding:

This is the second studio album by Flooding, a band I hadn’t heard of until recently. This follows up their 2021 self-titled album which I still haven’t listened to.

Based on the genre descriptions I saw for this (post-hardcore, post-rock, etc.), I was very interested to hear this, especially considering it’s been getting quite a bit of acclaim! So, does it live up to the hype in my opinion?

Well … kind of. It’s got some nice intensity to it at points, and there are seeds of a great album here in my opinion, but a few things hold it back from clicking for me more. The production can often feel messy, there aren’t a lot of really strong melodies in my opinion, and the mellower moments often don’t do much for me at all.

Still, though, there is some nice guitar distortion, and while the lyrics don’t really wow me personally, I do mostly like the sound of this album and the vocals are really good … so, I’ll give it a 7/10, as I do think it’s quite good, but I wouldn’t call it great.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Run”, “Monolith Girl”, “Silver Gilt”
Least Favourite Track: “Interlude (The Dying Swan)”

Feel Good by Jaime Wyatt:

This is my first time listening to a Jaime Wyatt album, and while I do like this album I also get this strange feeling I ‘should’ like it more than I do.

It feels like I’ve been getting more and more into country music the more of it that I listen to, and this album is mostly well produced in my opinion, and there are some catchy moments and some good lyrics … and yet, it’s just not really fully clicking for me.

I think part of it is that the vocal melodies and instrumental compositions just don’t feel all that interesting, but even aside from that there’s also the fact that I mostly just find this album consistently solid but rarely great. There’s not much about this that really wowed me personally.

I do find some of the hooks memorable, though, like in “Jukebox Holiday”. But a lot of this just feels pleasant while it’s on and that’s about it.

But still, if you’re a big fan of country music you very well could love this, so I’d recommend it, but for me it’s a 7/10. I do like it, but I don’t love it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Feel Good”, “Hold Me One Last Time”, “Where the Damned Only Go”, “Jukebox Holiday”
Least Favourite Track: “Althea”

Mississippi by Jason Eady:

I’ve heard some really good things about Jason Eady’s music, but this is the first album of his that I’ve listened to.

But unfortunately, this didn’t really do much for me. In fact, it kind of sounds like the first thing that comes to mind when you think of a stereotypical country album—I mean, it’s not a fair stereotype, as there’s a lot of variety in country music, but even as someone who’s been getting into country music more and more these past few years, if you’re only listening to country music like this I would understand why you might be struggling to get into the genre … because at least to me, this album is boring.

Both lyrically and musically, this album mostly feels like a big collection of campfire tunes, which isn’t a compliment. There are exceptions to that, but I still don’t want to listen to an album in which most of the songs feel like campfire songs.

I mean, at least the production is decent, but for the most part this just feels like a nothing burger of an album, at least to me. So, I’m going to give this a 5/10, and while I’m still curious to hear some of his other albums based on what I’ve heard about them, I think this is mediocre at best.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Track: “Burn It Down”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Wayside”, “Getting Even”

Vidrio by Titanic:

So, here’s a pretty new debut album by a duo that just formed this year, and this album has been getting a lot of critical acclaim.

And I’m not really sure how to describe this album. I don’t really know what genre to call it. But I will say I mostly enjoyed it!

Now, it’s worth mentioning that I don’t speak Spanish, so even though I translated the lyrics online, I don’t know how accurate the translations are. But I do think the album sounds pretty good, with mostly good production that gives some of these songs a really nice, smooth, calming sound.

I think the album starts really strong, and while there are some low points like the tedious “Cielo Falso”, as an overall album experience I’d definitely recommend it. The melodies are pretty strong, and there’s some really cool, experimental instrumentation.

So, for me, this is a 7/10. I don’t love it, but I at least found it interesting.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Anónima”, “Circulo Perfecto”, “Palacio”
Least Favourite Track: “Cielo Falso”

Models by Lee Gamble:

I was looking for new albums to listen to and I came across this very experimental album by a music producer I hadn’t heard of until this album.

This is a fascinating listen, the kind of album I’d describe as ‘abstract art’, and it’s very well produced with some really gorgeous passages.

Now, with all this being said, I can’t say it’s fully my thing. As far as this sort of ‘abstract art’ in music goes, I’ve heard much better in my opinion, and there are points on this album that do kind of bore me. But still, there are some strong melodies, and it’s absolutely worth giving a chance in my opinion.

So, overall, I do mostly like this, and I’ll give it a light 7/10. But I don’t think I’m going to go back to it much.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Juice”, “XIth c. Spray”, “Blurring”
Least Favourite Track: “She’s Not”

A Wheel Of Burning Eyes by All The Heavens Were A Bell:

I haven’t been reviewing a ton of ambient drone music the past few weeks, and while it’s not really one of my favourite genres it is usually a pretty easy genre to review, and I like some stuff in the genre …

But unfortunately I can’t say I like this all that much … and don’t get me wrong, there are some small details that at least make this more interesting, but overall it just starts to feel boring the longer it goes on.

I don’t dislike this album, but especially once it gets to the second of the two very long tracks here, it starts to feel like I’m listening to a soundtrack from a horror movie, and not a particularly interesting one.

So, for me it’s a light 5.5/10. Again, not bad, but not really my thing.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Track: “Usurper, Destroyer”
Least Favourite Track: “Glowing Light Of Ophanim”

Hello, everyone, and welcome back for another album review! Now, before I start talking about this new AJR album, I just want to quickly mention that this is the 300th album from 2023 that I have reviewed! Now, with that being said, the majority of those reviews are mini reviews, but it’s still a pretty big accomplishment in my opinion, and I’m proud of myself for reaching this milestone, especially considering my goal going into the year was 250 … and I still have more reviews on the way! (Although I’m probably almost done reviews for the year, because I’ll be working on year-end lists.)

But anyway, the main topic of this post is the newest AJR album, The Maybe Man. This is the fifth studio album from AJR, a band who gained popularity back in 2014 from their single “I’m Ready” which sampled SpongeBob SquarePants. And they eventually became one of the most hated bands by music critics, despite their massive fanbase. And it kind of feels like a big event in the music critic community whenever AJR releases an album, which is part of the reason I’m giving this album its own review.

But also … well, if I’m being honest, I don’t hate AJR’s music … yeah, I know, that’s breaking one of the unwritten rules of being a music critic, but while they have made some incredibly annoying songs in my opinion, the majority of it is just okay in my opinion, and they even have a couple songs that I love! Yes, you read that right!

Their debut album, Living Room, has some interesting experimentation on it, and while I find “I’m Ready” to be very annoying, I don’t think there’s another song nearly as bad as that one on the whole album, and overall, I don’t dislike that album. I don’t particularly like it, either, but I’ve heard much worse.

My favourite AJR album is their second studio album, The Click, which might actually be their most hated album, but I think they mostly do a good job of displaying the band’s identity with some really creative sounds and lyrics that feel very far from what you’d expect to hear in an album.

But then there’s 2019’s Neotheater. And this is the big exception as out of the first four AJR albums, this is the one that I can’t stand. The production is so much worse, the lyrics feel like they’re trying way too hard to be quirky (unlike The Click which felt a lot less forced to me), and some of the songs are absolutely terrible.

