Hello, everyone! Welcome to another mini review post, this time with eight mini reviews! As always, these reviews are just how I personally feel, and none of this is meant as a personal attack on anyone, even if the review is negative.

Also, these aren’t meant to be super in-depth reviews. I’m just getting out some brief thoughts on these albums without going into a ton of detail … that’s pretty much the point of my mini review series.

And now, time for the reviews!

Sunburn by Dominic Fike:

Going into this album, the only Dominic Fike song I knew was “3 Nights”, a song I don’t really like at all. And considering that I hadn’t heard very positive things about Dominic Fike’s music from critics, my expectations for this weren’t super high … and yeah, I can’t say I’m a fan of this.

I actually think the album starts off pretty strong with an opener that I mostly like, and the second track, “Ant Pile”, is pretty great in my opinion, with some really nice guitar … but after that I start to like it a lot less, starting with “Think Fast” featuring Weezer, which interpolates “Undone – The Sweater Song”, a song that I think is WAY better than “Think Fast”, and it’s not even the slightest bit close at all … not even the tiniest bit.

Then there are a bunch of annoying choruses, and instrumentals that don’t work for me at all. And I do like some of the lyrics on this album, and there are some interesting stories where he owns up to bad things he’s done, but there are a lot of lyrics that don’t work for me at all, too, some of which I find very cringey and others which are pretty questionable, like “Frisky” which I can’t help but get this really icky feeling from, as it sounds like someone trying to pressure someone else into drinking alcohol, which I don’t think was the intent of the song (and if it was, it was probably meant in a ‘playing the role of the villain in the song’ way) but it still just makes me want to stay the hell away from the track.

And I don’t usually talk about vocals in my reviews—I don’t want to make it about how someone’s voice sounds—but at the same time, it is part of the music that we listen to, and while this isn’t anything against Dominic Fike’s voice, and I’m sure he has potential to sing with a falsetto that I like, I can’t stand his falsetto on this album. I’m not saying that to be mean, I just personally really don’t enjoy listening to it.

And toward the end of the album these songs start to get extremely annoying and it becomes more and more of a chore to get through for me as the album goes on … so, for me, it’s a strong 4/10, and the main reason that rating isn’t lower is the first two tracks. Aside from that, this just bored the hell out of me, and at times I found it quite annoying. That being said, it is an interesting album, so I’d recommend you listen to it, as I can kind of see some of the appeal.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “How Much Is Weed?”, “Ant Pile”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Think Fast”, “Sick”, “Frisky”, “Mama’s Boy”, “What Kinda Woman”

UGLY by slowthai:

This album came out quite a bit earlier this year, and I’m just finally getting around to reviewing it now. I’ve seen/heard slowthai’s name online a lot, but I hadn’t really listened to his music. This album has been getting a ton of critical acclaim, so I decided to listen to it and review it. So, what do I think of it?

Well, there’s clearly a lot of emotion here, and there’s also a lot of creativity … but if I’m being totally honest, it didn’t really click for me. Don’t get me wrong, I do like parts of this album, but a lot of it kind of bores me, too. It’s a huge example of an album I respect way more than I like.

I like a lot of the lyrics about the complexities of humans, and some of the production/instrumentation does work for me … but often I find the vocal melodies boring, and a lot of these songs just don’t really stick with me.

Again, I do like parts of the album, like the chorus of the title track, which is probably my favourite track here, and there’s a lot of good storytelling on this album, but the way it sounds often bores me. So, I’ll give it a 6/10. I recommend giving it a listen if you haven’t yet, but it’s not really my cup of tea.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Selfish”, “Never Again”, “UGLY”
Least Favourite Tracks: “HAPPY”

Agonal Hymns by Nithing:

I’ve been seeing a lot of critical acclaim for this new Nithing album. This artist has been releasing music for a while, but this is his official debut studio album under this name. And it’s some pretty heavy death metal!

I understand why so many people find this sound incredibly annoying and difficult to listen to, but it is a sound of metal music that I often like, but also that often doesn’t really stick with me or make me want to return to albums in this sound. But that’s not to say there can’t be exceptions, so is this one of them?

Honestly, not really. I mean, it’s impressive, and there are some parts of the album that I like, but I mostly just hear a noisy mess that does sound pretty cool at points, but often doesn’t have much about it that makes me want to go back to it.

And lyrically, this doesn’t really work for me, either. Keep in mind I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics, but there are a lot of violent lyrics here, and while I get that it’s supposed to be from the perspective of a character, it just has this gross feeling to it that I can’t quite describe. It’s not that I can’t respect it as art, but I don’t really want to listen to it.

And the lyrics of the first track are quite questionable—and again, maybe I’m totally missing the point, and keep in mind my science knowledge isn’t very high, so maybe I’m misunderstanding these lyrics, but it seems to be a song from the perspective of a fetus that’s about to be aborted—no, I’m not making this up. And while it’s an interesting idea, it does maybe come across as being against abortion rights … keep in mind I said ‘maybe’, because I can’t really tell what the message here is, and I’m not sure what Matt Kilner’s stance on abortion is, but the lyrics do seem questionable. It is still a fascinating song lyrically, though.

Overall, while this album has its moments, I can’t really say it did much for me at all, and I’m going to have to give it a 5.5/10 if I’m being honest. I mean, it’s impressive, but it’s not for me at all.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Emetic Rapture”, “The Seeping Pus of Ancient Wounds”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Lustral Cognitive Erosion”, “Wreathed in Sores”

Natural Wonder Beauty Concept by Natural Wonder Beauty Concept:

This is the debut album by Natural Wonder Beauty Concept, a duo of DJ Python and Ana Roxanne, both artists who were pretty well known already (at least in the online music reviewing community), although I’m not familiar with their solo music. But I decided to check out the debut from this duo.

And while I mostly ended up liking it, it does feel pretty far from something I legitimately love. I mostly like the production and mixing, and I think there’s some nice atmosphere to these tracks, but it loses my interest at points, with “The Veil I” and “The Veil II” being examples of that.

To me, this mostly sounds like pretty good background music without a lot about it that really grabbed my interest. I mean, I do think “Driving” has some really interesting percussion and an eerie vibe that is also oddly calming at the same time, and it’s a great song, but outside of that a lot of this just didn’t really do much for me.

Overall … I mean, a lot of the sound effects sound really good in the production and some of them add a lot to these tracks, but something feels missing here and I can’t quite tell what … but again, there is still some nice atmosphere here. 6/10 for me, I mostly enjoyed it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Fallen Angel”, “III”, “Driving”
Least Favourite Tracks: “The Veil I”

Exploited by Enjoy:

This is the first solo album in close to three years from Enjoy, despite the large amount of albums he’s released since the early 2010s. Enjoy is possibly best known as one half of the rock duo, The Garden, a duo made up of him and his brother, and while I haven’t listened to The Garden’s music, I remember hearing about an album they dropped last year.

Anyway, how is this new Enjoy album? Well, it’s not for me at all. A lot of these songs just mostly bore me. I mean, I like some of the guitar riffs, but for the most part this didn’t do much for me at all.

The mixing often sounds kind of messy, and I’m not really a huge fan of the snares here. There’s also not much in the vocal melodies that I like.

My favourite song here is “Ring Your Bell”, which wouldn’t sound too out of place on Turnstile’s 2021 album GLOW ON, but even that song sounds awkwardly mixed, with the snare feeling overpowered. And then right after that song is “Jerk Driver”, which seems to be from the perspective of someone who doesn’t drive safely, and it’s supposed to sound ‘self-aware’, but personally I find it really cringey and annoying.

And then on the topic of driving unsafely, there’s “100 Mph On the Highway”, another song about unsafe driving, and while I’m sure this wasn’t intended to promote unsafe driving, I still don’t really want to listen to it—and it’s not just the lyrics, I also find the snare overpowering, and the vocal melodies don’t do much for me.

Often the bass overpowers the mix here in my opinion (like in the title track), and I’m not a big fan of the vocal production. One example of vocal production I don’t like is in “Dear John Letter”, a song originally by Agression, and I listened to that version for the purpose of this review, and I much prefer the original.

I could make the obvious pun and say I don’t enjoy this album … or I could just give it a 4/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “Ring Your Bell”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Jerk Driver”, “100 Mph On the Highway”, “Make a Dent In the City”

Disaster by Ostraca:

I’d never heard of this metal band until recently when I saw their new album, Disaster, getting a lot of critical acclaim, and I decided to give it some listens … and unfortunately, I can’t say the album is really clicking for me as much as I’d like.

Don’t get me wrong, there are some really strong moments here for me, like the build at the end of “Heaven is Still”, the moment in “Stage Whisper” when the guitar really erupts for the first time, and “Whilom” is a fantastic track with incredible mixing and some of the best vocals on the album!

But often it kind of feels like the compositions meander too much for my liking, and at points the bass feels underpowered in the mix. There are some hard-hitting snares, but they also sound underpowered at points such as in parts of the closing track.

I think there’s more for me to like here than dislike, which is why I’m giving this a 6/10, but I get this strange feeling that I ‘should’ like it more than I do.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Heaven is Still”, “Whilom”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Rebuke”

If We Stayed Alive by 12 Rods:

This is the fifth studio album by 12 Rods, a band whom I don’t remember hearing of until this album came out. I still haven’t listened to any of their other albums, and this is their first album since 2002, and they have an entirely new lineup aside from lead singer Ryan Olcott.

And this was a strange listen for me, because I think it starts and ends really well, but overall I find it quite inconsistent, and a lot of the vocal melodies don’t really do much for me, and I often find the mixing inconsistent.

“The Beating” is boring to the point where it feels like a slog to get through, and “Hide Without Delay” is kind of annoying to me, too, but I really like the guitar distortion on “Comfortable Situation”, a song which features some really fascinating lyrics, and the closing track is excellent!

I like a lot of the basslines here, but overall I just found the album inconsistent … so, for me, it’s a 5/10. There’s a lot about this album that doesn’t work for me, but it’s got its moments, and while the vocal production may sound off-putting at first, the more I listened to it, the more I started to actually kind of like the vocal production. I think it’s a mostly decent album.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “All I Can Think About”, “Comfortable Situation”, “Twice”
Least Favourite Tracks: “The Beating”, “Hide Without Delay”

You & I by Rita Ora:

So, this album seemed to be getting a mostly negative reception from critics, so as someone who hasn’t listened to much of Rita Ora’s music (and I don’t remember really liking the few songs of hers I have heard), I can’t say my expectations for this album were super high, but like all the albums I review I wanted to give it a fair chance.

But unfortunately, I can’t say I like this album. To me, a lot of it sounds very generic and very similar to tons of other songs I’ve heard before on the radio. Now, that being said, there are some good vocal melodies here, and at points the production sounds really good, like in “Waiting for You”, in my opinion the one great song on this album! But there’s also a lot of repetition on this album, and percussion that doesn’t really do much for me.

Lyrically I didn’t find much here that interested me. Keep in mind I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics, so maybe there’s more to these lyrics than I think there is, and also songs don’t have to be super deep lyrically for me to like them. And while I like a lot of the themes here, like self-love and also nostalgia for the past, a lot of the lyrics just feel like lyrics I’ve heard before many times. And there’s also the opener, “Don’t Think Twice”, an upbeat song in which the narrator is trying to have sex with someone and telling this person to ‘not think twice,’ and to ‘trust the way you feel tonight.’ I know it’s a song, and art can be interpreted in different ways, but to me this comes across as incredibly creepy. Anyone getting Robin Thicke’s “Blurred Lines” ‘I know you want it’ vibes from this?

Often on this album, I feel like there’s seeds of a great song here, but it just doesn’t click for me, like “You & I”, which has some nice melodies in the vocals and synths, but the awkward, underpowered snare in the chorus makes this hook a lot less punchy.

