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”

Hello, everyone! I’m back with eight more mini reviews!

As always, all of this is just based on how I personally feel about these albums, and even if I give an album a negative review, it’s not intended to be mean or anything.

In a year full of disappointing albums for me and a surprisingly low amount of albums I feel are legit great … well, unfortunately most of the albums in this post are no exception to that … but anyway, time for the reviews!

Úpal by Kostnatění:

Here’s a very critically acclaimed black metal album from a one-man project, and the lyrics are in Czech. So, I just want to say that, as someone who only understands English, while I translated the lyrics online, I can’t understand them as well as I would if I knew Czech, so I’m not going to talk much about the lyrics here, even though they do factor into my feelings on the album. Although I will say that based on the translations I read, I do like a lot of the lyrics here, such as the frustration with violence on “Rukojmí empatie”, a track which also features a really good bass and guitar!

I mostly like the mixing, although there are some points where it doesn’t really work for me, like in “Opál” when the vocals get drowned out in the mix.

The snares mostly sound good but not amazing, and while it’s a very impressive album overall, it’s not one I think I’m going to be going back to much, as there’s not a ton in the guitar melodies that I really love, and parts of the album get pretty boring.

If you’re not into black metal I doubt this will be your cup of tea, but even as someone who likes black metal, I don’t think I can rate this higher than a 6/10. Again, it is quite impressive, and I understand why it’s getting a lot of critical acclaim … but when I could be listening to the albums released this year by Agriculture or Victory Over the Sun, I just don’t see why I personally would want to go back to this. But again, that’s just my taste.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Řemen”, “Rukojmí empatie”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Hořím navždy”

Nosebleeds by MisterWives:

MisterWives are a band formed in 2012 who released their debut album in 2015, and despite this being their fourth studio album, it’s the only one I’ve listened to so far … and unfortunately, it’s not doing a lot for me.

There are some nice synths on this album, and the snares have some punch to them, and there are some interesting lyrics here … but overall, it’s just not hitting as hard as I’d like, and part of that is due to the vocals often sounding drowned out by the instrumentation.

There are quite a few points on this album that feel like they’re so close to clicking for me but they just don’t, like how the melody of the chorus of “Sideways” feels so close to a melody that I love, but something just feels kind of awkward.

Now, all that being said, there are some standout moments here. I really like the blazing guitar and great snare in “Trip Around The Sun”, “Silver Lining” is a short but effective song partially about how people often hide their struggles, and there are more moments here that I like … but this is mostly pleasant background music to me. I’ve just heard this sound done in ways I find more interesting, and for me this album is a light 6/10. If you really like pop-rock, I’d recommend you give this a listen, and I don’t think it’s bad at all, but it’s not really for me outside of some moments here and there.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Sideways”, “Too Late”, “Silver Lining”, “Trip Around The Sun”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Other Side”

Ley by Approaching Mountains:

Here’s a mostly instrumental ambient album that’s about forty-five minutes long.

There are some vocals on this album, like in “O Kai Mes Būsim”, but I can’t tell what any of the lyrics are (I think that song is probably sung in Lithuanian, and the only language I know is English). There are also some vocals in “Ignited in a Field of Bright” in which I don’t know what the lyrics are. So, just keep in mind that lyrics won’t be a factor in my review.

Overall … it’s not one that gives me a ton to say, but it’s quite eerie at points, and it’s quite an interesting album experience. It’s just a hard one to put into words.

Overall, there’s lots of creativity here, and there’s also a great cover of a Mikalojus Konstantinas Čiurlionis piece. The sound quality of the album is incredible, and overall it’s a very good album with some great patches, but there are a few tracks which kind of bore me, and I don’t think the album ends super strong … so overall, I wouldn’t quite call it a great album. 7/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Weeping in Radiance”, “Aerial Thyme Reverie”, “Forest Migraine”, “VL-184”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Black Smoke Above Trees I”

Kröflueldar by Altari:

This is a black metal album from a band from Iceland who’s been gaining traction this year, and this is their debut album. The lyrics are in Icelandic, so while I looked at a translated version of the lyrics, I’m not sure how accurate the translation was, and the only language I know is English, so keep that in mind, especially considering I’m not particularly great at analyzing lyrics anyway.

Musically, though, it doesn’t really grab my attention all that much. I mean, yeah, there are some hard-hitting moments, but overall I find a lot of the compositions and guitar melodies … just not all that interesting to me personally.

I also find the mixing a bit messy at points, and some of these songs have a kind of unsettling feeling to them—and I don’t think it’s unsettling in the way it was intended.

Again, it’s hard for me to analyze these lyrics, especially because I only read translated versions of the lyrics, but based on what I could find the lyrics didn’t really grab me much, either, for the most part, although there are a few things I found interesting, like the closing track which seems to be about the passage of time and death being inevitable, and how our ancestors are all eventually dying and we will, too—I mean, it’s dark, yes, but we have to accept it because there’s no way to change that inevitability.

But overall, the album just isn’t really my thing. I’m going to give it a 6/10. There are some moments here I find interesting, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to this much.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Djáknahrollur”, “Vítisvilltur”, “Grafarþögn”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sýrulúður”

Ooh Rap I Ya by George Clanton:

This is my first time listening to a George Clanton album, and it’s easily one of the most critically acclaimed albums of 2023. But it seems like this year I’ve come across so many of the most critically acclaimed albums of the year that just haven’t really clicked with me nearly as much as they have for so many others … but I was still really excited to hear this!

And … okay, this might be kind of tricky to explain accurately. Because … well, there’s moments here that I really like. I like the bassy synth of “Punching Down”, and I like the lyrics on that track, too, which seem to be about bullying, but from the perspective of the person bullying someone. “You Hold the Key and I Found It” feels kind of like an interlude and fits really well, and there’s a lot of nice percussion on this album, too … and there’s also the title track, which has some really interesting philosophical lyrics!

But once again, like so many albums this year, I can’t say it’s fully clicking for me as much as it is for so many others. And I think part of that is the vocals being mixed really quietly at points, sounding drowned out in the mix, and these songs would hit a lot harder otherwise … but also, it just doesn’t really make me want to go back to it much. Yes, the synths do sound good, and there are some good basslines … but it kind of feels like style over substance to me. And I don’t like using that description, because I’m not trying to disrespect the creativity here … but at least to me, as much as there is going on in the instrumentation, it doesn’t really stand out much to me compared to a lot of other albums. I’ve heard similar synth-pop albums that, to my ears, are much more interesting and a lot better.

But I don’t want to make this all about comparisons. For me to really like an album, I don’t have to think it’s totally inventing a new genre or anything … but for the most part I don’t even find the hooks all that interesting, and to me it kind of feels more like background music than anything.

So, if I’m being honest … as controversial as it is, I’m going to give this album a 7/10. On the surface it may appear larger than life, but once you dig deeper you might not find it as interesting … but maybe there’s more to this than I’m giving it credit for, who knows? I mean, it’s open to interpretation, and I’m curious to hear what you think about this.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Punching Down”, “You Hold the Key and I Found It”, “Ooh Rap I Ya”
Least Favourite Tracks: “F.U.M.L.”

Soft Landing by Art School Girlfriend:

This is the second studio album by Art School Girlfriend, an artist I don’t think I’d heard of until recently, and while I still haven’t listened to her debut from 2021, I decided to give this a chance, and …

Well, it’s got a nice sound to it, but aside from that there’s not a lot that makes me want to go back to it.

I mostly like the sound of the percussion, and there are a lot of nice synths, and the vocals are good (even though I don’t like how the vocals sound drowned out in the mix at points), but there’s not a lot melodically or lyrically that really sticks with me. And keep in mind I’m not the best when it comes to analyzing lyrics, so take this with a grain of salt, but a lot of the lyrics just feel generic to me, although there are some I find interesting.

Overall … I think I’m going to give this a very light 6.5/10. I like it as background music, but I doubt I’ll be going back to it much.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Waves”, “Laugh My Head Off”, “How Do You Do It?”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Out There”

Se Bueno by TURQUOISEDEATH:

TURQUOISEDEATH is a teenage music producer, and this new album has been getting a lot of critical acclaim!

And while it’s not really my thing, it’s a very impressive album with a very dreamy sound to it and a lot of detail.

I do find the breakbeats kind of awkward when paired with the dreamy instrumentals here, and fifty minutes of this is a bit much for me, but there are some fantastic moments here! For example, I really like the guitar in “Vertigo”!

Personally, I’m going to give this a 6/10 … again, the percussion doesn’t really work for me, and some of the synths can also feel a bit out of place. But while it’s not fully clicking for me, I highly recommend you listen to this! It’s quite impressive, and I can understand why so many people love this!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Eureka!”, “Guessabelle”, “Vertigo”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Crawl Space”

Starcatcher by Greta Van Fleet:

This is my first time listening to a Greta Van Fleet album, and at least to me, this sounds like some pretty generic hard rock.

As I often say, I’m not the best at analyzing lyrics, so take this with a grain of salt, but I don’t really find the lyrics all that interesting … and it’s not like I’m a big fan of the way this sounds, either.

The vocals often sound drowned out in the mix, and it holds a lot of these songs back for me, even “Sacred The Thread” which I think is a pretty great song, and easily my favourite on the album!

But there’s also “Waited All Your Life” which sounds like a much weaker version of Radiohead’s “Paranoid Android”, and there are also a bunch of songs that just feel really forgettable to me.