But OK Orchestra felt like a step back in the right direction, and this new album is getting the most positive critical reception of any AJR album so far—or I guess a better way to word it is that it’s getting the least negative reception of any AJR album.

So, after multiple listens, what do I think of it?

Well, it’s another AJR album—it’s not really my thing, but I’ve heard much worse music than this.

The production is hit-or-miss in my opinion, but it’s far from the worst production I’ve heard this year, and at points it sounds really good, like in the opening track.

And while I don’t think the lyrics are as quirky as other AJR albums, there’s still some creative lyrics, and at points the album is very emotional, like in “God is Really Real”, which is about the band members’ father Gary who was terminally ill at the time of the song’s release and passed away shortly after. And I don’t want to be insensitive or anything, but if I’m being totally honest this song just didn’t really do much for me, as much as I do respect it.

But some of the other more emotional moments do at least kind of work for me, such as “Maybe Man”, which has a really interesting idea lyrically showing the pros and cons of alternate realities. And “Turning Out Pt. iii” seems to be showing the narrator in a new relationship, trying to figure out if it’s the right one.

And on a somewhat similar note, “Inertia” shows the narrator getting into an unhealthy relationship … although the problem here in my opinion is that it’s framed as if there’s nothing he can do to solve any of his problems, without giving any explanation of why there’s nothing that can be done.

This album also has some annoying melodies at points, for example in “Hole in the Bottom of My Brain”, and the chorus of “Steve’s Going to London” is also pretty annoying in my opinion.

And again, while there are moments where I like the production, there are also moments where I really don’t like the production, such as “Yes I’m A Mess”, which has clunky percussion, and a very annoyingly jumpy sound to it in the chorus, the kind of bouncy production that I don’t like at all—and the whistling doesn’t make this song any better.

One of the most fascinating songs on the album in my opinion is “Touchy Feely Fool”, but it’s also held back by the production for me. I think it’s interesting how it feels like this song is trying to get you to empathize with the very unlikeable character that Jack portrays here, and even though that’s usually the kind of song that really annoys me, in this case for whatever reason I actually think it’s pretty effective with the melodies and that busy percussion, but the production feels kind of messy and doesn’t let the chorus soar like it could.

And there are lots of other production nitpicks I could make, like how the strings don’t blend in super well in “The DJ is Crying for Help”, or how the vocals feel drowned out in the chorus of “Inertia” (even though I can kind of see how it might represent the narrator feeling stuck, I just don’t like how it sounds), or the vocal production not really fitting on “I Won’t” … but overall, I don’t think it’s a badly produced album. I haven’t even mentioned “The Dumb Song” yet, which I think has some of the best production on the album, with that really nice snare and some really smooth production throughout the track.

And there’s also the closing track, “2085”, which is probably my favourite song on the album, with a really nice sounding guitar (or maybe ukulele or something?), and I think it’s mostly well mixed.

Overall, I don’t think “2085” is amazing or anything, but it’s got some of my favourite vocal melodies on the album, and I like the lyrics that look ahead to the future.

So, overall, I don’t think The Maybe Man is a great album, but I do think it’s at least somewhat interesting … I mean, almost every AJR album has been interesting, if not every one. Yes, even Neotheater, which I don’t think is good at all, but it’s interesting.

But I don’t hate this album or even dislike it. It shows the band heading in an interesting direction, and they have a good balance of quirky songs and emotional songs, and some of their songs are both quirky and emotional, and it’s another album that makes me curious to hear more from the band.

I wouldn’t really call myself an AJR fan, and this album didn’t really wow me or anything, but again, I can’t say I dislike it.

So, for me it’s a 5/10. It’s got a couple good tracks, even if I don’t really love any of them. But it also doesn’t have the same low points as any of their other albums in my opinion. I get why so many people can’t stand AJR’s music, but I guess certain elements of it speak to me a bit more, even if I wouldn’t call myself a fan of the band.

But feel free to let me know what you think in the comments, and as always, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Maybe Man”, “Turning Out Pt. iii”, “2085”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Yes I’m A Mess”, “Inertia”

Hello, everyone! Time for my review of the new Within Temptation album, Bleed Out.

For a while, I’ve heard some great things about Within Temptation, although this is my first time listening to an album of theirs. And I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into it, as their more recent albums haven’t been getting as much acclaim as albums like Mother Earth or The Unforgiving—and like I said, I haven’t even listened to those albums before … I had no idea what to expect going into this.

But I gave this multiple listens. Is it any good?

Well … okay, you might remember that in a recent post I did a mini review of Creeper’s newest album, and while I’m not really a big fan of that album, I did say there’s another album I was going to review soon which has kind of a similar style of anthemic hard rock music, and that’s it’s done in a way that I really do love.

And if you haven’t pieced it together by now … well, yeah, this is the album I was talking about. Not only do I think this album is great, but it might be among the most pleasant surprises I’ve reviewed in 2023!

This is the kind of symphonic metal album that aims extremely high, and unlike so many other albums in this style, it absolutely nails it in pretty much every way! So, where do I begin?

Well, I think the best place to start is the lyrics. Because a lot of the reasons why I really love this album so much come back to the lyrics. Now, that’s not to say the lyrics are mind-blowingly good or anything—they are great lyrics, but not the best I’ve ever read or anything—but they do pretty much exactly what they need to for this album if you ask me.

There are a few topics and/or themes that seem to keep coming up on this album, and one example is that it seems like this album has to do with fighting back against something—and what that ‘something’ is depends on the song. And maybe I didn’t really describe that well, but to put it in other words, these songs are incredibly fierce—I mean, the album opens with a track about fighting for the people you care about—‘won’t stand aside when our loved ones dying. And when we hear the call, we go to war.’

And for the most part, as much as the phenomenal sound of these songs more obviously stands out at first, the lyrics are really important here in my opinion. I don’t think they’re the deepest lyrics ever, but they don’t have to be. These songs feel like they’re more than just pure fun, although maybe there are some exceptions like “Cyanide Love”, which as far as I can tell is nothing more than a vicious hard rock tune from the perspective of a villain hunting someone down, and this song is absolutely incredible for what it is, with crushing guitars and a feeling of tension that builds throughout the track.

Back to the topic of this album’s feeling of fighting back against something, the closing track is a great example—it’s a fantastic track which features guest vocals from one of the band’s producers, Daniel Gibson, and the fierce lyrics are backed up by the absolutely phenomenal production/mixing!

And speaking of which, there are so many details in the production that just take these songs to a whole different level! When it comes to production and mixing, this is absolutely incredible, and it’s a huge part of what puts this album on a completely different level compared to so many albums with a similar sound!

I already talked a bit about the album opener “We Go to War”, and this song has absolutely crushing drums and guitar distortion, all of which adds up to one insanely powerful album opener, and it’s got one of the catchiest choruses on the entire album!

The band has shared that the title track is telling the story of a woman in Iran who was killed for refusing to wear a hijab, and you can hear so much emotion in the vocals and the music … it’s an absolutely heartbreaking song.