Overall, while there are a few redeeming moments here, as a whole it just feels really uninteresting to me personally. I’m going to give this a 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “You Only Love Me”, “Waiting for You”, “Shape of Me”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Don’t Think Twice”, “Praising You”

Hello, everyone! Time for more mini album reviews! As always, this is all just based on how I personally feel about these albums. Even if I give an album a negative review, it’s not meant to be mean or anything, and I’m not pretending to be ‘objectively right’ about these ratings. Even if it sounds like I’m trying to be ‘objective’, it’s all just how I personally feel.

Unfortunately, this is a pretty underwhelming list of albums for me, without a lot that really wowed me, but at least there are some interesting albums here, for better or for worse … and let’s start with a new album that’s gotten a lot of attention from music critics …

3D Country by Geese:

I think it’s pretty funny that on the same day as Swans’ highly anticipated album, Geese released an album and it ended up getting a lot of critical acclaim.

And it reminds me a lot of Radiohead, especially in the vocals, but also a lot of the instrumentation, too. For example, the noisy “Undoer” reminds me a lot of “Paranoid Android” by Radiohead … not nearly as great as “Paranoid Android”, but it reminds me a lot of that track!

But unfortunately, I can’t say I really love this album … I think it starts really strong with the great guitar distortion and hard-hitting percussion of “2122”, with great bass and guitar riffs, and the noisier parts of this song work really well! And that can mostly be said about the next track, too, and there are other moments here that click for me … but parts of the album feel like they drag on longer than I’d like, and the longer the album goes on the more bored I get.

At times the vocal melodies can get kind of boring, and a big example is “Cowboy Nudes”, easily my least favourite song on the album as it’s also got an annoying snare, underpowered bass and a guitar melody that I don’t like at all. And speaking of which, I do find the production pretty inconsistent—and yes, I do really like the production at points, but it depends on the song. The first two tracks feature production I really like, but there are also some parts of the album where I feel the production holds it back from hitting a lot harder, like the blazing guitars in the chorus of “Domoto” that sound underpowered in the mix.

But again, there is a lot to like here, such as a lot of the noisier moments which sound really well produced and mixed … it’s definitely an interesting album, but overall it just didn’t fully click for me. 6/10 for me, still pretty good, but I wouldn’t say it’s great.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “2122”, “3D Country”, “Mysterious Love”, “Domoto”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Cowboy Nudes”, “Gravity Blues”

For Better, For Worse by joe unknown:

Here’s a pretty short post-punk album (or at least I think it’s probably post-punk) with great production, and I really like the sound of the percussion!

I couldn’t find all the lyrics for this album when I looked them up, but I do like a lot of the lyrics I could find, and I can hear some of the other lyrics, too. That being said, at points I do feel like some ideas could have been expanded on lyrically, but there are a lot of good lines, and sometimes I do like the lyrics that just get right to the point.

The instrumentals are quite groovy and often fit with the lyrics, despite some dark subject matter. There’s just this strange sense of intrigue I feel with this album and the way some of the depressing lyrics fit so well with the groovy instrumentals, and I’m not really sure why that’s the case.

I really like a lot of the synths here, and while at points the pacing of the album feels thrown off and often there seems to be a strange feeling I get that something’s missing, I still mostly do like this, so I’ll give it a light 7/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Gang”, “Hell of Mine”, “Palate Cleanser”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Silent”

In The End It Always Does by The Japanese House:

Here’s some mostly mellow pop—or at least kind of pop—with a kind of airy sound to it but only kind of, and at points it feels more upbeat, and there are some catchy moments here.

It reminds me a lot of MUNA’s album from last year (still the only MUNA album I’ve listened to, but I’ll get around to listening to their other albums eventually), but whereas that album ended up being one of my favourite albums of last year with its terrific grooves, punchy snares, and phenomenal mixing, this kind of feels like a more underwhelming version of that album, with less catchy vocal melodies, more awkward percussion choices, and I don’t find the basslines nearly as interesting, either.

MUNA actually feature on this album—or at least their lead singer Katie Gavin does (I often can’t tell whether a band really featured on another artist’s song or if it was just the band’s lead singer)—and Katie Gavin’s verse on “Morning Pages” is easily one of my favourite parts of the album! And I also like the closing track which was co-written by Katie Gavin. And even outside of that, there are elements that I like. I like a lot of the emotional lyrics, a lot of which are about yearning, and there are also some lyrics relating to getting caught in cycles—possibly from mental exhaustion after breakups.

But a lot of the time when this album is showing so much potential, something very notable holds it back for me, and it’s different depending on the song. One big example is “Touching Yourself”, which has one of the catchiest choruses on the album, and I like some of the vocal melodies here and the yearning lyrics, but the bass feels mixed really awkwardly and too all-over-the-place melodically and just has this strangely watery sound to it.

But the more I listened to this, the more I started to realize another easy comparison for me to make—The 1975. And it didn’t really shock me when I found out Matty Healy provides vocals in “Friends”. It’s worth mentioning I’m not super familiar with The 1975’s discography, but I haven’t really liked most of what I’ve heard of their music, and this album has some similar vocal production and a similar style of instrumentation. And while I like it more than most of what I’ve heard from The 1975, it still gives me that same feeling where I wish the songs had more punch to them, and it just sounds kind of messy.

Overall … well, I don’t think this is a bad album, and it’s got some redeeming moments, but a lot of the percussion choices just don’t work for me, the production and melodies feel inconsistent, and it holds this album back from really clicking for me. I’m going to give it a 6/10, and I think the seeds of a great album are here, but as it is, I’d only call it pretty good.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Touching Yourself”, “Sad to Breathe”, “Morning Pages”, “Friends”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Indexical reminder of a morning well spent”

Honey by Samia:

This album was released back in January, and I’d say it mostly sounds like a pop album, although I still don’t understand if ‘pop’ is a genre or if it just means it’s popular. And, well, Samia seems to have quite a large fanbase, but this isn’t super mainstream or anything.

But anyway, I was curious to listen to this album, and … well, it’s one of those albums where there’s a lot of emotion here in the performances and song writing, and it makes me really wish I liked this a lot more than I do.

I often find the production just doesn’t click for me, with a kind of messy sound to it like in “Nanana” where, to my ears, the vocal production doesn’t fit with the rest of the production at all. And speaking of vocal production, “Breathing Song” is a very emotional song, and it seems to be about trauma, so I understand why the vocals at the end are so loud and overpowering—but even though it’s an artistic choice that makes sense to me, I still don’t enjoy listening to it. And overall, that kind of sums up my feelings on the album overall; I respect it a lot (honestly, I respect almost all music), and there’s a lot of emotion here … but as much as I’d love to say I ended up liking this album, that just wouldn’t be true.

This album kind of reminds me of Maisie Peters, in which almost any time something really grabs me in the writing or production, I notice something else that makes me like it less … but even as someone who isn’t a Maisie Peters fan at all, I at least hear her personality shine through in her music more … and I’m not trying to be mean to Samia, and I’m not saying that there isn’t any personality here, I’d just personally have a hard time recognizing her music out of a lineup … that’s probably a me thing, though.

For me, this is a 4/10 … I really wanted to like this more, but I didn’t click for me at all if I’m being honest.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “Charm You”, “Dream Song”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Kill Her Freak Out”, “To Me It Was”, “Honey”

I’ve Loved You For So Long by The Aces:

Here’s a synth-pop album that’s been getting a decent amount of acclaim, and it seems to be going for huge, anthemic choruses. And usually with albums like these the big question for me is whether or not the production lets the songs really go off like I want them to. So, does that happen here?

Honestly, not really. I mean, there are some really good melodies in these choruses, and at points the production works for me, but I often find the mixing kind of messy, with the percussion often sounding too loud in the mix to me. Also, one thing that really holds this album back for me is a lot of the reverb, which takes away from the punch these songs could have.

And while there’s clearly a lot of emotion here, the lyrics don’t always work for me here. Some of them do, but there’s also some points where the lyrics hold it back for me. “Girls Make Me Wanna Die” delivers pretty much what you’d expect from a song with that title aside from the fact that it’s mostly a good song, but … well, I’m not sure whether or not this song is about a personal story or not, but while I’m not trying to be insensitive here, the song just comes across as overdramatic, and while I’m not saying there’s no emotion here, I don’t really hear the emotion shine through in the music. Again, I don’t want this to sound mean or insensitive, but that’s just how I hear the song. And “Not the Same” has a similar feeling to it of not being as interesting as I’d like, at least to me.

And there’s also “Attention” which kind of seems like one of those ‘I’m-so-over-you’ songs in which that being such a big theme just makes it seem more like the narrator still cares … and I’m pretty sure that was the point, but the way it’s done is still kind of cringey, considering that the line, ‘You’re in my head,’ comes right before the line, ‘And I’m just here waiting to show you how over you I am.’

But that being said, I do like a lot of the lyrics, like how the feelings of something being missing in life are expressed in “Suburban Blues”, and I also like the lyrics here about the mental toll feeling shunned by society takes on people. And I like that the album ends on a positive, optimistic note with “Younger”, which is probably my favourite song on the album! Also, Cristal Ramirez is a good singer, and sometimes I like the production here … I mean, the vocal melodies are good, there is quite a bit to like here … but overall, to me personally, it just feels kind of underwhelming, and it feels so close to great yet so far at the same time … but again, as always, that’s just me. I’ll give it a 6/10, but if you’re into synth-pop—even though I’m into synth-pop and I don’t really love this album—there’s a good chance you’ll like this more than I do. And I do still like it, I just don’t love it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Suburban Blues”, “Person”, “Younger”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Not the Same”

s*x m*ney dr*gs by LUCKI:

This album seems to have gotten a very mixed reception from critics, and … well, it’s my first time listening to a LUCKI album, and as someone who’s not really a fan of mumble-rap, I can’t say I had high expectations for this.

And … well, there are a lot of toxic lyrics here, and sometimes the music fits them well, giving these songs a feeling of ‘playing the role of the villain’, in which case it leads to some of the better songs here … but often there seems to be no depth to these lyrics at all—at least from what I can tell, and I’m not the best at analyzing lyrics—and at times here this gets infuriating, for example one of the worst songs here, “Wholeworldslatt” which features some very concerning lyrics from Veeze which I hope aren’t meant to be taken seriously … I mean, there’s a line in which he seems to possibly be likening himself to the Taliban, although I’m probably misunderstanding that line (I’m not sure what he means by ‘Taliban-der’)—maybe it’s really obvious what that line means and it’s just me who doesn’t get it, I’m not sure. But there’s also a line in which he calls himself worse than Hitler, and also the line, ‘I’ma die, still go just like I’m Nip’,’ probably referring to Nipsey Hussle, who was shot … that line is genuinely concerning, and I hope he’s doing okay. And LUCKI himself also has some lyrics that genuinely concern me, like in the song “Pop Star” when he says he can’t give up on drugs, and he seems to be saying he’s just going to let the drugs kill him. Is he okay? I certainly hope so, but this song worries me.

Overall, this isn’t an album I like at all, and it’s not even one that’s fun to talk about. And it’s actually got some moments that click for me, so I can’t even say it’s one of the worst albums I’ve heard this year … but still, 4/10, even aside from the issues I already mentioned, I don’t even think this sounds all that good for the most part. I mean, it’s an interesting listen at least, but not interesting in a good way.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “No Bap”, “Super Ski”, “Almighty Tune”, “Chrome Denim”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Tunevert”, “2021 Vibes”, “Mubu”, “Str8 Syrup”, “Pop Star”, “Wholeworldslatt”

Strangeworld by Throw the Fight:

I was looking for new albums to listen to, and I came across this metal album from a band I’d never heard of before. Or maybe it’s not metal, I’m not sure how to define ‘metal music’ … either way, it’s some kind of hard rock, and it’s got a lot of melody in the vocals.

