Hello, everyone! It’s time for another album review, as I’m reviewing the newest Brothers in Farms album, Book V: Picture Perfect.

This year, I’ve been reviewing more really obscure music than I did last year. And that’s probably no surprise considering the fact that I’m reviewing more music in general this year, but still, as much as I like sharing my opinions on the music that lots of people are talking about, I also want to review music from some artists who aren’t getting as much attention.

A lot of the really obscure albums I’ve been reviewing are albums I just randomly came across online when looking for albums to review, but this one is different. This is the second album I’ve ever reviewed by anyone I know personally, the first being Spade’s Title the Document a little less than a year ago, and interestingly enough, Steve Wright (a member of the duo Spade) used to be a member of Brothers in Farms. And I also know some of their current members.

So, what made me decide I wanted to listen to and review this album? Well, honestly, I didn’t know much about Brothers in Farms until a few months ago. But this summer I saw them perform live, and they were incredible! The band seemed totally locked in musically with great chemistry, the lyrics seemed really interesting from what I heard of them, and Chris Hergesheimer has a very recognizable personality behind the mic which I think fits the band really well!

So, I looked up Brothers in Farms online after that performance, and I found out they had a new album. And yes, I know some bands sound way better live than on record and vice versa, but I can’t deny that I was still really excited to hear this album!

Now, before I talk about my feelings on the album, I do want to mention the elephant in the room. Because there is a part of me that feels kind of awkward reviewing an album by a band with some members whom I know personally, and there’s a very real chance that the band ends up seeing this review. And as much as I would love to give every album by anyone I know personally a super positive review, at the end of the day I’d rather just be honest about how I feel, and review it like I would review any other album.

So, just a reminder that everything I say here is just how I personally feel. I mean, that can be said about any of my reviews, but I want to make that especially clear here considering the band might actually see this. 

And speaking of which, to the band members and anyone else who helped make this album, if you end up reading this review, I hope you don’t take any of this personally. I want you to be proud of the music you’ve made regardless of whether or not I personally like the music.

So, now it’s time for me to talk about the album itself … so, first of all, do I like the album?

The answer is yes, I do like the album. But with that being said, it’s not really clicking for me as much as I thought it would, and with the exception of a couple individual songs I don’t think it’s going to have a lot of replay value for me.

It’s worth mentioning that I haven’t yet listened to any other Brothers in Farms albums (I do plan to listen to them sometime soon, though), but based on this album and that live performance I saw, they seem like one of those bands who’s probably much better live than on record. And obviously whether they’re ‘better’ live or on record is subjective, but I think you get the point.

So, I’m going to try to explain why this album didn’t fully click for me, and I also want to explain why I still think it’s pretty good. I will have some positive things to say, but right off the bat I’m going to mention one big thing that holds this album back for me, and that’s a lot of the production—not all of the production, as there are some moments where the production gives this album more punch and it really works, but often I feel like the album doesn’t have the same firepower that their live performance did, and a lot of that is due to quite a few elements sounding underpowered here, like how the bass is mixed really quietly in “Skeletons”, and there’s also “Half Life” which sounds quite compressed, which I don’t think really fits for a song like this one trying to be so huge, anthemic, and optimistic.

I feel like a lot of these songs aren’t as anthemic as they could have been, even though there are elements I like here. “Be Cool” is the biggest example of that for me, as it doesn’t have the firepower in the production or instrumentation to really click for me, but there are other examples, too, such as “Fuego” which does feature a good groove, but the snare sounds way quieter than I would have liked.

But production aside, what do I think of the instrumentals here? Well, it’s a mixed bag for me. There are moments that I like, and there are some nice details—for example, I like a lot of the accordion on here. And also, the band does sound pretty locked in musically. But the compositions often don’t really do much for me—and yes, there are exceptions; I already mentioned the groove of “Fuego”, and I like the mostly instrumental closing track, “Bells”. But as a whole album, the instrumentals themselves can get kind of boring, with songs like “Overdrive” and “Lose Control” which kind of sound to me like a million other songs I’ve heard on alternative radio stations, although the latter of those two songs has a percussion instrument I’m not really familiar with, which … well, it at least makes the song more interesting to me, even though it makes me like the song less.

Again, one element that really improves this album in my opinion is the accordion, which is a really nice addition to “Picture Perfect”, “Skeletons”, and quite a few other songs, especially “The Do Over” in which it blends really well with the drums! Not only does the accordion usually sound really good in the mix, but it adds a lot of good melodies to the album!

And speaking of melodies … well, as much as there are some points where the melodies don’t really feel interesting to me at all—or worse, where the melodies are actively annoying—I do mostly like the melodies here, in both the vocals and instrumentation. I really like that keyboard solo toward the end of “Fuego”, and the way the instrumental melodies combine together in “Bells”. And there are some vocal melodies that I really like, such as in “Picture Perfect” and “Fuego” … and while we’re on this topic, “Skeletons” is another song which has some really good vocal melodies, but something is holding me back from liking it more, and I’m not entirely sure what. I mean, there’s the howl right after Chris says ‘howl at the moon,’ which just feels distracting and annoying to me, but even outside of that something just isn’t quite clicking for me here, and I can’t quite place it. I mean … maybe it has something to do with the lyrics not really doing much for me, despite the fact that I like the idea of the song lyrically. Yes, we’ve all done things that we hate to admit (or even acknowledge to ourselves), and it’s important to move forward and learn from our mistakes without letting our mistakes take over our lives … but it just doesn’t feel like the topic is discussed all that deeply. And not that it was necessarily supposed to be really deep or anything, but the upbeat, feel-good vibes of the song just don’t really feel all that striking to me personally.

But going back to lyrics … well, what do I think of the lyrics here?

Like with a lot of elements of this album … it’s a mixed bag. And it’s not that there are any super notable low points lyrically, but to me there’s a few really standout moments lyrically and most of it just feels pretty generic to me, like I’ve heard it all a million times before. And I especially hate to say this considering that the band might see this review, but like I often say, lyrics aren’t my strong suit as a reviewer, so I very well could be missing something in the lyrics—and lyrics are subjective and open to interpretation anyway, just like any other element of music.

But like I said, there are some moments here that I do really like lyrically. I like the expression of complicated emotions on “The Do Over”, in which the narrator feels both proud of accomplishments and ashamed of not doing even better, before eventually accepting that there’s no way to redo the past—not the most unique topic for a song, but I really like the way it’s written. And “Billionaire Dick Rockets” is a pretty funny song that also has a statement to make about power and inequality, and I think it’s a standout track toward the end of the album.

But there are also some songs which feature lyrics that I don’t find particularly interesting but still fit the mood of the song. “Half Life”, for example, doesn’t feature super interesting lyrics as far as I can tell, but I think the optimistic, joyful feeling of the track fits with the mood of the song, even though the production holds it back from hitting a lot harder for me. But the biggest example of this for me is the opening track, “Picture Perfect”—I mean, I could understand if someone were to argue it’s just another generic ‘yay! Everything’s great!’ song, and I’m not going to pretend I find the lyrics to be deep or really all that interesting … but the song just feels so joyous that I think the lyrics fit! It’s not the kind of song I would usually like all that much, but this one really clicked for me! It’s a great song, and possibly my favourite on the album!

On the other hand, there’s “Be Cool”, which is by far my least favourite song here—not only is it possibly the only song here in which I don’t like the accordion, but it’s just got the feeling of a faux-upbeat song. I’m not saying that the band was faking it, it’s just got that feeling of one of those songs where ‘everything’s totally awesome’, but I’m having absolutely zero fun listening to it, especially with the production that sounds over-compressed to me.

But still, despite that, I still think Book V: Picture Perfect is a pretty good album. It didn’t blow my mind or anything, and I’ll admit it was a disappointment for me … but still, I’m curious to hear their other albums, and there are enough interesting ideas and moments that I like here for me to give it a 6/10. There’s more here that I like than there is that I dislike, and I’d recommend giving this album a chance, not only to support a smaller band, but also because it’s a pretty good album if you ask me.

But, of course, as always, this is all just how I personally feel. And once again, if the band members are reading this, I hope I didn’t offend anyone. Just because the album didn’t really click for me doesn’t mean I don’t respect it. And at the end of the day, these are just my personal feelings on the album.

I also want to say a big thanks to Chris Hergesheimer for sending me the lyrics to this album!

To anyone reading this, I’m curious to know what you think of the album if you’ve heard it. Again, I hope you take the time to listen to the album, but that’s up to you, of course.

Thanks for reading this review, and I’ll be back with more reviews soon!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Picture Perfect”, “The Do Over”, “Billionaire Dick Rockets”, “Fuego”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Be Cool”

Hello, everyone! Before I talk about this album, I want to talk about a stereotype made about online music critics—the idea that online music critics just want to be ‘cool’ and praise all the albums from underground artists, and give negative reviews to mainstream artists … and I always say that I’d rather just be honest about how I feel rather than just try to be ‘cool’, and I think that’s the case with a lot of music critics, so I don’t fully understand that stereotype.

But okay, maybe it’s not really that much of a stereotype … honestly, I’m not sure. But I feel like it probably is; I’ve just seen a lot of different things people have said which all add up to me to feel like it’s a stereotype, even though I’m not sure I’ve ever heard anyone actually make all those assumptions about all music critics.

But yeah, maybe ‘stereotype’ isn’t the right word—or maybe it is, I’m not sure—but as much as I kind of don’t want to admit it, I can understand why someone might make that assumption about me. I don’t think I’ve ever seen/heard someone assume that about me, but I would kind of get it, considering that, as someone who reviews a lot of albums, the majority of which are not super mainstream, chances are my favourite albums of the year aren’t going to be the most mainstream albums out there.

But what I kind of even less want to admit is that, if you make that assumption about me, you wouldn’t be totally wrong. Because yes, I’ll admit there’s a part of me that doesn’t want to give super positive reviews to mainstream albums, and that would much rather praise the underground stuff. But keep in mind I said ‘a part of me’, and really, at the end of the day, I’d rather just be honest about how I feel.

And to be totally honest, despite the album not getting super positive reviews from critics, I think Olivia Rodrigo’s debut album SOUR is pretty great! And yes, I know the influences are obvious, but I think she did a really good job of taking those influences and doing her own thing with them, and when there are so many good hooks, great lyricism, and Olivia’s fantastic vocals … well, it led to an album that really clicked for me!

And you might think I was really excited going into this album, but after hearing the singles, I was a bit worried about it. First there was “vampire” which I mostly liked but didn’t feel all that excited by, and then “bad idea right?” felt like a weaker version of “brutal”, and that’s coming from someone who feels that “brutal” isn’t one of the better tracks on SOUR.

So, I kind of had a feeling this might be a sophomore slump … but I wanted to give it a chance, and I was still pretty excited about this. So, did it live up to my not super high expectations?

Well … honestly, I’m not even sure it did. Now, let me just make this clear: I’m not saying this album is bad. In fact, it’s pretty decent … but at least to me, it’s not much more than decent. And yes, if I had a much larger audience, the comment section would be full of comments saying, ‘Why would you possibly say this?’ But, as always, this is just how I personally feel.

So, in other words, while I know this is subjective, to me personally, this feels like a sophomore slump. And I’m not talking about sales, or chart success, or anything like that … not even critical acclaim, because this seems to be getting more acclaim than SOUR. But in terms of ‘quality’—and I put that in quotes because the quality of any album is subjective—I think this is a big disappointment.

But the more I think about it, I feel like I shouldn’t be all that surprised I’m saying this. I mean, like I said earlier, the singles didn’t really do all that much for me, and one notable thing I noticed in those songs that felt like a big step down from SOUR was the production … and unfortunately, that’s something I’ve noticed with most of this album, even though Dan Nigro—who produced SOUR—also produced this album.

Now, that’s not to say there aren’t moments where the production works for me, because there are; I like how the vocal production contributes to the frustrated feeling of “ballad of a homeschooled girl”. I like the way the strings and piano complement each other on the closing track, “teenage dream”. And at points the percussion is absolutely crushing, like in the aforementioned “ballad of a homeschooled girl”, as well as “all-american bitch” and “love is embarrassing”.

But often the production feels messy in a way that doesn’t really fit the song. For example, there’s “vampire”, a song in which Olivia is calling out an ex’s behaviour, and the lyrics have a lot of bite to them (I’m not sure if this pun was intended or not), but there are a few notable things in the production that hold it back for me. First of all, for a song that’s supposed to be so powerful and fierce, the airy production just feels really awkward to me. But there’s also that post-chorus with the huge shots of instrumentation that sounds like it’s supposed to be that huge moment the entire song was building up to … and unfortunately it just doesn’t have a lot of impact for me, and it just feels more messy than anything, with the snare sounding drowned out in the mix, and the instruments don’t complement each other all that well if you ask me.

“lacy” feels like a personal song showing what’s going on in the narrators head, and for some reason the vocal layering just feels out of place here.

And “bad idea right?” has honestly soured on me (also not sure if this pun was intended or not) since I first heard it, with some guitar timbres that just sound awkward when paired with the drums (with the exception of that awesome guitar solo on the bridge) and some messy-sounding vocal layering in the chorus. And also, the snare sounds clunkier than I would have liked.

And there’s also the annoyingly airy drums in “making the bed”, the stiff guitar timbre in “the grudge”, and lots of other nitpicks I could make, a lot more than there are on SOUR.

But still, SOUR had its moments where the production didn’t really click for me, and I’m still a big fan of that album … but here, there’s just a lot less for me to like overall.

I don’t like the vocal melodies on this album as much as on SOUR, with some songs just feeling totally devoid of vocal melodies that really click for me at all, like “making the bed” and “bad idea right?”.

And then there’s “the grudge”, which to me sounds like a much weaker version of “drivers license”, with a melody that sounds similar but not nearly as great.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that Olivia is a very good singer, and once again her vocals do elevate the album … but also, I don’t think there’s a vocal performance here as amazing as in “drivers license” … still, though, the vocals are mostly really good here. For example, as much as I’m not a huge fan of the production on “vampire”, Olivia’s vocals do mostly save the song, and it’s one of multiple songs here in which her personality really shines through, with another example being “ballad of a homeschooled girl”, which not only has great production, but her vocals really convey the feeling of frustration in the lyrics.

And speaking of which, how are the lyrics on this album?

Well, as I often say, analyzing lyrics is not one of my strong suits as a reviewer, at least I don’t think it is. But still, while I like some of the lyrics here, overall I think SOUR is quite a bit better lyrically than this album, as I feel like the lyrics on that album are more complex, interesting, and unique. Even a song like “vampire”, which I do like the lyrics to, doesn’t feel nearly as fascinating lyrically as the best songs from SOUR, such as “happier” or “drivers license”. And some moments here don’t feel interesting to me at all lyrically, like “bad idea right?” which has lots of cringey moments, and overall it just feels like a song I’ve heard many times before.

And there’s also “get him back!”, which is easily my least favourite song here, with its annoying chorus, messy production, and … look, I get that the lyrics are supposed to be messy, but it just doesn’t work for me at all. It shows her wishing to get back together with an ex who treated her terribly, partially to get revenge and partially because she really misses him … and I get that it’s supposed to be showing complicated emotions, but her feelings toward this person aren’t really made all that clear in the song. And yes, I get that it was probably the point, and I get how it could work for some people, but for some reason it makes the song less striking for me, and I’m not entirely sure why … and to me, this song gets quite annoying.