Next is the song, “Wireless” which has a great build to it at the start, and like so many of these songs, it’s got an absolutely fantastic transition into the chorus, with those absolutely crushing guitars that fit pretty much perfectly with those awesome vocal melodies!

The fourth track, “Worth Dying For” has pummeling drums and absolutely gorgeous strings, and those synths in the chorus blend in amazingly well, with the snare having this massive sound to it but not feeling overpowering in the mix, letting those synths creep in and it sounds absolutely phenomenal! Oh yeah, and then there’s that excellent guitar solo!

“Ritual” has some chopped up group vocals that are a great intro to the track, and I love what that awesome bass adds to the track, sounding phenomenal with that awesome snare! And I love how Sharon del Adel changes to a higher vocal register in the verses! This is yet another absolutely phenomenal hard rock song with a huge hook that is incredibly catchy, and the production is phenomenal!

The second half of this album probably isn’t quite as strong as the first half, but that says more about the first half than anything … yes, some of these songs do feel noticeably more flawed than the majority of the songs on this album, such as “Don’t Pray for Me”, which does lack the same punch that most of these songs have, even though it’s still got incredible vocals and a great chorus!

And the second-to-last track “Unbroken” doesn’t have vocal melodies as strong as most of these songs do, and it feels slightly more generic … although it is still mostly well produced, and it’s got some excellent moments!

So, overall … yeah, this is easily among my absolute favourite albums of 2023! The production and mixing is absolutely phenomenal, Sharon del Adel is an incredible vocalist, and there are so many fantastic compositions here, and the lyrics and music fit together amazingly well!

If you’re a fan of any kind of hard rock and you haven’t heard this album yet … well, I’ll just say I think you’re totally missing out! I mean, the strings, the synths, the incredible basslines … there are just so many things that bring this album to a whole different level!

I haven’t found as many 9.5/10 albums this year as I was hoping and expecting … but this absolutely is one in my opinion. You could argue it’s not doing anything all that unique—and you might even be right—but to me, this is one of the most fascinating albums I’ve heard all year, and I think they pull this sound off amazingly well!

I can’t praise this album enough with words, so you might just have to listen to it for yourself … and even if I could praise this enough with words, that’s not a reason to skip listening to it … at least I don’t think it is. So, of course, you decide if you want to listen to it or not, but I think you’re seriously missing out if you don’t!

This review was more brief than I was hoping it would be, but I’ve got so many other things I’m working on … I’m actually currently away and I won’t be working much on my website over the next few days as I’ll mostly be visiting with family. And also, it’s the time of year when I’m super busy with final exams, and also I want to have my year-end lists out by early January, unlike last year. And I’ll probably be going back to working full-time over the winter break. And the list goes on of reasons I wanted to get this review out sooner rather than later … so I’m glad I got this review out, even if it wasn’t as in-depth as I would have liked.

Anyway, I’ll be back with more reviews soon, and as always, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “We Go to War”, “Bleed Out”, “Wireless”, “Worth Dying For”, “Ritual”, “Cyanide Love”, “The Purge”, “Entertain You”
Least Favourite Track: “Unbroken”

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another mini review post. Yes, I know once again these reviews are very brief, but I’ve been very busy lately, and the point of them is that they’re mini reviews.

As always, this is all just how I personally feel about these albums. Feel free to disagree with me on any of them.

Little Bit of Sun by Semisonic:

This is Semisonic’s first album in over two decades, and even though I’m not a big fan of “Closing Time”, the one song of theirs I knew going into this, I was curious enough about this to give it some listens.

And unfortunately it’s not doing much for me. The first half at least has some nice production that gives this a kind of huge sound that mostly clicks for me, and there are some good melodies, but overall these songs just don’t feel super interesting or unique to me personally.

And in the second half it pretty much just falls apart, with some of the most boring songs on the album.

But still, while it doesn’t seem to be doing anything all that interesting to me lyrically or instrumentally, it’s a decent enough listen, I guess. I’ll give it a 5.5/10, as at least it’s got a nice, warm, welcoming sound to it, if that makes any sense.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Rope”, “All The Time”, “Keep Me In Motion”, “If You Say So”
Least Favourite Track: “Out Of The Dirt”

Hackney Diamonds by The Rolling Stones:

So, believe it or not, I’m pretty sure this is my first time listening to a studio album by The Rolling Stones. I’ve heard great things about them, and they’re a band I want to listen to more, but I just haven’t really gotten around to actually listening to them much.

Well, this is their first studio album of original material since 2005, and usually when a band who was really popular many decades ago makes a big comeback album the reception isn’t very positive … although I’ve been surprised by how positive the reception has been for this album … and after listening to it, I kind of get why.

Now, that’s not to say this is amazing or anything, because I don’t think it is, but there are some good grooves here and good choruses, and Mick Jagger’s vocals are really good (and I also like that Keith Richards sings lead vocals on “Tell Me Straight”. I don’t think the song writing is anything all that great personally, lyrically or compositionally, although there are some moments that really stand out to me such as “Depending On You”, which seems to be showing the narrator realizing after a breakup it would have been a good idea to be more prepared for that possibility, and not to have been depending too much on this person.

So, overall, while I’m not blown away by this album, it is a mostly enjoyable blues rock album that I’d recommend. So, for me, it’s a 6.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Depending On You”, “Bite My Head Off”, “Dreamy Skies”, “Live By the Sword”
Least Favourite Track: “Get Close”

Higher by Chris Stapleton:

This is the first Chris Stapleton album I’ve listened to, but I’d heard some really good things about his music.

And while I’ve started to warm up to country music in general, this isn’t for me at all. At points this album can be some of the most boring country music I’ve heard all year.

Now, with that being said, there are some moments I really like, such as the excellent “White Horse” which has my favourite chorus on the album, but overall the vocal melodies and lyrics usually feel pretty boring to me, even though there are exceptions.

And while I don’t think the production is awful, there’s not really much about it that makes these songs stand out more to me.

So, I’m going to give this album a light 5.5/10. It’s not bad, but I can’t say I’m a fan of it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “What Am I Gonna Do”, “White Horse”, “The Bottom”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Higher”, “The Day I Die”

Australia Stops by C.O.F.F.I.N:

Here’s a punk band I hadn’t heard of until recently when I saw Anthony Fantano talking about them, and a few months ago they released a new album … and I can’t say it’s really doing a whole lot for me.

Don’t get me wrong, there’s clearly a lot of talent here, and at points it can be pretty hard-hitting, but the production often doesn’t give these songs the punch that they could have, especially with the drums feeling underpowered. Also, the hooks here aren’t as catchy as I’d like.

The lyrics seem to be full of social commentary, and while I like some of the lyrics I also just don’t find them super interesting for the most part … although maybe in part because I just don’t understand them. As I often say, take my opinions on lyrics with a huge grain of salt, as lyrics are not my strong suit as a critic.

So, overall, I just don’t find this album particularly interesting or memorable. It does kind of make me curious to hear more from the band, but I’m not much of a fan of this. 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “City Sun”, “Lover’s Leash”, “Australia Stops”, “Faceless”
Least Favourite Track: “Night Breaker”

Me Chama De Gato Que Eu Sou Sua by Ana Frango Elétrico:

This is my first time listening to an Ana Frango Elétrico album, and this has been getting a lot of critical acclaim!