And while this is a style of music I do like more than a lot of critics, I can’t say this album really clicked for me. It reminds me in a lot of ways of the band, STARSET, in some of the production and just the overall style. And as someone who’s not really a fan of STARSET (although it’s worth noting I haven’t listened to them that much), I can’t say I really like this, either. The snares often sound out of place with the instrumental, and a lot of the guitar sounds underpowered.

I don’t think the melodies are terrible, but I just don’t find them all that interesting. Lyrically, there are some interesting ideas, but a lot of it feels pretty cliché to me. However, like I often say, analyzing lyrics is not one of my best strengths as a music reviewer.

Overall … I mean, I don’t hate this album, but I don’t really like it, either. For me, it’s a strong 3.5/10 … at least it’s short, and I like some parts of the album. But overall, this isn’t for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 3.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Snake Mountain (Remix)”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sorry, Not Sorry”, “Shadow Self”, “Lost in the Lies”, “Wake up! (Remix)”

Hello, everyone! My name is Simon, and today, I’m finally reviewing the ninth studio album by Lana Del Rey, Did you know that there’s a tunnel under Ocean Blvd. I kept saying I would eventually post this review, and here it is, finally.

Last year, when I used to always include a throwback review whenever I did a mini review post, I did a throwback review of Lana Del Rey’s 2012 album, Born to Die. Personally, I don’t like that album … at all. And if you want to know why, you can read my mini review of that album.

But even though I didn’t like Born to Die—in fact, I dislike it quite a bit—I said in that review that I was curious to hear more of Lana Del Rey’s albums.

So, if you’re wondering why this review is as late as it is … well, there’s a few reasons. One being that I’ve been working on lots of other reviews, and also my favourite songs of 2022 list (which I think is finally close to being done—I’m optimistic I can get it posted by the end of July), but another reason being that I decided to check out the rest of Lana Del Rey’s albums before listening to and reviewing this one … and after listening to Lana Del Rey’s first eight albums multiple times each, it turns out I have some extremely controversial feelings on her music. Keep in mind my intent isn’t to be mean or anything, it’s just how I personally feel, but I have some very controversial things to say.

I can’t say I’m a fan of Lana’s 2010 debut album, but I certainly like it more than her next three. I already mentioned Born to Die, but Ultraviolence and Honeymoon are also albums that I very strongly dislike, for reasons I don’t feel like fully getting into right now … but I also think it’s worth mentioning the argument I’ve seen some people make that men can’t fully understand Lana’s music. And it’s worth mentioning that I’m a man … and some people would probably tell me that I can’t fully understand those albums, so I’m ‘wrong’ for feeling the way I do about them. But that doesn’t really add up to me, because wouldn’t my feelings on the album be more evidence supporting the argument that men can’t understand her music? Now, it’s worth mentioning that lots of men love Lana’s music, but here’s an argument I want to make: no one can fully understand anyone else’s art. So, just keep in mind that when I talk about my very strong negative feelings toward Born to Die, Ultraviolence, and Honeymoon, it’s just how I personally feel. It’s not me trying to disrespect the art, or me trying to tell anyone else how they should feel about the albums … it’s just me saying I personally never want to listen to those albums anytime soon, if ever.

Honestly, I think Ultraviolence is my least favourite Lana Del Rey album … yes, I know it’s a massive hot take, but that’s how I feel about it. And while I said I don’t fully want to get into why I dislike those three albums so much … well, they’re all different, but one thing that all of them had in common was that they all felt like they were glamorizing terrible behaviour—and no, I’m not saying that was the intent, and I’ve heard lots of arguments why that’s not what her music is about … but I hear those albums the way I hear them, even though I’m sure they were made with good intentions. Do my feelings on those albums make me like her less as a person? No. It’s just how I feel about those albums.

Anyway, then came her 2017 album, Lust for Life, which, of all her albums, is probably the most often considered her worst album … which I find funny because I was shocked how much more I liked it compared to her previous three albums! Now, don’t get me wrong, I don’t love Lust for Life … but it’s a pretty enjoyable album for the most part, and “Love” and “13 Beaches” are legit fantastic!

But then there’s Norman Fucking Rockwell! from 2019, and it seems like almost everyone loves that album, even people who previously hadn’t liked Lana’s music … and I just couldn’t really get into it. To me, it’s a mostly pleasant album with some standout tracks, but as a whole it just didn’t click for me.

Lana then put out two albums in 2021, neither of which I really liked all that much, but I like them both more than any of her first four albums.

So, anyway, now that her newest album is getting a ton of critical acclaim, could this be the album where Lana Del Rey’s music finally really clicks for me?

Well … kind of. Okay, the answer is yes, to a point. I don’t love this album, but I think it’s the Lana Del Rey album I understand the appeal of the most, and it’s got some of my favourite Lana Del Rey songs on it.

In other words … I think this is Lana Del Rey’s best album to date.

Now, before I talk about the album more, I want to make this clear: I’ve been trying to get this review out for a while, but I’ve been working on other reviews, and I’m not looking super deeply into every lyric. Like with most of my reviews, I think it’s a good idea to take my lyrical analyzations with a grain of salt, considering that I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics.

I’m not going as in-depth as I want to on this album, but I really just want to get this review posted, and get some of my thoughts on this album out, even if not in a super detailed way.

The opening track, “The Grants” doesn’t have the most interesting vocal melodies to me, and I’m not a huge fan of the airy production, but I like the lyrics about the afterlife, with Lana saying she’ll remember people close to her once she’s in heaven. It’s a nice way to open the album, even if I don’t really love the song.

I really like the strings on the next track (which is also the title track), and I like the vocal melodies in this one more than the vocal melodies in the previous track. This track seems to partially be about the magic of music, and the special part it plays in our lives. But this track, like the opener, has airy production that feels kind of distracting, and it does hold this song back for me.

Then, after the song “Sweet” (which I mostly like but I wish I liked the vocal melodies more) is the song, “A&W”, which might be one of my favourite Lana Del Rey songs to date. It’s a very complicated song which partially has to do with looking back to the past and noticing the changes in life. And it shows her falling into a cycle of debauchery, likely as an attempted escape from trauma, and it’s an incredibly dark song that really brings light to some huge issues—for example, the super problematic mindset that victims of abuse ‘asked for it.’ This song also features the great line, ‘Did you know a singer can still be looking like a sidepiece at thirty-three?’ There’s also a fantastic beat switch that leads into the second half of this track.

“Judah Smith Interlude” features some haunting piano with the recording of a sermon, and I’m not really sure what this track’s inclusion on the album is supposed to mean, but it’s very interesting and haunting.

“Candy Necklace” has a chorus that reminds me of early Lana Del Rey music, which isn’t a compliment coming from me, but the following “Jon Batiste Interlude”, similarly to “Judah Smith Interlude”, is very haunting and while I don’t really understand it fully, I think it’s a great track regardless.

The next song is “Kintsugi”, which has some really nice piano and great vocals, and there’s a lot of nostalgia in the lyrics, and it also shows Lana thinking about old songs that almost everyone still knows nowadays, and she’s afraid that her own music might not live on in the same way, and it’s the kind of honesty that I find really striking, and it adds a nice touch to the song.

Then we go into the second half of the track list, starting with “Fingertips”, which on the surface may seem like a boring, mellow song with meandering melodies, but I love how detailed the lyrics are, and the production is gorgeous, and I love a lot of the subtle details in the instrumentation like the quiet strings.

The sample of “I Wanted to Leave” by SYML sounds beautiful in “Paris, Texas”, which is probably my favourite song on the album. I love the lyrics about taking action when you feel you need a big change in your life, and the production and vocals are incredible!

Next is “Grandfather please stand on the shoulders of my father while he’s deep-sea fishing”—the song with the longest title on the album—and I like how Lana is showing self-love here while also acknowledging her flaws, and I like how the instrumental builds. That being said, the line, ‘regrettably also a white woman’ really holds this song back from being better … I mean, it’s supposed to be a self-love anthem, and while I think all she’s trying to say is she sometimes feels white guilt, it comes across like she’s saying it’s a bad thing that she’s white—again, this song is a self-love anthem.

“Let The Light In” has some kind of messy production in which some sounds feel overpowered in the mix, but the strings are a nice touch to the song, and Lana and Father John Misty have good vocal chemistry. And the following “Margaret” has some nice melodies, but I’m more impressed by “Fishtail”, which kind of has a trap beat, but for some reason it works if you ask me. And Lana’s vocals on this track sound incredible!

Unfortunately, I’m not really a fan of the last two tracks here. “Peppers” has some interesting ideas, and I like the usage of the Tommy Genesis “Angelina” sample, but a lot of the vocal melodies bore me, and there’s also that line about Lana’s boyfriend getting COVID and her kissing him anyway.

And the last track doesn’t really work for me, either, with the sample/interpolation of “Venice Bitch”, one of my least favourite songs from Norman Fucking Rockwell!, if not my least favourite. This track, called “Taco Truck x VB” is better in my opinion, and I really like the first half, but I still don’t want to listen to multiple minutes of “Venice Bitch”.

But still, I surprisingly ended up liking this album quite a bit! Again, I don’t love it, and there are some flaws that hold it back for me … but honestly, as strange as it feels for me to be saying this, I’m actually really looking forward to hearing Lana Del Rey’s next album whenever it comes out. Because while I’m not denying there’s emotion put into her early albums, I think the emotion really shines through on this album more, and helps elevate these songs, and I find the lyrics a lot less problematic.

As this album shows, clearly Lana’s been through a lot, and I hope she’s doing well, regardless of whether or not I like the album—which, by the way, I do. And for me, it’s a 7/10.

It’s nearly eighty minutes long, and there are some parts of the album I don’t like, but I still highly recommend you listen to it. There’s a good chance you’ve already listened to it, but if you haven’t, you might be really missing out. This is an incredibly emotional album with a lot of great song writing, vocals, and production, despite being inconsistent … and you might end up liking it even more than I do, who knows?

Thanks for reading this review, and my apologies for this review being a little less in-depth than it could have been, and for it being so late. I think I might make some changes to how I do my reviews going forward in 2024. I’ve been reviewing a lot of albums this year, and I don’t usually go super in-depth. But with these full-length reviews, I do usually like to go pretty in-depth, but I’m often not as good as I want to be at getting my feelings across with words. I mean, I’m getting there, and I’m sure I’ll get to a point where I can review albums more in-depth, but for now I’m just getting across some of my thoughts, and my overall feelings on the albums, without trying to analyze every single lyric super deeply, considering that I’m not very good with analyzing lyrics anyway, which is also something I’m slowly getting better at. And to get better at it, I have to analyze more lyrics, but I just don’t want to worry about understanding every single line … it’s not that I didn’t try to analyze the lyrics here, I just didn’t want to worry too much about making sure I caught every possible metaphor, and the meaning of every line, etc.

Anyway, I’ll be back with more reviews soon. Thanks for reading!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “A&W”, “Judah Smith Interlude”, “Jon Batiste Interlude”, “Fingertips”, “Paris, Texas”, “Fishtail”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Peppers”

Hello, everyone! My name is Simon, and today I’m reviewing the fourth studio album by TV Girl, Grapes Upon the Vine.

TV Girl are a band who have been putting out albums for nearly a decade now, and this is my first time listening to an album of theirs.

Going into this album I can’t say my expectations were super high, but I was curious to hear it … but yeah, it seemed like this album wasn’t getting the most positive reception, and I wasn’t really expecting to like it much. But maybe it could surprise me, right?