So, overall … well, again, I don’t think it’s a bad album. There are moments here that I like, and the majority of it is at least decent, but I’m just not all that wowed by it, and I highly doubt I’ll be returning to this as much as SOUR. I’m hoping this was just a sophomore slump and that I’ll like her next album a lot more. But for this … I’ll go with a 6/10. Again, there are elements of this album that I like—a lot of the elements that worked for me on SOUR are still here … but I’m not going to dance around the fact that this was a pretty big disappointment for me. But, as always, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments. This is all just my opinion, and I’m curious to hear yours.

Thanks for reading my review of GUTS, and I’ll be back with more reviews soon!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “all-american bitch”, “vampire”, “ballad of a homeschooled girl”, “love is embarrassing”, “teenage dream”
Least Favourite Tracks: “get him back!”

Hello, everyone! It’s time for another mini review post! As always, this is just how I personally feel about these albums. Feel free to disagree with me on any of these. Also, none of this is an attempt to be mean, even if I give an album a negative review … again, I’m just sharing how I personally feel about these albums. Music is subjective.

Before we start the reviews, I do want to quickly mention something else. A little over a week ago, I said not to be surprised if the reviews slow down a bit, because that was right before I started college last week, and I’m still working part-time. Honestly, I’m kind of surprised I was able to get this many mini reviews done so that I could post this this early. Now, unfortunately that means these reviews won’t be super in-depth (not that my mini reviews usually are super in-depth, but these are probably even less in-depth than usual for me), but I’m still glad I was able to get these reviews out this soon.

So, what does this mean going forward? Well, it’s hard to know. Even though I got quite a few reviews done within the past week, considering how busy I am there is still a very real chance the reviews will slow down. And also, I might not post as many individual album reviews in the next few months. I am going to do my review of Olivia Rodrigo’s new album GUTS in its own post, and I’ll probably do more individual reviews, but there are probably going to be some albums I want to do full-length reviews of that I end up just doing mini reviews of because of time.

And also, my mini reviews will probably continue to be more brief than usual for the next little bit. But we’ll see what happens. Anyway, now it’s time for the reviews!

Playing Robots Into Heaven by James Blake:

This is my first time listening to a James Blake album, although I’ve heard really good things about his music.

And this is a haunting listen full of amazing electronic sounds, with lots of experimentation, and it’s very impressive! It’s rare I hear an album that feels this unique and unlike anything I’ve ever heard before—and it’s really well mixed and well produced!

And really … some moments here resonate with me for personal reasons that I don’t feel like getting into here, in part because I can’t quite fully understand those reasons myself … but let’s just say I wasn’t expecting this at all—emotionally, this album brought me places I didn’t feel prepared to go to, and I mean that as a good thing!

And yet … I don’t love this album. Yes, some moments here just resonated with me in ways I didn’t expect at all, and it’s an incredibly fascinating listen … but keep in mind I said ‘some moments’, and quite a bit of this album just didn’t do a whole lot for me, even though I can acknowledge the creativity.

But I also think part of it has to do with the fact that it doesn’t quite feel like a cohesive album experience, with some tracks just feeling out of place on the album … and it’s not that I’m against an album having variety, but something about this just doesn’t quite work for me when you put it all together, and I’m not sure why.

But still, it’s really good—good enough to get a 7/10 from me—and if I could only recommend one album of all the albums reviewed in this post, it would probably be this one! I don’t think you’re going to want to miss this!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Asking To Break”, “Tell Me”, “Fall Back”, “Night Sky”, “Playing Robots Into Heaven”
Least Favourite Tracks: “He’s Been Wonderful”

Silver Fairy by Megumi Acorda:

So, here’s a dream pop album that came out back in March of this year, and it’s the debut album from this band I don’t think I’d heard of until just recently, although they did put out an EP back in 2018 that I still haven’t listened to.

And unfortunately there’s not a whole lot about this that really stands out to me personally. I mean, it’s not bad or anything … it’s just that, with all the albums out there, I don’t really see why I’d want to go back to this.

Some of the melodies are good, and I like the vocals, but when you put all the elements together it just creates an unsatisfying whole, with some production that doesn’t feel as tight as I’d like.

So, overall, while I get the appeal and would recommend it to fans of dream pop, I wouldn’t recommend going into it with the highest of expectations, because even as a fan of dream pop myself I can’t say it really clicked for me. 5.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Dream Sequence”, “If They Come”, “Nothing / Forgotten”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Songs of the Sea”

Back To The Water Below by Royal Blood:

Going into this album, I can’t say I had high expectations at all … a lot of people seem to really love Royal Blood, but when I listen to their music I just hear rock radio filler—that’s not to say that’s all it is, but it’s pretty much all I hear personally. Again, music is subjective. But yeah, I haven’t really been able to get into a Royal Blood album up to this point … and while their 2021 album Typhoons at least felt like them changing their sound a bit, and I love the song “Boilermaker”, I still don’t really like that album as a whole, and I didn’t expect much going into this new album …

And unfortunately this isn’t doing much for me at all. Once again, it just feels like what I expected from a Royal Blood album, but while their previous two albums at least had more catchy moments, this album just totally fell flat for me.

The hooks don’t really click for me much, the melodies feel meandering, and overall there’s just not much about it that makes me want to go back.

And at points the production can feel quite messy, like in “Tell Me When It’s Too Late” with some elements feeling overpowering like the drums. I mean, at least the album ends well with “Waves”, but even that song—which is my favourite on the album—doesn’t come close to being as good as “Boilermaker” if you ask me.

I mean, I don’t dislike this album, and there are some catchy moments, but overall it just doesn’t feel very interesting to me personally, so I’m going to give it a light 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Waves”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Tell Me When It’s Too Late”

Hellmode by Jeff Rosenstock:

For a while, Jeff Rosenstock was one of those artists whose name I’d seen/heard a lot, but whom I hadn’t really listened to … and while I still haven’t listened to any of his other albums, I decided to give this one a chance, and while so many critics really love this album, I can’t say it’s really fully clicking for me.

I’m not saying I don’t like it, because I do, but something about it is holding me back from really loving it, and I’m not entirely sure how to describe it. But outside of a handful of individual songs, a lot of this just doesn’t do a whole lot for me, even though I respect the creativity of it a lot.

There are some really interesting lyrics here, a lot of which are political, and while I think it certainly improves what might otherwise be a mediocre indie rock album, there’s just something about the album I find kind of underwhelming … I mean, I guess part of it is that the vocal melodies are kind of inconsistent. But still, I feel like I ‘should’ like this more than I do.

Again, there are tracks here that I really like, with the frustration of “I Wanna Be Wrong”, the detail in the lyrics of “Healmode”, and the excellent guitar of “Liked U Better”, a song which absolutely rules! But as a whole the album’s just not fully my thing. I’d easily recommend it, but I feel like I should like it more than I do.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Liked U Better”, “Healmode”, “I Wanna Be Wrong”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Life Admin”

GIZMO by Tanukichan:

This is the second Tanukichan album, and the first that I’ve listened to. And honestly it doesn’t give me much to say.

I barely found anything here that stands out to me in the vocal melodies or the song writing. And keep in mind I’m not the best at analying lyrics, so maybe I’m missing something here—and, of course, art is open to interpretation—but the lyrics just didn’t really grab my attention, either.

I mean, at least the album is short, but it just feels really underwhelming to me. In fact, this would get really boring really quickly if I didn’t mostly like the production.

And speaking of the production, that’s part of the reason this is getting a 5/10 instead of a lower score, as the percussion has some punch to it, and I think the album is pretty well mixed. But still, this just isn’t really for me. If you like dreamy shoegaze/alternative rock, you might really like this, but it’s not really for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Take Care”, “Mr. Rain”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Like You”, “Thin Air”

olhar pra trás by terraplana:

So, the first thing I want to mention is that I don’t speak Portuguese, and while I translated the lyrics online, I’m not sure how accurate the translations are, so while I like a lot of the lyrics here, I don’t fully understand them … although I almost never fully understand all the lyrics to an album even if it’s in English.

So, this is the debut full-length by this band whom I’m not sure I’d heard of until recently. It’s got kind of a dream-pop sound to it, and it’s also kind of mellow rock.

And there’s a lot to like here! Especially the guitar distortion, which I think sounds really, really good! And at points I really like the sharper snares here, like on “você”, but there are other points where the snare feels underpowered. But still, I mostly like the production, and the vocals also sound great!

I mean, it’s not anything super out of the ordinary if you ask me, but it’s a pretty short listen that does its sound really well, and while it’s not super catchy, it’s still quite enjoyable! In fact, I’m going to give it an extremely light 8/10, as I’d probably call it great, although just barely … maybe if I spoke Portuguese it would click for me more, but even musically I didn’t find it mind-blowing or anything, and I’m not sure how often I’ll go back to it. I’d recommend giving it a chance, but I’ve heard this sound done in more interesting ways, in my opinion.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “memórias”, “cais”, “você”, “me encontrar”
Least Favourite Tracks: “um sonho, um fim”

Where You Can Find Me by Caleb R.K. Williams:

Here’s a very mellow, instrumental album by an artist I don’t think I’d heard of until recently. This was released back in May of this year, although I didn’t hear it until months after it came out.

And it’s mostly pleasant, but there’s not a whole lot about it that really makes me want to go back to it.

I like a lot of the guitar tones with that foggy sound to them, and while at points the background noise can get a bit distracting, I also think it probably fits more often than it doesn’t.

And there are some nice melodies here, too, but overall it just doesn’t feel all that interesting to me personally. I can understand why someone would find a lot to like in the small details here, but it’s just not really for me. 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Part. I”, “Part. VI”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Part. IV”

Favorite Hiding Place by Evergreen Avenue:

This is an ambient drone album, and first let me say I can’t pick favourite or least favourite tracks, because there’s only one track here.

Anyway, I’m not sure if I’d heard of this artist until very recently, but either way, I decided to give this album a chance, and … well, it’s somewhat pleasant, with nice instrumental tones, leading to an overall calming feeling.

But overall, I just don’t find it very interesting. There’s not much variety here, and the small details don’t really add much if you ask me. And for an album that’s over thirty minutes, I would have liked more details.

But still, maybe the small details will stand out more to you, so if you’re really into this sound you might really like this, but for me it’s a 6/10. I’m curious to hear more of Evergreen Avenue’s large discography, but this just didn’t do much for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: N/A
Least Favourite Tracks: N/A

Of the Sign… by Spirit Possession:

This metal album was released in March of this year, and I remember finding out about it around the time it came out, but I just recently got around to listening to it for the first time, and after some relistens … well, keep in mind that when I looked up the lyrics to this album I couldn’t find them, and I can’t really hear what the lyrics are, so I can’t really comment on the lyrics.

So, do I like the album overall? Well, it’s not really my style of black metal … I mean, it’s got ferocious-sounding vocals and intense instrumentation, but the drums aren’t as crushing as I would have liked, and the guitar melodies don’t click for me that much.

Also, the guitars often have this oddly watery sound to them that I don’t really like, such as in “Second Possession”.

Also, the basslines here often feel underpowered … and overall, while I like some moments here, those moments I like more are usually the mellower moments.

So, overall, this isn’t really an album I think I’ll return to much, if at all. I’m going to give this a 6/10. It’s got its moments, I guess it’s mildly enjoyable, but I definitely don’t love it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Hex”, “Practitioners of Power”, “The Altar”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Hierarchical Skin”

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my list of my top 50 favourite songs of 2022! I recommend reading my previous post with songs 100-51 of this list before reading this one, especially because at the start of that post I explain a bit about the list, but that’s up to you. Anyway, here are the top 50!

#50: “POW Blues” by Ian Noe

Ian Noe put out one of my favourite albums of 2022, and this song in particular stands out as my favourite from that record, telling the story of a prisoner of war trying to escape. It’s a fascinating track which also sounds fantastic!

#49: “Pale Imitation” by Saidan

The second of multiple Saidan songs on this list, “Pale Imitation” is an excellent black metal song with incredible mixing and production, and despite the heavy subject matter, describing it as a ‘banger’ doesn’t feel like too much of a stretch because the instrumental is just so much fun to listen to!

#48: “Very Online Guy” by Alvvays

This song has one of the best synth melodies I’ve heard from 2022! It kicks off with that fantastic melody before just gliding past you with that fantastic production, before you immediately hit the replay button!

#47: “sleeping with my friends” by GAYLE

If me putting “abcdefu” in the honourable mentions of my best hits list wasn’t controversial enough … well, here’s this placement!

And I kind of hate to admit how much this resonated with me, not because it’s by the person who made “abcdefu” and it might be ‘uncool’ to put this here … no, it’s because I’m admitting to having unwanted emotions. But the thing is, having unwanted emotions is part of being human. I’m guessing we all have them, whether we want to admit it or not.

GAYLE said that she wrote this when she was having a hard time differentiating platonic, sexual, and romantic feelings toward her friends.

When GAYLE mentions ‘sleeping with her friends’, I kind of wonder whether or not she’s literally talking about having sex or if it’s just a metaphor for sexual thoughts she’s having about her friends, but either way it’s a really fascinating song lyrically!

I mean, I can’t say I really relate to the song all that much, but it still hits really hard for me, especially when the guitars and percussion are so powerful. Excellent song!

#46: “Velveteen” by Alvvays

This is the song on Blue Rev that comes right after “Very Online Guy”, and this song works for very different reasons, but it also has incredible production and melodies.

This song seems to describe a failing relationship, and the feeling of frustration comes through in the instrumentation, and it’s hard to describe why, because on the surface, it sounds like an upbeat, happy sounding song.

I don’t know, this is definitely a strange one for me to try to describe, and I’m not sure how to really describe it well … so I’ll just put it on the list, and hopefully you take the time to listen to it for yourself … in my opinion, it’s absolutely worth it!

#45: “Parasite Signal” by Artificial Brain

HOLY SHIT! This song is absolutely terrifying, as it seems to be from the perspective of someone who’s about to die, and is just realizing that as the song goes on.

I love the guitar riffs on this track, and how well mixed the song is! There’s a kind of fuzzy feeling to the production, too, that I absolutely love!

#44: “Impulse Control” by Special Interest

This is probably the closest thing to an IDLES song on this list. When I think about it, that comparison totally makes sense.

I’m thinking of IDLES songs like “Gram Rock”, “Well Done”, and “1049 Gotho”, and this song works for the same reason those songs do! It’s totally one of those songs where I’m thinking, ‘What the hell am I listening to?’ And even more, I’m thinking, ‘Should this really be this fun?’

This is a song that’s calling out lots of problems in the world, and it’s angry, that’s for sure. But is ‘fun’ usually a word I’d use to describe these kinds of songs? No, but in this case, it fits. That melody on the chorus sounds fantastic.

And yes, this song opens with the line, ‘86 my life,’ which would usually piss me off, but in a song like this, I can’t take that seriously at all. And yeah, the hook of the song is also way more fun than it ‘should’ be, but I’m not going to deny how fun the song is! So, here it is on this list!

#43: “Why” by Chat Pile

I’m going to try to have empathy here when I say all of this, because I can’t see anyone’s perspective other than my own. But that being said, while I don’t know a ton about economics, or politics, or how money works, or anything like that (I really should know more about it than I do, but I’m learning), I can confidently say that while homelessness isn’t a problem that’s easy to fix, it’s easier to fix than many people want to admit.