I mean, this just isn’t really my style of music. I kind of see the appeal of this, but it’s not for me at all. I’ll give it a 4.5/10. It’s impressive, but that doesn’t mean I really enjoy listening to it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Sacred The Thread”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Waited All Your Life”, “Runway Blues”, “Meeting The Master”

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to my website (or welcome to my website, if you’re new here)! It’s time for another album review, this time of the newest Post Malone album, AUSTIN.

So, it’s time for me to answer a big question that seems very controversial in the online music reviewing community—a question where the answers vary a lot depending on the person—how do I feel about Post Malone’s music?

Well, I can’t fully answer this as someone who hasn’t listened to either of his first two albums—and I considered listening to those albums before this review, and I’m sure I’ll get around to that at some point, but considering some of the things I’ve heard about those albums from others, I’m not super excited to hear them, and I’m still trying to post my final year-end list for 2022, so I decided not to do that right now. But I have heard his third and fourth albums.

And before I talk about my opinions on Hollywood’s Bleeding and Twelve Carat Toothache, I do want to mention that I do know some of the songs from Post Malone’s first two albums, and I can’t say I’m really a big fan of what I’ve heard of those for the most part. I mean, I think “White Iverson” sucks, and I think most of us can probably agree on that, but I’ve never liked “rockstar” as much as a lot of people do, and while “Candy Paint” is a fun song, I can’t say I really love any song that I’ve heard from either of those albums—but again, I haven’t listened to many songs from those albums.

So, Hollywood’s Bleeding seemed to be the point when a lot of people started to like Post Malone’s music. And again, as someone who hasn’t heard either of his first two albums yet, I can’t compare it to those albums … but I’m not a fan of that album at all.

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think Hollywood’s Bleeding is a bad album; yes, I think it has some bad songs on it, especially the abysmal “Enemies” with that godawful DaBaby guest verse (just my opinion, of course), but overall there are some interesting ideas, and it’s got some moments that mostly work—and “Circles” is an absolutely fantastic pop song!

But overall, Hollywood’s Bleeding mostly felt underwhelming, and “Circles” is probably the only great song on the album in my opinion—I mean, Young Thug’s excellent guest verse on “Goodbyes” that totally steals the show might push that song to greatness, but I’d still probably only call it very good at best.

And both Hollywood’s Bleeding and Twelve Carat Toothache are albums that clearly have a lot of emotion put into them, and as much as I respect that, it doesn’t mean I have to like the albums … but speaking of which, Twelve Carat Toothache is an album that, if I’m being honest, I like more than Hollywood’s Bleeding, and I like it way more than most critics seem to. Now, that’s not to say I think it’s a great album, or anywhere close, but I like the production a lot more, and it has a few great songs on it, even though I’m not sure if any of them reach the level of “Circles” for me … although “Lemon Tree” gives it a run for its money!

To me, Twelve Carat Toothache is an album that’s inconsistent, and there are definitely some moments that don’t work for me at all, but some of the really emotional songs really hit hard, and it’s a lot more consistently enjoyable to me than Hollywood’s Bleeding.

Anyway, that’s enough of me going on and on about his previous two albums—AUSTIN seems to be more well-liked than Twelve Carat Toothache … did I end up liking it more?

Unfortunately not … in fact, I probably like this less than Hollywood’s Bleeding. And considering that, once again, there seems to be a lot of emotion here, I kind of hate to say that I don’t really like this album … but again, it’s just how I personally feel.

So, why didn’t this click for me?

Well, one of the reasons is the production/mixing. One example of a song where the production holds it back a lot for me is “Chemical”, which has some good melodies and I like some of the lyrics—there’s clearly a lot of emotion here, but something about the vocal layering in the hook just feels kind of awkward when paired with the instrumental, and overall the production has a bit of a messy feeling to it, holding the song back from hitting a lot harder.

Speaking of vocal layering, the group vocals in “Something Real” also don’t really work for me, and this is another song in which the production has a messy feeling to it, and I’m not really a fan of the reverb here. Usually in rock music—or anything close to it, like this song—I’m not really a fan of reverb, and this is no exception.

And this is something I’ve noticed throughout the album, where it often feels like the vocals and instrumentation were produced for different songs, and it becomes really distracting, especially for this style of music.

Now I will say some of the percussion sounds really good—I like the punchy snare in “Novacandy”, and the kick drum in “Texas Tea” adds some real bite to the track, and the percussion in the hook of “Enough Is Enough” sounds pretty good … and there are some other examples that I like, such as some of the snares in “Something Real” (even though at points in that song the snare sounds distractingly quiet), but the production doesn’t work for me super consistently; I don’t like the handclaps in “Landmine” or “Buyer Beware”, the latter of which also features a snare that sounds really disconnected from the rest of the instrumentation in the production … and speaking of snares that sound disconnected in the production, there’s also “Socialite”, a song I’ll have quite a bit more to say about later.

And while we’re on the topic of percussion … I may as well mention “Mourning”, which is one of the few songs here where I actually like the reverb. In this song, Posty sings about his struggles with alcohol, and also about ‘friends’ who seem to treat him more as a celebrity than a person—and considering how that must make someone feel so distant from most of society, I think the reverb really fits the mood. And it’s a really emotional song that I almost really like … but in my honest opinion, the trap beat really doesn’t fit with the song.

There’s some nice acoustic guitar on this album, but overall the instrumentals aren’t anything that really wow me that much, and at points they sound quite generic, like “Landmine” which sounds to me like a generic radio hit from the mid-2010s, especially with the annoying group vocals in the chorus. Another example is “Enough Is Enough”, which outside of the percussion I just mentioned doesn’t have much about it instrumentally that really interests me.

And even “Chemical”, a song which I like quite a bit about, has an instrumental that does sound pretty generic to me, even though the clicking percussion does sound pretty good in the mix.

And as much as “Green Thumb” has some interesting ideas lyrically, I just find the instrumental and the melodies on this track so, so, so boring … it just doesn’t click for me at all if I’m being honest.

So, what about the vocal melodies? Post Malone is a good singer (even though I often don’t like the way his vocals are produced here), but do the vocal melodies click for me?

Well … sometimes, but it really depends. Some of these hooks are pretty strong melodically, like in “Novacandy”, “Mourning”, “Chemical”, “Something Real”, and “Buyer Beware” … and also “Enough Is Enough”, even though the reverb on Posty’s vocals really holds that song back for me.

But then there are also a bunch of moments here in which the vocal melodies don’t work for me at all, like the chorus melody of “Sign Me Up”, and pretty much the entirety of “Hold My Breath” and “Green Thumb”.

And then there’s also “Overdrive”, a song which I have at least slightly more complicated opinions on. I think Posty sounds great vocally here, and I mostly like the vocal production on this track (even though I’m not really a fan of the reverb), and the percussion sounds really good in the mix … but as much as there are some vocal melodies I really like here, there’s a bit of an awkward chord change in the chorus which doesn’t really work for me, and I don’t like the whistling—unsurprisingly to me, because whistling is usually a big pet peeve of mine in music.

But another thing that holds me back from liking “Overdrive” more is the lyrics. And I get that there’s an emotional appeal to a song like this, where he just wants to be someone else’s idea of ‘cool’, possibly someone he’s romantically interested in … but romantic or otherwise, it’s not a healthy relationship if you’re going to let someone else’s idea of ‘cool’ control your life choices. And no, he’s not implying that it’s healthy, but it doesn’t have the self-awareness of a song like “You’re On Your Own, Kid” by Taylor Swift, even though I like “Overdrive” more overall. I feel like this song is supposed to come across as self-aware, but the self-awareness doesn’t seem like it’s in the actual writing if you ask me. I’m not saying this song is morally reprehensible or anything, but it’s not a song I’m really a big fan of.

And while we’re already on the topic of lyrics … well, again, there’s a lot of emotion on this album in both the vocals and the lyrics … but as much emotion as there is, a lot of the lyrics don’t really do much for me.

I will say, though, there are some moments I like lyrically—for example, I mostly like the yearning lyrics of “Something Real”. I also like the potential double-meanings on “Chemical” where it seems to be about a relationship, but also possibly about drugs—and instead of being one of those stereotypical, cliché songs comparing a relationship to drugs, it feels more interesting, and I’m not entirely sure why … but to me it seems like there’s a potential double-meaning in nearly every line. And there are other moments I like lyrically, like “Mourning” which I already mentioned, even though I do find the main line of the chorus kind of cringey—‘Don’t wanna sober up, the sun is killin’ my buzz, that’s why they call it mourning.’

But there are a bunch of lyrics here that, while I get their appeal, don’t really do much for me, partially because I don’t find them all that interesting. For example, “Novacandy”, which features lyrics about addiction, but I just personally don’t find the lyrics super interesting—I mean, there is emotion here, and I don’t think the lyrics have to be super deep or anything for me to like the song … but something just feels missing here, and I’m not sure what it is, or even whether it’s in the lyrics or the sound.

But there are also a shockingly large amount of lyrics on this album about in which the narrator is driving unsafely, and as far as I can tell, none of it shows that the narrator is in the wrong. And while I’m sure it’s not meant to take seriously, it really doesn’t sit well with me. And a big example of this is what I think is the worst song on the album, “Speedometer”, in which he’s talking about speeding on the road, and then a police officer shows up and he defends himself and tries to get away with it—and again, I’m sure it’s not meant to be taken seriously, but it still really makes me want to stay away from the song … and it’s not like I don’t think the song would have sucked otherwise, partially because of the really annoying chorus, but I also really don’t like the bassline, and there’s a synth that continues throughout the song that I find really annoying as well. And considering the lyrics, the upbeat feeling of the track really doesn’t fit in my opinion, and I think this song is abysmal.

