Category: New Album Review

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New Album Review

Jazmine Sullivan “Heax Tales, Meux Tales,” Album Review

Jazmine Sullivan Heux Tales Mo' Tales

The name of this album is actually “Heaux Tales, Mo’ Tales,” but I couldn’t resist the opportunity. The album is a deluxe edition of the most recent Jazmine Sullivan album “Heux Tales,” which came out at the very beginning of 2021. In a year where a lot of albums just ran right through me, “Heaux Tales” was one of the few that grew on me across 2021. Led by the R&B hit “Pick Up of Your Feelings” and built around a compelling concept, the album was killer. The concept is executed effortlessly without sacrificing the quality of a single song. I was pleasantly surprised to see it topping more than one publication’s top albums of the year, and even more pleasantly surprised to see it get such strong radio play for a independent release.

Around a year later, Sullivan has come out with a deluxe edition. So-called “Deluxe Editions” published incredibly soon after an album’s publications for streaming optimization are a trend that has worn thin incredibly fast. Lil Uzi Vert, who started the trend, did alright by effectively releasing a double album, but since then I’ve started instinctually tuning these out. I’m glad I broke that rule for Sullivan, because “Mo’ Tales” is an excellent exception to the rule.

The main album is built off of interwoven songs with testimonials from various women talking frankly about their sex lives. The extended edition is more rigid, with each new track having exactly one spoken section that reflects the topic of the song quite directly. This makes a direct front to back listen a little tiring since around a third of the new runtime is spoken word, which is presumably part of why the tracks were cut. The new songs are worth it though, each one feels like it was cut from the full album not because of its quality, but because it would interrupt the flow of the album. Seeing the incredible restraint Jazmine Sullivan used when building the track list really does inspire a new appreciation for the strength of the main album, which is an incredible thing for a deluxe edition to do.

Some songs were clearly cut for thematic clarity. While the song is a nice counterpoint in the extended edition, including “A Breux’s Tale” (I did not change that one, that’s the actual name of the song) and the intentionally callous song from Sullivan that accompanies it on the main album would have distracted from the overall progression. Anderson Paak’s brief feature was all the counterpoint needed on the original album. Same goes for songs like “Tragic,” which while fine in this context, wouldn’t have worked out as well on the main album.

 If you listened to “Heaux Tales” and haven’t really returned to it, this deluxe edition is an excellent excuse to give it another listen. And if you’re entirely unfamiliar with Jazmine Sullivan, give the main album a shot, it’s an album that really appeals to everyone.

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New Album Review

A Beginner’s Mind Album Review

A beginner's mind album cover

About A Beginner’s Mind

Released in September of 2021, A Beginner’s Mind is a collaborative effort from Sufjan Stevens and up-and-coming singer-songwriter Angelo De Augustine. Each song has a distinct film inspiration, as listed at the end. These are unusual movies to to write a dreamy-folksy-indie-pop album about. Most titles are either commonly criticized, sequels, or simply left out of today’s pop culture scene. Many of the songs take on the point of view of misunderstood characters of movies. Notably, “Pillars of the Soul” and “You Give Death a Bad Name.” This is a unique take on an album that I have never seen done before. The songs aren’t gimmicky or obviously based on such films; instead, they feature tasteful nods. 

Criticism

In an article for Pitchfork, Nadine Smith explores the particularly “problematic” territory of the song “Cimmerian Shade” through the lens of a trans woman. The song is supposed to be from the point of Buffalo Bill, a character that has been weaponized against the trans community. Notably, she calls out the use of the word “autogynephilia” in the song, an outdated term that “dismisses transness as a sexual fetish isntead of a valid identity” (Smith, Pitchfork). Buffalo Bill is a character that represents institutional oppression for trans folks, so more caution may have been needed with word choice from Sufjan and Angelo. “Cimmerian Shade” was my favorite song off of this album, and I had no idea of its origin until reading Smith’s article. I’ve learned how valuable reading other perspectives is.