To quote this song, ‘Why do people have to live outside when there are buildings all around us?’ And I feel like there’s something all of us can do, especially the richest of the rich, and lots of people just don’t want to help at all. And I’m not trying to make people feel bad, nor am I trying to say I’m not a part of the problem—I feel like most of us are … but it we all work together, I feel like we can end homelessness … I just hope enough people actually care.

While the album is full of songs that shouldn’t be taken at face value, this isn’t one of them. It gets to the point, and it sends a very important message. If you haven’t listened to this song, I highly recommend that you do!

#42: “Lambert Goes To Dinner” by lobsterfight

So, we go from a song which is pure anger to a song that is just someone’s mind telling the person a bunch of different things … or maybe that’s totally a stretch, I don’t know. The lyrics, at least to me, don’t paint a clear picture, but that’s one thing I love so much about this song.

It seems to describe some sort of party or event, and we see a conversation happening, while even the narrator is seemingly having no idea what is even going on.

I mean, I’m not even sure how much I’d recommend this song, because I kind of feel like it won’t click for the majority of people, but it really did for me!

#41: “Glitch Cannon” by Artificial Brain

Artificial Brain put out one of my favourite albums of the year, and while I totally get why some might not like this song, I think it’s incredibly hard-hitting with that fantastic drumming, the amazing production, and the overall messy feeling of the instrumentation that, for whatever reason, makes it one of my favourite songs of 2022!

#40: “End By Forever” by Asian Glow

A fantastic closing track to one of my top 5 albums of 2022!

This song is super well produced and well mixed, and some of the string melodies are gorgeous! And the percussion sounds great, too!

But what really puts this song on another level for me is that incredible chorus, where the instrumentation is so well layered and the vocals and vocal melody are incredible!

#39: “My Dear Heart” by Spade

As much as I love “Home Is Where the Art Is”, this song is on a whole different level! I talked to Steve Wright, one of the members of this duo, about this song, and he said it’s a song about a real life heart transplant, and that it’s also a breakup song. He also called it his favourite on the album.

And yeah, this song absolutely works for me, feeling optimistic and just being such a joy to listen to! Oh, and that guitar riff in the chorus is MIND-BLOWINGLY GOOD!

#38: “Sneezing : Seasonal Creators” by Asian Glow

I love the jumpy instrumentation on this track, and like the rest of the album, it’s super well produced!

The strings sound incredible, and the vocal melodies and vocals are fantastic as well!

It’s not my favourite song from Asian Glow’s newest album—we’ll get to that—but that says more about the album than anything! Phenomenal song!

#37: “Jean-Michel” by Cordae

I discovered this song in early 2022, and I was pretty sure this would be making this list—and I was right! Cordae has a lot to say on this excellent rap song with a fantastic instrumental, and this song seems to partially be about not knowing how to do the right thing, but eventually growing up and realizing that you don’t always need all the answers. Maybe I’m totally wrong about that interpretation, but either way, this song rules!

#36: “Inamorata” by Northlane

I feel like I was disappointed by a lot of what I heard in this kind of melodic metalcore in 2022 … and I hate to say it, because I love melodic metalcore … but at least I discovered Northlane’s new album, and this song is so detailed in the instrumentation, with those super distorted guitars in the background that add so much to the track!

It’s also full of great melodies that make me want to hit the replay button! Phenomenal track!

#35: “Work Is Easy, Life Is Hard” by The Wombats

Do you hear that groove with the bass and guitar? I’ve got to say, I absolutely love this kind of groove where the melodies in the instrumentation play a big part in giving it that swinging feeling musically!

I mean, it’s also incredibly well mixed with the percussion sounding fantastic! And also, the distorted guitar is at just the right volume for those awesome riffs to stand out without taking away from the fantastic rhythm of the percussion and all the other fantastic elements in the instrumentation!

And it also shows a sense of frustration which really hit hard for me in 2022 … wow, this song is just so incredible!

#34: “A Lofty Grave” by Artificial Brain

HOLY SHIT! THIS IS TERRIFYING IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE!

Yeah, those synths are just … WHAT DO I EVEN SAY? They sound phenomenal and add so much terror to this futuristic track, which, at least to me, represents struggling to accept change and the passage of time.

And yeah, it’s terrifying, not an easy listen, but it really clicked for me!

#33: “Formentera” by Metric

It shocks me how little attention this song has gotten, even from others who like the album. I mean, those synth melodies alone are pretty much enough for me to love the track!

But this song is so much more, and as much as I love “Enemies of the Ocean”, this one is on a whole different level, with amazing production and so many fantastic melodies. And also, Emily Haines is a phenomenal vocalist who makes this already great song so much better!

#32: “Come Back Home” by 070 Shake

In my Top 50 Best Albums of 2022 list, I said this song was pretty much a lock for this list … and yeah, here it is!

This song is incredibly eerie, and while I’m not sure what it’s about, I can’t deny that it’s super haunting, and these melodies are fantastic!

Yeah, not an easy listen, but one I highly recommend you listen to if you haven’t already. I think it’s worth it!

#31: “Baby Criminal” by Viagra Boys

So, do you remember what I said about “Impulse Control” by Special Interest about that question, ‘Should this song really be this fun?’

Well, that applies here as well, as this song tries to understand what makes someone want to commit serious crimes … this song doesn’t defend the person’s actions, it just shows the narrator trying to understand what would cause someone to do such things. The song mentions that criminals, like everyone, start out as babies, and includes the line, ‘What happened to my child? It’s unexplainable. He used to be a little baby, and now he’s just a criminal.’

So, why is this song so much fun? And an even bigger question, why is the song kind of funny at points? Because there are a few parts of the song that I find funny, for whatever reason.

I mean, with such a good groove to it, and such great production … I mean, it’s just an absolutely awesome track that, again, is way more fun than I feel it ‘should’ be. But with all the big problems in the world, while it’s important that these problems get solved as soon as possible, until then, what’s wrong with at least making great art out of them? Especially when it’s this incredible!

#30: “Pratfall” by Gilla Band

Just like the other Gilla Band songs on this list, this is a style of experimental, glitchy, industrial music that is clearly not meant to appeal to as many people as possible. In other words, there is a very good chance you won’t like this song at all.

But personally, there’s something about this song that I just can’t quite describe that makes it really click for me … and there’s a lot of similar music to this which I find really fucking annoying, but for whatever reason, there’s something about this song that’s different … and even I don’t fully know what that is.

#29: “Spiritual Level Of Gang Shit” by Soul Glo (ft. McKinley Dixon & lojii)

If you read my list of my favourite albums of 2022, you might be surprised that my favourite song from Soul Glo’s new album is only at #29 … but while there are only 2 songs from the album on this list, I’m not even sure there was one song that was particularly far from making the list. Yeah, the album is that good!

And yeah, what a fantastic closing track! Especially with that ending which absolutely blew my mind! The horns sound incredible, the melodies are awesome, and I love the way it builds!

And while the album is full of total bangers that are amazingly well produced, I don’t think any of them hit harder than this one. It’s such a joy to listen to, and even if you’re not a fan of punk, I highly recommend that you listen to this track!

#28: “Insects and Android Eyes” by Artificial Brain

More absolutely terrifying Artificial Brain music! And yeah, it’s terrifying in a way that really clicked for me! The production is tight but still experimental, the drums hit super hard, and the song really has a feeling of horror to it that I could understand ruining the song for some, but personally, I think it’s a fascinating listening experience, and one that really amazed me with how much I like it! Great stuff!

#27: “Asylum” by Billy Woods

A mind-blowing opener from one of my favourite albums of 2022, “Asylum” is such an eerie track which seems like it was probably at least partially influenced by the pandemic, mentioning being ‘locked up in your own house.’

Now, there’s a lot here lyrically, and while I’m not the best at analyzing lyrics (it’s why I probably won’t say as much here about this track as many others would), I can say there is a sense of feeling trapped here, and it’s captured amazingly well in the haunting sound of the track … if you haven’t heard this track, I highly recommend that you do. I think you’ll be glad you did.

#26: “Uncanny Valley Forever” by Courting

This is arguably one of the most creative rock songs I’ve heard from 2022, with the tension that keeps building throughout the track, with some excellent guitar melodies and fascinating lyrics which seem to be telling the story of someone falling in love with a fictional character, and the production makes this song even better!

Those snares sound absolutely awesome, and lead singer Sean Murphy-O’Neill’s vocals are excellent, too! Every element of the instrumental fits super well, and those final few minutes … well, let’s just say I’ll let you hear them for yourself!

#25: “I Am the Witch” by Saidan

I don’t even want to say much about this song because it’s the closing track from an album I highly recommend you experience all the way through, from start to finish … the album isn’t an easy listen, but I think it’s a fantastic album, especially considering it’s got this song as a closing track!

#24: “Catch Me In The Air” by Rina Sawayama

Realistically speaking … Rina Sawayama probably put out the most disappointing album of 2022 for me. I gave it a 5/10, I don’t think it’s bad, but after such a great debut, I couldn’t believe how little I ended up liking this album!

But at the same time, she put out her best song to date! Or, well, her best song on an album. I haven’t heard her debut EP yet (when I listen to music that isn’t new, I often take that time to listen to music I already know and like, but I’m sure I’ll listen to that EP eventually), but still, yes, I said it: nothing on SAWAYAMA reaches this level for me, this song is that amazing!

I mean, it’s just such a comforting song to listen to, at the same time as being a motivational anthem that really works for me! It’s also full of amazing melodies, and while it’s not as ‘experimental’ as most of SAWAYAMA, it doesn’t need to be. It’s a truly phenomenal track, and I haven’t even mentioned how pretty much perfect the production is, where every instrument comes together to create these amazing builds, and the instruments are cut out and added in at just the right times to give the song so much more power!

Again, while the album was a big disappointment for me, at least it has a few songs I like … and most notably, it has this!

#23: “Stalled Flutes, means” by Asian Glow

I’m not really sure what this song’s lyrics mean, but it’s got an emotional resonance for me with the sound alone, with some of my favourite instrumental melodies of 2022, and absolutely phenomenal production, giving this track some amazing atmosphere, and it’s a beautiful track.

#22: “Avalanche” by Avril Lavigne

Yeah, I know, this is probably an ‘uncool’ pick, whatever that means. But if I’m being honest, it really resonates with me, because … well, 2022 was a very difficult year for me. And yeah, you can call this song’s lyrics cliché all you want, with lines like, ‘I say that I’m just fine, but I don’t feel alright on the inside.’ I mean, I’ve realized I should have opened up earlier than I did, but still, that’s a line I related to early in 2022, and it still hits really hard for me. I felt like I was running from an avalanche in 2022, and with those incredible drums that add so much intensity … yeah, this song meant so much to me in 2022, and will continue to going forward. I remember listening to this album early in 2022 and this easily standing out as my favourite on the album. And honestly, it might have even grown on me since then.

And finally, there’s one more line in particular I want to mention: ‘I wish my life woulda came with instructions.’ Yeah, Avril, there were times in 2022 when I felt the same way. Wow, what a powerful song!

#21: “Embalmed With Magma” by Artificial Brain

Another incredible musical experience from Artificial Brain’s self-titled album, full of unsettling guitars and intense drumming.

I love that intro with the blazing guitars and great drumming with a great buildup in the instrumentation!

The mixing is incredible, and I love the guitar melodies. And the music works really well when paired with these terrifying lyrics. And really, it’s a song that has to be heard to be believed. Phenomenal track!

#20: “Oh Please” by Metric

“Oh Please” absolutely rules with it’s electrifying guitars, booming snares and a fantastic bassline! Oh, and I can’t forget to mention that Emily Haines’ vocals here are incredible! Her personality as a singer shines through here, and her vocals on that bridge along with the amazing melody is just absolutely incredible!

This high on the list, usually there would have to be some sort of emotional connection I feel to a song, or something more complicated than ‘it’s a banger’, but when it’s this much of a banger, that is not the case!

#19: “Father Time” by Kendrick Lamar (ft. Sampha)

You may have noticed a lack of Kendrick Lamar on this list, and, well … here you go!

But this isn’t making the list because, ‘Oh! Kendrick Lamar has to make the list, doesn’t he?’ It makes the list because Kendrick said, ‘Hey, how about I keep putting out songs that blow Simon’s mind?’

Sampha’s chorus here is incredible, and Kendrick’s flows are great as usual, and I love the lyrics, too, which show that adults aren’t always as mature as people often expect, and there’s a lot more being said in this song, too.

#18: “Celestial Cyst” by Artificial Brain

Just like “Baby Criminal” by Viagra Boys, I’m wondering, ‘Why is this song so much fun?’

This song has a super intense, terrifying instrumental, and it’s combined with these vicious lyrics from the perspective of a villain who’s not only doing terrible actions, but not even apologizing or showing any kind of depth in the person beyond that.

But for some reason, it’s so much fun to listen to this apocalyptic jam! And even I don’t entirely know why!

#17: “If It’s Okay To Cry” by Asian Glow

Another fantastic song from Asian Glow’s newest album, “If It’s Okay To Cry” is another amazingly produced song with some phenomenal melodies in the instrumentation, and while this song doesn’t give me much to say, it’s still absolutely excellent, and I feel it needs to be heard to be believed!

#16: “Love It When You Hate Me” by Avril Lavigne (ft. blackbear)

Hey, I never said “Avalanche” is still my favourite on the album! And yeah, I know this is a controversial pick. I know so many people hate this song. And yes, the song is incredibly stupid, but that’s why it works! And no, I’m not saying it’s ‘so bad it’s good’ … I’m not even saying ‘I love it even though it’s bad.’ Because I don’t think it’s bad at all!

This is such a fun pop-punk song with incredible vocal melodies, a super catchy hook, Avril killing it vocally, the amazing drums which add so much power to the track, and yes, the lyrics aren’t deep, at least I don’t find much depth in them … it’s about a toxic relationship, and Avril ‘loves it when this person hates her’, and she’s drinking a lot … yeah, that’s not healthy, but I don’t take it seriously. It’s a stupid pop-punk song that’s immature, and that’s the whole point! Because who isn’t at least a little bit immature sometimes? And that’s why it even has an emotional appeal to it for me, because most people, myself included, has gotten caught up in some sort of unhealthy pattern at some point. And it’s not saying it’s right (because it’s not right), and while Avril is ignoring the warning signs here, the upbeat sound of the song, and something about the melodies, implies to me that a solution will be found, whatever that solution is. And yeah, when we’re in these unhealthy patterns, I think it’s a good idea to break out of them, but it’s probably still kind of a relatable song to most people, because who hasn’t been there before, whether it’s a relationship or something else?

But then there’s blackbear. I don’t know much of blackbear’s music, but based on what I’ve heard, I’m not a blackbear fan. One listen to his 2020 album, Everything Means Nothing, was enough to make me not want to listen to the album again. But this song isn’t this high on the list despite blackbear’s verse, his verse is a big part of the reason this song is so high on the list! And part of that is adding another perspective to the song, where it becomes unclear who’s the bigger problem here. But replace blackbear with a different artist and this song doesn’t work nearly as well! His attitude here fits the song perfectly, as he sounds frustrated but is trying to keep his cool, and it’s such an incredible verse I really didn’t expect to hear from blackbear!

So yeah, this song has that emotional appeal I talked about, and it’s also a ton of fun to listen to! Oh, and that moment after blackbear’s verse when the two of them sing the line, ‘And I ignore all the warning signs’ … it’s right up there among my favourite moments in 2022 music!