And while we’re on the topic of the worst songs on the album … there’s also “Socialite”, which I said I’d have more to say about … well, first of all, there’s the ‘doing cul-de-sac donuts’ line—and it’s worth mentioning that I don’t drive yet, therefore my knowledge of driving isn’t very high, but I’m almost positive that isn’t very safe. And there are also the lyrics in the chorus about self-destruction, and while I get that there’s an emotional appeal to this, it just feels really icky to me, with the line, ‘fuck me up, it’s only a body.’ Even though it’s not meant seriously, nor is the ‘donuts’ line, I definitely don’t want to listen to it, especially when the vocal melodies are so weak in my opinion, and the reverb, like on so many songs here, feels really distracting. Oh, and there’s also one of the cringiest lyrics on this entire album, maybe the cringiest—‘I’m calling her Shrek ‘cause she got a donkey.’ Um … I’m not really sure what to say about that.

If you want me to say more positive things … well, there’s also “Laugh It Off”, which, as far as I can tell, is a very simple song. It’s got a carefree attitude which I think fits really well with the instrumentation, and it’s got some of the best vocal melodies on the album! I also really like the hard-hitting drums at the end of the track! And it’s easily my favourite song here!

But overall … as much emotion as there is here, it’s not really an album that’s clicking for me personally. There are some cool ideas, but it’s an album that I get the appeal of way more than it’s an album I actually like.

So, for me, AUSTIN is getting a 4.5/10. From pretty much everything I’ve heard, Posty seems like a really great guy, but I can’t say I’m a big fan of his music, at least based on what I’ve heard of it.

But, of course, feel free to let me know what you think in the comments down below. Also, as always, feel free to let me know if there are any albums you want me to review. It doesn’t guarantee I’ll review it, but I’m happy to hear recommendations.

I’m feeling optimistic that I can actually get my favourite songs of 2022 posted in August, and I’ve been making progress on it … and I’ve also got another mini review post I’m working on, but I’m not sure when that’ll be out.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Something Real”, “Novacandy”, “Laugh It Off”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Socialite”, “Speedometer”, “Hold My Breath”, “Green Thumb”

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to my website, and today I’m reviewing the debut studio album from Snõõper, a band I hadn’t heard of until recently. A lot of the songs on this album were released previously on EPs, but this if their debut full-length album, although it’s a very short album.

This is a punk album with fourteen songs, although the album is slightly under twenty-three minutes … so, yeah, most of these songs are very short, although the closing track, “Running”, is over five minutes long.

This isn’t a super complicated album, and again, it’s very short, so it doesn’t make for a particularly difficult listen … so, why is it getting its own review? Well, one reason is because it’s excellent! But another reason is because while this album isn’t super complicated or anything, it’s still full of creativity, and I wanted to say more about it than what I could fit in a mini review.

Now, that being said, it’s not one that gives me a ton to say … I mean, there is more I could say, but I’ve got a bunch of reviews I’m working on, and I still haven’t posted my final 2022 year-end list which I wanted to have posted months ago, and also it’s not a super easy album to fully describe with words why it works so well … but yeah, I didn’t want to give this a mini review, because that would just feel rushed and I’d feel like I haven’t gone into enough detail … because, again, this is an excellent album—and while it’s not among the absolute top tier of my favourites from this year, it’s still full of creativity and is pretty much a lock for my top 50 at the end of the year!

So, first of all, on paper I’m not usually a huge fan of albums full of super short songs that are only about a minute or a little longer, but there’s so much packed into each song that they all kind of feel like full tracks, even though most of them aren’t.

The production is hard-hitting with punchy snares, and the guitars sound excellent! Blair Tramel is a fantastic vocalist, and the vocal effects fit the songs pretty much perfectly! And I love the variety of topics discussed in the lyrics of this album, too! And I can’t forget to mention the basslines!

There are definitely some lyrics here that have something to say, but as far as I can tell the main point of this album seems to just be that it’s a ton of fun—or at least that’s the main reason I love it.

The closing track “Running” that I mentioned earlier—by far the longest song here (it’s more than five minutes and twenty seconds, and the second longest is two minutes)—is a fantastic closer. I love the bassline on this one, and the chaotic sounds toward the end of the track—it’s got a great build to it, and the catchy vocal sections here sound great! But it’s not like the rest of the album before it isn’t totally worth listening to as well, because even the weaker songs here like “Music For Spies” have something to offer, with some really impressive guitar, even though this is one of the few songs in which the mixing feels messy.

I love the satirical lyrics on “Powerball” about gambling, and how some people get addicted to buying lottery tickets. And while it’s a very simple song, I think the lyrics do enough to point out some of the many problems with gambling addiction, and the song sounds fantastic, and I love the noisy section at the start of the song!

There are a few songs here that are under a minute such as the short but very hard-hitting “Bed Bugs” with lyrics which seem to literally be about not being able to stop thinking about bed bugs, although maybe there’s another meaning here, I’m not sure—either way, it’s a very hard-hitting track! 

Another song that’s under a minute is “Fruit Fly”, which features some great guitar work, and I love how the song slows down suddenly before those awesome drums pick up the pace of the song again! And immediately after that is “Inventory”, one of the most impressive songs on this album, with the incredibly chaotic guitar sections, and it’s sounds absolutely great!

“Microbe”, the second longest song here, seems to be about the pandemic and the fear of germs, and it’s another great, hard-hitting punk track, and I love the switch-up at the end with the awesome percussion!

And I haven’t even mentioned songs like the incredibly catchy “Unable”, or the awesome opener “Stretching”, or “Town Topic” which seems to be about something being misheard over the phone and then someone getting in a ton of controversy over something this person didn’t even say—I mean, it’s not the kind of topic you’d expect to hear in a song, but I really like it, especially considering that I personally have a fear of things I say being misheard or misunderstood.

Once again, I think Snõõper delivered an absolutely fantastic debut album! This is some incredible punk music that’s all packaged together on a very short album that still feels like a full album experience, and I’m super impressed by the amount of creativity all packed into a twenty-three minute album!

It’s a hard album to describe totally with words … and speaking of which, I highly recommend you hear this for yourself! Because again, I think this rules! It’s a 9/10 for me! Great album!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “Stretching”, “Bed Bugs”, “Pod”, “Fitness”, “Powerball”, “Fruit Fly”, “Inventory”, “Defect”, “Town Topic”, “Microbe”, “Unable”, “Running”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Music For Spies”

Hello, everyone! So, I’m starting to make more progress on my list of my favourite songs of 2022 (about seven months too late lol), but for now I’ve got more mini reviews ready to post!

As always, none of this is an attempt to be mean or anything, even if the review is negative. Also, this is all just how I personally feel about these albums. Feel free to disagree with me on these albums.

Alright, time for the reviews! And we’re starting with a very mellow album …

The Blue Beyond by Jana Winderen:

This album is only two tracks long, but these songs are over fifteen minutes each. I’d probably call it ambient music, or maybe a sound collage.

Either way, I can’t really say it’s fully clicking for me. In fact, I mostly found it to be a slog to get through. It starts out kind of promising with a really eerie, haunting vibe to it, but the longer this album goes on the more I really want it to end.

And it’s not an album that gives me much to say, either … to me it mostly just sounds like a bunch of random sounds and it gets really boring the longer it goes on.

So, for me, it’s a 4/10. If you’re really into sound collages, it’s worth giving a chance, but I couldn’t get into this at all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Art of Listening: Under Water”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Du Petit Risoud aux Profondeurs du Lac de Joux”

Drink The River by Gabe Lee:

This is my first time listening to a Gabe Lee album, and I’d heard really good things about this album, so I was really excited to hear it (even though I’m not really the biggest fan of country music)!

And there’s a lot of great storytelling on this album, with some good melodies, too. I also really like the production, with the acoustic guitar sounding fantastic!

But unfortunately, I also found quite a few flaws that hold the album back for me. And I’ll start my mentioning the title track, which I don’t like at all. First of all, there’s the line, ‘To Carolina, swift I’ll drive, edge of the road, sharp as a knife, hundred miles an hour, I’m comin’ home to you.’ Yes, I know he’s not being serious here (at least I hope not, and I’d assume he’s not being serious), but it still makes me like the song less … and I also don’t find the melodies or instrumental all that interesting.

I also feel like for an album where so much of it is about the storytelling, and the subtle details in the instrumentation, it kind of feels like it ends a bit suddenly, being less than forty minutes. And I’m not entirely sure why it feels so short or why I feel like I’d like it more if it were longer, especially considering I’m often not the biggest fan of long albums, but this one feels like it could use more, maybe a few more tracks at the end to connect the songs narratively a bit more, because there are themes throughout the album that seem to kind of connect some of the songs, like the theme of how complex humans are, but it doesn’t feel fully fleshed out … but keep in mind that I’m not great at analyzing lyrics, so maybe I’m missing something here, I don’t know.

There is still a lot here that I do like, such as the lyrics about appreciating what we have in “Heart Don’t Break”, and “Merigold” is a heartbreaking track telling the story of someone who’s trying to move on after losing a loved one but is constantly being reminded of this tragedy and wishing to go back in time, and I also love the vocal melodies on this track. There’s also a really great cover of “All I Can Do Is Write About It” by Lynyrd Skynyrd that I probably like more than the original, and the strings in “Even Jesus Got the Blues” sound amazing! Honestly, I like every song here except for the title track.