First, I want to make it clear that, as always, this is just about how I personally feel about the album. Even if I give an album a negative review, it’s not meant as a personal attack on anyone. I can respect the hard work, effort, and creativity put into making an album and meanwhile still not like the album. And while this is the case for all albums, the reason I’m specifically saying that here is because … well, in my opinion, this album is bad. Like, REALLY bad. And I’m going to kind of rant a bit about it, so just keep in mind that even if it sounds like I’m trying to be ‘objective’ at points, as always, that’s mostly for entertainment purposes. I do genuinely strongly dislike this album, but I think it makes for a more entertaining read if I kind of jokingly ‘roast’ the album instead of constantly saying ‘in my opinion’, ‘to me’, ‘to my ears’, etc, even though of course it’s just how I personally feel.

Honestly, after my first couple of listens, I was planning to do a mini review of this album … I mean, the album didn’t really do much for me, but I didn’t think it was going to give me much to say. But in a year in which I haven’t found much music that I really strongly dislike, I thought, why not do a full-length review? I think I’ll have too much to say about this album to put in a mini review.

And yeah … this album is a lot worse than I was expecting. And I don’t even know where to start this review.

But one band came to mind as a very notable comparison, that being Bastille. The instrumentals sound kind of similar, and the way they use samples reminds me a lot of Bastille, and an album like Wild World. And even as someone who likes that album, I don’t mean that comparison in a good way. And I’ll come back to this later.

So, what is it that makes this album so bad in my opinion? Well, I don’t think there’s really one specific thing that stands out to me as the big reason why I dislike this so much. I mean, I could talk about the awkward percussion choices that don’t work for me at all, or the mixing which I’m not a big fan of, and the annoying melodies and annoying samples, and so much more … so, I’m going to start by talking about the melodies …

Which don’t actually give me much to say. I mean, at some points it gets very annoying, like the interpolation of “Every Breath You Take” by The Police in “Fire”, the former of which is a much, much, MUCH better song … and there’s also the really annoying chorus of “Shame”.

But what about the production? Well, like I said, there are some really awkward percussion choices here, like the oddly clunky snare in “All the Way Through”, and the airy clicking beat in “Higher Ground”. And like I said, the mixing often doesn’t really work for me, either, mostly in the basslines. It’s worth noting that I didn’t listen to this album with headphones, but the bass in “One of These Mornings” sounds really awkward in the way it sounds too quiet at points but then suddenly sounds louder than it did. And the bass often sounds mixed really quietly … and yes, I know I said I didn’t listen with headphones, but the bass sounds almost non-existent at points when it could really use a more powerful bass!

But the chopped up vocals and looped vocals are one of the main things that I find super annoying here. They keep showing up on this album, and it gets really annoying, especially in the song, “Higher Ground”. Going back to the Bastille comparison, this sounds like a Bastille song … but as much as music critics sometimes have a reputation for really not liking Bastille—and I’m not really a huge Bastille fan, either—at least they have catchier, more interesting melodies and the percussion often has more punch to it, whereas this just sounds absolutely awful, with that horrible sample in the background that doesn’t go away, vocal melodies that don’t interest me at all, annoying percussion that I already mentioned, and a super annoying post-chorus with a chopped up sample!

And the vocal production really doesn’t fit with the instrumental at all here, and I’m not really sure why … and I’m noticing as I write this that I kind of don’t know where I’m even going with this review. And I said ‘kind of’ because there are some more things I want to say here … but there are other things I’d rather do with my time than continue to go on and on about this album … so, anyway, I’ll admit I may have kind of lied earlier when I said there isn’t one specific thing that’s holding this album back for me that really stands out more than anything else. And again, I said I ‘may have kind of lied,’ because … well, I’m not really sure if this is my biggest issue with the album, and also it’s kind of a bunch of things combined.

Maybe this doesn’t make any sense, but I guess the point I’m trying to make is that this seems like the type of album that’s supposed to sound super deep and interesting, and … well, I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics, so maybe I’m missing something, but it doesn’t seem deep at all to me … and also, maybe this wasn’t supposed to be super deep, I’m not sure. But when these lyrics and instrumentals are paired together, something just feels really off, leading to this feeling that just makes me want to stay the hell away from this record.

And that’s why this review is going into so little detail compared to the amount of detail I thought I was going to go into. And you might be asking, ‘Simon, how am I supposed to take your review seriously when you’re barely talking about the album?’ Well, my answer is you’re not supposed to take it all that seriously. Will the rating at the end be my genuine rating based on how I genuinely feel about the album? Yes. But I’m not claiming to know how ‘objectively good’ or ‘objectively bad’ any music is. And I kind of think the best way for me to get across my feelings on the album is by barely reviewing it in my ‘review’ of the album. And I think it’ll say even more that this isn’t how I thought this review was going to go at all … I thought I’d be going into a lot more detail, but I just don’t feel like it. And again, you might ask, ‘Then why isn’t it just a mini review then?’ Good question. I have a few reasons, one being that I already started writing it, but another being that despite me not having a ton to say about this album I did still end up having more to say about it than I would in a mini review … and also, I hope you’re finding this review entertaining. I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re not finding this review entertaining, but I wouldn’t be surprised if you are, either.

Anyway … where was I again?

Well, I don’t find the lyrics very interesting, and one song that REALLY annoyed me is “Shame”, which not only has a slightly airy sound to it that I don’t think works at all, and vocals that overpower the mix at points, but also … okay, let me make it clear that I’m not saying this was the intent, and I can still respect it as a piece of art considering that I’m almost positive there were positive intentions here, but to me this song sounds like someone talking about huge problems in the world and just saying, ‘Well, that’s too bad,’ and completely ignoring it. And I get that we don’t want to let terrible things that happen ruin our lives, but with the really upbeat, jumpy instrumentation, this song feels like somebody just trying to ignore everything bad and making it seem like no big deal. I get that it can be interpreted differently, and I’m not saying Brad Petering is a bad person for writing this, but this song has a really icky feeling to it for me, and in my opinion this song is fucking awful.

And if that didn’t piss me off enough, a few songs later I heard “Big Black Void”, where the character in the song is about to commit suicide, and this song also has a similar upbeat, playful sound to it that makes it sound like it’s glorifying suicide, which I’m sure wasn’t the intent, but it still REALLY pissed me off—until late in the song, when Brad sings, ‘They’re gonna glorify me in a tragic song.’ And then I realized that was actually a pretty creative twist that totally changed my opinion on the song. I mean, it doesn’t change the fact that the instrumental and melodies do pretty much nothing for me, but it’s at least something positive I can say.

I don’t even know what to say at this point. Again, art is very open to interpretation, and if you think there’s more to this lyrically, feel free to let me know. I don’t actually want to come across as angry here, because at the end of the day I can still respect this album, and none of this is meant to be mean or anything … but I hope this review was entertaining.

Again, I’m going to rate this album based on how I genuinely feel, which for me is a 2/10 … but as always, feel free to let me know what you think. Sorry I didn’t go into more depth here, but again, I think that might get across my feelings on the album even better.

I can’t say I even like one song from this album if I’m being honest. At best it’s tolerable, and at worst it’s a nightmare … but that’s just how I personally feel.

Also, feel free to let me know in the comments if there are any albums you want me to review, preferably 2023 albums, but I’m open to doing more throwback reviews as well. If you recommend an album for me to review, it doesn’t guarantee that I’ll review it, but I might. 

Anyway, that’s going to do it for this review. I’ll be back with more reviews soon, and hopefully they’ll be a lot more positive than this one!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 2/10
Favourite Tracks: “Big Black Void”
Least Favourite Tracks: “All the Way Through”, “Higher Ground”, “Shame”, “One of These Mornings”, “Fire”, “Heaven Over our Heads”

Hello, everyone! Two days ago, I posted some mini album reviews, and … well, why not post 5 more today?

As always, this is all just based on how I personally feel. Even if I have negative things to say, it’s not meant as a personal attack on anyone, it’s just me sharing how much or how little I like certain music and why.

Feel free to let me know what you agree with and/or disagree with in the comments, and with that, let’s start this post with some hardcore punk!

Raíces by Spine:

Here’s a hardcore punk album by a band I don’t think I’d ever heard of until recently. I couldn’t find the lyrics to this album when I looked them up (with the exception of a few songs), and I’m pretty sure a lot of the lyrics are in Spanish (and I have a hard time hearing them anyway) and the only language I know is English, so keep that in mind … but I can’t really say I love this album.

Something about the snares sounds kind of awkward and it’s hard to describe, because the snares are pretty hard-hitting, but something just doesn’t quite fit if you ask me. The guitar distortion is nice but the guitars still feel kind of underpowered, and the album being as short as it is makes it feel more like an EP, which isn’t always a bad thing, but it kind of takes away from the album experience for me.

There are some elements to the production and mixing that I like, and it’s definitely impressive … I just wouldn’t say I love it. That’s all. I’ll give it a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Winter”, “Exterminate”, “Sigue La Lucha”, “Raíces”, “P.O.C.”, “Pure”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Traitor”

At the Heart of Wintervale by Twilight Force:

This is a power metal album released back in January that I’m just getting to reviewing now, and I didn’t even listen to it until this month. It’s my first time listening to a Twilight Force album, and … well, I get the appeal, but I wouldn’t say I love it.

There’s some good descriptions/details in the lyrics, but while I like some of the ideas like the story of someone trying to find the key to eternal life, I feel like it could have been expanded on to make a more compelling story. And maybe that wasn’t the point, but it still feels kind of underwhelming to me personally.

And there are some catchy melodies, but the mixing doesn’t really work for me, with the vocals often overpowering the mix, and some of the instrumentals, as impressive as they are, come across as kind of generic to me.

At points the guitars and drums work together well to help some of these hooks really soar, but there’s often this kind of messy sound to the production that’s kind of hard to describe, and at points it gets really distracting, like in “Skyknights of Aldaria” which features a super clunky snare that gets really annoying.

Overall, I’m going to give this album a 6/10. It’s got its moments, and there are some cool ideas. I’m not the biggest power metal fan, so maybe that’s part of the reason it didn’t fully click for me … but still, there’s more for me to like than dislike here.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “At the Heart of Wintervale”, “Dragonborn”, “The Last Crystal Bearer”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Skyknights of Aldaria”

A Hollow Full of Hope by The River:

This is a very mellow rock album—if it can even be considered rock—with a very dreamy sound to it, and it’s about forty minutes long.

There are five tracks here, and while I think it starts and ends really strong, the rest kind of feels like filler to me.

I couldn’t find the lyrics to this album when I looked them up, but I can hear some of them, although I can’t fully make out what all the lyrics are, so keep that in mind.

Overall, I am feeling more positive than negative here. I did end up liking the majority of this, but I like it more in pieces than as a whole. For me it’s a 6/10, mostly because the opening and closing tracks save this for me … but that’s only a small portion of the album, considering how long the middle three tracks are, and while I don’t think those songs are bad, the album kind of loses my interest at points.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Fading”, “Hollowful”
Least Favourite Tracks: “A Vignette”

I’ve Got Me by Joanna Sternberg:

This is an interesting album, to say the least. It’s the kind of song writing that just gets right to the point without using a lot of metaphors, or at least not that I can tell.

Joanna Sternberg is a great vocalist, and I love the emotion in the song writing, and there are some great songs on this album! “People Are Toys to You” shows them realizing after being treated with disrespect that they need to treat themselves with respect as well, “She Dreams” is a gorgeous song which shows them in a relationship with someone who still hasn’t gotten over her ex, “Stockholm Syndrome” has some of the best guitar on the album, and “I Will Be with You” has this feeling of yearning that, when paired with this instrumental, really clicks, and I think it’s the best song on this album!

Now, that being said, there are flaws here that hold the album back for me, as the production doesn’t always fit with the songs for me, and some parts of the album do get kind of annoying—the hook of “I’ll Make You Mine” comes to mind—and as much as I like the lyrics, there are some lyrical flaws too, in my opinion, like in “Mountains High” when they say it’s their own fault that someone else didn’t have the same romantic feelings for them as they did for this person … I’m not saying it’s the other person’s fault, I just don’t see how it’s either person’s fault. And also “I’ll Make You Mine” does come across as kind of creepy.