And I get why critics love it so much, as it’s got some really nice, smooth production and some really nice vocal melodies.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that a lot of the lyrics are in Portuguese, and I don’t speak Portuguese, so even though I found translations online, I don’t know how accurate the translations are. But this album doesn’t really seem to be as much about the lyrics as it is about the vibes anyway.

But just because I get the hype for an album doesn’t always mean I like the album … although in this case I like the album a lot! Again, the production sounds great, and I think the instruments blend together really well, with some specific instruments sounding absolutely incredible such as those awesome horns in “Boy of Stranger Things”!

There are also a lot of great basslines here, and there are some really catchy, memorable hooks, such as in the fantastic opener “Electric Fish”!

I don’t think the album is super consistent, with a couple of tracks around the middle feeling a little bit less interesting, but I don’t think there’s a bad song on here, and the best songs absolutely rule! I’m going to rate this a strong 7.5/10! Really good album, and very close to being truly great!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Electric Fish”, “Nuvem Vermelha”, “Coisa Maluca”, “Boy of Stranger Things”, “Debaixo do Pano”
Least Favourite Track: “Camelo Azul”

Lahai by Sampha:

This is Sampha’s second studio album and his first since 2017. I haven’t heard his 2017 album yet, but I saw this album getting a ton of critical acclaim, and I decided to give it a shot. So, how is it?

Well, I’m not really sure why, but I didn’t have super high expectations here … and now that I’ve listened to it, it ended up being a very pleasant surprise! This album has incredibly smooth production which fits really well with these mostly uplifting songs! And Sampha is an incredible vocalist!

There are so many great vocal melodies here, and some haunting moments as well such as “Dancing Circles” with that awesome piano loop or “Suspended” with its eerie combination of vocal melodies and the instrumental, with the latter of those two songs almost sounding kind of Radiohead-esque.

A lot of the lyrics are open to interpretation, but it seems like there are themes of being your true self and not letting obstacles hold you back, and celebrating the positive things in life. And there’s some really nice poetry here, and it feels super fitting with the instrumentals.

The interludes don’t really do much for me, and “Only” has a bit of an annoying chorus, but overall this is an absolutely great album that I can’t recommend enough. 8/10 for me, excellent stuff!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “Stereo Colour Cloud (Shaman’s Dream)”, “Spirit 2.0”, “Dancing Circles”, “Suspended”, “Jonathan L. Seagull”, “Inclination Compass (Tenderness)”, “Can’t Go Back”, “Evidence”, “What If You Hypnotise Me?”
Least Favourite Track: “Only”

Hello, everyone! Time for more mini reviews!

As always, these are just my personal feelings on these albums. Even if it sounds like I’m trying to be ‘objective’ or whatever, it’s really just how I personally feel.

Alright, time for the reviews!

Heaven knows by PinkPantheress:

This is officially PinkPantheress’s debut studio album, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into it.

And if you’re looking for some simple pop bops, I think this’ll do the job, as there are a lot of catchy hooks and melodies, and the production is mostly strong in my opinion.

But I’m also not going to deny that a lot of it feels like filler to me, with only a small portion of the track list really standing out all that much to me, and even though I do like the production for the most part, there are quite a few points where the timbres don’t blend as well as I would have liked and something just ends up standing out feeling a bit awkward … but throughout most of the album I haven’t really noticed that.

So, yeah, overall I think it’s a pretty enjoyable listen. I’ll give it a 6.5/10, and for fans of pop I’d recommend it if you haven’t heard it yet, but I can’t say I’m as big a fan of this as a lot of critics are. Just being honest.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “True romance”, “Mosquito”, “Blue”, “Capable of love”, “Boy’s a liar Pt. 2”
Least Favourite Track: “Nice to meet you”

Nekkuja by Marina Herlop:

This is my first time listening to a Marina Herlop album, and I saw this getting quite a bit of critical acclaim, so I was curious to check it out, and … well, the first thing I’ll mention is that the lyrics are in Catalan, and because I don’t speak Catalan I translated them online, but only the ones I could find, as I couldn’t find all the lyrics to this album. And I’m not sure how accurate the translations I found are. So, lyrics aren’t a huge factor for me with this album.

But I do like the way it sounds! I really like the eerie atmosphere of a lot of these tracks, and there are some good vocal melodies, too!

I think the production and mixing are pretty solid here, too … but overall, there’s just not a whole lot about it that really makes it stand out to me all that much. I mostly just found it pleasant while it’s on without really feeling drawn to go back to it all that much.

I will at least say the vocals are really impressive, and if you’re looking for an album with a lot of small details that add quite a bit, I think it’s worth hearing—again, I think it’s quite good. But with all the music out there, this doesn’t come close to being among my favourite albums of the year. So, for me it’s a fairly light 7/10. I like it, but I wouldn’t recommend going into it with the highest of expectations, that’s all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Cosset”, “Karada”, “Babel”
Least Favourite Track: “Busa”

ONE MORE TIME… by blink-182:

So, believe it or not, this is actually my first time listening to a blink-182 album, and because it’s a blink-182 album released in 2023, I feel like I’m ‘supposed’ to dislike it … but I don’t.

In fact, I actually think this is some pretty solid pop-punk!

Now, I’m not saying I think this album is great, because I don’t, and some of the vocal melodies can be pretty underwhelming at points, and I think the mixing is pretty inconsistent, but other than that I mostly like the production, and there are some really strong hooks here, like in “BLINK WAVE” and “EDGING” and some other songs as well!

And while I don’t think the lyrics are anything all that unique for the most part, there are some good standout lines here and there, and the lyrics are mostly likeable if you ask me.

Now, that’s not to say there aren’t some cringey moments here, because I think there are, but overall … light 7/10 for me. Again, it feels like I’m ‘supposed’ to dislike this, but if I’m being honest I ended up enjoying it quite a bit!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “TERRIFIED”, “WHEN WE WERE YOUNG”, “EDGING”, “YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU’VE GOT”, “BLINK WAVE”
Least Favourite Track: “FELL IN LOVE”

The Enduring Spirit by Tomb Mold:

So, I’m not a huge death metal fan, but I saw this album getting a ton of critical acclaim, and I had heard it was somewhere between death metal and black metal, and I like black metal … and also, I like some death metal. So, I decided to give this a chance, and …

Well, it’s not really clicking for me as much as it is for a lot of people. And part of it is probably the genre, but I also just don’t find the production gives this as much punch as I’d like.

But I will say there are some interesting lyrics, even though I don’t really understand what they’re about. And the guitar does sound pretty good for the most part.