There are SO many songs from 2022 that got WAY more critical acclaim that are either lower on this list or not on the list at all, and if I ever become a famous music reviewer, people will probably be talking about this placement on this list a lot due to how controversial it is. But to me, this song is an absolute MASTERPIECE, for so many reasons!

#15: “Kurdish Radio” by Special Interest

And on the topic of punk … but a total different style of punk … or, you know what? While this song comes from a punk album, I’m not sure it’s a punk song. Actually, I don’t really care what genre it is. What I will say though is that it’s a phenomenal track that really blew my mind.

This is an eerie track with some clicking percussion which fits really well, and that high-pitched synth/guitar (I’m not sure what’s making that sound) adds so much to the eerie feeling of the song.

And I could also mention how great the vocal melodies are, with a super catchy hook that I fucking love!

But lyrically … well, it’s dark, with the lyrics about racism, being controlled, and questioning the meaning of love … and the elements of this song all come together into an incredible political track, with a phenomenal final verse which I interpret to mean that the mental struggles from big issues in the world need to turn into action. Something has to be done.

And also, Alli Logout’s vocals are just perfect for this song, as they sound frustrated, but in a way that still lets the melodies be really fun to listen to!

And while we’re on the topic of Special Interest …

#14: “Love Scene” by Special Interest

Yeah, if you can’t tell already, I absolutely love Special Interest’s new album, and this is one of those songs that isn’t a ‘fun’ listen at all. It’s not a song to just throw on in the background, or to put on if you’re looking for something uplifting … no, not at all.

In my Top 25 Worst Songs of 2022, I described one song as ‘a nightmare in song form’ … and honestly, this might be, too … in a very different way, of course.

This is not an easy listen at all, because with the lyrics describing sex as a distraction, where clearly these people aren’t happy, combined with the incredibly haunting instrumentation with all the distortion and the booming percussion, I get why it might be too much to handle. But as lucky as we all are to be alive in this world, it still comes with some harsh realities … and music that acknowledges that often hits incredibly hard for me.

#13: “Bois Lie” by Avril Lavigne (ft. Machine Gun Kelly)

That’s right! Not only are there three songs from Love Sux on this list, there are three songs from Love Sux in the top 25! And yeah, it might not be the ‘cool’ opinion to have as an online music reviewer like me, but I don’t care! THIS SONG RULES!

Avril Lavigne’s newest album, Love Sux, is an album I like way more than most critics, but even I’ll admit it’s not a super consistent album, and the inconsistency of it kept it off my top 50 favourites of the year, but its best moments are MIND-BLOWINGLY GOOD!

And yeah, this is my favourite song on the album, with some of the best production I have heard from 2022! The drums are punchy but not overpowering, the guitar distortion sounds amazing, and it all comes together pretty much perfectly! And it’s got so many fantastic melodies in both the instrumentation and the vocals!

Avril and MGK both sound amazing here vocally, and it feels like a real argument! And while it’s not particularly deep … that’s why it works! It’s pretty simple lyrically, as both of them claim to be in the right, and the lack of depth keeps this from being too sad that it takes away the fun of the track, and it makes it feel more like a scene in a play … especially because both singers absolutely kill it here, making it feel real, but not too real.

Yeah, I know, putting this here might make me seem ‘uncool’ … but why should I care about that?

#12: “No Hard Feelings” by Billy Woods

But now something more agreeable … and this is one of the most haunting tracks of 2022 that I’ve heard, with that incredible usage of a sample of “Seppia” by Picchio Dal Pozzo that adds a super eerie feeling to the song!

But there’s also a lot going on here lyrically, telling two different stories based on the phrase ‘no hard feelings’, where the narrator says this phrase to someone in the first verse, and the song goes to some really interesting places from there, with the last line of the song being super powerful. And while I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics, there is a lot more to this, and I highly recommend you listen to this song if you haven’t already! It’s hard for me to explain why I love this song enough to put it this high on the list … but I think I’ll let the song speak for itself.

#11: “Out Of Place” by Show Me the Body

And speaking of haunting songs … yeah, this is my favourite song on Trouble The Water, one of my favourite albums of 2022. It’s very different musically from most of the album, but it’s absolutely incredible! Those synth melodies are fantastic, and I love the way it builds throughout!

And, well, I’m going to tell you something I don’t think I’ve ever mentioned before on this website: 2022 was the year I found out I have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), and it’s the year I started to notice it a lot. And it made 2022 a super difficult year for me, because it was so hard to focus on things I wanted to focus on when my mind was constantly finding things to worry about. And this song hits so hard for me, as someone who has felt ‘out of place’ at times. One of the hardest-hitting lyrics for me from 2022 is in the chorus: ‘Who I hurt and who I blame, it all comes back to me again.’ Because one of many things OCD has done to me is made me think, ‘Have I done something horrible without knowing it?’ I wonder who I’ve hurt, and who’s to blame for it, and even though I’m almost positive it’s just my OCD playing tricks on me … it all comes back to me again.

And I’m working through this challenge, and I’m doing way better now, but it’s not easy. And this song is incredibly special to me.

#10: “brothers” by Gang of Youths

But then there’s a song like this, which … honestly, this song has nearly brought me to tears so many times. In this song, Gang of Youths’ lead singer Dave Le’aupepe sings about information he’s discovered about his late father that he didn’t know about until after his father’s death, including another family.

Dave shows complicated emotions in this song, including feeling guilty because his brothers thought their father had died decades before.

But I think the biggest reason this is so high on the list is that it’s a tribute to Dave’s family, and it makes me think of my own family. And I don’t really know what else to say, because especially this high on the list, it’s hard to fully explain why songs resonate with me as much as they do. I mean, there are a lot of songs that celebrate family … but something about the beautiful piano and vocal melodies when combined with the lyrics just makes it such a heartwarming track, even with all the complicated emotions.

Yeah, again, this song nearly brought me to tears many times … and that’s extremely rare for me. But there’s something about this track I can’t quite put into words, but I know how special this song is to me. And for now, I’ll leave it at that.

#9: “Aquamarine” by Black Thought & Danger Mouse (ft. Michael Kiwanuka)

My favourite song from their collab album Cheat Codes, “Aquamarine” is a truly mind-blowing track from Black Thought and Danger Mouse, with incredible production and mixing, and incredible lyrics with so many great lines, with a lot of philosophy, wondering how we ended up lucky enough to be alive on this planet, and also putting in hard work to accomplish your dreams.

But it’s also got incredible flows from Black Thought, and when combined with this amazing instrumental which uses multiple samples, and Michael Kiwanuka’s fantastic hook … yeah, it’s a song that needs to be heard to be believed!

#8: “Anywhere” by Chat Pile

One of the most terrifying songs I’ve heard from 2022, maybe even the most terrifying. This is a very serious song about gun violence, and how anyone’s life could potentially be in danger at any time without knowing it, and when someone dies in a tragedy such as a shooting, there’s that thought that comes after: had the victim been in a different place at that time, things could be totally different.

It’s not an easy listen at all, and it’s fucking terrifying, but it’s a song that hits incredibly hard for me, as I—like most of us—am often worried about that possibility that I and/or someone close to me could die at any time. And that’s a terrifying thought to have … but hopefully songs like these can help put an end to gun violence … we can at least hope, right?

#7: “My Displeasure” by Special Interest

And here’s another song that is absolutely not an easy listen … but it’s such a fascinating track!

It’s full of industrial sounds, with some static-like sounds, and the percussion is incredibly eerie with that crashing snare that fits super well with the super eerie instrumentation. It sounds incredibly messy, but somehow in a way where it all comes together to create a masterpiece!

But when you combine it with the lyrics, that’s what puts it this high on the list. In a world full of horrors, this song seems to be questioning how real empathy really is. I mean, maybe we’re all more selfish than we want to admit, because when you feel bad for what someone else is going through, it’s making you feel bad, too. And do you feel bad because of that person’s feelings or because of your own feelings caused by that? And I know this is a very complicated question that might not really have an answer, but the main line in the chorus of this song is incredibly powerful and striking; ‘The terror of my displeasure is all I’ll let haunt me.’

And I think how complicated this topic is is a big part of what makes this song work so well, because it seems to subtly be bringing up the idea that we might not really know the true meaning of anything, or why anything happens. I mean, it’s a messy, terrifying nightmare of a song, but when everything falls into place pretty much perfectly like in this song, that’s what makes it so fucking phenomenal! To me, it’s easily one of the best songs I discovered in 2022!

#6: “The Weirds” by Gilla Band

I’m not even sure what to say about this one. I have no idea what this song is about, and I have no idea why this clicked for me as much as it did … but I highly, highly, highly recommend you listen to it for yourself! I don’t even know what to say about it. Words can’t describe this song.

#5: “Artificial Brain” by Artificial Brain

This song has some absolutely fantastic guitar riffs, and I love the drums here, too! I get that this style of music isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I think this is one of the most hard-hitting songs I heard in 2022, and the lyrics are incredibly dark, describing an invention that kills people, and showing the inventor’s reaction to what is probably an experiment gone wrong, reacting with, ‘What have I done?’ It’s a fascinating song that might subtly be saying that even well-intentioned people sometimes make huge mistakes, and as terrifying as this song is, I think it’s phenomenal!

#4: “Mother I Sober” by Kendrick Lamar (ft. Beth Gibbons)

It’s been interesting seeing the mixed opinions on Kendrick Lamar’s Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers, and while I don’t think it’s his best album, I still think it’s great, and it made my top 50 favourites of 2022 … and it also contains what is easily one of my favourite Kendrick Lamar songs—maybe even my favourite, although this is Kendrick Lamar we’re talking about, so I’m not even sure this is my favourite song of his, despite how high it is on this list.

But holy shit … I feel like whatever I say about this song won’t be good enough. I feel like whatever I say about it won’t do the song justice, because this is one of the most powerful songs I’ve heard this decade, and it blows my mind every time I hear it. It’s a song about so many things, but part of the reason it resonated so much with me is the feeling of guilt and feeling like you’re not good enough, which I dealt with a lot in 2022. Thankfully, things have gotten better for me since then, but this song still has the power to bring me close to crying, which is saying a lot coming from me.

Beth Gibbons from Portishead delivers a super emotional chorus here, and it’s one of my favourite choruses of 2022, with the line, ‘I wish I was somebody, anybody but myself.’ And the piano throughout this song is incredibly gorgeous!

But I think my favourite thing about this song is Kendrick’s storytelling. And it’s a lot to take in, and I’m not going to mention all of the lyrics and everything discussed, but a big theme of this song seems to be trying to see the human in everyone, and trying to understand why people might be acting the way they are—and he’s not defending abusers or anything like that, or saying they shouldn’t face the consequences of their actions, but he’s still trying to view them as humans like the rest of us, because, well, they are, and I think one of the steps to creating a better world is viewing every human as a human—a human who doesn’t have to do terrible things.

There’s so much more to this song about guilt, and addiction, and much more, and I highly recommend you listen to it for yourself … yeah, Kendrick made another masterpiece … and possibly my favourite song of his to date.

#3: “Kate” by Saidan

I’m not even sure what to say about this one. It’s such a beautiful piece of art, even though it’s incredibly heartbreaking. It’s very open to interpretation, and I don’t feel ready to talk about this one, really. I’ve been trying to get these lists out, and even if I didn’t feel like I was in as much of a time crunch, it’s just so difficult to explain a song like this. This song means so much to me emotionally, and I don’t feel ready to explain it. I probably will someday, but not now.

But it does leave this question: what 2 songs could possibly be better?

#2: “Snow Globes” by Black Country, New Road

Just like with #3, I’m not going to say much about this one. Because I’d rather the song speaks for itself. To me, this is way more than a song … to the point where calling it a ‘song’ doesn’t even feel right, even though it is a song.

That’s because, to me, this feels more like a life-changing experience that separates the 2020s into a pre-“Snow Globes” era and a post-“Snow Globes” era.

And it’s the kind of song that doesn’t even feel possible. It perfectly captures a moment in time that will never be here again. And it has one of the most insane musical builds I’ve ever heard, and the fact that everything falls into place perfectly in a song that is pretty much the definition of flawless, despite how experimental and risk-taking it is … it’s one of the most shocking things I’ve experienced probably ever, in music or otherwise. And no, I’m not exaggerating when I say that, I mean that literally.

In terms of both emotional resonance and musical impressiveness, this is everything I could have asked for in a song and much, much, much more!

For a while, this was my song of the year, and I had a feeling nothing else would top it. I mean, how could anything top this? It seems impossible for anything to top a song this life-changing, this thought-provoking, and this perfect with everything falling into place just right!

And yet …

#1: “Origins” by Saor

Quite a few times on this website, I’ve mentioned that I’m a fan of black metal. But even as a fan of black metal, it’s a genre I usually like more in full albums than individual songs … and yet my favourite song of 2022 is a black metal song!

“Origins” is the closing track from Saor’s newest album of the same name, one of my favourite albums of 2022. The main theme of the album lyrically is The Picts, and while I’m not the biggest history expert and I couldn’t tell you exactly what the story being told in this song is, it seems to be about how very old art sculptures are often all we have left of people from the middle ages.

And this is another example of the passage of time … and back in the middle ages, the current day we’re living in now probably seemed like it was never going to come … and yet here we all are now, and what was the present now feels hard to believe really happened—I mean, obviously it happened, but it feels strange to think about, at least to me. And maybe I’m overthinking this, but either way …

Well, nothing musically could represent this better than the build toward the end of this song, which … not that I can fully describe it with words, but it’s got one of my favourite melodies of 2022, with some fantastic strings and guitar, with a bassline that feels like the foundation of it all … and if it wasn’t already mind-blowing enough, there’s that incredible snare that keeps changing and sounds perfect in the mix, and it adds so much more detail to the song!

And as much as I am a reviewer who you could say nitpicks a lot … I don’t know what there even is to nitpick here. The production, the mixing, the instrumentation, the vocals, the lyrics … everything falls into place perfectly, and even with most of the songs on this list I could point to something where maybe I think it could have been a bit better—but I can’t do that here.

And I don’t know how to fully explain this, because emotions are complicated, and there are various different reasons for what music resonates with people the most … but this was the kind of magic in 2022 that I didn’t see coming at all, and it resonated with me emotionally in a way that I’m not sure any other song from 2022 did.

So, for me, “Origins” by Saor is the best song from 2022 that I heard. And thanks for reading, everyone! I’m curious to hear what your favourite songs of 2022 are, although that does feel kind of awkward to say now, considering how close we are to the end of 2023. But still, feel free to comment your list if you want.

I guess it won’t be long until I make this list for 2023 … but for now, I’ll be back with some reviews soon!

Hello, everyone! I still can’t believe this took as long as it did, but it’s already September of 2023 and I’m just now getting around to posting my list of my favourite songs of 2022 … but better late than never.

So, I just want to make a few things clear before I start listing the songs. First of all, these are just my own personal favourite songs of 2022, and I’m not trying to be ‘objective’ or anything. If you’re wondering why the title calls these the ‘best’ songs of the year instead of my favourites, it’s because I just think it’s a catchier title. Also, the rules for what’s eligible is that the song has to have been first released sometime from January 1st, 2022 to December 31st, 2022, whether that be as a single, on an album, on an EP, etc. However it was first released. However, maybe I accidentally included some songs that weren’t released in 2022 … I hope not, but who knows?