But still, there are some good instrumentals here, and some of the production really does work for me. It’s just that a lot of these songs feel like they’re missing something, and it holds me back from loving this album … but again, Joanna is a great vocalist and I mostly like the lyrics here, so I’ll give this a light 7/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “I Will Be with You”, “People Are Toys to You”, “Stockholm Syndrome”, “She Dreams”
Least Favourite Tracks: “I’ll Make You Mine”

A Neutral Second by East of the Wall:

Here’s an album from a metal band formed nearly two decades ago, but whom I don’t remember hearing of before.

This is going to sound really strange, but this album kind of sounds like if U2 made a metal album … and that’s coming from someone who isn’t super familiar with U2’s discography, and maybe they already made a metal album that I haven’t heard yet (I doubt it, though) … but yeah, that’s a good way for me to describe this album.

It almost has a bit of a post-punk sound to it, and it’s very impressive! This album has a lot of great riffs and very impressive drumming!

But that being said, the mixing sometimes sounds a bit messy, and I don’t find the album super consistent, with “Reclamation Rites” being the song that kind of throws off the pacing of the album for me.

But there are still a lot of hard-hitting snares and great basslines, and it’s compelling most of the way through. And the best moments absolutely rule! So, I’ll give it a fairly strong 7/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Fawning”, “Spite of Icarus”, “Hegemony’s Dilemma”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Reclamation Rites”

Hello, everyone! Welcome to my website (or welcome back if you’ve been to my website before)! Today I’m doing 5 mini album reviews!

As always, this is just based on how I personally feel about these albums. Even if a review is negative, it’s not meant as a personal attack on anyone, and none of this is meant as some sort of ‘objective truth’ of how good or bad an album is … it’s just about how much or how little I personally like these albums.

Feel free to disagree with anything I say here. And now, let’s start these mini reviews with …

Blondshell by Blondshell:

Here’s an artist who’s been gaining traction this year under the stage name Blondshell, and she released her self-titled debut studio album a few months ago, which has been getting some acclaim. And considering I’d seen it described as indie rock, I was excited to hear it!

But after multiple listens, I can’t say I ended up liking this as much as I expected. I mean, there are some good melodies and some good song writing … but I’m not really a big fan of the mixing here, which at points sounds absolutely awful to me, like in “Kiss City” when the vocals get totally drowned out in the mix, and that’s something I’ve noticed on some other tracks here, too.

And like I said, I like some of the melodies here, but there are also some that just don’t do much for me, and sometimes the kind of airy sound holds these songs back from having more punch to them.

And it makes for a kind of frustrating listen; not ‘frustrating’ as in bad, more just that it feels like the seeds of a great album are here, and it just doesn’t get there for me … it feels so close to great, yet so far at the same time.

It’s kind of a tricky album for me to rate … I guess I’m feeling slightly more positive than negative here, but only slightly, so for me it’s a 6/10. If you’re a big fan of alternative rock I’d recommend it, but it’s not really my thing.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Veronica Mars”, “Salad”, “Dangerous”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Joiner”

Et Facta Est Lux by Sektarism:

So, this is a metal album—or at least it’s sort of a metal album—by a band who’s pretty obscure, and I only found out about them because I was looking for some new obscure music. I still haven’t listened to any of their previous albums, but I was curious to hear this one, because I saw some descriptions that made it seem right up my alley … but unfortunately, I can’t say it really wowed me that much.

It’s worth noting that I couldn’t find the lyrics for this album when I looked them up, and I don’t know what the lyrics are as I’m pretty sure the lyrics are in French (or at least they’re in a language other than English, which is the only language I know … I’m assuming it’s in French because the band is from France). So, this review is just based on the sound of the album … and, well, it starts and ends strong, and I like the eeriness to this album, but it just kind of feels like it drags on for a while and it gets kind of boring at points.

I like how it builds at points, but it still feels like it’s missing more variety in the sound, or more dynamics I guess … I’m not sure what the word I’m looking for is, but something like that.

The mixing sounds pretty good, but overall I’m just not really wowed here. I still mostly like it, but I don’t think I’ll be going back to it much. 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Le Vent des Serpents”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Fiat Lux”

The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored by Hayden Pedigo:

This is my first time listening to a Hayden Pedigo album, and it’s a mostly mellow instrumental album which is very reliant on acoustic guitar, and there are a lot of great melodies here!

But overall, it’s not really an album that gives me a lot to say. I will say the mixing sounds great, with the low end adding to a more detailed sound, which really helps on an album like this that is instrumental and puts acoustic guitar melodies at the forefront.

But overall … well, it does start to get kind of boring at points, and it might work better as background music, but it’s still a pretty enjoyable listen.

I think this album works better as a whole album, though, than just as a collection of songs.

For me, this album is getting a 7/10, and I recommend giving it a chance if you haven’t heard it yet.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Looking at the Fish”, “When It’s Clear”, “Nearer, Nearer”, “Then It’s Gone”
Least Favourite Tracks: “The Happiest Times I Ever Ignored”

Chaos For The Fly by Grian Chatten:

This is the debut solo album by Grian Chatten, the lead singer of Fontaines D.C., a band who’s received a lot of critical acclaim, and while I’m not super familiar with Fontaines D.C.’s music, I haven’t really been super wowed by what I’ve heard for the most part. But again, I haven’t listened to them much.

But did Grian Chatten’s solo album click for me? Well, it’s an interesting listen, that’s for sure. And I think it’s an album I’m impressed by more than I actually like it, if that makes any sense. And that’s not to say I don’t like it—the production sounds really good, I like a lot of the lyrics, and there’s this kind of eerie feeling to the sound that works really well—but something feels missing here, and I can’t quite place what it is.

Again, there is a lot to like here, such as the strings in “Last Time Every Time Forever”, the haunting vibes of “I Am So Far”, and “Bob’s Casino” is a fantastic track that kind of reminds me of “Penny Lane” by The Beatles! That’s not to say it’s as good as “Penny Lane”, but how could it be? It’s still a fantastic song with gorgeous production!

I guess maybe what holds the album back for me is a lot of the vocal melodies kind of boring me. But still, it’s a pretty interesting listen, and while I wasn’t blown away by it, I did mostly end up liking this, so I’ll give it a 7/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Last Time Every Time Forever”, “Fairlies”, “Bob’s Casino”, “I Am So Far”
Least Favourite Tracks: “All Of The People”

Maps by billy woods & Kenny Segal:

Well, this is quite a complicated album, similarly to Aethiopes which was in my top 10 favourite albums of last year!

Now I can’t say I love this album as much as Aethiopes. As great as the lyrics here are, I personally don’t find them quite as interesting as the lyrics on Aethiopes, and I don’t find the instrumentals quite as incredible … but that’s just in comparison to Aethiopes. Because there is still a ton of depth in these lyrics, with lyrics about gentrification, racism, travelling and missing home, and much more. And billy woods also has a sense of humor that shows up in some lines on this album.

The instrumentals here are very creative, and I think they sound fantastic, with great percussion!

I will say I don’t find the features super consistently great, but I do really like some of the features, like Quelle Chris’s feature on “Soundcheck”!

I mean, the album is a lot to take in, and I’m not going to pretend that I fully understand everything that’s being said here, but I can confidently say that I love this album! For me, it’s a 9/10! billy woods’ rapping and poetry fits really well with Kenny Segal’s production, and it’s one of my favourite albums of 2023!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “Soft Landing”, “Soundcheck”, “Rapper Weed”, “Blue Smoke”, “Babylon By Bus”, “The Layover”, “FaceTime”, “Agriculture”, “Houdini”, “NYC Tapwater”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Waiting Around”

I don’t think this is going to become a regular thing on my website, but I decided to do an individual track review as I’ve never done one of those before. So, Olivia Rodrigo has a new single out, the lead single from her upcoming 2nd studio album, GUTS, the follow-up to 2021’s SOUR, an album which I think I like more than most critics … I mean, I kind of get the argument that her influences are too obvious, but taking influence from other artists is a huge part of how art is made, and personally I think Olivia is a very creative artist who clearly takes influence from Taylor Swift and Lorde but turns that influence into her own unique music, and personally I think SOUR is a legit great album that might be among my favourite albums of 2021!

I’d say going into this single my expectations were cautiously optimistic … I mean, people often talk about the ‘sophomore slump’, but considering how much I love SOUR, I still felt mostly optimistic going into this song. And I decided to give this song it’s own review before I even heard it, so after giving it multiple listens, how do I feel about it?

Well … I mostly like it, but it’s not one of her better songs in my opinion. I like the lyrics calling out an ex, and it’s got a lot of guts to it (pun intended) … but the vocal melodies in the verses feel kind of boring to me, and the vocals do sound kind of drowned out in the mix at points.

Don’t get me wrong, I do like this track, but compared to the lead single from SOUR, that being the phenomenal “drivers license” (which is probably still my favourite song on that album), I’m just not as wowed by this one. I don’t want to make this all about comparisons, though, and this track does have a really good, catchy and hard-hitting chorus, even if the post-chorus is slightly annoying to me with the huge shots of instrumentation that sound way more messy than hard-hitting.

So, overall, I’m still looking forward to the album, and maybe this will grow on me, but I’m not sure I’m going to go back to this track much. We’ll see, though.

But what do you think of this song? I’m curious to know. Again, I don’t think I’ll be regularly doing these individual track reviews, but I wanted to try it out as I’d never done that before. Anyway, I’ll be back with some album reviews soon!

Swans – The Beggar – Album Review:

Hi, everyone. Today is a big day, because I’m going to be reviewing the newest Swans album, their first since 2019, called The Beggar.

This might be one of my most anticipated albums of 2023. And that feels strange considering that I’m not very familiar with Swans’ discography yet. Going into this album, I’d only listened to a few of their albums and hadn’t really gotten to know them very well, and I still haven’t listened to Soundtracks For the Blind or To Be Kind—I’d only listened to a few of their early albums. And don’t get me wrong, I remember liking most of what I’d heard, but I just haven’t taken the time to go through their discography, and considering how long their albums are, I didn’t want to do that all at once. I’m still curious to check out their albums, but I highly doubt I’ll get to all of their albums within the next few months or anything.

So, why was I so excited about this album? Well, partially because I have mostly liked what I’ve heard from Swans up to this point, but also in large part due to the huge amounts of critical acclaim this band has received over the years, and the fact that based on what I’ve heard people say about this band, they seem like the kind of band I would absolutely love!

And I’m not really sure why I haven’t checked out more of their music. I mean, yes, I’m reviewing a ton of new albums, and I’ve been checking out some other older music, and I also save some time to listen to music I already know, and I’ve got a life outside of music as well … but still, considering just how much this band seems right up my alley, I’m surprised I haven’t listened to more of their music. From what I’ve heard, they make super experimental, avant-garde rock music which challenges what music can be—or at least I’ve heard some descriptions similar to that.

But for now, I want to talk about their newest album, The Beggar, an album that is slightly more than two hours long, and after listening to it all the way through, start to finish,  multiple times, how do I feel about the album?

Holy fuck. I didn’t see this coming. Look, I often struggle to get into really long albums, but this two-hour album is a monster of a record that feels like a nightmare, waking up from a nightmare, and then questioning the meaning of everything, all in album form.

I’ve never heard anything like this before, and it’s arguably one of the most haunting albums I’ve ever heard. It’s a cacophonous, noisy album full of unpredictability and eeriness, and it’s an album that I can’t really describe well with words—but I’ll tell you this: it’s easily among the top tier of my favourite albums of 2023!