Gabe Lee is a really good vocalist, too, and I do really like this for the most part, but I can’t help but feel like I ‘should’ like this more than I do, and I don’t entirely know why. So, for a rating … well, again, it’s not that I think this album is bad, or anywhere near bad, it’s just that I feel like the seeds of an absolutely phenomenal album are here and it doesn’t quite click for me as much as I wanted, but still … maybe a light 8? I’d say it’s great, even if just barely. Maybe it’ll grow on me, but for now I’m not quite as wowed by it as a lot of people are.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Wild”, “Even Jesus Got the Blues”, “Heart Don’t Break”, “All I Can Do is Write About It”, “Merigold”, “Eveline”, “Property Line”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Drink The River”

Echosmith by Echosmith:

Echosmith are a band I’ve definitely heard of, quite a few times, but this is my first time listening to an album of theirs.

And unfortunately this is not for me at all. This album is full of vocal melodies that I find super boring, and I’m not a big fan of the production, either, with a lot of the vocal layering adding to a strangely airy sound that feels distracting, and it’s a sound I don’t usually like in this kind of alternative rock.

I’m not really a big fan of how the snares sound here, either, as they often sound either underpowered or annoyingly clunky. And often the vocals seem to overpower the mix, and I feel like that may be in part because of the vocal layering … and then there’s also “Greedy” which features one of the better instrumentals here, and it’s a mellow song that I think I would have liked a lot more if it weren’t for the reverb—it’s not that I never like reverb in music, but for a song that feels so stripped back and mellow and very much about the rawness of the song, the reverb just feels distracting here.

At least the lyrics on this album are kind of interesting, especially with a lot of the detail in the lyrics, but it still doesn’t quite resonate with me emotionally … but that’s a me thing. And even though there are some lyrics here I like, that doesn’t change the fact that I find the melodies and instrumentals really boring—for example, I like the storytelling in “Golden Child”, but there’s almost nothing about this track that really stands out to me in a positive way outside of that. 

“Sour” is easily my favourite song here, and the chorus of that song is one of the very few points on this album—maybe even the only one—where a vocal melody really clicks for me, but even that song has reverb that holds me back from really loving that song … and that’s by far my favourite track here. So, if that isn’t enough to say that I’m not a fan of this album, then here’s a 4/10. It’s not one of the worst albums I’ve heard all year or anything, but I mostly found it to be a slog to get through.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “Porcelain”, “Sour”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sucks 2 Be Us”, “Hindsight”, “Primadonna”, “Gelato”

Neo Seven by 7038634357:

This artist has put out quite a bit of music already, but I only heard of them for the first time recently (at least as far as I can remember), and this is a mostly calming ambient album which mostly works for me.

But unfortunately, I don’t love this album. And part of that is because the loud, distorted sections feel really out of place here—I get that it adds more variety, but those parts of the album just don’t click for me at all, and I otherwise really like the opening and closing tracks (even though I couldn’t find the lyrics to the closing track when I looked them up, and I can’t hear most of the lyrics).

But speaking of adding more variety … I do wish there was a bit more detail here. And I think that’s what’s going to keep me from coming back to this often, even though I do mostly like it. I just don’t find it super memorable.

But still … I’ll give it a light 7/10, because it is quite calming and well-produced, and “Square Heart” is a great track. If you like ambient music, I’d recommend giving this a chance, but even as someone who really likes ambient music … again, I like it, but I don’t love it. 

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Square Heart”, “Acolyte”, “Eraser”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Everytime”

TUN021 – Vector Strike by Devroka:

So, I was just randomly looking for some obscure music I could review … I hope that if I review some obscure artists’ music it’ll inspire people to listen to those albums, even if I give it a negative review.

Going into this album, I didn’t really expect much … there wasn’t anything in particular about it that made me feel like I was really going to like it—and yet …

It turns out this is some pretty great instrumental dance music, with really sharp snares and great grooves!

The production sounds fantastic, and there are a lot of great melodies! There are so many great moments here, and it doesn’t overstay its welcome, either, as it’s not even twenty-five minutes long, but it doesn’t feel too short, either—it’s just a really fun listen with fantastic production, and I’m really glad I gave it a chance! And I highly recommend you do, too! 8/10 for me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “Beneath the circuits”, “Ancient relics”, “Sonic hideout”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Storm surge”

Euphoric by Georgia:

Georgia is the daughter of Neil Barnes (a member of Leftfield, a duo whose music I’ve never listened to), and this is her third album. I haven’t listened to her first two yet, but it seems like this one is getting the least positive reception of any Georgia album so far … and even without having listened to her first two albums, I understand why.

There’s a lot of personal song writing here, and while I respect it, it doesn’t mean I like the album even a little bit. There are a few moments I like but even the best songs here aren’t particularly great if you ask me.

I kind of feel like I’ve reviewed this exact same album ten times already—and yes, that’s an exaggeration, but the vocal melodies here don’t click for me at all, the percussion feels distractingly intense when paired with the rest of the instrumentals, and overall the instrumentals sound mostly upbeat but not all that catchy to me.

At least “Give It up for Love” has a chorus that kind of goes off, and I really like the production in “Keep On”, and the worst songs here aren’t awful or anything, but it’s an album that I’ll probably have a hard time remembering. So, for me, it’s an extremely light 5/10. I don’t find it so boring to the point where it’s bad, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to it much.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Give It up for Love”, “Keep On”
Least Favourite Tracks: “All Night”

Hello, everyone! Time for some more mini reviews!

As always, I’m just sharing how I personally feel about these albums. I’m not saying any of these are ‘objectively good’ or ‘objectively bad’, whatever that even means. Nothing here is meant to be mean or anything, even if the review is negative.

I’m curious to hear what you think of these albums, so let me know in the comments (if you want to, of course). And now, time for the reviews!

Blackbraid II by Blackbraid:

Here’s a black metal album that’s over an hour long by an artist I don’t remember hearing of until recently. And I mostly like this!

The mixing is really good, and the vocals sound incredible! I also find the snares really hard-hitting!

The album is very long, and toward the end I find it a bit less interesting, but there’s still a lot to like, and there are some mellower moments which add more variety here, such as part of “A Song of Death on Winds of Dawn”. And I like that there’s mellower moments to add more variety, even though “Spells of Moon and Earth” and “Celestial Passage” don’t really wow me that much.

Overall, I’m going to give this a 7/10. I think I’d like it more if it were shorter, but there are a lot of really interesting lyrics, and lots of great guitar melodies, and the vocals are phenomenal! Overall, I really like this!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Spirit Returns”, “The Wolf That Guides the Hunters Hand”, “A Song of Death on Winds of Dawn”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Twilight Hymn of Ancient Blood” 

My Back Was A Bridge For You To Cross by ANOHNI:

This album has been getting a lot of critical acclaim, so even as someone who hadn’t ever listened to any of ANOHNI’s music before this, I was really excited to hear it!

But unfortunately, continuing with a big theme of 2023 for me, here’s another super critically acclaimed album that I can’t say I love … don’t get me wrong, I don’t dislike this album, but it’s still not really my cup of tea.

I think a big part of why this didn’t fully click for me is the vocal melodies, which often just feel meandering and don’t grab my attention much. And while there are some interesting ideas lyrically, a lot of the lyrics don’t really grab me personally, and at times the lyrics get pretty cringey, like in “Scapegoat” when she says ‘I can use you like a toilet.’

I like some of the detail in the instrumentation, but the production doesn’t always work for me, with the percussion often feeling too quiet in the mix. Overall, it’s a mostly pleasant album while it’s on, but I don’t think I’ll go back to it much. 6/10 for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “It Must Change”, “Can’t”, “Why Am I Alive Now?”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sliver Of Ice”, “Scapegoat”

Pyrophonics by Heavenward:

This is the debut album from this project of Kamtin Mohager from the band Teenage Wrist. Kamtin has released quite a few albums under the name The Chain Gang of 1974, and as someone who’s never listened to Kamtin’s music or Teenage Wrist’s music, I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this … and I’m not sure whether Heavenward is a band or just a solo project, or what it is, but either way I can’t really say I’m liking this album all that much.

A lot of the snares feel annoyingly stiff, and the mixing feels really messy with the vocals often sounding drowned out by the instrumentation—a big example of this is “Supernova”.

Also, the vocal melodies don’t really work for me, either, and I personally didn’t find a lot that really grabbed my attention lyrically—that’s not the say there’s nothing to the lyrics, it’s just that I personally didn’t find them all that interesting. But keep in mind I’m not the biggest lyrics guy.

Overall … I mean, some of the guitar distortion sounds nice, and at least it’s a pretty short album, and there are a few moments where the vocal melodies click, but there’s not enough here that I like to save this from getting a really light 5/10. Even as a fan of hard rock, this isn’t for me at all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Heavenward”, “Something Real”, “Planned Human Combustion”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Be My Blues”, “Tangerine”

A Mind Waiting to Die by Graphic Nature:

Here’s an album I first listened to months ago in February after it came out, but I’m finally reviewing it now.

As someone who really likes metalcore, I was curious to check out this debut album from Graphic Nature, a band I’d never heard of until this album came out.

There’s a lot of emotion in Harvey Freeman’s lyrics here, a lot of which are about mental health, and I hope he’s doing well, but I did not enjoy this album.

I’m not really a fan of the messy-sounding production here, with the guitar distortion not hitting as hard as I’d like.

I get that the subject matter is very serious, but if I’m being honest some parts of the album do come across as unintentionally funny—for example a bunch of the usages of the word ‘fuck’ … it’s not that I’m against swearing, it’s just that it often feels so overdone here and like he’s trying too hard to say ‘fuck’ as many times as he can. Again, I’m not saying this to be mean, and I hope Harvey is doing well, but this album just doesn’t appeal to me at all.

But with that being said, I do love the song, “A Twin”, the one big standout for me. The tension in the haunting instrumental really fits with the terrifying lyrics which seem to be describing a nightmare—and it’s a great song!