Also, I’m not going to write a lot about most of these songs, and I’ll have more to say about the songs in part two of this list, although even most of those I’m not saying a ton about.

Also, my lyrical analyzations might be terrible. I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics, so take my interpretations of these songs with a grain of salt.

Alright, with that, enjoy the list!

#100: “take me nowhere” by Maggie Lindemann

So, we’re starting this list with a song you might be surprised to see here if you saw my review of the album … because, yes, I found Maggie Lindemann’s 2022 album as a whole to be mediocre at best … but this song is easily the biggest standout on the album to me, with its crushing guitar and snares and Maggie’s incredible vocals which all add up to this phenomenal, anthemic track full of cynicism which I totally get considering how selfish so many people are.

If you’re into melodic hard rock/metalcore, I highly recommend this! Oh, and speaking of songs from albums I found to be mediocre …

99: “Gasoline” by The Weeknd

At first, I thought Dawn FM was really quite bad, but the more I listened to it the more tolerable I found it … and while I still don’t particularly like that album, it did grow on me, in large part because of “Gasoline”, a song which I couldn’t get into at all at first—and now it’s among my favourite tracks of the year!

Yes, there’s toxicity in the lyrics (as you’d expect with a Weeknd song), but like with a lot of his songs, that’s the whole point, and I just interpret it as a picture being painted, and the instrumental fits it really well!

#98: “Surround Sound” by JID (ft. 21 Savage & Baby Tate)

So, I wasn’t as big a fan of The Forever Story as most critics, but on that album is one of the best rap bangers I’ve heard from 2022! There are great guest features from 21 Savage and Baby Tate, but JID is the star of the show if you ask me!

JID’s flows here are great, and there are so many great lines and rhymes, with an awesome beat switch, too, which might be the cherry on top which puts this on the list!

#97: “93696” by Liturgy

So, if this list had come out when I originally planned for it to, this wouldn’t be on here, because I only discovered it from listening to the album from this year and finding out this song had been released already.

Anyway, this song is a lot to take in … it’s a metal song that’s nearly fifteen minutes long, which isn’t the type of song I’d usually put on a list like this, even if it works really well with the whole album … but there are so many interesting lyrics here, even though I’m not going to pretend I understand everything that’s being said here, and the guitars are fantastic, too! And also, those strings at the end put this song on another level!

#96: “The End of Eternity” by Rolo Tomassi

This is the closing track from Rolo Tomassi’s 2022 album, Where Myth Becomes Memory, one of my favourite albums of 2022, and while I think it works even better in context of the album, I still love it enough as a standalone song to put it on this list. The production is fantastic, Eva Korman’s vocals are incredible, and I love the haunting lyrics about the passage of time, which really hit hard for me.

#95: “Venenosa” by Future Static

This is one of the most haunting metal songs of 2022 that I’ve heard, and it’s also full of killer guitars and that absolutely excellent snare in the chorus! The melodies absolutely rule, and the vocals really help this song hit even harder! Absolutely incredible stuff!

#94: “Lit Lips the Bracken” by Asian Glow

This is an absolutely incredible album opener, with some incredible guitars and vocal melodies! It’s got a very gloomy feeling to its sound, and the production sounds incredible like it does throughout pretty much the entire album!

#93: “Let The Dark Do The Rest” by Korn

This might be a surprising pick to some … but when the vocal melody in the chorus is this good, with super hard-hitting snares throughout the song with guitar distortion that fits really well with this track … yeah, it absolutely rules!

#92: “Remorseless” by billy woods

One of many fantastic songs from billy woods’ album Aethiopes, “Remorseless” is a haunting look into the future which uses a fantastic synth sample in the background that sounds like a flute, sampled from “Dziwny jest ten świat” by Czesław Niemen. And I’m not going to pretend that I fully understand every lyric in the song, but like I said, it’s a haunting look into the future with a lot of really interesting lines that made me think. And billy woods’ fantastic poetry really wows me nearly every time I listen to him rap!

#91: “Irrelevant” by P!nk

I know it might not be considered ‘cool’ to put this song on the list, simply because P!nk isn’t an artist who’s considered ‘cool’ to like, at least not anymore. But whether or not it’s ‘cool’ to put this song here, it’s making my list. It’s a political song which seems to be fighting back against the overturning of Roe v. Wade, and while it’s not a super deep song lyrically, it doesn’t need to be. It’s very to the point, and the instrumentation is great, too! What a powerful song!

#90: “Obsidian” by Northlane

This is an incredible metal track with super hard-hitting snares and fantastic guitars! I absolutely love the production on this track with the loud-soft dynamic which sounds absolutely incredible! If you’re a fan of metal, I highly recommend this one!

#89: “Rivers” by Just Mustard

This is the closing track from an album that nearly made my top ten favourites of 2022, and it’s got fantastic production and great vocal melodies! It’s got a kind of jumpy feeling to it in the instrumentation, but not in an annoying way, and the kind of industrial sounds fit super well over the rest of the instrumental!

#88: “The Bells” by Beach House

Beach House’s 2022 album is super calming to listen to, and “The Bells” is a huge example of that. The mixing is absolutely fantastic, and I love the melodies here, too. It’s just such a calming track to listen to!

#87: “SADNESS RESIDUE (ERASER ROOM)” by Saya Gray

I wasn’t a huge fan of Saya Gray’s 2022 album, 19 MASTERS … I like the album, but it does feel quite all over the place and inconsistent. But it does also have this song on it!

Like a lot of the album, it can take some getting used to, but there’s a lot to this, and in my opinion it’s a phenomenal track! It’s a multi-part song that’s incredibly well produced and super creative! Again, even though I didn’t love the album as a whole, it still makes me really curious to hear more music from Saya Gray … and it also has some amazing tracks on it, and this is one of them!

#86: “Chicago” by alt-J

This is a haunting, mysterious track that I absolutely love! The melodies are great, and I love how the instrumental changes throughout. But what might work best about the song is how well the music and lyrics fit together. I highly recommend this track if you haven’t heard it already!

#85: “Call of the Carnyx” by Saor

This song has arguably one of my favourite song intros of 2022, with that fantastic build! And it eventually turns into a soaring metal song with some incredible guitar melodies further complemented by production that is pretty much perfect! Yeah, the mixing here is some of the absolute best mixing I’ve heard from 2022!

#84: “Passenger” by Boston Manor

I listen to a lot of melodic rock music, and this is some of the best of it that I heard in 2022! Those vocal melodies are incredible, and the mixing really helps the drums have some real punch to them that sends this song to another level! Oh yeah, and that chorus is phenomenal!

#83: “Running with the Hurricane” by Camp Cope

This is such an anthemic indie rock song that reaches for the stars and absolutely succeeds, as the song is absolutely awesome!

The vocals are amazing, especially when produced this well! And the pianos and guitars sound fantastic as well, paired with some incredible vocal melodies!

I know it’s a long shot, but imagine if this becomes a big hit that’s all over the radio? That would be AWESOME!

#82: “In Shade” by Just Mustard

This song feels so intense despite being so mellow. It’s full of industrial rock sounds and some fantastic sounding snares, and it’s a great late-album highlight on one of my favourite albums of 2022!

#81: “Happy New Year” by Let’s Eat Grandma

This song was released in early January of 2022 (as you might have guessed based on the title), and it’s such a banger!

I’m pretty sure this is a song celebrating the friendship between the two members of the duo, and I love how joyous this track is, and those glorious synths make it even better!

If I’m ever the DJ of a new year’s party, I’ll almost definitely be playing this song!

#80: “Boils Up” by Show Me the Body

Well, this song is … messy, to say the least.

And it’s one that’s not easy to talk about. I’m not entirely sure what all the lyrics mean, but it’s incredibly haunting, with the main line of the song being, ‘Everything I suppressed boils up.’ And the instrumental feels fitting considering the lyrics.

This song is incredibly intense, and it’s so hard-hitting! This is excellent!

#79: “Firedancer” by Poets of the Fall

Poets of the Fall made one of my favourite albums of 2022, and “Firedancer” is such an incredible opening track! I love how hard-hitting the snare on this track is, and it sounds even more fantastic when paired with those blazing guitars in the chorus! Oh, and that vocal melody in the chorus is super catchy in the best way!

#78: “Bettin’ On Me” by Train

🙂

…

…

What?

No, I’m not kidding … I absolutely love this song, and it’s one of my favourites of the year!

No, I don’t care if it’s ‘uncool’ to put a Train song on my favourite songs of the year list, this song is awesome in my opinion!

…

This is such a nice song to just chill out to. Great melodies, great mixing, and a great vocal performance from Pat Monahan really help this mellow track feel really soothing! And I love the layered instrumentation here.

It’s probably a controversial opinion to have this here, especially considering what some of the songs that missed the list are, but this is just my own personal list, and I absolutely love this song!

#77: “What Feels Like Eternity” by Metric

This is the first of multiple Metric songs on this list, and I still can’t believe I didn’t like this song at first. Honestly, on first listen, I thought it was terrible, and that feels really funny to think about now, as it’s grown on me to the point where it’s one of my favourite songs of the year!

The mixing on this song is fantastic, and there are so many great melodies! It’s arguably got one of the catchiest hooks of 2022 that I’ve heard, and in the best way! What a fantastic banger with a subtly powerful snare that puts this song on another level!

#76: “Labyrinthine” by Rolo Tomassi

Arguably some of the best snares in any 2022 song I’ve heard, absolutely killer lead vocals, with insanely heavy instrumentation … and it avoids feeling like style over substance, with some fantastic riffs and phenomenal production!

And while I don’t fully understand what the lyrics are about, they’re certainly fascinating and open to interpretation … and there’s just so much about this song that I absolutely love!

#75: “Black Mascara.” by RAYE

Here’s another song I only discovered from listening to the album it was on which came out in 2023, and if I’d posted this list around the new year, this wouldn’t be on it because I hadn’t heard it yet … and it’s an absolutely heartbreaking song describing trauma from abuse, and the unhealthy ways people try to cope. This song was written about an experience RAYE had as a victim, and regardless of my personal feelings on the song, I really hope she’s doing well. Nobody deserves to go through that.

And when I said ‘regardless of my feelings on the song’, that doesn’t mean I don’t love this song … I mean, it’s absolutely not an easy listen, but it deserves a spot on this list anyway!

#74: “Should’ve Been Me” by Mitski

I remember that incredible feeling I got listening to Mitski’s 2022 album Laurel Hell in early 2022, and which I still get whenever I listen to that album, and this song is such a big standout on the album for me … it’s a breakup song where Mitski is looking back at this relationship wondering why it didn’t work out, and she takes part of the blame for it. When she says ‘it should’ve been me’, she’s not saying, ‘You should still be with me and I’ll get whatever I want,’ she’s saying, ‘This should’ve worked out, and it’s not entirely my fault, but it partially was, but it’s time to move on.’

But it still shows how difficult it is for her to move on, and the song shows a lot of maturity by showing these emotions she’s going through while acknowledging that it wasn’t entirely the other person’s fault … it just didn’t work out, and she feels like it ‘should have’, but she knows it’s time to move on.

Also, that instrumental solo right before the last chorus is probably in my top 10 favourite musical moments of 2022! I can’t put into words how much I love that part, but it gives me such an incredible feeling when I listen to it!

#73: “Look Close, Nose the Reflection” by Asian Glow

This nine-minute song is full of incredible melodies, both in the vocals and the instrumentation. I love the way it changes throughout the song, too. And, like most of the album, it’s incredibly well produced, with the haunting strings sounding amazing!

#72: “Floodlights on the square” by Boston Manor

This is such a banger! The drums have so much punch, the guitars sound incredible, and it’s all mixed so well!

This is the kind of rock music that I absolutely love, with the drums having as much power as they do along with these awesome guitars and vocal melodies! And it reminds me that I really want to listen to Boston Manor’s first few albums, because I haven’t done that yet!

#71: “Heavy Heart” by Bartees Strange

This is a song about letting go of survivor’s guilt, and it’s such a magical track!

I absolutely LOVE the transition into the instrumental bridge with the horns, and speaking of which … holy shit! What a phenomenal bridge!

This is a super emotional, hard-hitting track, and the optimism here in that incredible bridge is the main reason why this song means so much to me. What a way to open an album!

#70: “Red Smoke” by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard

I haven’t listened to a ton of King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard, but from what I’ve heard I haven’t really been as wowed by them as a lot of people are … but that being said, “Red Smoke” is an excellent song about climate change, and how a lot of leaders just want to ignore it … I mean, as far as I can tell it’s not super deep or anything, but it gets the point across along with having an absolutely fantastic instrumental with incredible production!

#69: “Eight Fivers” by Gilla Band

When I think of ‘noise music’ this is the kind of music I think of, and while I understand this not being for everyone, the noisy sounds throughout this track add this strange sense of eeriness that really clicks for me! Also, I love the line, ‘I spent all my money on shit clothes.’

#68: “The Gum” by Gilla Band

Oh, and speaking of Gilla Band … yeah, this is another super eerie, noisy, industrial rock song which, even more than the last track, is going to be way too much for some people. But I’ve got to say, for me, this is INCREDIBLY good! And it’s a song that must be heard to be believed! Wow, what a way to open an album!

#67: “Thumbsucker” by Soul Glo

On Soul Glo’s newest album, Diaspora Problems, they manage to make very fun songs out of heavy subject matters, and this one discusses depression and trying to cope with it, but also knowing when to do something about problems you’re facing instead of just trying to find distractions.

And I love how specific the lyrics are, with Pierce Jordan mentioning literally sucking his thumb as a kid, as well as his toy Cookie Monster, two things that helped him cope. And also, the song is just such a banger that it ends up being ridiculously fun without losing the emotion of the song. So, yeah, this is one of the best bangers I’ve heard from 2022!

#66: “Girl Hell 1999” by Saidan

This is one of the most heartbreaking songs of 2022 that I heard … it feels totally hopeless, as the narrator wishes to be dead after being a victim of abuse, but there’s a tiny bit of a hopeful feeling in the instrumentation, at least it seems that way to me. Still, though, this is incredibly heartbreaking, and if you find it too much to sit through, or if you’re just not into metal music, I understand. But I think this song is incredible.

#65: “Sugar/Tzu” by Black Midi

Just like Black Midi’s album on my favourite albums list, I feel like this is a controversial pick due to it not being higher … and just wait ‘til you see what some of the songs ahead of this one are!

But that doesn’t stop this track from being absolutely phenomenal! It’s a futuristic song, and while there is so much wrong with what’s going on in it, that’s the whole point, and when it’s paired with such a harsh instrumental, it has this real sense of fear of a dark future ahead. Not an easy listen, but in my opinion it’s worth it!

#64: “Buck 50” by Show Me the Body

I know I’m always being really nitpicky when it comes to drums and percussion, and how it’s mixed, and whether or not it has too much echo or reverb, but if you’re tired of me doing that, well … HOLY SHIT! THE DRUMS HERE SOUND FANTASTIC!

Yeah, the drums are mixed incredibly well, and when paired with those killer guitars, it makes for a super hard-hitting rock song, and with Julian Cashwan Pratt’s incredible vocal performance here … yeah, this is one of my favourite songs of 2022!

#63: “Valentine, Texas” by Mitski

Am I the only one who thinks this sounds like a Beach House song? Even as someone who doesn’t know a ton of Beach House music (although I am familiar with their new album which is one of my favourites of 2022), I definitely hear some similarities in the percussion and synths!