But this isn’t an easy album to review—partially because it’s two hours long, and there’s so much detail in the production and instrumentation, but also because of the lyrics, as the narrator—probably Michael Gira himself—tries to accept the inevitability of death, and considering that Michael Gira is almost seventy, this album is even more hard-hitting, as he’s at a point in life when death probably feels like it’s approaching faster than it ever has before. I mean, I can’t say that for sure, as everyone’s experience is different, and I’m also only eighteen years old, but it’s probably a pretty safe assumption to make.

But this album goes beyond, ‘Things are going by fast’ and ‘Eventually I’ll no longer be here’ … it’s a super deep look at our existence, and what all of this really means.

Honestly, it’s the kind of album I could do a super, super long review of if I wanted to, because there is so much I could say about this album … but it’s hard to put into words, and it would take a lot of work, so I felt conflicted on how much detail to go into here, considering how many other posts I’m working on right now.

But I’m not going into as much detail here as a part of me would like to, partially because this is the kind of album I don’t want to say too much about, because if you listen to it, I want you to have as fantastic an experience listening to this for the first time as I did. But that being said, it’s not a super easy album to recommend considering the length and how challenging a listen it is, so while there’s a part of me that wants to highly recommend you listen to this album if you haven’t already, there’s another part of me that says, ‘If you’re not in the right mindset when you listen to it, it probably won’t have the same effect.’ And I also could totally see why this album might be way too much to handle for some … but it’s an album that made me rethink some things about the world and existence. Again, I’ve never heard anything like this album before, and it’s so phenomenal that I feel like anything I say about it will be an understatement!

I feel like a video review of this album would probably be better than a text review—and I’ve found that to be the case with multiple albums I’ve reviewed, which is part of the reason I might switch to doing video reviews at some point—and it’s kind of hard to describe why I feel that way, but words come more naturally when I’m talking than when I’m writing. And like I said, this album is very hard to put into words.

I mean, I knew I didn’t want to make this a mini review—I didn’t think that would be enough to get across my feelings on this album—but again, I struggle to really know what to say about this album.

I will say this: if you listen to this album, I highly recommend you listen to it all at once, not just in pieces. I mean, the songs themselves are great, but to me it’s very much about the full album experience. There are so many mood changes here, with a song like “No More of This” being the moment when Michael accepts the fact that death is inevitable, and it feels like a mostly optimistic song despite the subject matter, as he wishes the best for his loved ones once he’s gone, and the gorgeous production and chord progressions leads to a more optimistic feeling. I also think there’s some optimism to “Michael is Done” despite the eeriness of the track. Something about the way the chorus is delivered kind of sounds strangely optimistic despite how haunting it is, as he seems to be saying that whenever he dies, there will still be a new generation of people who will be experiencing life. And there’s also some gorgeous instrumentation here which adds to that optimistic feeling of the track.

But there are also some extremely philosophical moments on the album, like on the opening track when Michael sings, ‘I wonder if an image is realer than the thing.’ I’m not sure exactly what that line means, but it’s very fascinating!

And there are also some extremely dark moments on the album, like the feeling of being chased in “Los Angeles: City of Death”. And the song, “The Beggar”, is one of the most haunting tracks I’ve heard all year, with lyrics that are very complicated and hard to understand, but it kind of sounds like it’s about a sexual assault (or maybe another crime), from the perspective of the perpetrator. And it doesn’t defend these actions, but it seems to be trying to understand what causes people to do terrible things. That’s not to say it’s okay at all, but I think one of many steps to ending violence is trying to understand what causes people to be violent. But whatever the song is about, it’s very haunting.

Eventually we get to the second-to-last track, “The Beggar Lover (Three)”, which is more than forty minutes long! And it’s one of the most unpredictable songs I’ve heard all year!

This album is full of some of the best instrumentation I’ve heard all year, the production is so gorgeous, and it all comes together pretty much perfectly to create an album experience that absolutely blows my mind every time I hear it!

And it’s got a strong emotional resonance for me, too, as someone who often struggles with accepting the passage of time. I mean, the album is dark, haunting, terrifying, and kind of feels like a nightmare in album form in a lot of ways, and it’s also heartbreaking, but it’s also breathtakingly beautiful, and I’m so, so, so happy I took the time to listen to it. It’s got such a strong resonance for me that I can’t fully put into words, so I’ll just say it’s an incredibly special album to me that makes me think a lot about the future and the uncertainty of life, but it also gives me comfort in this chaotic world full of unpredictability.

Also, it’s worth mentioning, I hope Michael Gira is okay. The lyrics on this album about death approaching make me worried about his health … I mean, I’m probably overthinking this, but it does make me kind of worried.

But what I can say for sure is that this album is fucking incredible! And while I may have misinterpreted some lyrics—the lyrics here are very complicated and open to interpretation—it’s an album that really made me think, and it might be an album of the year contender for me this year! Yes, it’s THAT AMAZING!

This album is getting a 9.5/10 from me! It absolutely blew my mind like I couldn’t have expected at all! And while I’m looking forward to listening to Swans’ other albums, I don’t think I’ll be too disappointed if I don’t love any of them as much as I love this album, because if they have any albums better than this one … holy shit, that would be really saying something!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “The Parasite”, “Paradise Is Mine”, “Los Angeles: City of Death”, “Michael is Done”, “Unforming”, “The Beggar”, “Ebbing”, “Why Can’t I Have What I Want Any Time That I Want?”, “The Beggar Lover (Three)”, “The Memorious”
Least Favourite Tracks: “No More of This”

Hello, everyone! I know I just posted a mini review post, but here’s another one! I’ve been working on quite a few reviews over the past few weeks, and I’ve got ten more ready to post right now, so here they are!

As always, none of this is meant as a personal attack on anyone, even if the review is negative. And if you disagree with my feelings on these albums, that’s totally fine. I’m just sharing how much or how little I personally like these albums and why.

And also, I’m not going into a ton of depth on these albums, I’m just briefly sharing my thoughts.

And now, let’s get the reviews started!

Dance You Monster To My Soft Song! by Victory Over the Sun:

The solo project of Vivian Tylinska, Victory Over the Sun, has a new album out that was released in late May. I’ve been seeing/hearing lots of critical acclaim for this black metal album, so I decided to give it a chance, and …

Wow! This is fantastic! This album is full of excellent distorted guitars with some fantastic riffs and amazing screams, with some incredible basslines, too!

The album’s a little under fifty minutes long, and it’s five tracks, the final of which is a César Vallejo poem turned into a black metal song.

This album is totally unlike anything I’ve ever heard, and I highly recommend you give it a chance! And I could understand the argument that this isn’t a good starting point for metal if you’re not a metal fan, considering how avant-garde and experimental it is, but I personally think it is a great place to start if you’re looking to get into metal music! Seriously, this is phenomenal! Easily among my favourite albums of 2023!

I don’t really understand the lyrics here, but the mysteriousness really fits with the haunting musical sounds, and when the mixing sounds this fantastic, too … yeah, it’s a strong 9/10! This is absolutely fucking phenomenal! Amazing album!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 9/10
Favourite Tracks: “Thorn Woos the Wound”, “Wheel”, “The Gold of Having Nothing”, “Madeline Becoming Judy”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Black Heralds”

The Good Witch by Maisie Peters:

This is the second studio album by Maisie Peters, whose 2021 debut album, You Signed Up For This, I did a throwback review of earlier this year … and while I didn’t really like that album that much, I relistened to it right before this new album came out in preparation for this review, and … I still can’t really say I’m a fan of the album. A lot of the vocal melodies bore me, and I find the production inconsistent. It’s an album that, for me, is mostly saved by the vocals and some of the lyrics—although some of the lyrics also held it back for me. I’d say I like the album more than I dislike it, but that’s mostly because of the title track, and in my opinion nothing else from the album comes the slightest bit close to being as good as that song, except for maybe “Psycho”. But in that review, I said I was curious to hear more music from her, so did I end up liking The Good Witch more?

Unfortunately not … and honestly, on my first few listens, I didn’t even understand the appeal of this album at all. Now, after more listens, I at least kind of get it. There are some creative lyrics, some of which are about feelings of nostalgia, and I will admit some of these songs are pretty catchy. Also, keep in mind, just because I don’t get the appeal of an album doesn’t mean I’m judging anyone for liking it, it just means I don’t understand it … and I still don’t fully understand the appeal of this, but if you like this album, I’m curious to hear why. Feel free to let me know in the comments.

But with that being said, I personally couldn’t get into this at all, in large part because of the mixing which sounds really messy, and to me it really takes away from the punch these songs could have. And the snares have pretty much no impact for me as they often lack the sharpness that I love in snares in anthemic pop songs.

A lot of the vocal melodies are underwhelming to me, and there’s this kind of jumpy feeling to a lot of these songs that just sounds kind of awkward to me, with a huge example being the super annoying chorus of “Watch”.

And overall, there’s just not much about this that makes me want to go back to it. I mean, I like some of the lyrics, but a lot of them just don’t do much for me, and that’s very much a me thing, but I review albums based on how I personally feel about them, not based on how ‘technically good’ I think they are. And Maisie Peters is a good singer (although her vocals often sound drowned out by the instrumentation), but these songs just don’t do much for me at all. At least You Signed Up For This has the title track and “Psycho”, while this album just totally fell flat for me.

I kind of thought I’d like this more than her last album, but honestly I ended up liking it quite a bit less … so, for me, it’s a strong 4/10. This was a big disappointment for me.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 4/10
Favourite Tracks: “BSC”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Watch”, “Body Better”, “You’re Just A Boy (And I’m Kinda The Man)”, “Run”, “Therapy”

The Whaler by Home Is Where:

So, this is an album by a band I’d never heard of until recently, and it’s been getting a lot of critical acclaim. It’s kind of a punk album, or a post-hardcore album, or something like that.

And I think this is great! The blazing guitars sound excellent, the snares are really hard-hitting, and the mixing is fantastic! There’s a great combination of intensity with some mellow moments, and the band’s very lively frontwoman, Brandon MacDonald, adds a ton of personality to these tracks!

There are tons of fantastic melodies here, and the clean guitars sound incredibly well miked!

I love the lyrics in which the narrator seems to be losing faith in humanity and the world, and while the lyrics do feel a bit too all-over-the-place at points and the instrumentation/melodies can feel like they meander a bit at points, the album as a whole is still incredibly hard-hitting and very catchy, it’s full of creativity, and it’s getting an 8.5/10 from me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Skin Meadow”, “Yes! Yes! A Thousand Times Yes!”, “Whaling for Sport”, “Everyday Feels Like 9 / 11”, “9 / 12”, “Chris Farley”, “Nursing Home Riot”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Floral Organs”

The Heart of the Anchoress by Bianca Scout:

Released back in January of this year, this is the fourth solo studio album by Bianca Scout, an artist I don’t think I’d heard of until recently … and the album reminds me a lot of Kelly Lee Owens’ 2022 album, LP.8, the second album I ever reviewed on this website. Like that album, it’s an ambient album with a lot of eeriness, but also a lot of prettiness to its sound.

I looked up the lyrics for this album, and I couldn’t find them, so I just wanted to mention that lyrics aren’t really a huge factor for me with this album … even though I don’t usually focus much on lyrics in my reviews anyway.

And while these are two very different albums, if I’m going to compare this to LP.8 by Kelly Lee Owens—because they are very similar albums in a lot of ways—I can’t say I like this one as much. I mentioned the ‘prettiness’ in the sound of both albums, but nothing on this album is as pretty as “Nana Piano” from that album, and I find the production on this album to be messier. Now, that being said, I think there’s a lot more eeriness to this album than prettiness, if that makes any sense. But overall, The Heart of the Anchoress is an album that has a lot of really interesting ideas to it, and like I said, it’s very eerie. It’s a very haunting listen that I’m really impressed by … and yet, I can’t say I love the album. It feels like an album I’m close to loving, but a few key things hold it back for me, one of which is some of the production.