My Thoughts

Angelo and Sufjan’s beautiful album creates a sense of longing, and feels as if it should be the backing for Greek mythology indie movie. With elements of their own music, A Beginner’s Mind is more vocal heavy, with angelically layered voices. Angelo and Sufjan put out amazing work individually, and this album is some of my favorite work of theirs. I really look forward to any future collaborations between these two.

Check out Nadine Smith’s beautifully written review for Pitchfork here.

  • “Reach Out” inspired by Wings of Desire
  • “Lady Macbeth in Chains” inspired by All About Eve
  • “Back to Oz” inspired by Return to Oz
  • “The Pillar of Souls” inspired by Hellraiser III: Hell on Earth
  • “You Give Death a Bad Name” inspired by Night of the Living Dead
  • “Beginner’s Mind” inspired by Point Break
  • “Olympus” inspired by Clash of the Titans
  • “Murder and Crime” inspired by Mad Max
  • “(This Is) The Thing” inspired by The Thing
  • “It’s Your Own Body and Mind” inspired by She’s Gotta Have It
  • “Lost in the World” inspired by The Last Wave
  • “Fictional California” inspired by Bring It On Again
  • “Cimmerian Shade” inspired by The Silence of the Lambs
  • “Lacrimae” inspired by Lacrimae Rerum
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New Album Review

Uhhh…… Kim Petras? Are You Okay?

Kim Petras album Cover

In my last article covering Kim Petras in September, I made the comment that I hoped to hear something riskier and less polished from her. In what is not the first instance of my articles on the websites acting as a monkey’s paw, she’s released a new ep titled “Slut Pop” that, well… it’s definitely less polished.

I’m the editor here and even I’m confused as to whether I can post the lyrics to any song on this album here, so here’s my attempt at a NCSU appropriate version of some lyrics, just so you get a feel for this ep’s tone:

“Treat me like a [redacted]
Little [redacted], I love to [redacted] I wanna go harder
I wanna [redacted] faster
I wanna [redacted]
I wanna [redacted] it, [redacted] it, bite it, get [redacted] it
Come on, touch my body”

Yeah the whole “Slutpop” theme is not just an aesthetic choice for the album cover, this whole ep is a concept album of “trashy, but make it self-aware.” The model for this style of music, especially in the concept of dance and electropop, is clearly Ke$ha, which brings us to the other notable feature of this album, it’s produced by Dr. Luke, a man most famous these days for alleged abuse against his signees, Ke$ha in particular.

This association would probably overwhelm the ep’s reception even if it was Kim Petras’ best work, but either fortunately or unfortunately depending on your perspective, this is far from her best music. The album seems almost like unintentional parody of Dr. Luke’s M.O. in the 2000’s: taking a generally likeable and intelligent female singer and decking her out in enough misogynistic tropes to make her persona insufferable, except when he did it to Ke$ha, the music was actually good.

As to why Petras decided to make an entire ep with Dr. Luke, I can’t begin to tell you. Her career was doing well before his involvement, and considering her main single at the moment is the bright and cheery “Coconuts” it seems unlikely that this is a drastic image change. The ep’s relative commercial failure is a saving grace as well, while #freeKesha has made some waves in response to this album, it’s so far been too small a blip to meaningfully hurt Petras’ reputation. All I can say is I hope this whole debacle will end Dr. Luke collaborations for good, at least then we will have gained something from the album.

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New Album Review

“Billions” by Caroline Polacheck Review

"Billions" album cover
"Billions" by Caroline Polacheck album review

Caroline Polacheck has had a year. After years of releasing quality yet underappreciated work, carryover support from her first solo album “Pang” and the success of single “Bunny is a Rider” has built into a hype train with a head of steam. It’s well deserved too, almost every song she has released since leaving synthpop duo Chairlift has been an absolute banger that plays into pop conventions while also having a very distinctive voice and musical language.