So, overall … well, I don’t dislike this album, but I don’t think I’m going to go back to it much. Still, though, I’ll give it a 6/10, it’s got elements to it that I like, but not much that really wowed me all that much personally.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Perfect Memory (Phantasm of Aura”, “Angelic Fabrications”, “Servants of Possibility”
Least Favourite Track: “Fate’s Tangled Thread”

SUPERBLOOM by Silent Planet:

This is the fifth studio album by Silent Planet, and now four out of five of them have dropped in November. Anyway, this is the follow-up to their 2021 album Iridescent, and considering I wasn’t really a big fan of that album, I can’t say my expectations for this were super high …

And unfortunately, as I expected, this mostly just feels like some pretty by the numbers metalcore which doesn’t really have a whole lot to offer, at least to me.

Now, that’s not to say I think this is bad, because I don’t. I’ll admit the guitar distortion has some nice crunch to it, even though it can feel underpowered at points. And often the drums fit well with these songs.

But overall this album doesn’t really make me feel like going back to it. It’s got its moments, with some of the more melodic moments working well like in “Collider”, “Euphoria”, and in the title track. But I’m not as big a fan of the screamed vocals, and the compositions feel pretty generic to me for the most part. So, I’m going to give this a 6/10. It’s not bad, but I can’t say it’s doing all that much for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Lights off the Lost Coast”, “Collider”, “Euphoria”, “SUPERBLOOM”
Least Favourite Track: “Antimatter”

Hard Light by Drop Nineteens:

Drop Nineteens formed in the early 1990s, released two albums, and then broke up in 1995 … then they reformed as a band last year, and they’ve now released their first album in over thirty years! I don’t think I’d heard of them until this album came out, but I decided to give it some listens, and I mostly enjoyed it!

This album I think falls somewhere between shoegaze and dream pop, and while I’ve heard this style done in ways I like a lot more, and this can feel kind of generic at points, it’s still a mostly well-produced album with an airy sound that isn’t overdone to the point where it just sounds like a mess.

I’m not always a huge fan of the instrumentals as a lot of them just don’t leave much of an impact on me, but there are some interesting lyrics and some of the vocal melodies are pretty good. “Tarantula” has some really nice blazing acoustic guitar, and I love the line, ‘Saw her see me seein’ her, she saw me see her seein’ me.’

So, yeah, overall I’m not wowed by this, so I’m giving it a very strong 6.5/10, but for fans of dream pop or shoegaze, I think you might really enjoy this!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Scapa Flow”, “Tarantula”, “Lookout”
Least Favourite Track: “Rose With Smoke”

We Buy Diabetic Test Strips by Armand Hammer:

This is my first time listening to an Armand Hammer album, although I have listened to some of billy woods’ music before, and considering how I’ve felt about the billy woods albums I’ve heard, I was really excited to hear this!

And like both the other billy woods albums I’ve heard, it’s very layered and complicated lyrically. And while I somewhat tried to figure out what the lyrics mean, I didn’t try super hard. I mean, it’s super layered and complicated, and I’ve been very busy … and it’s not like I’m giving the album its own review anyway. I’m just sharing some brief thoughts on it. But still, some of these lyrics really did get me thinking, and I’m fascinated by it. There are a lot of things discussed here, with some of it seeming to be about greed and capitalism, as well as wondering if you’re part of the problem. Although I could be wrong about this.

And there are also quite a few individual lines that I really like, such as when E L U C I D says ‘I feel a way about proving my identity to robots’ on “The Flexible Unreliability Of Time & Memory”.

So, do I like the album? Well, yeah, I do, but I also can’t say I love it as much as a lot of critics do. I’m not denying it’s a fascinating listen, but as much as I really like the lyrics for the most part, the instrumentals don’t feel nearly as experimental as I think they’re supposed to … don’t get me wrong, the instrumentals are creative, but they don’t really wow me as much as they do for a lot of people. Musically, this doesn’t feel as groundbreaking as it seems like it’s supposed to.

And I’m not saying this is bad—in fact, I think it’s quite good. It’s just that musically it doesn’t feel as amazing to me as it does to a lot of people. That’s all.

I do mostly like the production, and while I’m not as wowed by the lyrics here as I am on Aethiopes or Maps I still really like the lyrics, and it’s one of those albums where the mystery of the lyrics kind of makes the album better in my opinion, and I think it’s something about the combination of that with the avant-garde instrumentals, even though I don’t find the instrumentals as mind-blowing as a lot of people seem to.

billy woods and E L U C I D both have a lot of good flows here, although the guest verses can be very hit or miss for me … but overall, I highly recommend you hear this album for yourself and make your own interpretations, or at least don’t take my interpretations too seriously, because while I don’t think most critics really understand this album all that well, I think a lot of them understand it better than I do.

So, you could say it’s just not really for me, I guess … but I still do really like it, so I’ll give it a 7/10. Again, take this with a huge grain of salt, but this album doesn’t feel as interesting to me as a lot of abstract hip hop, although it is still very interesting … but considering I haven’t listened to a ton of abstract hip hop, that might be saying something … although, again, it’s an album that I don’t really understand, and maybe that’s part of the reason it’s not fully clicking with me as much as I’d like … but there are lots of albums I don’t understand that I still love.

So, all I really know is that I’m not really loving this album, but I still highly recommend it!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Woke Up and Asked Siri How I’m Gonna Die”, “The Gods Must Be Crazy”, “Y’all Can’t Stand Right Here”, “Supermooned”
Least Favourite Track: “The Key Is Under The Mat”

Goodnight, God Bless, I Love U, Delete. by †††:

This is †††’s second studio album and their first since 2014. And while I haven’t listened to that album I have listened to some of Deftones’ stuff (although this reminds me I want to listen to more Deftones), and for those of you who don’t know, Deftones’ lead singer Chino Moreno is also the lead singer of †††.

Anyway, how do I feel about the album? Well, I don’t really like it, I’ll start by saying that.

It feels like so many of these tracks would work a lot better as hard rock songs, but the poppier sound really just doesn’t fit well with the vocal melodies in my opinion.

But it’s not like the compositions really wowed me all that much, either. Overall, it just feels like an album I’ve heard before.

I mean, I don’t dislike it. At least it’s mixed pretty well, but the lyrics don’t feel super interesting to me and something just feels so awkward about the instrumentation and vocal melodies when you put them together. And toward the end of the album, there are some super awkward percussion choices, such as in “Natural Selection”. There are moments that I like, but as a whole it just feels kind of like a mess … I think the album starts strong with some of the best melodies on the album, and then it just falls apart from there. 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Invisible Hand”, “Runner”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Big Youth”, “End Youth (Reprise)”, “Natural Selection”

Hello, everyone. Today I’m reviewing the newest album from Sujfan Stevens, Javelin.

It’s been nearly a month and a half since this album came out, and you might be wondering why I’m getting around to reviewing it so late. And, well, there were a bunch of other albums I wanted to review, too, but I was always planning on listening to this ever since I found out about it.

This album has been getting MASSIVE, MASSIVE amounts of critical acclaim, and by that I mean you could argue it’s the most critically acclaimed album of 2023 so far—it’s the kind of album you pretty much instantly know is going to go down as a classic some day. And it’s going to be a tricky album for me to review, because it’s dedicated to Sufjan’s late partner Evans Richardson, who passed away earlier this year. And the album also comes not long after Sufjan was diagnosed with Guillian-Barre Syndrome. And before I get into sharing my feelings on the album, I really hope Sufjan is doing well. No one deserves to go through what he’s gone through this year.