But as a whole, I’m giving this album a light 4/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “A Twin”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sour”, “Into The Dark”, “Killing Floor”, “Headstone”

Monuments to Absence by Fen:

Fen are one of those bands whose name I’d seen online before, but I hadn’t listened to any of their albums until now … and I still haven’t listened to any of their other albums. I’m sure I’ll get around to hearing them eventually, but I just recently found out this came out and I didn’t want to go through their pretty large discography before listening to this, as I wanted to review this sooner rather than later.

The first thing I want to say is that I couldn’t find the lyrics to this album when I looked them up, so I won’t be able to comment on that as I have a hard time hearing what the lyrics are.

Anyway, this is a metal album that’s been mostly critically acclaimed so far, and I can’t say it’s fully clicking for me. I don’t think it’s bad, it’s just not really wowing me personally.

There are some moments I really like, such as the crushing drums and guitar near the beginning of the title track, and the punchy snare in “To Silence and Abyss we Reach”. And overall, it’s mostly pleasant while it’s on …

But for an album that’s over an hour long, it just doesn’t grab my attention enough. A lot of people are really liking this album, and you very well may be one of them, so if you’re into metal I’d recommend you listen to it, but even as a metal fan myself, it’s just not totally clicking for me. Monuments to Absence, for me, is a strong 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Monuments to Absence”, “To Silence and Abyss we Reach”, “Wracked”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Eschaton’s Gift”

i care so much that I dont care at all by glaive:

This is glaive’s debut studio album, and one that hasn’t been getting a super positive reception from what I can tell, but I was curious to hear it as someone who’s never listened to any of glaive’s music before this, and …

Well, the mixing/production sounds really good for the most part! I really like a lot of the subtle details in the instrumentation and the way the instruments are blended together in the mix, and I mostly like the percussion, too!

But I mostly want to focus on the lyrics here. The album opens with “oh are you bipolar one or two?” in which he says he’s going to kill himself when he’s twenty-three, and while he’s probably not being serious, it still makes me worried about him. And then there’s that line in “pardee urgent care” when he says, ‘You told me I should kill myself with pills that stay inside my shelf. I know for a fact I deserve it.’ I doubt this is meant seriously, but still … hearing him say he deserves that is really worrying, and I hope he’s okay.

But then the title track shows him looking back to the past and being glad he didn’t take his own life, and it made those other two songs I mentioned feel more like they were from the perspective of a character, or maybe his past self. 

From this point on there are some more really emotional songs, some of which I really want to say I love but I can’t because the vocal melodies really bore me … and overall, the vocal melodies are one of the biggest things that holds this album back from clicking for me more. There’s a lot of good production and emotional song writing, but the vocal melodies just really don’t click for me at all.

There are two songs here that I love, like “the car” which shows the narrator having sex with someone who’s already in another relationship, and the narrator is very much aware of that … but the instrumentation really fits to make this song feel like more of an intentionally fucked up story, and I think this song is a total banger! There’s also “all i do is try my best”, which is a nice, optimistic song about, well, trying your best and not worrying too much about being perfect, as the title would imply—and this song also has a great chorus and great production!

But then there’s the second to last track in which he mentions suicide again and it’s pretty much the opposite of the title track, as here he says, ‘So this is it, my final shift, my last hoorah, before I take a gun and do something I should have done.’ And again, it makes me worried about him. And even if this isn’t meant to be taken seriously (which, again, it probably isn’t), it still makes me want to stay the hell away from this track and makes me more reluctant to recommend this album when there’s nothing in the closing track that fully wraps up the story being told here, at least as far as I can tell. So, for me, this album is a 4/10. I get that art is open to interpretation, and maybe I’m overthinking all this, but the way he writes about suicide here just feels really questionable to me … but again, art is open to interpretation, so feel free to let me know what you think. And most importantly, I hope glaive is doing well. Clearly he’s been through a lot, and I hope he’s found happiness.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “the car”, “all i do is try my best”
Least Favourite Tracks: “oh are you bipolar one or two?”, “the good the bad the olga”

UTOPIA by Travis Scott:

This is my first time listening to a full Travis Scott album, although I like some of the songs of his that I already knew before listening to this.

And despite being as long as it is, it’s not an album that gives me a ton to say … I don’t find the lyrics all that interesting, but I’m not sure if it’s that I haven’t looked into them enough or if there’s just not much interesting being said here, or maybe a mix of both. (I’ve read the lyrics, and like with any album I review I (at least somewhat) try to understand the lyrics, but it gets exhausting worrying about making sure I understand everything 100%.) That being said, there are some things that stand out to me lyrically, for better or for worse. I like the part in “MY EYES” where he expresses guilt for the tragedy at the 2021 Astroworld Festival. I’ll admit I haven’t read much about what happened at the festival, so I don’t know how much or how little of the blame should land on Travis for what happened, but this part of the song I’m referring to is very emotional, and it shows him wishing he’d handled the situation differently. But there are also some questionable lines on here like in “SKITZO” when he says, ‘I got Ye over Biden’—I’ll admit my knowledge of US politics is lower than it probably should be (even though I’m a Canadian who’s lived in Canada my entire life), so maybe I’m missing something here because I don’t know a ton about Joe Biden or Ye, but I know for sure I wouldn’t want Ye to be the president.

The guest features are a mixed bag if you ask me, with some of my favourites being The Weeknd on “CIRCUS MAXIMUS”, SZA on “TELEKINESIS”, Teezo Touchdown on “MODERN JAM”, and Beyoncé on “DELRESTO (ECHOES)”.

Overall … well, there are parts of the album I really like, but nothing here is as great as “SICKO MODE” in my opinion, and I find the album very inconsistent. And considering how long it is, and I’m not usually the biggest fan of long albums … for me, it’s a 5.5/10. Travis is a good rapper/singer a lot of the time, and there are some catchy moments here, but as a whole it’s not something I’ll be going back to much, if at all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “HYAENA”, “THANK GOD”, “DELRESTO (ECHOES)”, “CIRCUS MAXIMUS”, “TELEKINESIS”, “TIL FURTHER NOTICE”
Least Favourite Tracks: “MELTDOWN”, “I KNOW ?”, “TOPIA TWINS”, “SKITZO”, “K-POP”

Worldless by The Suns Journey Through the Night:

Here’s a black metal album by a one-man project who’s been releasing music for a few years now, but whom I hadn’t heard of until recently, at least not that I can remember. It’s unknown to the public who the man behind this project is, and when I look at the writing credits on Apple Music, it just says John Doe.

Anyway, unfortunately this isn’t really for me. Part of it is feeling like I’ve heard lots of black metal albums with a similar musical style and there’s not much here that really stands out to me that much, but I also don’t really like the production, and it’s hard for me to describe why. It just sounds kind of fuzzy at points, or maybe ‘foggy’ is a better word … I’m not sure, but it just feels like it could use more punch, and at points the snares sound drowned out by the overpowering guitar.

I will at least say I find some of the lyrics interesting, like in the title track which describes something that ‘exists between all things,’ but overall, there’s not a ton about this album that really wowed me, and it does feel like it meanders during some of the mellower parts of the album, like “Grief, The Star”.

But I still recommend you hear it if you’re into black metal, as the very haunting sound of it combined with the lyrics makes for a kind of interesting listening experience even if there’s not much about it that makes me personally want to go back to it … maybe that didn’t make any sense, but to me this is a light 5/10. There’s a good chance you’ll really like this (at least if you’re into black metal), but this didn’t do much for me personally.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Worldless”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Grief, The Star” 

Girl with Fish by feeble little horse:

This is a very short alternative rock album that I saw getting a lot of critical acclaim, and I was excited to hear it!

And it turns out this has got some absolutely fantastic guitar distortion! It sounds absolutely crushing and fits these songs super well!

And I also really like a lot of the lyrics here, even though a lot of them are hard to understand. But I often like lyrics with enough detail to make you really think while still keeping some mystery, and this album does that really well!

There’s a lot of really cool experimentation here, which keeps it from sounding like a generic alternative rock record, but instead of feeling too all-over-the-place and messy, the experimentation feels like it fits.

Now, that being said, “Pocket” is an exception to that, as it does feel a bit all-over-the-place, and it’s my least favourite song here, although even this song has some really fascinating lyrics.

If you want to know my favourite tracks, they’re listed below, but there are a lot of strong highlights here, Lydia Slocum is a great vocalist, and there’s a lot of subtle details in the instrumentation that I really like! I think this is great, and it’s getting an 8/10 from me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “Tin Man”, “Steamroller”, “Heaven”, “Sweet”, “Slide”, “Station”, “Heavy Water”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Pocket”

Hello, everyone! Before I talk about this new album, I want to give a quick update on my other upcoming posts. Yes, I’m still planning to post my top 100 favourite songs of 2022 … honestly, I thought I was going to get that post done in July, and that didn’t happen, but I still feel confident about posting it in August, and I have very slowly been making some progress on it. Also, I’ve got more mini reviews coming up soon.

Alright, so now I want to talk about this new Carly Rae Jepsen album, The Loveliest Time.

This is studio album number seven from Carly Rae Jepsen, and it comes less than a year after her previous album, The Loneliest Time, which came out in October of last year.

Recently I decided to familiarize myself with more of Carly Rae Jepsen’s discography, and … well, I mostly find her albums consistently solid but not particularly great—that is, with the exception of E•MO•TION, as even though when I went back to that album recently for the first time in a while it wasn’t quite as great as I remembered it being, it’s still a great pop album with lots of great hooks and melodies, and fantastic production!