Oh, and it sounds like a great Beach House song! The melodies are incredible, Mitski’s vocals are so calming to listen to, and that moment just over a minute into the song where more instrumentation kicks in is absolutely awesome! And it just keeps getting better from there!

#62: “Haldern” by Black Country, New Road

So, this is a difficult one to talk about, and that’s mostly because for me to feel a personal connection to song, I don’t have to directly relate to what the lyrics are saying … I don’t even fully understand what this song’s lyrics are saying, but there’s a personal connection here that I don’t really know how to describe. It’s not an easy listen, and like a lot of the album it makes me think about parts of myself I don’t really want to acknowledge, but it means a lot to me, and those pianos are what really put it on that next level for me! 2022 was a very difficult year for me, but I’m so grateful for songs like these.

#61: “The Tipping Point” by Tears for Fears

Great percussion, great melodies, great mixing … this song has pretty much everything you could ask for in a song! And while I don’t remember really liking the album that much the one time I listened to it, this song absolutely rules!

#60: “Enemies of the Ocean” by Metric

So, I turned 18 years old in 2022, and that felt like a huge deal to me. I had to say goodbye to my childhood, and I’m an adult now. It’s something that I’m sure is difficult for everyone, but this song is a huge part of the soundtrack to this part of my life.

I’m not sure if this was the intent or not, but I interpret this song as partially being about being a young kid thinking you know which path you’re going to take in your life, and not having a lot to worry about, but then growing up and looking back at the past realizing how wrong you were. ‘How were we to know the river ever would bend?’

Oh, and it also sounds fantastic start to finish. But it’s that final instrumental pre-chorus that really puts this song on another level! With those blazing guitars with the stunning synths and the way the instruments are perfectly timed, it’s one of my favourite musical moments of 2022!

#59: “Home Is Where the Art Is” by Spade

I’ll be honest and say it feels kind of strange putting this here … because I know the artists who made the song, which can’t be said about any other song on this list, except for, well, another Spade song which will also appear on this list, but we’ll get to that later.

But this isn’t here because I know the members of this duo, it’s here because it absolutely rules! With incredible mixing and production, incredible vocals and lyrics, and arguably some of the best drumming I’ve heard in a 2022 song, as well as those killer guitars, it’s such a joy to listen to!

#58: “ceilings” by Lizzy McAlpine

Lizzy McAlpine’s newest album was one of the toughest albums to leave off my top 50 of the year … it was really close! And this song is my favourite on the album.

“ceilings” is such a beautiful song, with the gorgeous production, melodies, and vocals, and the amazing lyrics which seem to describe waking up from a dream, or maybe a daydream, and wishing it were reality. It reminds me in a lot of ways of “How to Disappear Completely” by Radiohead, and while I wouldn’t say I think it’s as great as that song, it’s still absolutely incredible!

#57: “Those Which Stare Back” by Phobophilic

So, there was one big issue I had with Phobophilic’s newest album that really held it back for me, and if you want to know what that was, you can check out my mini review of that album. But in that review, I also hinted at this song making this list, and here it is! Incredible drumming and guitar melodies, great guitar distortion, and some real intensity to the instrumental that sounds awesome!

So, yeah, despite my major issue with the album, I’ve got to say, I really love this song!

#56: “Radiator” by Show Me the Body

Well, this song is kind of unsettling, especially with that haunting chorus with the line, ‘Things I’ve done follow me.’

And with those intense drums that show up later in the track, it adds to the eerie feeling of the track so much!

Like a lot of the songs on this list, I get why someone might not like it, but for me it hits really hard! Excellent song!

#55: “Modern Love Stories” by Beach House

But even Mitski’s incredible Beach House song didn’t top Beach House themselves. Now, look, I don’t want to make this all about comparisons, and which song I’d rather listen to depends on the time, but as of right now, if I had to pick which one I like more, I’m picking this one.

Anyway, this is such an excellent closing track to Once Twice Melody, with the incredible synths and percussion (which is something I could say about almost every song on the album), and it’s made even better by that phenomenal outro with the acoustic guitar and that fantastic synth!

#54: “I Was Away” by Gilla Band

Just like the first two Gilla Band songs on this list, I understand why this isn’t for everyone … but with those glitchy, staticky sounds, the great vocals, and the fantastic-sounding percussion, it’s absolutely for me!

I don’t know what this song is about, but the song sounds so amazing! Incredible track!

#53: “NAOMI” by Lupe Fiasco

Lupe Fiasco put out one of the best produced rap albums of 2022 that I heard, and “NAOMI” is arguably one of the best produced songs on the album! The percussion sounds incredible, and the way the instruments all sound together make for an oddly calm instrumental despite Lupe’s flows.

Speaking of Lupe’s flow here, it’s incredible, with some really interesting lyrics as well.

I’m not sure if this is one of the more ‘obvious’ choices from the album for this list, but either way, it’s a huge standout to me!

#52: “Mirrors” by Just Mustard

You know those songs that are eerie yet calming to just vibe out to?

Okay, maybe ‘calming’ is a bit of a stretch. But this mellow yet chaotic storm is approaching quickly, and you’d better watch out for those guitars, or you might get blown away by the wind! Or by this song … lol, that wasn’t funny at all, was it?

#51: “Hyper” by Gospel

Gospel sound totally locked in here, with every element of the instrumentation coming together to create an incredible experience that really wowed me!

Those guitar melodies! The vocals! The synths! It all sounds so incredible! But, of course, I’ve got to mention THAT DRUMMING. Seriously, the drums on this track will blow your mind. What a fantastic track from a mind-blowingly good album!

Now, if you want to read my top 50 songs of 2022, click here.

Hello, everyone! Just before I review this new Slowdive album, I want to give another quick update on my favourite songs of 2022 list—it’s very close, and I would be shocked if it isn’t posted this month.

Alright, so, now it’s time for me to review the new Slowdive album, everything is alive.

Alright, it’s time for me to get cancelled. Because before listening to this album, which is Slowdive’s fifth, I finally decided to check out their other albums, which I’d heard so many great things about but hadn’t listened to until recently.

I started with their first three albums, all of which are super critically acclaimed, especially their second album, Souvlaki, which is often considered one of the best albums of the 1990s, maybe even one of the best of all time!

And to me … it’s pleasant background music. Yeah, I know, I could try to fit in with other critics and talk about how all those albums are near perfect … but while I like all three albums, I don’t love any of them, not even Souvlaki.

In fact, as if I wasn’t already saying enough controversial things, Souvlaki is probably my least favourite of those three albums, mostly because I think it has the messiest production of the three. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed the majority of that album, but it just didn’t wow me that much … again, to me it sounds like background music, and not an album I really feel super drawn to go back to.

Their third album, Pygmalion, is probably my favourite of those three albums, with a lot of eerie experimentation which I find fascinating … but at the same time, while “Crazy for You” is incredible, the album still felt like it was missing something, holding it back from being truly great if you ask me.

Then, not long after the release of Pygmalion, the band broke up, and many thought Pygmalion was their final album. But nearly two decades later, Slowdive re-united as a band, and in 2017 they dropped their self-titled comeback album which also received a ton of critical acclaim. Going into this review, I decided to listen to that album as well … and if I’m being totally honest, I couldn’t get into that album at all … even compared to their first three albums—which, again, I’m not a huge fan of—it felt like a MASSIVE step down; the melodies didn’t interest me at all, the production felt really messy, and as a full album experience it felt like a total slog to get through … and honestly, in my personal opinion, the album is quite bad.

So, I’m not going to pretend I had high expectations for this new album, but I was at least curious about it. So, now the album is out and I’ve given it multiple listens. Is it a return to form?

Far from it if you ask me. In fact, this is my least favourite Slowdive album to date, and if it hadn’t been for the fact that I was already planning on giving this its own review and started writing about my feelings on their early albums, I don’t think I’d be giving this album its own review; I’d probably just do a mini review.

And the reason for that is because it feels like there’s so little for me to talk about here. Yes, I know this is getting a lot of critical acclaim, but to me personally this sounds like some of the most uninteresting, bland, tedious dream pop I’ve heard recently. And now’s a good time for me to make this clear: like with all of my reviews, everything I say here is just how I feel about the album, and just because I don’t like the album doesn’t mean I have anything against the band making the music they want to make. None of this is meant as a personal attack on anyone or anything like that, it’s just my own personal feelings on the album.

So, like I was saying, this is absolutely not the kind of dream pop I’d go out of my way to listen to, but not only do I find it incredibly boring compositionally, but the sound itself doesn’t even work for me. And if I’m going to compare it to their early albums … well, those albums at least have some atmosphere; the dreamy feeling of those albums’ sound feels more dreamy, which isn’t something I always love in music, but at least I prefer it over this album, which feels like it’s going for that dreamy sound … and instead it just feels awkwardly dry, like food that’s been left out too long.

And the mixing doesn’t work for me at all. There’s no real punch here if you ask me, as the instruments blend together really awkwardly. For example, there’s the song, “alife”, which features an incredibly annoying snare that sounds way too loud in the mix, and the guitars are noticeable but I can’t tell if I find them too loud or too quiet, because the mix sounds so messy. Honestly, this song reminds me of some songs from that Beach Fossils album from earlier this year, although a lot worse.

And also, while I get that the lyrics aren’t the main point of this album—at least I don’t think they are—it’s worth mentioning that I don’t find the lyrics very impressive for the most part, and they often feel like they’re supposed to come across as being really deep, and I just find it kind of cringey, like on “chained to a cloud”—and while maybe there’s more going on in that song that I’m realizing, it kind of feels like just a bunch of clichés put into one song with nothing tying them all together thematically.

So, if you can’t tell already, I dislike this album a lot. But I want to try to understand why this is getting so much acclaim … I mean, even with their self-titled album I can kind of understand the critical acclaim, as it at least had more atmosphere than this album, even though I think the melodies and compositions there are possibly as tedious as they are on this album. But I struggle to even see the appeal of this album. Obviously if you like it that’s great, I have nothing wrong with that … I’m just saying I don’t understand it.

So, obviously I can’t be the one to fully explain why people really like this, because, again, I don’t get it. I could try, but I’m also curious to hear from fans of the album why they like the album.

And honestly, I can’t help but wonder if a lot of the critical acclaim is simply because this is a Slowdive album. And I’m not saying this is the case for everyone giving it positive reviews, and I’m also not claiming to be totally unbiased myself, but it’s still something I wanted to point out. Could you imagine the critical reception this album would get if it were by someone a lot less critically acclaimed?

And I’m not saying it wouldn’t get any critical acclaim if that were the case, but I feel like it would get a lot less.

And yeah, I kind of feel like I’ve barely talked about the album throughout this whole review … but again, there’s not really much for me to say about it. It’s a forty-plus minute album with some very annoyingly messy mixing, with instrumental tones that don’t blend well at all, with the basslines having almost no presence with the production, and the compositions don’t interest me at all.

I mean, I could have tried to go track-by-track here, but the track list just blends together for me. So, yeah, if I’m being totally honest, in my own personal opinion this is a terrible album. Yes, I know you could point to so many other reviews on my website and say, ‘Wait, you rated this higher than the new Slowdive album?’ But as always, it’s just how I personally feel, and for me this is a 3/10. If I have different taste in music than you do, that’s fine. This album just felt like a total slog to get through for me, and I don’t understand the appeal of it at all.

If you want me to find something positive to say … well, the closing track, “the slab” is the one track which I feel has some atmosphere, and the snare is pretty punchy, even though the melodies are still boring and the mixing still sounds messy. There are some points here and there which sound decent, and I’ve heard much more annoying albums than this.

But as always, feel free to let me know in the comments what you thought of the album and/or what you thought of my review. And if you think my review deserves a 3/10, that’s fine. You don’t have to like my review of the album, just like I don’t have to like the album.

And if there are any albums you want me to review—preferably 2023 albums, but I’m open to doing throwback reviews, too—I’d love some recommendations. No guarantee I review it, but there’s a decent chance.

Also, don’t be surprised if the reviews slow down a bit over the next few weeks. I’m about to start college this week, and I’ll be very busy.

And with that, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 3/10
Favourite Tracks: “the slab”
Least Favourite Tracks: “alife”, “andalucia plays”, “kisses”, “skin in the game”, “chained to a cloud”

Hello, everyone! Welcome to another mini review post! Today I’m reviewing 9 albums in this one post, and as always this is all just based on how I personally feel about these albums … none of this is an attempt to be mean or anything, even if I give something a negative review.

Feel free to disagree with me on any of these, and now let’s get the reviews started!

1335162011435 by 19 4 3 12 6:

19 4 3 12 6 has released three albums this year, and I’ve already reviewed the first and third of those albums, and I thought why not review the second one, too?

And this is probably my favourite of the three. It’s an instrumental ambient album with a slightly calming feeling to it, but at the same time it’s quite eerie.

Now, I’m not going to say I’m totally blown away by it or anything, but it certainly makes me curious to hear more from 19 4 3 12 6.

The album is only two tracks long, with both tracks being over twenty minutes, and as a full album experience, while I don’t think I’ll be going back to it much, it’s certainly very interesting!

I really like a lot of the subtle details like the instrumental tones, and overall I really enjoyed this! 7/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “718956”
Least Favourite Tracks: “79620”

No Joy by Spanish Love Songs:

This is the fourth studio album by Spanish Love Songs, a band who makes rock music that sounds nothing at all like typical rock music … and they make very sad music. And as much emotion as there is in their music, if I’m being honest I’m not a big fan of either of their first two albums—I get why it resonates with a lot of people, especially considering how much horrible stuff is happening in the world, and listening to their music sometimes doesn’t feel as much like listening to music, and feels more like listening to an album of someone taking out a bunch of frustration … so, yeah, I get why it works for a lot of people, but something about the production just doesn’t really work for me, and while there’s a lot of emotion in those albums, they just didn’t resonate with me personally all that much.

But Brave Faces Everyone, their 2020 album which many critics called the best album of 2020, not only has production I like more, but the lyrics resonated with me more, and at least as far as I can tell there’s more that ties the whole album together—and I love that album!

But this album … look, I get that there’s a lot of emotion here, and I like the positive message on this album about looking for hope even when it can feel like everything is going wrong, and staying alive even if there might not be any hope. But I’m not going to pretend to be a fan of the album just because of the messages, because this album just didn’t click for me at all.

A big part of why this didn’t click for me is the production, in which the instruments often sound disconnected from each other in the production, and it just doesn’t emotionally resonate with me as much as it would if I thought the production hit harder. This doesn’t have the same crushing distorted guitar and drums of their previous album.

And honestly, this might be my least favourite Spanish Love Songs album to date … something just feels missing from pretty much every track here, and I’m not always entirely sure what. “Haunted” is probably my favourite song on the album with some great lyrics including a callback to a song from Brave Faces Everyone, and also a great synth melody that reminds me of The Killers … and yet I’m not even a huge fan of that song, as the production really holds it back for me—and again, this is my favourite song on the album we’re talking about here.

So, overall … look, I have a ton of respect for this album, and I’d absolutely recommend listening to it. But just because I respect an album doesn’t mean I have to like it … and for me, this is getting a 6/10, and if it weren’t for the lyrics that score would be lower. And considering how emotional this album is, I kind of hate to not give it a higher rating, but as always it’s just how I personally feel about the album.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Haunted”, “Middle of Nine”, “Here You Are”, “Exit Bags”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Lifers”

A Cat in the Rain by Turnpike Troubadours:

The more country music I listen to, the more I wonder if I’m becoming a fan of the genre. And this is another album that makes me wonder that even more!