About the album, I wasn’t prepared for an easy listen at all, and there’s a part of me that feels like I shouldn’t even be reviewing this and giving it a rating considering everything Sufjan’s gone through … it might just be better for me to listen to it without reviewing it. But considering just how much critical acclaim this is getting, it also felt kind of awkward for me to not review it. And I want to follow my own rules and give the album a rating, although we’ll get to that later.

So, I gave this album multiple listens. And in a year when so many extremely critically acclaimed albums just haven’t really clicked for me all that much, do I at least love this album?

Well, this whole review is made a lot more difficult by the fact that I don’t love this album … and I kind of hate to say it considering what Sufjan’s gone through this year, especially as the loss of his partner and his diagnosis seem to have probably inspired some of this album’s lyrics.

But at the end of the day, I’m not going to pretend that I love this album when in reality I don’t … I do respect it a lot, and I can tell there’s a ton of emotion here, but if I’m being honest it’s just not really clicking for me.

So, where do I even start with this album? I mean, it kind of feels wrong for me to nitpick about production or melodies or instrumentation or anything like that … again, this kind of doesn’t feel like an album that should be reviewed.

Well, this isn’t going to be one of my usual reviews. Because I’m not going to really do all my usual nitpicking—really, I’m not going to say all that much about this album. I gave this album multiple listens and tried to find out if I was missing something, and … well, maybe I am, but I don’t think it’s something I’m going to find by listening to the album more.

This album just isn’t for me. And I guess the more stripped back instrumentation is probably to give this a more raw, emotional feeling, and … yeah, I get it. I guess that’s why this has been getting such a massive amount of critical acclaim. Or at least that’s part of the reason … and, well, I don’t want to be insensitive or anything, and I’m not denying how much emotion there is here, and I’m also not denying the fact that there are a ton of people who genuinely love this album … but to be honest, I can’t help but feel like if this weren’t made by Sufjan Stevens it wouldn’t be getting nearly as much acclaim. And you can deny it all you want, and maybe you’d even be right … but I doubt it.

And not only that, but if I had a much larger fanbase than I do, I could pretty much guarantee you there would be people in the comments telling me this isn’t the kind of album I should be reviewing unless the review is positive … and if you think I should just keep my thoughts on this to myself I can understand that—I don’t agree with it, as I feel like as long as you’re respectful you can review whatever album you want, but I at least get that argument … but a lot of the people who would make that argument are also probably going online and posting about how ‘bland and boring’ Ed Sheeran’s album, –, is. And hey, if you think that album is bland and boring that’s fine … I mean, I don’t agree with you, but we can agree to disagree there.

I guess what I’m saying is there’s certain artists whose music it’s considered ‘okay’ to review negatively even if it’s a super emotional listen about some very heavy, personal subject matters. And like I said, I think it’s okay to review pretty much any album, if not any album. But it seems like for a lot of people it really depends who the album is by.

At this point I feel like I’m not even talking about the album anymore … and yeah, I know I could have made this a mini review, but that felt even more wrong than giving it this review. I mean, I considered it, and it wouldn’t really have been wrong for me to do that, but it kind of felt wrong.

But back to what I was talking about, if this album was made by Ed Sheeran, I can all but guarantee you it wouldn’t be getting nearly as much critical acclaim.

But this post isn’t about Ed Sheeran. It’s about this album by Sufjan Stevens which is a very raw, emotional album which I do absolutely recommend listening to, although there’s a good chance you’ve already heard it. And at the same time, the album’s not really clicking for me. I guess looking beyond the emotion that’s here, the compositions just didn’t grab my attention all that much, nor did the vocal melodies. And as much emotion as there is here, it just doesn’t resonate with me emotionally, and that’s a me thing.

So, overall, I highly recommend this album if you haven’t heard it yet. It might not be an easy listen, but maybe you’ll get a lot more out of it than I did.

And I really hope Sufjan is doing well. Again, no one deserves to go through what he’s had to go through this year.

When it comes to giving this album a rating … yeah, I understand why some people wouldn’t want me to rate this album, but I’m going to follow my own rule and give it a rating … and as always, I rate albums based on how much or how little I personally like them. So, for me, it’s a 6/10, but that’s just because the album didn’t really do a whole lot for me personally. Again, that’s a me thing.

Yes, I know my opinion here is controversial, and I really wanted to give this a fair chance and try to see if it would resonate with me as much as it is for so many others, but it’s just not really resonating with me.

But feel free to let me know in the comments what you thought of this album; I’m very curious to hear.

And with that, I’ll be back with more reviews soon, and as always, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Genuflecting Ghost”, “So You Are Tired”, “Javelin (To Have And To Hold)”
Least Favourite Track: “There’s A World”

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another mini review post! I said I had a lot more mini reviews on the way, and … well, here are some more of them!

As always, these are just my personal feelings on the albums. Even if I say something negative, it doesn’t mean I’m trying to be mean or anything.

Alright, now let’s get these reviews started!

Jenny from Thebes by The Mountain Goats:

This is only my second time listening to an album by The Mountain Goats, although I’ve heard great things about them. So while their album from last year, Bleed Out, didn’t do much for me at all, I was excited to hear this album.

But unfortunately this isn’t really doing a whole lot for me. The production often seems to be going for this really huge, anthemic sound, and … well, it kind of works for me, but something just seems off about the way the timbres of the instruments blend together, and it holds back songs like “Clean Slate” and “Same as Cash” from hitting a lot harder.

There’s some interesting storytelling here and some really good imagery in the lyrics, but a lot of the lyrics just don’t really do a whole lot for me personally, and I don’t find the compositions super interesting for the most part, although the chord progressions and vocal melodies fit really well together in “Water Tower”.

And the percussion often sounds awkward when paired with the rest of the instrumentation, and it’s just one of many things that leaves this album feeling really underwhelming.

But I don’t think this is bad—again, there are some elements here that I really like, but something just feels missing. It’s got interesting lyrics, and some good melodies here and there, but it feels more consistently decent than anything … so, yeah, while I don’t think there’s a bad song here aside from maybe “Going to Dallas” which has some of the least interesting vocal melodies here, I’m not sure there’s a great song here, either.

But still, I get the appeal, and I’d recommend listening to it if you haven’t already. It’s just not really for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Clean Slate”, “Fresh Tattoo”, “Same as Cash”, “Water Tower”
Least Favourite Track: “Going to Dallas”

Wallsocket by underscores:

I was originally planning on giving this album its own review, but considering how many other mini reviews I’m working on and the fact that this was one of a few individual reviews I was planning to post, I just decided not to give all of them their own review, and now this one’s a mini review.

This album has been getting a lot of critical acclaim, and I absolutely understand why it’s getting praised so much.

There is a lot to this album, and it’s an album that really made me think a lot, which is the main reason I was going to give it its own review despite the fact that … well, I’ve got to be honest with you and say that I’m not really loving this album. But still, it’s a super interesting listen that’s got a lot of lyrical depth, and just because I don’t love it doesn’t mean I’m not fascinated by it.