And I think the production is part of the reason her other albums haven’t clicked for me quite as much. That’s not to say I think the production is bad—I even highlighted the production as a positive on The Loneliest Time—but I don’t think there’s another Carly Rae Jepsen album where the production goes off nearly as much as it does on E•MO•TION … and it doesn’t lead to bad albums, but it has led to albums that I don’t find consistently great, even if I do mostly like them.

Her debut album, Tug of War, as well as Dedicated, Dedicated Side B, and The Loneliest Time are all albums that I like, and they all at least have a couple great songs, but as full albums they don’t fully click for me. And then there’s also Kiss which is my least favourite, also not a bad album in my opinion but a more inconsistent one if you ask me.

But I saw The Loveliest Time getting a lot of critical acclaim—even compared to most Carly Rae Jepsen albums—so that brought up my expectations. So, did Carly Rae Jepsen make her best album since E•MO•TION?

To be totally honest here … I thought I was going to like this more than I do. It’s not that I was expecting to love this as much as E•MO•TION, but the album we got is probably my least favourite of her albums since Kiss. And it might be my least favourite album of her career.

Now I do want to make it clear that I don’t dislike this album. In fact, I mostly do still like it, at least a little bit, but it was definitely quite a disappointing album for me. There are still a couple moments that really stand out to me in a positive way, but as a whole it doesn’t really interest me that much.

The opening track features some nice percussion, and I mostly like the production here, but the chorus doesn’t really hit as hard as I’d like.

“Kamikaze” might be my favourite song on this album, with its excellent groovy instrumental and synths that sound fantastic in the mix, adding some subtle flair to the track, leading to a really smooth, groovy bop! And the bassline here is really good, too!

I like the kind of glitchy percussion on the next track, “After Last Night”, but the vocal melodies mostly bore me, and the production doesn’t feel as smooth as the previous track, with the bass feeling overpowering at points.

The snare feels kind of awkward in “Aeroplanes”, and the bassline is kind of interesting but also feels kind of meandering, and there’s not a ton in the vocal melodies that really grabs my attention … it is mixed really well, but I just don’t see why I’d personally want to go back to this track.

“Shy Boy”, the album’s lead single, has a chorus that sounds like it might go off at a party, and the bassline is pretty good, and I really like the snare … but that being said, I feel like I’d like this a lot more if there was more firepower in the instrumental, like maybe some distorted electric guitar. I mostly like this track, but it’s far from one of her better pop songs.

“Kollage” has some of the better vocal melodies on the album if you ask me, and the bassline is pretty good. I really like the production here, but for some reason it feels like a song I should like way more than I do, and I’m not sure what it is that’s missing for me. Maybe it’s just feeling like I’ve heard Carly do mellow songs with a similar musical vibe way better, like “Gimme Love” and “All That” from E•MO•TION.

“Shadow” features a really punchy, groovy drumbeat that fits really well with the bass, and while the hook doesn’t really explode as much as the best hooks from E•MO•TION, it’s still a pretty great song with a pretty catchy chorus regardless!

I feel kind of similarly about the chorus of the next track, “Psychedelic Switch”, a song which features a really awesome clicking beat that adds a bit more punch to this otherwise kind of laid-back pop song! And I think it still works as a nice, laid-back pop song, and I really like the chorus!

So, up until this point on the album, I don’t think it’s amazing or anything, but there are some strong standout highlights for me, and I mostly like it! But then toward the end of the album, I start to like it less.

“So Right” is a decent song in my opinion, but I’m not a huge fan of the watery bass or the watery synth. The song does have a bit of a groove to it, though.

But the next two tracks I like less, starting with “Come Over”, which kind of sounds to me like a weaker version of “Joshua Tree”, a song from The Loneliest Time, and the percussion in this song feels overpowering in the mix. And I don’t find the vocal melodies very interesting at all personally.

And then there’s “Put It To Rest”, which features an instrumental that, to me, sounds quite generic, and the kind of shuffling-like percussion feels distracting. And once again, I don’t find the vocal melodies very interesting.

I really like how the bass is mixed in “Stadium Love”, and overall I like the production on this track, but once again the vocal melodies feel kind of underwhelming.

And then there’s the closing track, “Weekend Love” which does pretty much nothing for me at all, and it sounds quite messy with so many different sounds in the instrumentation, a lot of which, to me, don’t complement each other at all.

So, overall … well, this just didn’t really click for me, outside of some moments here and there. And it’s not like the lyrics really save it for me—the lyrics aren’t bad, but they’re pretty much what you’d expect for a Carly Rae Jepsen album, which works when I like the production, melodies, etc. In other words, Carly Rae Jepsen is one of those artists whose music is very much about the combination of the lyrics with the sound of the songs, and if the songs don’t sound all that interesting to me, the lyrics aren’t usually going to save it for me.

But again, this is still a mostly enjoyable album, but it might be my least favourite album of hers to date. Personally, I find the production inconsistent, and I often don’t like the vocal melodies. Carly is a great singer, and at times the instrumentation and production really clicks for me, but when the vocal melodies bore me this much and the hooks are often underwhelming to me, it leads to this album being quite a big disappointment.

For me, The Loveliest Time is getting a 6/10. Even though I don’t dislike anything here as much as “Beach House”, I also don’t think anything here is quite as great as the title track from The Loneliest Time, and I find that album more consistent and overall more enjoyable as a whole. I had high expectations for this album and it didn’t quite click for me as much as I thought it would, but feel free to let me know what you think in the comment section. I know this is getting a ton of critical acclaim, and if you love it, I’m happy for you, but I can’t say I love the album personally.

Feel free to recommend albums for me to review (preferably from 2023 but I’m open to doing throwback reviews as well) … it doesn’t guarantee I’ll review it, but I appreciate recommendations.

Anyway, thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Kamikaze”, “Shadow”, “Psychedelic Switch”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Weekend Love”

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to another mini review post! As always, these reviews are about how I personally feel. I’m not trying to tell anyone what’s ‘objectively good’, ‘objectively bad’, or anything like that. Music is subjective. Also, nothing here is meant as an attempt to be mean or anything, even if the review is negative … I’m just some guy writing about how much or how little I like these albums and why.

Also, I won’t be going into a ton of detail on these albums, because they are mini reviews. Anyway, let’s get the reviews started!

Outside Problems by Andrew Bird:

So, I was already getting ready to write this review when I found out this might be an EP … I can’t tell if it’s officially an EP or an album, but I guess I’ll include it here anyway … I mean, it’s over forty minutes long, and it’s nine tracks, so it feels more like an album than an EP.

But even though I only include official studio albums on my year-end lists, I won’t have to worry about that here because I don’t feel really strongly one way or the other about this album. I mean, it’s mostly pleasant while it’s on, but it just doesn’t give me much to say.

The mixing sounds pretty good for the most part, and I like some of the melodies, but as a whole it just doesn’t make me want to go back to it.

I do like the strings in “Mo Teef” and the guitar (at least I think it’s a guitar) and strings in “Festivus”, and there are some other moments I like here, too, but it rarely if ever really wows me personally. That’s not to say it isn’t well put together, it’s just that it doesn’t really click for me considering my personal taste in music.

If you’re a huge fan of mellow, instrumental music, you might like it more than I did … but for me personally, I’ll give it a 6/10. At least I like how the bass sounds.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Festivus”, “Mo Teef”, “Tik Tok”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Mancey”

Good Living Is Coming For You by Sweeping Promises:

I saw this album described as post-punk, and as a fan of post-punk I was really excited to hear it!

And unfortunately, this was a huge disappointment … not only do the vocal melodies feel really one-note (I think this is the wording I’m looking for?), but the production really holds the album back for me. It sounds so foggy, and it gives these songs a lot less punch. And it’s not like I really love the instrumentation anyway.

Personally, I don’t find the lyrics all that interesting, but I’m not as much of a lyrics guy as a lot of critics. I’m not saying the lyrics aren’t interesting, just that they didn’t really grab me personally.

I mean, at least the album is short, but this did pretty much nothing for me, and at points it gets really annoying.

I mean, if you love post-punk, you might like this, but even as a post-punk fan myself, I can’t say it’s for me at all. I’m going to give it a 3.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 3.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Good Living Is Coming for You”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Walk in Place”, “You Shatter”, “Can’t Hide It”, “Throw of the Dice”

I Inside the Old Year Dying by PJ Harvey:

Singer-songwriter PJ Harvey is back with her first official studio album in over seven years, and she’s one of those artists whose name I’ve seen on the internet a lot, but whom I haven’t really listened to much. But I decided to check out this new album, and …

Well, I don’t fully understand it. And that can be said about most albums I review, considering I’m not that much of a lyrics person, but especially in this case because I don’t know Dorset dialect. But I found some of the translations, and I do find the album fascinating … but it’s just not fully clicking for me for some reason.

I really like the vocals here, and I also really like the vocal effect used in “The Nether-edge”, and there are a lot of instrumentals here I really like, and I like a lot of the vocal melodies, but something just feels missing to me, even outside of me just not fully understanding it.

Still, though, I do really like a lot of the lyrics I do understand (or at least kind of understand), and I like a lot of the mystery in the lyrics. I think it’s an album I’m more fascinated by than one I actually love.

I don’t want to say this isn’t a great album, because even though I’m just sharing my personal feelings on these albums and not trying to be ‘objective’ (I mean, quality of music isn’t even objective), I still feel like this deserves a higher rating, but for me it’s a 7.5/10 if I’m being honest. I definitely like it, but I don’t love it. It’s not totally my cup of tea, but I highly recommend you listen to it if you haven’t already!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Autumn Term”, “Lwonesome Tonight”, “The Nether-edge”, “A Child’s Question, July”
Least Favourite Tracks: “All Souls”

Inevitable by None:

This metal band got a lot of critical acclaim for their 2019 album which I still haven’t listened to, but this new album has also been getting quite a bit of acclaim.