I do like quite a bit of the production here, but there are enough production choices I don’t really like that it holds me back from loving the album. I often find that certain elements kind of overpower the mix, and lead to a rougher sound, and I’m not a big fan of all the vocal layering, here, either, as it often just feels distracting from the eerie instrumentation.

And there are moments here that I really like, such as the somewhat staticky percussion that turns into a regular beat that creeps into “Dealers Portals”, adding to the eeriness of the track. And I love the dreaminess of “Chorus” with those strings that helps it become one of the prettier songs on the album despite the stormy production. And there’s also those subtle shots of synths at the start of “This City Had a Wall” that sound fantastic!

But there are also some moments that don’t really do much for me at all, and “Dedicated Two” gets quite annoying with the repetitive loops—or at least what sound like loops—and some annoying sound effects.

Overall, this is an album which I don’t really love personally, but I mostly enjoyed it, and I could see the rougher sounds really adding to the appeal of this album to a lot of people, so I think there’s a decent chance you’ll adore this album even if I personally don’t love it. So, I’m going to give it a 7/10, but maybe try pretending that score is higher if it’ll make you want to listen to it more, because I highly recommend you give it a listen if you haven’t already!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Empty Space”, “Dealers Portals”, “Chorus”, “This City Had a Wall”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Dedicated Two”

PetroDragonic Apocalypse; or, Dawn of Eternal Night: An Annihilation of Planet Earth and the Beginning of Merciless Damnation by King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard:

Wow! Who would have ever guessed? King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard actually released a new album!

As someone who wasn’t a huge fan of Omnium Gatherum from last year despite all the critical acclaim it got, I wasn’t really sure what to expect going into this album … I mean, it’s one of the most critically acclaimed albums of this year, but so was Omnium Gatherum last year … but I had seen/heard this is more of a metal album, so I had somewhat high expectations …

And while I like this album, I can’t say I love it. First of all, I had a hard time following along with the lyrics, but that’s not as much of a negative thing for me as it is just something I want to point out, because I feel like the lyrics are a huge part of this album’s appeal, with the story that’s being told.

But musically, while there are some good riffs, and it’s mostly compelling, there’s not a lot about it that makes me want to go back to it much. I feel like the album starts really strong and then kind of loses my interest.

I wish the snares hit a bit harder, and some parts of the album are kind of annoying, like the hook on “Dragon”. I still find the lyrics fascinating, and I think the music fits with the apocalyptic lyrics, but I just can’t say the album really fully clicked for me. I’ll give it a 6.5/10. I like the album, but something feels missing to me, and I can’t quite fully figure out what that is.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Motor Spirit”, “Supercell”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Dragon”

Chris Black Changed My Life by Portugal. The Man:

I’m not super familiar with Portugal. The Man’s music, but I decided to check out their new album, their first since 2017, and it’s dedicated to Chris Black, a friend of the band who died in 2019.

And I ended up liking this album a lot! The production is gorgeous, the snares have some punch to them, and there are a lot of great melodies!

I like the lyrics which seem to be about staying positive even when everything seems like it’s going wrong, because at the end of the day, things could always be worse. I mean, at least we’re above ground.

And there’s absolutely a place for sad, heartbreaking music, but something about the joy presented in the sound of this album and some of the lyrics just feels kind of magical to me, even though there are darker topics discussed here, too.

And while “Dummy” has one of my least favourite choruses I’ve heard all year, the rest of the album really clicked for me, and I’ll give this a 7/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Summer of Luv”, “Ghost Town”, “Time’s a Fantasy”, “Doubt”, “Champ”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Dummy”

4 (The Pink Album) by Lukas Graham:

Do you remember the song, “7 Years” by Lukas Graham? Yeah, I know it seems like almost everyone hates that song, but I actually quite like that song.

So, this is my first time listening to a full album by Lukas Graham, and a lot of people seem to think this is one of the worst albums of the year, and after multiple listens … well, honestly, I get the appeal of this album.

Now I’m not saying I like this album—I absolutely don’t—but there’s a lot of emotional song writing here, despite these songs being pretty simple. I mean, it’s a kind of simple that I understand the appeal of, and sometimes I like music that’s very simple.

But I find a lot of the choruses here annoying and I don’t find the instrumentals all that interesting. There’s just not much about it that makes me personally want to go back to the album, and nothing here is as good as “7 Years” in my opinion. But with that being said, I don’t think this is terrible. 3.5/10 for me, but as always, that’s just because I personally don’t enjoy listening to it for the most part.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 3.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Wish You Were Here”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Stay Above”, “Share That Love”, “All Of It All”, “Never Change”, “One By One”

In Times New Roman… by Queens of the Stone Age:

I’ll admit I’m not super familiar with Queens of the Stone Age’s discography, but I’ve heard great things about them, including this album!

And if I’m being honest, I can’t say I really love this album. Often the instrumentation overpowers the vocals in the mix, and a lot of the melodies kind of bore me.

I mean, it’s got its moments that I like—the crushing guitar at the start of the closing track comes to mind. There are some good hooks like the one in “Negative Space”, even if it kind of sounds like a lesser “I Sat by the Ocean”.

But a lot of the guitars feel overly distorted to me … and it’s not that I don’t like distorted guitar, but here it feels like the guitar is distorted to the point where it takes away from the punch of these songs that kind of have a jumpy/bouncy feeling to them.

I like some of the lyrics but I can’t say I’m really blown away by them—but like I often say, I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics—and overall, I feel like while there are some strong standout moments and standout tracks, like “Obscenery”, “Carnavoyeur”, and “Emotion Sickness”, the latter of which contains one of my favourite choruses on the album, as a whole album I can’t really say I love it. 6.5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Obscenery”, “Carnavoyeur”, “Emotion Sickness”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Made to Parade”

Fountain Baby by Amaarae:

I’ve seen this album getting a lot of critical acclaim, and as someone who’s never listened to Amaarae’s music before this, was it a good first impression?

Well … mostly, yeah. But it’s an album that I keep feeling like I should like more than I do. I mean, it shows a lot of promise, but it kind of seems like every time I think the album’s really clicking for me, something happens that feels underwhelming to me … for example, I’m not always a big fan of the repetition here. I also find some of the mixing to sound quite messy.

Now, as much as this album on the surface seems to just be a bunch of fun pop jams, I think there is kind of a hidden darkness in some of these songs, showing that the narrator might be hiding some emotions—and it’s sometimes subtle and sometimes just in the sound of the songs alone, but it makes for a very interesting listen, and “Disguise” is an absolutely phenomenal track with absolutely amazing production and melodies, with that darkness to its sound that works super well with the strings—it’s such a fantastic track that has got to be one of my favourite songs of 2023!

But the biggest example of the song that really throws off the pacing of the album for me is the next song on the album, “Sex, Violence, Suicide”, which not only has some ‘I can’t live without you’ lyrics and also the line, ‘if you choose to die tonight, I’d be right behind you’—yes, I know it’s not meant literally (at least I certainly hope it isn’t), but that line still really rubs me the wrong way and comes across as very toxic—but then the song goes into a punk outro with snares that sound very quiet, underpowered guitars, and vocal effects that drown out the instrumentation, and at least to my ears it sounds absolutely awful!

But overall … I mean, there are a lot of good hooks, and the production at times sounds fantastic, and Amaarae is a great singer. I think there are some great songs here, but the album as a whole is very inconsistent and kind of underwhelming to me. I’ll give it a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Co-Star”, “Princess Going Digital”, “Wasted Eyes”, “Disguise”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Sex, Violence, Suicide”

Maritz by Jonnine:

For the final review of this post, here’s a very short album—barely over eighteen minutes—that doesn’t really give me a ton to say. I mean, I mostly like it, but I’m not going to say it really wowed me that much.

It’s certainly an interesting listen, despite it not giving me much to say. I mostly like the production/instrumentation, even if at points it doesn’t quite work for me, like the percussion and bass sounding awkward together in “Tea For Two (Boo)”.

I mostly like the basslines here, though, and the vocals are good, and there are some good melodies. I kind of wish the album was longer, though, because it just goes by really quickly and leaves me wanting more—it’s almost like an EP.

But I still mostly ended up liking this … I’ll give it a 6/10. I recommend giving it a listen if you haven’t already.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “I Put a Little Thing in Your Pocket”, “Portrait”, “Can I Trust the Flowers”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Tea For Two (Boo)”

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

I’m not going into a ton of detail on all these albums, because they are just ‘mini reviews’. I’m just getting out some brief thoughts on these albums.

Also, as always, none of this is meant as a personal attack on anyone, even if the review is negative. It’s just me sharing how much or how little I like these albums and why. I’m not trying to control what kind of music people make and/or listen to.

Feel free to disagree with me on any of these albums, and feel free to let me know in the comments. Anyway, let’s get the reviews started!

O Monolith by Squid:

I was super excited about this new Squid album, considering their 2021 debut Bright Green Field is in the top tier of my favourite albums of that year … now, here’s their second album. So, after multiple listens, did this live up to my expectations?

Well, this album sees them kind of going away from the post-punk sound of their debut … and unfortunately, it feels like quite the step back, but I didn’t expect this to be as incredible as Bright Green Field, considering just how much I love that album … but yeah, the guitars aren’t as catchy, the drums don’t quite have the same punch to them as on their debut, and the mixing feels a bit messier.

But Ollie Judge still has the same excellent vocal delivery, and keep in mind those nitpicks I made are more in comparison with their debut … because this album still has good production for the most part, the mixing is really good, the guitars do still sound pretty good, and I still like the drumming even if the production doesn’t quite give the drums the same punch as on their first album.

This album doesn’t have quite the same eeriness as their debut, even if some songs are quite eerie like the incredible “Siphon Song” which reminds me of the song, “Kid A” by Radiohead from their album of the same name.

Overall, I wouldn’t say this album is as catchy as Bright Green Field, and I don’t find the lyrics quite as striking—although keep in mind I’m not the best when it comes to analyzing lyrics—and no one song here quite reaches the level of the very best songs from their debut … but I still think this is great! 8/10!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “Swing (In a Dream)”, “Siphon Song”, “Undergrowth”, “The Blades”, “After the Flash”, “If You Had Seen the Bull’s Swimming Attempts You Would Have Stayed Away”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Devil’s Den”

Beloved! Paradise! Jazz!? By McKinley Dixon:

After making one of my favourite albums of 2021, For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her, McKinley Dixon is back a little over two years later with a new album that I don’t like nearly as much.

Overall, this is an album I respect and admire way more than I outright love. And part of it is because, like I often mention, I’m not very good at analyzing lyrics. And it’s not that I don’t still like most of the lyrics here, but compared to his previous album I don’t feel that the lyrics are quite as strong. The production also feels messier, not giving the drums the punch that they have on his previous album.

Overall I don’t find the instrumentals to have the detailed layers that really elevated For My Mama and Anyone Who Look Like Her, but there are some moments that I really like, such as the horns in the excellent chorus of “Tyler, Forever”.

“Live! from the Kitchen Table” features a great guest verse from Ghais Guevara, and “Run, Run, Run” has some of my favourite lyrics on the album, talking about the fear of your life being taken from you as a result of gun violence, but it also seems to be about trying to survive, which adds some optimism to the song, and it’s one of my favourite tracks here!

The album opens with “Hanif Reads Toni”, in which Hanif Abdurraqib reads part of the book, Jazz by Toni Morrison, who, by the way, was the inspiration for this album’s title. And even as someone who’s never read Jazz, I’ve got to say, it’s a great way to open the album!