This is my first time listening to a Turnpike Troubadours album, and for some reason my expectations weren’t super high. I mean, I’d heard good things about this band, but I kind of feel like almost every time I listen to a country album for the first time, I tell myself I’m not going to be a huge fan of it … and I did the same thing with this album, but I ended up pleasantly surprised!

First of all, the production sounds gorgeous, with that incredibly smooth feeling of the strings and guitars, with the drums sounding pretty much perfect in the mix with pretty much perfect tones!

And while there are some points where the vocal melodies don’t really click for me that much, there are some really strong standout vocal melodies here!

There are some great covers, but there’s also a lot of great song writing here, both in the compositions and the lyrics on a variety of topics, and there are a lot of layers to these lyrics, especially in a song like “The Rut”, which shows the narrator hunting for food purposes, and there seems to be some guilt shown in the song—although it’s subtle if there is—and it fits with something morally complicated like hunting for food.

And speaking of the compositions, there are so many great melodies and chord progressions here, and it makes for an album that I absolutely love! It’s rare I get this excited about a country album, but this is absolutely excellent!

So, I’ll give this a 9/10! And even if you aren’t a fan of the genre, I highly recommend this album! It’s awesome!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “Brought Me”, “Lucille”, “Chipping Mill”, “The Rut”, “A Cat in the Rain”, “Black Sky”, “Three More Days”, “Won’t You Give Me One More Chance”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Mean Old Sun”

WEEDKILLER by Ashnikko:

For a while, Ashnikko has been one of those artists whose name I’ve seen/heard a lot, but whom I’d never actually really listened to … so, when I first saw that this album was coming out, I was quite surprised to find out this is officially Ashnikko’s debut studio album; she did release a mixtape a few years ago, though.

Anyway, this album is a little over half an hour, and I feel like there are so many artists/albums this reminds me of, but I can’t quite place them … I mean, it kind of reminds me of Maggie Lindemann’s debut studio album from last year, SUCKERPUNCH, although unlike that album this isn’t really a rock album. Now, it’s worth mentioning that I’m not really a fan of SUCKERPUNCH, but while I don’t think this album has a song I love quite as much as “take me nowhere”—which is my favourite song on SUCKERPUNCH—it also doesn’t have the same low points as that album, and I like this album more overall.

Outside of that comparison … I can’t quite place what else this reminds me of. But overall, do I like this album? I mean, yeah, I’d say so, for the most part. But I wouldn’t say I love it, and I can’t help but feel like I ‘should’ like it more than I do.

I do like a lot of the lyrics here, which discuss a range of topics—there are some feminist lyrics, some lyrics about technology and the unknown future of it, and much more. And there are also some songs here which are just meant to be fun, in which the lyrics don’t really have much to them.

Now, I will say, there are also some lyrics I don’t like, with some cringy lines here and there—one that comes to mind is a line from “Worms”, ‘My bones decay, now I’m gelatin’—and there’s also “Miss Nectarine”, which I’ll admit is a complicated song lyrically, and while Ashnikko has explained what the song is about, the lyrics themselves don’t really clearly show what’s going on … but it feels like one of those you-should-be-with-me-instead anthems.

But again, I do like a lot of the lyrics here. There are some funny lines like ‘I can’t help that I want to be titty-smothered’, but also a lot of lyrics I like which have a message to them. I like how “Cheerleader” tears into the stereotype about cheerleaders, with violent lyrics that clearly are not meant literally, but instead as a way of turning the stereotype on its head—she’s not stereotyping cheerleaders as being violent, it’s just intentionally over-the-top to call out the stereotype of cheerleaders needing to be—in her words—‘beautiful and cute in little shorts.’ And I also like the lyrics fighting for abortion rights in “Possession of a Weapon” which have some bite to them—pun intended. (If you read the lyrics you’ll probably know what I’m referring to.)

So, overall, there are moments here that I like, and I also want to mention that awesome part of “You Make Me Sick!” when they yell, ‘I’M MAD!’ And some of the poppier moments work, too … but I also find it quite inconsistent, with the trap percussion often sounding kind of awkward here, especially in “Worms” in which it overpowers the mix. And overall, while there are some interesting ideas here, a lot of it can sound kind of generic to me … I’m not denying the creativity here, it’s just not really doing all that much for me personally, and if I want to listen to this style of music, there are quite a few other albums I’d rather listen to. So, for me, it’s a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Cheerleader”, “Chokehold Cherry Python”, “Possession of a Weapon”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Miss Nectarine”

another triumph of ghetto engineering by Open Mike Eagle:

For a while, Open Mike Eagle has been one of those artists whose name I’ve seen/heard a lot, and I’d heard really good things about his music, but I’d never really listened to it … and I still haven’t listened to any of his other albums, but I decided to check out this new album, and …

Well, it’s a very short album, only nine tracks and under half an hour. There are a few guest features here, and there’s some interesting experimentation in the sound.

I really like the flows here, not only from Open Mike Eagle, but also from a lot of the guests, like STILL RIFT on “the grand prize game on the bozo show”, which might be my favourite guest feature on the entire album!

Like I say very often, I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics … so, I’m not going to pretend that I understand everything that’s being said here, because I don’t. So, take my lyrical analyzations with a grain of salt.

But I do really like the lyrics for the most part! Although I’m not really sure this is trying to be super deep—maybe I’m totally missing something, but even when there are some points being made about serious topics, it usually seems pretty to-the-point.

There’s also some humour in some of the lyrics, and I think it works well with the flows.

I think the album opens really well with that awesome vocal effect on “I bled on stage at first ave”, and from that point on the album stays not only compelling, but very enjoyable! So, yeah, I think this is great! For me it’s an 8.5/10! If you’re a fan of hip hop you’ll probably love this, and if you aren’t … well, this might be a good place to start. This album rules!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “I bled on stage at first ave”, “a new rap festival called falling loud”, “the grand prize game on the bozo show”, “we should have made otherground a thing”, “WFLD 32”, “mad enough to aim a pyramid at you”
Least Favourite Tracks: “the wire s3 e1”

Zach Bryan by Zach Bryan:

This is my first time listening to a Zach Bryan album, although “Something in the Orange” was an honourable mention on my list of my favourite hit songs of last year.

So, was this a good first impression when it comes to Zach Bryan albums? Well, I mostly like it. There are some nice strings, Zach Bryan is a good singer, and there are some good melodies and lyrics, too.

But overall, it’s just not really wowing me all that much. Yes, there’s a lot of great storytelling here, and the production mostly sounds good … but something just feels missing to me, and I’m not entirely sure what.

I mean, there’s a lot of emotion here, but it just didn’t resonate with me personally all that much.

And maybe it’s something in the melodies. Yes, I said I like some of the melodies, but at points it can just get boring to me, in part because of the vocal melodies.

But maybe it’s just me feeling like I’ve heard quite a few similar albums that I like better—even if I’m not sure I actually have. But still, in a year when I’ve arguably become a country fan, the albums this year from Gabe Lee and Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit, as well as that album I reviewed in this post by Turnpike Troubadours, who are actually mentioned on this album … well, those albums all did more for me personally. Even Luke Combs’ newest album has more I’d go back to on it than this one. But still, I mostly like this, so I’ll give it a 7/10. Good stuff!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Summertime’s Close”, “Jake’s Piano – Long Island”, “I Remember Everything”, “Tradesmen”, “Smaller Acts”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Oklahoman Son”

50,000 Kilogon Puke Lubricated Intestinal Fracturing by Teratoma:

So, let me just say right now that I have never been able to get into the gorenoise genre. And honestly, I don’t really understand the appeal of it. That’s not to say that it’s all objectively bad or anything, I’m just saying I personally don’t get it. But I was looking for new albums to listen to, and I randomly came across this … and you know what? I decided to give it a chance. Maybe this is the album that will help me understand gorenoise.

And nope, it isn’t … to me, this pretty much just sounds like a bunch of random noises, and the songs all blend together for me. I’m not saying there isn’t anything to this, but I personally don’t find it interesting at all … but maybe that’s a me thing.

I couldn’t find lyrics to this when I looked for them, so I can’t really comment on that … but overall, when I say I couldn’t get into this at all and don’t understand the appeal, I don’t mean that it’s the worst album ever or anything like that, I just don’t see why I personally would want to listen to this, and honestly I found it quite annoying.

I mean, at least it’s short … for me it’s a strong 4/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: ???
Least Favourite Tracks: ???

99 Nights by Charlotte Cardin:

This is the second studio album from Charlotte Cardin, following her 2021 debut album Phoenix. I was first introduced to her music when I heard the single, “Passive Aggressive”, which I think is a great breakup song with strong lyrics, really good production, and some great details in the instrumental … but unfortunately, the rest of the album was kind of a slog to get through for me; most of the vocal melodies bored me, and the hooks aren’t that strong if you ask me, and some parts of the album I found pretty annoying—“Passive Aggressive”, to me, is by far the best song on the album.

And unfortunately, I don’t think this is much better. And once again, a large part of that is due to the vocal melodies, which barely do anything for me at all. And considering how much of a fan I am of strong vocal melodies, it can get really frustrating listening through an album with barely any vocal melodies that I really like. That’s not always the case, especially in a lot of hip hop or black metal, but for a pop album like this it would take a lot more in the instrumentation, production, lyrics, etc. to really wow me for me to really like this album despite finding the vocal melodies so boring … and I’m just not all that wowed, personally.

I’m not the best at analyzing lyrics, so take it with a grain of salt when I say a lot of the lyrics feel generic, but of course it’s open to interpretation, and the lyrics just didn’t do much for me for the most part—and while there are some lyrics I like, there are also some that are pretty questionable, like the possessive lyrics of “Somebody First”, which I think is the worst song here.

I will say I probably like the production a little bit more here than on Phoenix, with the basslines sounding really well mixed and a lot of the instrumental tones sound nice when combined with each other, but I’m still not amazed by it to the point where it would really elevate the album above mediocrity for me.

If you want to know what some of the highlights of the album are for me … well, my favourite tracks are listed down below, but I wouldn’t say there’s a great song here outside of “Jim Carrey”, which might be my favourite Charlotte Cardin song to date (although I haven’t heard her EPs yet), and the group vocals in the chorus sound incredibly well harmonized! But the title track has a mostly pleasant chorus and some cool synths, “Next to You” is a nice, mellow closer to the album, and I really like the percussion on “Daddy’s a Psycho”. But overall, I would only consider this a slight improvement over Phoenix. For me, this is a 5.5/10. I can kind of see the appeal of this album, but it’s not for me at all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Jim Carrey”, “99 Nights”, “Daddy’s a Psycho”, “Next to You”
Least Favourite Tracks: “How High”, “Somebody First”

Where Do We Go from Here? by Asking Alexandria:

This is the eighth studio album by Asking Alexandria, and it’s the first one of their albums I’ve listened to. Considering that I hadn’t heard super positive things about this band’s music, I can’t say my expectations for this were very high, and I honestly kind of expected this to be bad …

But after multiple listens, I don’t think it is. Now, that’s not to say there aren’t elements of this album that I don’t like—there are—but I don’t find it actively annoying or boring to the point where I just want to stay away from the album. Now, does that mean I’ll be going back to this much? No, I don’t think so, but I don’t dislike this album … to me, it’s just kind of … there.

Lead singer Danny Worsnop has said this album’s lyrics aren’t super personal, which makes me feel a bit less bad for saying that I don’t find the lyrics all that interesting—but as always, that’s just me personally. And if the point of this album was to appeal to the largest possible audience, well … I mean, I can’t say if it worked or not, but the album doesn’t really appeal to me.

The production often sounds quite messy, with the snares sounding awkward when paired with the instrumentals, and outside of the occasional good hook, there’s just not much about this that I personally find all that memorable, and the mixing often drowns the vocals out, with one big example being on “Nothing Left”—and it underpowers that song’s chorus which is otherwise arguably my favourite chorus on the album!

But for the most part this is just mediocre if you ask me … some of the riffs are hard-hitting, and there’s not a ton about this that I find super annoying, even though I would have liked this a lot more if I liked the production more—and considering how much I like the vocal harmonies and melodies on “Let Go”, and that the production gives that song more punch—honestly, it’s the one great song here if you ask me—I’ll give this a 5/10. Not a particularly positive score, but I don’t dislike this … and while a lot of this is kind of forgettable to me, some of the moments I don’t really like I at least find a little bit interesting—for example, while I’m not a fan of “Psycho”,  which sounds to me like a mediocre Fall Out Boy song, it’s quite different from a lot of the other songs here … so, I’d recommend listening to this if you’re into hard rock/metal—it didn’t click for me, and there’s a good chance it won’t for you, either, but you’ll probably be glad you heard it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Let Go”, “Nothing Left”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Dark Void”, “Feel”

Hello, everyone! So, just to give you a quick update on my Top 100 Favourite Songs of 2022 … I was confident it would get posted in August and now it still hasn’t been … but with that being said, I would be shocked if I don’t get it posted this month. It’s very close. It might even be out in the next week.

Anyway, I decided to do something different with this mini review post; I think the biggest inspiration for these mini review posts was On The Pulse, a YouTube series on Spectrum Pulse by one of my favourite music reviewers, Mark Grondin. The series has evolved quite a bit since Mark launched it a few years ago, but it’s always featured Mark reviewing multiple albums in shorter reviews—and one thing that he sometimes does with those videos is episodes where the albums are all in the same genre, or at least similar genres.

That inspired me to do something similar here, where for this post I’m only reviewing instrumental albums. Now, that’s not to say these albums are all 100% entirely instrumental, but I think they’re close enough.

As always, this is all just based on my own personal feelings about these albums, and if I give something a negative review it isn’t me trying to be mean or anything, I’m just sharing how I feel about the album. Music is subjective.

And now, let’s start the reviews!

1138 by .seth.:

This might be the shortest album I’ve ever reviewed. Or at least it’s up there. It’s a little over twelve minutes long, and while I’m pretty sure it’s officially an album, it feels more like an EP—and the funny thing is .seth. released an EP last year (which I haven’t listened to yet) that’s slightly longer than this album, although that EP only has five tracks, and this album has seven.

Anyway, this is a pretty pleasant album with some nice melodies. It’s kind of got a bit of an alternative rock sound to it, and the production is pretty good if you ask me.

But something feels missing … and I can confidently say that part of that is the length of the album. I mean, at least this album’s length makes it easier to review, but I still wish it was longer; I’m really curious what this would have been like as a thirty or forty minute album.

But even aside from that, there’s something else about this that isn’t quite clicking for me as much as I want, and maybe it’s the lack of variety in the sound. If you hear a few tracks, you mostly know what you’re getting for the whole album.

Also, none of these songs are really amazing or anything if you ask me, they’re just mostly pleasant. So, overall, I’m going to give it a 6.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Trial”, “Exclude”, “Lost”, “Away”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Grey”

Balance by Macaque Sauna:

This album was released on the first day of 2023, although it doesn’t count as a throwback review for me … if it had been released one day earlier and I reviewed it, then I’d call it a throwback review because it would have been from last year.

Anyway, I only came across this album recently, and it’s an ambient drone album that’s slightly over forty minutes. And, like with a lot of albums in this style, it doesn’t give me much to say … but that’s not always a bad thing. And in this case, I think the simplicity of the album helps it a lot, although there’s also a lot of creativity.