Now, it’s worth mentioning that I didn’t find very many of the lyrics when I looked them up, so I can’t really comment on that, but I still wanted to review this … and while I wouldn’t say I love it, I did mostly end up enjoying it.

There’s a lot of great guitar distortion, and the vocals sound great! I also like the variety in the sound, but something feels missing for me in the album’s sound, and I can’t quite tell what.

I guess maybe it’s just that, of all the metal albums out there that I’ve heard, I didn’t find a ton here that really makes me want to go back to this one specifically. That’s not to say I won’t ever go back to it, just that I don’t think I’ll go back to it often … overall, I mostly like it, but again, something feels missing to me … maybe something in the mixing? I’m not fully sure. But I’ll still give it a 7/10. If you’re into black metal, I think it’s worth a listen.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Alone, Where I Can See”, “My Gift”, “Rest”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Never Came Home”

Disenchanter by Alaska Reid:

This is Alaska Reid’s debut studio album, although it’s just barely longer than her 2020 EP, Big Bunny, which I haven’t listened to yet. Anyway, is this a good first impression?

Well … kind of. It makes me curious to hear more music from her in the future, but I can’t say this really clicked for me.

I like a lot of the lyrics here, a lot of which are very nostalgic, and I mostly like the vocals—although I’m not a big fan of the more whispered delivery at points here—and the snares sound good for the most part, although the closing track features a snare that sounds kind of awkwardly … hollow?

Overall, though … I don’t know what it is that’s holding me back from liking this more. I mean, I think part of it is that a lot of the vocal melodies don’t really work for me, and a lot of these songs feel like they’re missing something in the production or instrumentation, and I can’t quite tell what. I’m going to give this album a 6/10, but more for the lack of low points than really strong high-points, because I don’t really love any individual song here … I found it consistently pretty good or at least decent, but I rarely found anything that really wowed me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Palomino”, “Back To This”, “Always”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Arctic Heart”

Dead Club City by Nothing But Thieves:

This is the fourth studio album from Nothing But Thieves, a band whose name I’ve seen/heard a lot, but I haven’t listened to a ton of their music. But I decided to check out this new album of theirs, and …

Well, it’s not really for me. The production often sounds too airy for my liking, and a lot of the vocal melodies just don’t do much for me at all.

Some of these songs I find really annoying, like “Keeping You Around” which has a really annoying vocal effect, and to me that track sounds like a bad Bastille song. Also, I do find the chorus of “City Haunts” very annoying, too.

I’m not a huge fan of a lot of the snares here, with quite a few of them sounding overpowering to me.

Overall, it just often feels like something’s missing here to make these songs click for me more, and outside of “Overcome” there’s not much here that makes me want to go back to the album. So, for me, it’s a 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Overcome”, “Pop The Balloon”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Keeping You Around”, “City Haunts”

Hello, everyone! I know I already did a mini review post yesterday as well as a regular album review, but why not post some more mini reviews today?

As always, nothing here is meant as a personal attack on anyone, even if the review is negative. And speaking of which, this post isn’t actually very negative, in fact it’s mostly positive!

I’m just reviewing these albums based on how I personally feel. This isn’t supposed to be about what is ‘objectively good’ or ‘objectively bad’. Feel free to disagree with me on these albums … and also feel free to let me know what you think in the comment section!

And with that, let’s get the reviews started!

The Greater Wings by Julie Byrne:

This is the first Julie Byrne album I’ve listened to, and it seems to be getting the most critical acclaim of any Julie Byrne album so far. And a lot of this album’s lyrics are about the death of her friend and producer Eric Littmann.

I’m not trying to be insensitive or anything, and I hope this album helped Julie and many others, but if I’m being honest the album isn’t fully clicking for me personally.

And that’s a me thing—this style of music isn’t really a style that I usually love. It’s still very impressively arranged musically, and there’s a ton of emotion in the vocals, and also in the lyrics. I guess something about it just didn’t emotionally resonate with me as much as I wanted.

That being said, I do love “Moonless”, with its gorgeous production and instrumentation, and the combination of that with the vocals, the melodies, and the lyrics creates one of the most beautiful songs here, and my personal favourite on the album.

I don’t love this album, but I still absolutely recommend you listen to this if you haven’t already … and while I’m giving it a light 6/10, I can totally see the argument for this being a great album, even if it just didn’t fully click for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Moonless”, “Summer Glass”, “Flare”, “Hope’s Return”, “Death Is the Diamond”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Lightning Comes Up From the Ground”

Agriculture by Agriculture:

Here’s something that might surprise you: If my math is correct, I have reviewed over 225 albums on my website (if you include the ones in this post), and this is only the fourth self-titled album I’ve reviewed. Not only that, but the first one was in December of 2022 when I did a throwback review of Paramore’s 2013 self-titled album, and the other two are albums I reviewed earlier this month!

Anyway, here’s a black metal band who’ve been gaining traction recently with their self-titled debut album, and it’s been getting a lot of acclaim—and it’s easy to see why! This album is full of super hard-hitting distorted guitar, fantastic drumming, and great basslines! And the mixing sounds fantastic!

Lyrically there seem to be themes of trying to appreciate what we do have instead of focusing too much on what we don’t, with some really interesting details in the writing that may not be easy to notice at first. For example, there’s a really interesting story being told in “The Well”—that is also repeated with nearly the exact same lyrics in “Look, Pt. 1”—with lots of possible ways it could be interpreted.

This isn’t the kind of music that I think of when I think of black metal, it’s a lot more experimental, with a really noisy section in “Look, Pt. 3” that I think is absolutely incredible! And there’s a lot of variety here, too, with some sections that sound like what you’d expect for black metal but with a messier sound that for some reason doesn’t take away from the punch these tracks have, partially because it’s mixed so well, but also because it fits with the mood of these instrumentals, and I’m not sure I can fully describe why! And there’s also the song, “The Well”, which isn’t even a metal song at all—in fact, it’s quite mellow! And there are some other parts of the album that sound totally different!

A lot of the things I’ve described aren’t super different from lots of other albums I’ve heard before, but when you actually hear this album, it’ll probably sound a lot more unique—at least it does to me. And of course I haven’t listened to every album in existence, so I can never really know for sure how ‘unique’ or ‘generic’ any album is, but this album definitely impressed me!

It’s just over a half hour long, and yet it feels more like a full album experience than a lot of longer black metal albums I’ve heard! If you’re not a fan of metal, I’m not sure this is the place to start with the genre, but personally I love this album! I’m going to give it an 8/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Glory of the Ocean”, “Look, Pt. 3”, “Relier”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Look, Pt. 2”

Endless Pursuit by Temple of Angels:

After seeing some genre descriptions of this album, I was curious to check it out. But I will say, this kind of dreamy alt-rock/shoegaze is very hit-or-miss for me. But I wanted to review this debut studio album from a band I’d never heard of until recently (at least not that I can remember) … and did I end up liking it?

Well, there’s a lot of good basslines here, and the guitars mostly sound really well produced, with a lot of nice guitar riffs, too. The snares are mostly really punchy, too! Overall, there is a lot to like here!

But with that being said, it does get to be a bit much with forty minutes of this sound, and some of the tracks blending together for me—although there are some really strong standouts for me as well. I also think some of the reverb takes away from the punch these songs otherwise have, but at times I think it works.

Overall, I do mostly like this. I’m going to give it a strong 7/10, as there are a lot of strong melodies and a lot for me to like in the production … but I think I’d like it more if it were shorter, even though it’s only forty minutes.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Tangled in Joy”, “Waving to the Wind”, “Lost in Darkness”, “The Hill”, “(For You) I’d Lose It All”
Least Favourite Tracks: “When the Shadow Smiles Back”

EVERGREEN by PVRIS:

This is the fourth studio album from PVRIS, whose name I’ve seen around the internet a lot but whose music I haven’t really listened to outside of this new album. PVRIS has recently become a solo project of lead singer and founding member, Lynn Gunn.

I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into this album, but I ended up liking it quite a bit! The production sounds really sharp and punchy, with the snares sounding excellent, and Lynn Gunn is a fantastic vocalist, too!

I love a lot of the melodies here, leading to a lot of great hooks, like in “SENTI-MENTAL”, “LOVE IS A…”, and “GOOD ENEMY”.

I also really like a lot of the lyrics here! For example, “ANIMAL” seems to be about escaping a toxic relationship with a possessive partner, and it’s a really powerful song! I think there’s a theme on this album of self-love, as much as it’s often hidden behind lyrics that seem like the opposite.

There’s a lot of emotion here, with punchy production in the instrumentation that gives these songs a lot of power, as does Lynn Gunn being a fantastic vocalist! But with that being said, I don’t always like the vocal production here, with some of the effects taking away from the power of these songs. And at times the vocal melodies can get slightly boring, even though I do love a lot of the vocal melodies … I guess what I’m trying to say is even a lot of the elements here that I really like I often don’t find consistently great …

And I think as a whole it leads to an album that I wouldn’t quite call great, but I’d still call it very, very good! If you haven’t heard it, I highly recommend it, and it’s getting a strong 7.5/10 from me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “I DON’T WANNA DO THIS ANYMORE”, “GOOD ENEMY”, “ANIMAL”, “TAKE MY NIRVANA”, “LOVE IS A…”, “EVERGREEN”
Least Favourite Tracks: “HYPE ZOMBIES”

Time Will Wait For No One by Local Natives:

This band has been around for over a decade and a half, and they’ve been releasing music for nearly that long, but this is my first time listening to them, and unfortunately it’s not really clicking for me.