This is a concept album that takes place in a fictional town in Michigan called Wallsocket, and it tells the story of three girls. And there are so many different topics discussed on this album, like parasocial relationships, greed, and possibly some references to horseshoe theory, although it seems to be making fun of horseshoe theory rather than supporting it (but I could be wrong about that). And personally, while I don’t know much about horseshoe theory, from what I do know about it I mostly don’t agree with horseshoe theory, although keep in mind I said ‘mostly’. But getting back on topic, there are many more things discussed here, including some very heavy topics like grooming, like in “Johnny johnny johnny”, which tells the story of a child being groomed, and it’s from the perspective of the child … and as heartbreaking as the lyrics are, this song sounds like arguably one of the most upbeat, happy-sounding songs here, and if I’m being honest the combination of the lyrics and the sound here don’t really work for me at all … and yet, I totally understand how the upbeat sound could represent the fact that a lot of people just want to ignore these huge problems in the world, or it could also have to do with the fact that the narrator is being tricked into doing something, because the listener is being tricked into thinking it’s a happy song … and honestly, this is just one of many examples here where there’s something in this album that doesn’t really work for me, but I can think of a counterargument for it that I can totally understand.

It also seems like a lot of this album is about being transgender, especially because Underscores herself is transgender, and how a lot of society is against transgender people existing. And as a cisgender person myself, I can’t say I relate to it, but that kind of makes it more powerful—this album is another reminder that as much as I and other cisgender people can try to have empathy for trans people, we can’t fully understand what it’s like to be trans. And it’s one of many things on this album that really made me think.

But keep in mind that while I have read some things that underscores has said about this album, a lot of what I’ve said here is just my own personal interpretation of these lyrics, and I could be very wrong about a lot of this. But you’re probably wondering what I’m going to rate this album, and … okay, for me this is a 6/10, but take that rating with a MASSIVE grain of salt, because I should make a few things clear: I rate albums based on how much or how little I personally like them, and considering that some key elements of the story throughout the album aren’t actually in the album itself does make it a little harder for me to associate it with that (such as the concept of the three girls and the town of Wallsocket) even though I totally understand why that wouldn’t matter to some people, and as experimental as the instrumentation is, a lot of it just didn’t really click for me personally as much as I do find it fascinating. And I could go on and on about this album—again, I was going to make it its own review—but in short, it’s not really for me, but I highly, HIGHLY recommend you listen to this album! It’s an incredibly deep album lyrically with tons of potential double-meanings, and super fascinating instrumentation and lots of catchy moments, and while I personally don’t love this album, it’s absolutely worth the hype!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Locals (Girls like us)”, “Horror movie soundtrack”, “Geez louise”, “Good luck final girl”
Least Favourite Track: “Cops and robbers”

Volcano by Jungle:

This is the fourth studio album from Jungle, a duo who I feel like I might have heard of before finding out about this album, although I’m not sure about that. This album came out back in August, and I can’t remember if I knew about it when it came out or not, but I wasn’t planning on listening to it until a friend of mine recommended it to me recently. So, I decided to give this multiple listens, and … unfortunately, it’s not really doing a whole lot for me.

I’m not saying this is bad, but it does feel lacking in elements that really make me want to go back to it. It’s not like the vocal melodies really interest me all that much outside of certain moments, and when they do it’s not always for the better—for example, in the album opener, “Us Against The World”, there are some melodies which I find kind of annoying, at least when combined with what sounds like some pitch-shifted vocals—and really, it’s the combination of the two, which, for whatever reason, sounds really annoying in my opinion. I don’t mind the vocals or even the melody, but the two combined just really annoy me when I’m listening to it for whatever reason.

And while there are moments where I really like the production, it can also sound kind of messy at points, with the instruments not blending all that well together in my opinion. Although I will say I mostly like the percussion, and “Don’t Play” has great production and a really good use of a sample throughout the song.

But overall … well, if you’re looking for some upbeat dance music, I see why this might work, but it just didn’t really do a whole lot for me personally. I did mildly enjoy it, so I’ll give it a 6/10, but I just don’t think it’ll have much replay value for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Holding On”, “Candle Flame”, “Coming Back”, “Don’t Play”, “Pretty Little Thing”
Least Favourite Track: “Us Against The World”

Objects Without Pain by Great Falls:

I don’t think I’d heard of this band until recently, but I’ve seen this album getting a lot of critical acclaim, and based on some genre descriptions I’d seen such as post-hardcore, it seemed like something I’d be interested in hearing.

And it’s worth mentioning that I couldn’t find lyrics for this album when I looked them up, and while I can hear some of them I can’t hear all of them, so they aren’t as big a factor for me on this album than they otherwise would be.

Overall, I kind of get the hype with this one, as it’s got some crushing guitars and drums that feel like they could fit really well with the screamed vocals. But just because I get it doesn’t mean it’s really doing a whole lot for me … and it’s not. I mean, I don’t dislike it, but I don’t think the production has quite the punch for it to really hit as hard as I’d like … I just often feel like the sound is a bit messy, which might be the intent, but it keeps it from having more impact for me.

And the album is also quite long, with a running time of close to an hour, and after a while I just kind of start to get tired of it, considering there’s not much about it that really stands out to me personally all that much. I feel like I’ve just heard this sound done in much more interesting ways. But just like with all of these albums, that’s just my opinion.

And overall, if you’re into metal or post-hardcore or anything like that, there’s a pretty good chance you’ll end up loving this … but even as a fan of heavy music myself, I can’t say this did a whole lot for me, so here’s another 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Dragged Home Alive”, “Ceilings Inch Closer”, “The Starveling”
Least Favourite Track: “Old Words Worn Thin”

Uma by betcover!!:

Here’s a pretty short album that could be described as art rock, or progressive rock, or something like that. Either way, it’s been getting a lot of critical acclaim, so I was curious to hear it.

It’s worth mentioning that this is in Japanese, and I don’t speak Japanese, so even though I translated the lyrics online, I don’t know how accurate the translations are.

Anyway, do I like the album? I would say yes, but I don’t love it. Often the production feels messy, and while I think that was the intent, I don’t think the instrumental timbres blend super well together, and often the mixing will have specific instruments that feel too loud or too quiet.

It’s very impressive musically, and while I often really like this kind of music, there’s not really a whole lot about this album that really makes me want to go back to it personally.

But still, it’s a pretty impressive album that I recommend … personally, I’m giving this a 6.5/10 (so, I guess I like it slightly more than the first four albums in this post), but I will say this: this band seems like they’d be fun to see live.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Virtual Sex”, “Kagami”, “Himatsuri No Odori”
Least Favourite Track: “Fumetsu No Kuni”

Year of the Newt by Bobbing:

This is the debut solo studio album by Bobbing, an artist I don’t think I’d heard of until this album came out.

It’s a pretty short album which kind of has a bit of a post-punk vibe to it, at least at points. I guess it could also maybe be considered funk music.

But either way, I see how this might work as dance music, or as background music, but it’s just not really doing a ton for me personally. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed it, and I think the production is pretty good albeit not great. But overall, something just feels missing to me and I can’t quite place what.