This isn’t anything too out of the ordinary for this style, but it’s still very creative, with a lot of small details really standing out, even though it’s hard for me to really explain. The album slowly changes throughout the forty minutes, and the production sounds gorgeous!

There are only two tracks on this album, although both are quite long, and I’m not really sure which one I like more … if I had to choose a favourite, I think I might be leaning toward the second song, but honestly I think this works because of the album experience—I think these songs would both feel really out of place on any of my playlists.

I will say that some parts of this album drag on a little longer than I would have liked—and as much as I like a lot of the small details in the arrangements, I feel like it could have used a bit more detail in some spots, but this is still a really strong album! For me it’s getting a strong 7/10, and I highly recommend giving this a chance!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Askew”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Aligned”

102131125 142113251819 by 19 4 3 12 6:

I’m not sure who 19 4 3 12 6 is, but 19 4 3 12 6 has released three albums this year, the third of which I just did a mini review of recently. And even though I didn’t really like that album, I found it interesting enough that I decided to check out the first of those three albums, and … well, I think I like this one a little bit more.

But with that being said, I can’t say I’m a huge fan of this album, either. There are moments that I really like, but as a whole it doesn’t fully click for me.

This album is mostly quite mellow, and I’d probably call it an ambient album, but there are some very unexpected moments where the genre totally changes. And at points, like the ending of the second track—which, by the way, is also the last track (both tracks are over ten minutes)—it really works for me … but there are also some parts of the album that don’t do much for me at all, and sometimes those sections drag on for a while.

But it’s a very creative album, and I like that there’s a lot of variety here. I also quite like the production, so I’ll give this album a light 6.5/10, and I think it’s worth giving a chance. I mean, it’s not totally for me, but it’s very interesting!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “1611820 202315”
Least Favourite Tracks: “1611820 15145”

Boxes For Missing Cats by catstem:

This is an album that is mostly instrumental—of the eleven tracks here, there are two with some lyrics, but I’m not sure if they’re samples or not.

This is a very short ambient album that almost feels like an EP—but I’m pretty sure it’s officially an album, so I’m treating it like a regular album review, not an EP review … although EP reviews are something I’m planning to do at some point. But on the topic of this album, do I like it?

Well, it’s not an album that gives me a lot to say, but … I mean, it’s mostly pleasant while it’s on, I guess. But this just isn’t really my cup of tea.

There are some nice-sounding synths on this album, and I like some other moments, like the stormy percussion of “Rainfall Watching Area”, but to me this mostly feels like background music.

But at least it’s good background music, so I’ll give it a strong 6/10. It’s a debut album that leaves me intrigued to hear more. I’d recommend giving it a listen.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Rainbow Trout Zone”, “Visual Processing Center”, “Apricot Tree Area”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Colossal Doorway”

Its so Much Brighter over Here by bliss3three:

So, this is a very short album, short enough that it feels more like an EP … but I’m pretty sure it’s officially a studio album, so it’s eligible for this post.

And also, there are some vocals here—but it’s mostly instrumental, and the vocals might be samples. I know there are samples on this album, but I’m not sure what they are. Also, it’s worth mentioning that I can’t hear most of the lyrics, and I couldn’t find them when I looked them up.

Overall, it’s mostly pleasant. I mean, it’s easy to recommend considering how short it is, and the production is quite impressive … but something about it just isn’t quite clicking for me. Again, it feels more like an EP, but I actually think the short length works well for this kind of album … so, I’m not really sure what’s holding me back from liking it more.

But I guess I’ve just heard similar sounds done in ways I personally find more interesting, and overall the melodies here don’t click for me as much as I’d like. So, for me, this is getting a 6/10. I definitely recommend hearing it, but it just didn’t really click for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “In Search of Where the Sun Shines”, “1,000,000 Yellow Butterflies”, “To Be Real”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Feel More (April Edit)”

The Ceiling Reposes by Lia Kohl:

Okay, so before I talk about my feelings on the album, I want to mention that there are some samples of the radio on here, so it’s another album you could argue isn’t an ‘instrumental album’, but I think it counts for this kind of post.

Anyway, this album came out in March of this year, and it’s the first Lia Kohl album I’ve ever listened to … and what a great first impression!

This is another one of those albums I’d probably describe as a sound collage, and it’s an absolutely gorgeous one! There are so many twinkling keys that sound excellent, and the production gives this a ton of great atmosphere!

I love so many of the small details here, like the very subtle effect on the piano in “when glass is there, and water,”, the pretty much perfect drum tone at the start of “or things maybe dropping” (especially with how the song builds with more drums!), the combination of those bright synth melodies with the incredibly well-mixed staticky sounds on the closing track, and much more!

When I recently reviewed Chthonic by Lawrence English & Lea Bertucci, I mentioned that, compared to a lot of other sound collage albums I’d reviewed this year, that one pulled me into its world more … and there’s a part of me that wants to say the same thing about this album, but honestly I feel like this album got pulled into this world for me—maybe that made no sense, so I’ll use a different wording: this album is enchanting, but not in a way where I feel like I’ve been pulled into the album.

Hopefully you get what I’m saying, but either way … I mean, it’s a great album experience that lasts a little over thirty minutes, which I think is a fitting length for this album. I don’t think the magic is quite there to the point where this would be among the absolute top tier of albums for me this year, but it’s still pretty much a lock for my year-end list—I’m giving this a 9/10! This is great, and I highly recommend you listen to it!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “when glass is there, and water,”, “or things maybe dropping”, “the moment a zipper”, “became daily today”, “like time (pretending it had a human body)”
Least Favourite Tracks: “sit on the floor and wait for storms”

Sardodactylus by Tryptacobithicus:

Here’s a very mellow, eerie album that I came across when I was looking for instrumental albums to review, and it’s quite an obscure album.

And while it’s kind of interesting, it’s not my thing at all. I just personally found it mostly boring, and I personally didn’t hear a lot of variety in the album—although there are some small details that make for an album I can understand the appeal of.

I’m all for supporting smaller acts, so I’m not reviewing this to try to stop people from listening to this—and I hope that by reviewing albums by smaller acts it will inspire people to listen to those albums, even if my review is negative … and this is one of those cases, because I just couldn’t get into this at all.

The album doesn’t really give me much to say, honestly … and for me it’s a 4.5/10. I’ve heard much worse albums this year, but I’ve also heard much better … but, of course, this is just my opinion, and I recommend giving this a chance if you’re looking for a haunting, eerie album; I can see why it might click for some people.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4.5/10
Favourite Tracks: ???
Least Favourite Tracks: “War Cry of the Sardodactylus”, “Wicked Laugh of the Sardodactylus”

Hello, everyone! Yes, I know I still haven’t posted my favourite songs of 2022, but I’m making progress on it, and I feel like I might be able to get it posted by the end of August. We’ll see, though.

Anyway, for now, I’ve got six mini reviews with quite a wide range of genres here. As always, this is all just based on how I personally feel. Feel free to disagree with me on these albums. Also, as always, none of this is an attempt to be mean, even if I give an album a negative review. And speaking of negative reviews … well, this post isn’t very negative at all … there are some really good albums here!

But first, let’s start with an album I’m not as big a fan of …

A Feast On Sorrow by URNE:

This metal band, URNE, released this album a couple weeks ago, and while I still haven’t listened to their first album, I was curious to hear this one …

And I can’t say it’s really my thing. Maybe part of it is the length—while this isn’t super long, it is over fifty minutes, and I’m often not the biggest fan of long albums—but also, when it comes to the songs themselves, a lot of them just don’t feel all that interesting to me.

It’s worth noting that I couldn’t find the lyrics when I looked them up, and a lot of them I couldn’t really hear, so that isn’t really much of a factor here for me. But musically, I feel like I’ve heard a lot of similar albums that I like a lot more, and the production/mixing can feel awkward at points, with some parts of the album having a bit of a messy sound, like with the awkwardly produced snare in the start of the title track … although there are some moments where I really like the production, like throughout most of “To Die Twice”.

There aren’t that many melodies that really click for me, and while a decent amount of the album is enjoyable while it’s on, I just personally find it underwhelming. I’m going to give this a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “To Die Twice”, “A Stumble of Words”, “Peace”
Least Favourite Tracks: “The Long Goodbye/Where Do the Memories Go?”

Chthonic by Lawrence English & Lea Bertucci:

So, this is another one of those mellow, instrumental ambient albums that I would maybe even describe as a sound collage … and compared to a lot of those that I’ve reviewed this year, something about this one pulls me into its world more, and I’m not entirely sure why.

This is my first time listening to either of these artists as far as I can remember, and it makes me curious to hear more.

It’s not an album that gives me a ton to say, but I love the eerie mood of it, and there’s a lot of great atmosphere.

At under forty minutes, it doesn’t overstay its welcome—although I’m curious what the album would have been like if it was longer—and overall, I highly recommend this!

So, for me, it’s an 8.5/10! And in a year full of disappointing/underwhelming albums, in which not as many albums have really clicked for me as I expected, this was a really welcome surprise!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Amorphic Foothills”, “Dust Storm”, “Geology of Fire”, “Strata”
Least Favourite Tracks: “A Fissure Exhales”

Unreal Unearth by Hozier:

For a while Hozier was one of those artists I’d heard of and wanted to listen to more, but all I really knew of his music was “Take Me to Church”. But recently, I decided to check out his first two albums, and … well, neither of them really clicked for me all that much. And I’ll admit it’s probably just that I don’t understand those albums, but I personally just didn’t find them all that interesting. But while his self-titled debut album isn’t fully my thing, I at least got more out of it than Wasteland, Baby!, his sophomore album which was released in 2019—and again, there seems to be a lot to it, but considering that I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics, a lot of it just didn’t really make sense to me … but musically, I didn’t really find either album all that compelling to me personally outside of some moments here and there. And I’m not saying this to be mean or anything, it’s just not really my cup of tea.

So, is this the Hozier album that fully clicked for me? Well, I wasn’t expecting this, but … yeah, it mostly did click for me! And I’m surprised how much I ended up liking this!

Now, before I talk more about the album, I’m just going to say this: like with Hozier’s first two albums, I don’t fully understand it. I read the lyrics, and I did some research, but I didn’t look into it that much … I mean, I’m about to start college in less than two weeks, and as of right now I’m working pretty close to full-time, and there are also a bunch of other albums I want to review soon, and for some of those reviews I want to listen through the artist’s other albums like I did for this review.

But still, I found quite a bit that I like in the lyrics—I like the lyrics of “Damage Gets Done”, which seems to be about not worrying too much about the consequences of our actions … obviously we should be careful, but there’s a difference between being careful and overworrying. I also like a lot of the potential double-meanings throughout this album, like in “To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)” and “Butchered Tongue”, the latter of which is my favourite song on the album!

I also really like a lot of the vocal melodies, like in the choruses of songs like “Eat Your Young”, “Who We Are”, and “Abstract (Psychopomp)”. And this is probably the most I’ve liked the production on a Hozier album, too—not just that, but if I haven’t made it clear enough already, this is easily the most I’ve liked a Hozier album overall!

I’m also really impressed by the instrumentals here—for example, I love the dramatic instrumental track “Son of Nyx”, and the closing track also has a great build to it!

Now, I will say, as much as I like Hozier’s vocals, the reverb doesn’t always work for me with this kind of indie rock sound, and I don’t think it’s a super consistent album—while there isn’t a bad song here in my opinion, there are a few that I don’t get much out of at all.

But overall … yeah, I’m surprised how much I like this! This is some really hard-hitting indie rock with a lot of really fascinating lyrics, great vocals, and the second half of this album absolutely rules! And I still mostly like the first half even though I don’t love it as much as the second half.

So, as a whole album … well, if I’m looking at it ‘objectively’, I can’t say whether or not it’s a great album, because quality is subjective … but I’ll say this: I highly, highly recommend listening to this album.

Also, when it comes to a rating … I’m going to give it an extremely strong 7.5/10! I don’t think I’d quite call it great—based on my personal taste, that is—but it’s very, very close!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Damage Gets Done”, “Who We Are”, “Son of Nyx”, “All Things End”, “Butchered Tongue”, “Unknown / Nth”, “First Light”
Least Favourite Tracks: “I, Carrion (Icarian)”

STRUGGLER by Genesis Owusu:

This is album #2 from Genesis Owusu, an artist whose music is pretty much a blend of post-punk, hip hop, pop, and funk—and a lot more! It comes almost two-and-a-half years after his critically acclaimed debut Smiling with No Teeth from 2021, an album with great production, a lot of great grooves, and fascinating lyrics full of double-meanings with great storytelling!

And I ended up really liking this album as well! I wouldn’t say I find the lyrics as interesting as on Smiling with No Teeth, but I still really like them for the most part, and there’s once again an interesting story going on. I also think the production is pretty punchy and works really well!

Once again, there are a lot of great hooks here, like in “Leaving The Light” and “The Old Man”, the latter of which has some really great synths!

So, overall … yeah, this is really solid! 7/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Leaving The Light”, “The Old Man”, “Tied Up!”, “That’s Life (A Swamp)”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Freak Boy”

Orbweaving by Midwife & Vyva Melinkolya:

This collaboration album came out in May of this year, and it’s my first time listening to an album by either of these artists.

And it’s a bit of a strange listen … it’s a very mellow album with only five tracks, three of which are under five minutes, one which is a little under eight minutes, and the closing track which is the one instrumental track here, and that song is over twelve minutes!

And I can’t tell if this works better as a whole or in pieces … but what I do know is that, while I did mostly end up liking this, it’s not fully clicking with me, and I’m not entirely sure why. I don’t want to say this album is boring, because I don’t think it is … but at the same time, there are points where I find it boring, and I should also talk about my kind of strange feelings on the song, “Hounds of Heaven”—because it feels strange for me to be saying this considering the style of music this is, but I really like the hook of this song, although the rest of the song is kind of underwhelming.

Overall, though, it is a pretty enjoyable listen, and I think the closing track works well in the context of the album, even though I can’t really describe why, as I have no idea why if I’m being totally honest. So, for me, it’s a 7/10. If this isn’t your thing I totally get it—and it’s not even totally my thing—but I still mostly like this.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Miss America”, “NMP”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Plague X”

18579151419 by 19 4 3 12 6:

What is it with me recently reviewing albums by artists with only a bunch of numbers as a stage name? Not long ago I reviewed an album by 7038634357, and now I’m reviewing this.

Anyway, this is an album from an artist you’ve probably never heard of, and I’m not even sure who this artist is, either, or whether or not this is a solo artist.

This is the third album 19 4 3 12 6 has released this year (although it’s the only one of the three that I’ve listened to). I randomly came across this when looking online for new music, and after giving it multiple listens … well, it’s some mellow, ambient music that’s instrumental, and while it’s not really my thing personally, it’s an interesting listen with some subtle details that I really like—I like the staticky sound on the last track that adds a lot without overpowering the mix, and I like some of the eerie sounds in “7291sud63” even though the song drags on longer than I would have liked.

Speaking of which, even though the album is only about a half hour, it can feel like it drags on a little longer than I would like, without totally keeping me interested throughout the whole album. But still, if you’re really into this sound you might be really impressed by it!

So, overall, I’d recommend you hear it—not only because it’s good to support smaller artists, but also because it’s an interesting album. But that being said, it’s not for me, so I’m personally going to give this a 5.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “1484eeg29”
Least Favourite Tracks: “7291sud63”