Honestly, one of the albums this reminds me of the most is TV Girl’s newest album which I reviewed a few weeks ago, and while I like this album way more than that album, something about the vocal melodies and instrumentation sounds kind of similar to me, and I can’t quite place what it is … but this album’s production doesn’t sound as messy, and I find the lyrics here a bit more interesting, and I don’t find the melodies as annoying.

I’m still not a big fan of the production, though, especially with the bass often sounding really awkwardly quiet in the mix.

I like some of the vocal melodies, but a lot of them just don’t do much for me. I like the second half of the album more than the first half, but I still don’t love the second half … and the second song here, “Just Before The Morning”, I find very annoying, in large part due to the mixing, with the bass sounding really quiet at points and it feels quite distracting, with the vocals overpowering the mix.

I like the production on the last few tracks way more, and “Paradise” has some really emotional lyrics which are partially about pregnancy loss, which lead singer Kelsey Ayer and his wife have experienced. And it’s probably my favourite song on this album.

But overall, this album just isn’t really my cup of tea. I’ll give it a strong 5.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Hourglass”, “Ava”, “NYE”, “Paradise”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Just Before The Morning”

Hello, everyone! Welcome back to my website (or welcome, if you’re new), and today I’m reviewing the newest Lil Uzi Vert album, Pink Tape.

So, this is the first Lil Uzi Vert album I’ve ever listened to, but I do know the song, “XO TOUR Llif3”, a fantastic song that is incredibly dark and eerie, with some incredibly deep lyrics and a mood that really fits with the lyrics. But I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this new album which is almost an hour and a half!

And … well, after giving it multiple listens, I can’t say it’s really my thing. It’s an album that has some standout moments, but considering how long it is and how much of it just doesn’t work for me at all, I found this mostly to be a slog to get through.

Before I talk about these songs, I just want to say that analyzing lyrics isn’t one of my biggest strengths as a music reviewer, so take my interpretations with a grain of salt.

“Flooded The Face” is a generic opener with a bunch of lyrics that, as far as I can tell, have pretty much nothing to them … just a bunch of stuff about having a lot of money, and other generic lyrics, including the line, ‘I fuck your bitch on cam like a porno flick.’ And it’s not even like I find the instrumental interesting.

“Suicide Doors” has a lot of the same problems lyrically, and it has the line, ‘I’m so rockstar, I might try cocaine.’ First of all, that’s a bad idea. Second, it’s really cringey, and like most of the lyrics here, I don’t find it at all interesting. But that being said, the instrumental does have some power to it, and Uzi’s vocals are quite impressive here!

“Aye” features the terrible line, ‘My bitch don’t want me no more, now I look at her like, ‘ho’,’ and also has an underwhelming Travis Scott verse. The hook also is pretty annoying with the repetitive, ‘Yeah! Yeah! Yeah!’

“Crush Em” starts off sounding okay, but the super repetitive chorus starts to get annoying, and the instrumental doesn’t really do much for me.

If you want to know of a song I do like, that would be the next song, “Amped”, which I think is a total banger! I love the ferocious vocals from Uzi, and the melodic instrumental sounds really good, too! I think this might fit into the ‘rage’ genre, and it’s a style of music that I’m often not a huge fan of, but every once in a while I’ll hear a track like this, and I think this sounds great!

Right after that is “x2”, which features a nice instrumental, but outside of that there’s not much about it that really sticks with me. But I at least like it better than the next track.

I’m talking about “Died and Came Back”, which not only has flows that bore me and an instrumental that doesn’t do much for me, either, but there’s a lot here lyrically that I don’t like. I mean, right near the start, there’s the line, ‘Rigatoni is not spaghetti’ … I mean, that is true, I will say that …

But then there’s a line where they say that drugs got them ‘deady’, which might mean dead? I’m not sure about that, but if that is what that line means, that worries me. Is Lil Uzi Vert okay?

And then there’s the line, ‘You said you fucked my bitch, I fucked your bitch too,’ and then later in the song there’s the line, ‘Don’t cheat on my bitch, but I still got me two phones.’ I mean, there are different ways these could be interpreted, but it feels like those two parts of the song contradict each other. 

“Spin Again” starts with a vocal that reminds me of “Amped”, but the instrumental here just feels annoyingly repetitive. “That Fiya” I like a bit better, mostly because of the vocal melody in the chorus.

But then there’s “I Gotta”, which features some awkward production in which the instrumental sounds kind of awkward … I’m not sure how to explain it, but I don’t enjoy listening to it.

But “Endless Fashion” is much, MUCH worse. First of all, there’s an interpolation of “Blue (Da Ba Dee)” by Eiffel 65 … and while I love “Blue (Da Ba Dee)”, I think it sounded terrible when David Guetta and Bebe Rexha interpolated it last year, and I think it sounds terrible when Lil Uzi Vert interpolates it here. The instrumental sounds really annoying with the interpolation and a trap beat that does pretty much nothing for me, and I think Nicki Minaj probably has the worst guest feature here, which includes the line, ‘I got a Republican doctor, made my ass great again, MAGA,’ as well as ‘bitch don’t make me rag you, pasta.’ And then Nicki refers to Lil Uzi Vert with the wrong pronoun … and I get that mistakes happen, but did no one notice before the song was released?

Then there’s “Mama, I’m Sorry”, and I think there’s a little more to this one, with the lyrics about addiction to drugs, but I don’t like the way this song sounds at all, with a really annoying chorus melody and an instrumental that really bores me, and there’s also the terrible line, ‘My bitch so bad, yeah, my bitch, she a felon.’

“All Alone” has pretty good production but not much about it that really sticks with me outside of that, but “Nakamura” is the next big highlight of the album for me, with some really good vocal melodies and a fantastic instrumental! This song has an epic sound to it that I think really works!

“Just Wanna Rock” was released as the lead single, and while I think it sounds pretty good, it also just feels unfinished. I wish there were more to it.

I’m not really sure what’s holding me back from liking “Fire Alarm” more, but something kind of feels missing, even though I do really like some parts of the instrumental.

And then there’s a cover of “Chop Suey!” by System Of A Down (this version is titled “CS”). So far, from what I’ve seen, it seems like a lot of people really don’t like this cover … and that includes me. This cover is awful in my opinion! Especially the chorus in which the melody isn’t nearly as strong as the original if you ask me … I honestly kind of can’t believe this exists.

“Werewolf” is a heavy rock song that features Bring Me The Horizon, and while I have a lot of respect for the amount of variety on this album, this song doesn’t work for me at all. The vocals sound really quiet in the mix, and the drums sound really awkwardly produced, with a strangely underpowered but annoyingly snappy feel to them.

“Pluto to Mars” goes back to a mellower sound, and while I find this track less annoying than “Werewolf”, there’s still not much about that I really like. Also, there’s this annoying sound in the background here that kept making me think I was hearing a siren outside, and then I’d realize it’s the song.

“Patience” is an emotional song in which Uzi apologizes for their mistakes in a relationship, and I like the chorus melody, but I’m not as big a fan of Don Toliver’s bridge here.

And then there’s “Days Come and Go”, which is another emotional track which seems to be about the struggles of fame, and how people may think that everything is going perfectly for Uzi because they’re a celebrity, but they’re a human just like the rest of us are. And there’s a lot about the song that I like … but it also features one of the worst lines I’ve heard all year, in which they mention people stalking their significant other and then they say, ‘But I would too if that was not my chick.’

“Rehab” shows Uzi thanking people who helped them with their rehab, and it’s easily one of my favourite songs on this album. I also really like “The End” featuring BABYMETAL, probably the hardest-hitting rock song here, which the great drumming and I love the line when Uzi says, ‘I’m not from this Earth, I’m from outer space. I landed here just to drop the Pink Tape.’ I also love the catchy chorus here!

Then there are a few songs listed as bonus tracks, which I’m going to include as part of the version of the album I’m reviewing and rating, as I’m not sure whether or not there’s another version which doesn’t include them. Anyway, what do I think of these songs?

Well, I like “Zoom”, which isn’t anything mind blowing or anything, but it’s got a nice trap snare, and the production sounds really good. And I like the hook on this one, too. “Of Course” doesn’t really do much for me, but I don’t dislike it, either. And finally there’s “Shardai”, which I like the sound of, but it also features these lyrics: ‘Been trappin’ for three days, I smell like B-O. I ain’t take no shower, bitch, I shower in dough.’ I’m not really sure what to say about that line other than that it’s quite bad in my opinion.

Also, there’s a really awkward pause at the end of “Zoom” before “Of Course” starts, where it’s just silence for over half a minute, and it throws off the pacing for me.

So, yeah, those are my thoughts on this twenty-six-song album!

I have a lot of respect for the variety of music on this album, but overall I just find a lot of it boring, and there are some parts of the album I strongly dislike, too … but it goes have some great moments, so I’ll give it a very light 4.5/10. If you don’t feel like listening to the entire thing—which I probably wouldn’t really recommend anyway—I’d recommend listening to a few tracks (maybe pick some random tracks here) and if you like what you’re hearing, then listen to the whole thing, and otherwise don’t. But that’s just my recommendation. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comment section, and I’ll be back with more reviews soon!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Amped”, “Nakamura”, “Rehab”, “The End”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Died and Came Back”, “Endless Fashion”, “Mama, I’m Sorry”, “CS”, “Werewolf”