Overall, even if some tracks like “The Story so Far (Interlude)” do kind of bore me, I mostly ended up liking this, and I’ll give it a 7/10. McKinley Dixon’s flow is still great, there are some great features, there are a lot of great lyrics, and even though I personally don’t love the album, I highly recommend you hear it if you haven’t already!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Run, Run, Run”, “Live! from the Kitchen Table”, “Tyler, Forever”
Least Favourite Tracks: “The Story so Far (Interlude)”

Hive Mind Narcosis by Thantifaxath:

This black metal band released their debut full-length album in 2014, and while I haven’t listened to that album yet, I decided to check out their new album, Hive Mind Narcosis.

This year, it feels like there have been a lot of super critically acclaimed albums that it seems like almost everyone loves except me. And I’m sure this will continue to be a common thing in future years, and it’s already been a common thing in the past, but it feels like this year especially, even more than last year, it seems to be a theme. But as someone who loves black metal, I saw this album getting a lot of critical acclaim, so … can I say I love this album and really mean it?

If I’m being honest … not quite, as much as I really wanted to love it. A lot of these songs just kind of feel like they meander a bit. And at times, the production feels kind of messy. Honestly, the more I listened to this album, the less interesting I found it to be as a whole. And that’s not to say I don’t find the album at all interesting, it just all started to blend together for me a bit more.

There are moments that I love, such as the intro of “Burning Kingdom of Now” which sounds like it could have been on Gospel’s album from last year, The Loser, one of my favourite albums of last year! And “Surgical Utopian Love” has some haunting chord progressions and hard-hitting drums which really elevate the song for me, but as a whole album something feels missing to me.

And part of it is that some of the lead guitar melodies are quite boring to me … I guess it just doesn’t quite resonate with me for reasons that are hard to explain—it doesn’t quite have the melodies to really work for me personally. But if you haven’t heard this, I would recommend that you do, at least if you’re a metal fan! And you know what? I do mostly dig this myself, so I’ll give it a strong 7.5/10! I don’t quite love it, but it’s some ferocious-sounding black metal with some really hard-hitting drums, and some moments where it all comes together pretty much perfectly—and overall, I still like the album a lot!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7.5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Surgical Utopian Love”, “Burning Kingdom of Now”, “Sub Lilith Tunnels”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Hungry Ghosts”

The Age of Pleasure by Janelle Monáe:

The first Janelle Monáe song I ever remember hearing—if it counts as a Janelle Monáe song—is “We Are Young” by Fun.. Personally, I’m not really a fan of that song, but I’ve heard lots of people say Janelle Monáe’s music is usually way better than her feature on that song would imply—and the only Janelle Monáe solo song I was familiar with going into this album was “Make Me Feel” from their 2018 album, Dirty Computer, a song which almost everyone seems to absolutely love, and … well, it’s not that I don’t like that song, I just don’t love it.

But it seems like this album has been getting a lot less critical acclaim than her first three albums … and as someone who hasn’t heard those albums, I mean, I can’t say I love this album, but it’s pretty good.

I think the biggest thing that holds this album back for me is that a lot of these songs feel kind of incomplete, and while I’m guessing that was the point so that this would be a better album experience, and I respect the artistic decision to do that, it doesn’t really work for me personally. And also, “Lipstick Lover” is quite annoying in my opinion.

But Janelle Monáe has a lot of personality behind the mic, the instrumentals are good, and I mostly like the production. There’s a lot of catchy moments here, and at its best it’s fantastic! “Haute”, for example, has a great bassline, and some great horns, and Janelle’s vocals here are fantastic, contributing to that fantastic chorus, and I love the self-confidence in this song!

So, yeah, overall … I mean, I wish the album was a bit longer, but I still think it’s a pretty good album. For me, it’s a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Haute”, “The Rush”, “Know Better”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Lipstick Lover”

Weathervanes by Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit:

Here’s another one of those bands whose name I’ve seen a lot, and who’s gotten lots of critical acclaim, but whom I’d never listened to until recently. So, I decided to listen to this album, and … well, it’s getting a ton of critical acclaim, but how do I personally feel about the album?

The first thing I’ll say is that it’s a very emotional album with some very heavy subject matters, but it still feels kind of ‘accessible’. Or maybe that wasn’t the right word, but it sounds like the kind of country album you’d expect to hear in the mainstream. But even though I’m not the biggest fan of mainstream country music (or country music in general), I don’t mean this as a bad thing at all! Because I ended up really liking this album!

I’ll admit that some parts of the album do bore me a bit, as the melodies can feel like they kind of meander at points, and the production style isn’t always my cup of tea as the snares often sound kind of awkward in the mix, but for the most part I like the production, and there are lots of great lyrics here, too—for example, the song, “When We Were Close”, which is about Jason Isbell’s friend who died from an overdose, and Jason wonders why he himself didn’t die as he was also an addict. In other words, it seems to be a song about survivor’s guilt.

There’s a lot of great guitar on this album, for example in “Strawberry Woman” in which the guitar sounds incredibly well produced!

Overall, the album all comes together really well as a full album experience, with themes that tie it all together, and I highly recommend giving this a listen if you haven’t already! I personally like this album a lot, and that’s coming from someone who’s not the biggest fan of country music … and I’ll even go as far as to give it a very light 8/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “Strawberry Woman”, “Save the World”, “If You Insist”, “When We Were Close”, “White Beretta”, “Miles”
Least Favourite Tracks: “This Ain’t It”

Mirror To The Sky by Yes:

I haven’t listened to much of Yes’s discography, but I’ve heard great things about their early albums.

Well, they have a very different lineup now, and their recent albums haven’t been getting nearly as much critical acclaim, including this one.

But honestly, I ended up liking this album quite a bit! I mean, yeah, some of these songs do drag on a bit longer than I would have liked—and I think I would have liked the album more if more of the snares sounded sharper, to give these songs more punch—but there are a lot of good guitar melodies, and I mostly like the production.

Overall, I find this album more consistently enjoyable than great, so, for me, it’s a 7/10. I can’t say I love this album, but it seems like I like it more than most people do.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 7/10
Favourite Tracks: “Luminosity”, “Mirror to the Sky”, “One Second Is Enough”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Living Out Their Dream”

The Show by Niall Horan:

This is my first time listening to a Niall Horan album, but I’d heard some really good things about his first two albums, so I had high expectations for his third album!

And … those expectations weren’t met. This album ended up being pretty disappointing for me. I mean, this album isn’t bad in my opinion—some parts of the album don’t work for me at all, but for the most part it’s a pretty enjoyable listen.

But to me personally, it doesn’t really go beyond ‘pretty enjoyable’. I’m not saying there’s not creativity here or anything, but it’s just not entirely my cup of tea. I mean, I don’t want to say, ‘This isn’t anything new,’ partially because, well, it is new and original, it’s just not my cup of tea, but also partially because how would I know how ‘original’ any album is? I haven’t heard every album in existence. But I guess what I’m trying to say is a lot of the compositions, melodies, etc. here just feel kind of generic? But again, that’s just me.

Honestly, the best way to describe this album is that it sounds like a Harry Styles album, and as someone who’s not particularly a fan of Harry Styles’ music for the most part, that might partially explain why this didn’t fully click for me. I mean, if you listen to Harry’s House and then this right after, if you weren’t listening to different vocalists, you’d probably think you’re still listening to the same album. And while I like this better than Harry’s House, I wouldn’t say by that much.

I mean, I like the production/mixing, and there are some good melodies, and Niall is a good singer, but there’s not a lot about this album that really makes me want to go back to it. I mean, I still mostly ended up liking this album … in large part because “Heaven” is a great opening track. After that great opener, a lot of this album I just personally don’t find all that interesting, but that’s not to say I don’t get the appeal. So, for me, this is a 6/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 6/10
Favourite Tracks: “Heaven”, “Never Grow Up”, “On A Night Like Tonight”, “Must Be Love”
Least Favourite Tracks: “You Could Start A Cult”, “Science”

Space Heavy by King Krule:

This is Archy Marshall’s fifth studio album and fourth under the stage name King Krule, although it’s my first time listening to one of his albums.

And despite all the critical acclaim this is getting, it didn’t really click for me at all.

Part of it is the kind of airy sound which is something I’m often not a huge fan of in music, at least on this album where it just feels kind of distracting from the raw, stripped back feeling of these songs. But the melodies also don’t really click for me for the most part.

For the most part, this kind of low-key, grunge/space rock music (maybe I totally didn’t describe this genre accurately, but that’s my best guess) isn’t really my cup of tea in general, so if you’re more into that sound, I recommend you hear this.

And some parts of the album do work for me, like “Seagirl”, which has a great feature from Raveena and some really nice, calming guitar. But as a whole album, it just starts to get kind of boring after a while, so for me this is a 5/10.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 5/10
Favourite Tracks: “Flimsy”, “Seagirl”, “Space Heavy”, “Wednesday Overcast”
Least Favourite Tracks: “Pink Shell”

A Fate Worse Than Home by Iravu:

This is the debut album by solo artist, Hareesh Kumar Shanggar, also known by the stage name Iravu, and it’s some pretty hard-hitting black metal!

The guitars sound powerful, and there are some great guitar melodies throughout this album, the production sounds slightly messy but not to the point where it takes away from the punch these songs have, and the drums are hard-hitting, too!

Lyrically, the album seems to be telling the story of someone who’s been defeated—and it’s very open to interpretation what this person has been defeated by, considering there seem to be a lot of metaphors here. The lyrics are heartbreaking, and yet it doesn’t make for a difficult listen, at least for me it doesn’t, and I think it’s because the music pretty much perfectly represents a mix of feelings of heartbreak and feelings of optimism at the same time—which really works for some reason, despite the lyrics not being optimistic at all.

Maybe that didn’t make any sense, but either way, I think this is some great metal! 8/10 for me!

Final Thoughts
Rating: 8/10
Favourite Tracks: “A Fate Worse Than Home”, “Fear and Lead”, “Home”
Least Favourite Tracks: “The Creature”

Life Is But a Dream… by Avenged Sevenfold:

This is Avenged Sevenfold’s first album in over six and a half years, and I can’t really give you my thoughts on the band’s discography overall, because, like with most of the albums I review, I haven’t heard any of their other albums.

But I can say I don’t really like this one … and honestly, I don’t mind the first half of the album. I mean, I don’t love it or anything, but the production is good, there are some good guitar moments like the solo near the end of “Nobody”. And I also like how the snares sound, for example, in the first half of “Cosmic”.

But then I start to like the production less as the album goes on, as it sounds less tight later in the album.

And before I talk about my issues with the lyrics, let me make this clear: I don’t think there were bad intentions here, and I’m not saying the band members are bad people … I don’t know much about the band members, and they’re probably good people.

But personally, I really don’t like a lot of the lyrics here. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t have anything against questioning our existence and philosophical questions, but the theme of this album seems to be that ‘life is just a dream.’ And I’m guessing that’s not meant literally, and ‘life just being a dream’ could be interpreted in multiple different ways. But if you go too far down that rabbit hole, that could get very toxic … and in multiple points on this album, the narrator commits suicide because apparently it’s ‘just a dream.’

But even aside from the lyrics, there are some other notable things I don’t like about this album, like the super cringey, annoying chorus on “We Love You”, and the annoying vocal effect in “Easier”. But my least favourite song here is “(O)rdinary”, which features a clunky snare and a super annoying vocal effect, and the rest of the album isn’t much better in my opinion.

Again, I’m not trying to be mean or anything, but personally I can’t stand this album. For me, it’s a 2.5/10 … I mean, there are some moments in the instrumentation that I like, and some good vocal melodies, and I usually like M Shadows’ vocals on this album, that is when his vocals don’t have annoying effects on them … but for the most part, I found this album cringey, annoying, and at times there were things that legitimately pissed me off about the album. But that’s just how I personally feel about it.

Final Thoughts
Rating: 2.5/10
Favourite Tracks: Parts of “Cosmic” and the title track? I guess?
Least Favourite Tracks: “We Love You”, “Easier”, “G”, “(O)rdinary”, “(D)eath”