Also, I don’t think the lyrics are bad, but they also feel full of clichés and just don’t feel all that interesting to me personally, but keep in mind analyzing lyrics is not a strong suit of mine.

While I’m not a huge fan of this album, there are some things that I like here. Again, I mostly like the production, and I think there are some good melodies at points here. I think “Elevator Music” has some really nice synths, and the album opens on a mostly positive note with “It Never Happened”, and I like how the sound of a dog barking creates a melody on the final track.

But overall, this just doesn’t feel super interesting to me, and while it makes me curious to hear more from Bobbing and shows potential, this album in particular just doesn’t do a whole lot to stand out to me personally, and thus … well, I guess this is just the theme of this post, as it’s yet another 6/10 if you ask me. This album is getting a lot of critical acclaim, but I can’t say it’s for me personally.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “It Never Happened”, “Elevator Music”, “A Night Alone”
Least Favourite Track: “Cool With It”

Hello, everyone! So, I was going to make one of these posts with more than five mini reviews in it, especially considering there are quite a few other mini reviews that I’m close to finishing … but it’s also good to have a mix of shorter and longer mini review posts, and the last one had ten, so why not post a shorter mini review post?

As always, these are just my personal feelings on these albums. If I say something negative, it doesn’t mean I’m trying to be mean to the people who made the albums, nor am I trying to be mean to the fans or judge anyone’s taste in music or anything like that. Music is subjective, and these are just my personal feelings on these albums.

Also, yes, these reviews are super brief, I know. But considering how far behind I am with my reviews … well, I really want to get back on track, and year-end list season is coming up, and I really don’t want that to be eight months late like it was for me last time … so, yeah, as much as it might be the controversial approach, as of right now I’m prioritizing quantity of reviews over quality of reviews. Because I’ve got a ton of albums I want to review soon, and I’ve also got a life outside of reviewing music, too. But my plan is that once I get back on track, I’ll focus more on the quality of my reviews rather than the quantity.

So, yeah, just keep in mind I didn’t look super closely into all the lyrics (I do read the lyrics and try to understand them, but not to the same extent that some critics do), and I’m not trying to say whether or not these albums are ‘objectively good’ … although those things can be said about all my reviews anyway, at least the latter can be, and the former is true with most of my reviews.

But now it’s time for the reviews, starting with …

Paint My Bedroom Black by Holly Humberstone:

It feels like for a while I’ve been constantly seeing/hearing the name Holly Humberstone, and now she’s released her debut studio album.

And honestly, I can’t say this really clicked for me at all. I mean, there’s clearly a lot of emotion here, and while I respect that, it doesn’t mean I have to like the album … and I don’t like the album. To me, the production doesn’t give this nearly as much atmosphere as I think it was supposed to, and the vocal melodies are mostly boring to me.

This album reminds me a lot of Gracie Abrams’ album from earlier this year, except I don’t like the production nearly as much, the melodies don’t do much for me, and while I think the lyrics are well written, they just don’t really do much for me personally here.

So, overall, if you’re looking for a mostly mellow, emotional album, this might work for you, and while I’m giving this a 5/10, I do at least somewhat recommend giving it a chance. It’s just not for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Cocoon”, “Flatlining”
Least Favourite Track: “Into Your Room”

Romantic Piano by Gia Margaret:

This ambient album came out back in May, and it’s the third studio album by Gia Margaret, although it’s only the first one of her albums that I’ve listened to.

And it’s not really an album that gives me much to say … but that doesn’t mean it’s bad. In fact, I think this is a really nice, calming listen with really good production that adds a lot to the atmosphere!

And there are a lot of great melodies in the instrumentation, and the pianos sound great. But outside of that, I just don’t have a lot else to add. Although I will say if you start listening to this and it doesn’t really do much for you … well, in my opinion the second half is better than the first half, even though I do like the first half.

So yeah, If you’re looking for some great instrumental ambient music, then I’d absolutely recommend this album! 8/10 for me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “Hinoki Wood”, “Cicadas”, “Guitar Piece”, “La Langue De L’amitié”, “April to April”, “Cinnamon”
Least Favourite Track: “City Song”

Picture in Picture by Nimu:

Nimu is a duo consisting of Nick Malkin and mu tate, and this is the duo’s debut album.

It’s about half an hour long, and it’s some pretty enjoyable instrumental ambient music, even though I wouldn’t put it among the best ambient music I’ve heard this year.

The production gives this a really nice atmosphere, and it’s got a very winter-like vibe to it, with a lot of small details that add a lot.

It’s got a slightly eerie feeling to it, but only slightly, and I think it really fits for this album … so, while I don’t quite love the album, I do like it quite a bit, although I think it works better as a whole than in pieces. So, overall, strong 7/10 from me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “At Dawn”, “Room Of Mirrors”, “Little Break”, “Deja Vu”
Least Favourite Track: “Ultramarine”

Mid Air by Romy:

For anyone who doesn’t know, Romy is a member of The xx, who are one of those bands I keep hearing about but haven’t really listened to. Anyway, this is Romy’s debut solo studio album, and it seems to have gotten a mostly positive reception from critics.

But to me personally, this album felt pretty underwhelming, and there’s not much about it that really makes me want to go back to it. To me it just sounds like a lot of other dance music I’ve heard without much that really sets it apart for me.

Although that’s not to say there aren’t issues here that hold the album back for me, such as a lot of the percussion feeling kind of clunky, holding these songs back from having more punch to them.

But I’m also just not really gripped by the vocal melodies or the compositions for the most part, and while there are some good synths and I mostly don’t mind the production, this album just didn’t really do much for me.

I do think the album starts really strong with “Loveher”, a really sweet, fun love song which is one of the few examples where I think the percussion legit sounds really good, but the vast majority of this album feels lacking in strong hooks and melodies, and overall I’m gonna have to give this a 6/10. If you’re looking for some upbeat dance music this might be worth a listen, but I think there’s much better dance music out there.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Loveher”, “Did I”, “Enjoy Your Life”
Least Favourite Track: “DMC”

The Devil I Know by Ashley McBryde:

I’ve heard some really good things about Ashley McBryde’s music, although this is the first Ashley McBryde album I’ve listened to, at least I’m pretty sure it is.

And I can’t really say it’s fully my thing. I mean, the lyrics are often well written, even though there are some songs with lyrics that feel contradictory to each other within the song. And Ashley McBryde is a good singer, too. But the compositions here just don’t really feel all that interesting to me, and the production sounds quite messy.

Now I will say at least there are moments when the messy production kind of works for me, like in “Whiskey and Country Music”, although at least the instruments sound like they fit together here, unlike a lot of the other songs where it feels like the instruments were produced for different songs.

Overall this just doesn’t feel super consistent to me, and while I like some of the vocal melodies, and there are a couple great songs in my opinion, I’m still only going to give this a 6/10. But if you really love country music, you might really love this … so, to country fans I’d absolutely recommend it, maybe even if you’re not a country fan, but even as someone who’s been getting into country music more and more this just didn’t do a whole lot for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Devil I Know”, “Single At The Same Time”, “Whiskey and Country Music”
Least Favourite Track: “Women Ain’t Whiskey”