“Billions”, a two-song single, slightly lacks some of the immediacy and punchiness of her best solo work but carries over her unique pairing of swing-for-the-fences maximalist vocals with minimal, haunting production which both adds value with fun motifs and knows when to get out of the way and let Caroline loose on the mic. Titular track “Billions” highlights a lot of these strengths, drawing memorable moments from unconventional methods, such as a hook where she stutters through “say, say say say something to me” which comes after mentioning “the pearl of the oyster” almost in non-sequitur. Unique word choices are a key strength of Caroline’s music, earlier in the track “salted flavor” is given an entire line in the verse to impart a lot of imagery and visceral feelings from just a couple of words, and this use of hyperspecificity with words that have a very particular association with them really makes the short verses feel much longer and more resonant. There’s a strong contrast from the first minute or so of the song, which steps back and lets Caroline do her thing, to the back end that lays down the rhythmic chanting and forceful production, creating a cool flow across the entire song to accentuate the individual moments.

“Long Road Home” is maybe the more straightforward of the two, atop a glittering backbeat with a fun drumline that makes the perfect soundstage for emotional howls and a delivery that stretches lines out to add significance. There’s a powerful violin line that keeps things moving which lets those haunting moments not also slow the pace down to a crawl, an ideal happy medium for songs structured to provide a lot of impact in not a lot of time.

“Billions” was a release I was massively anticipating, and it certainly delivered. It’s definitely not just more of 2019 Caroline Polacheck, and I’m glad that’s the case, I never want an artist to stagnate and just try to copy what worked before. This is 2022 Caroline Polacheck, maybe a bit more experimental and slower but just as incisive and, above all else, fun to listen to.

-Erie

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Blog New Album Review

“Year Of The Snake” by Softcult EP Review

"Year Of The Snake" album cover
"Year Of The Snake" by Softcult album cover

“Year Of The Snake” has been a long time coming. The first single, “Spit It Out”, was released in July 2021 and the other singles have trickled out since then, building anticipation for the final product that was released on February 4, 2022. And while all of the singles are individually brilliant, hearing them in one coherent order with the flow the artist intended really highlights the sonic intention behind every line.

The energy of the tracks is probably my favorite part. There’s an extremely fine line where music is able to sound effortless and be drowning in feedback-laden guitars without also sounding bored and laconic, and Softcult spends the 6-song EP dancing on that line. Verses are often broken up by instrumental sections creating a disjointed structure that adds to the nervous excitement that defines “Year Of The Snake.” Album highlight “House Of Mirrors” uses a very call and response setup for the chorus – “Who knows? Who cares? (It hurts to see the truth)” before quickly bleeding into the next verse, and both of those were propelled by the staccato guitar solo that happened before it.

Lyrics are also a crucial part of the world Softcult builds on this EP. Lead singer Mercedes Arn-Horn puts a lot of emphasis on vocal deliveries that approach shouting, which sounds really cool over the instrumental, but pay attention to what she’s saying and the songwriting is just as interesting, with lots of clever wordplay that fleshes out the characters and events depicted. “Looking back at a face, barely recognize you // But the eyes are a shade of the same perfect blue //I watched you change into someone new // Saw it all degrade into deja vu” off the track “Perfect Blue” is an entire emotional arc, and this is the chorus, this attention to detail and straightforward yet intriguing method of building imagery in the mind of the listener.

When I listen to music, I imagine a void, a corner of deep space, and the song fills that void with something; a guitar line so memorable I can picture the artist playing it or a moment of songwriting clarity that paints a mental picture. Softcult embraces this darkness and blends perfectly into the void, with instrumentation that is often minimal in scope but feels expansive and evocative, drawing you in alongside the songs about conflict and danger, a film noir made of sound that would make Hitchcock proud.

-Erie

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New Album Review

“That’s Our Lamp” by Mitski: Track Review

Mitski's album cover for "Laurel Hell." It is a picture of her craning her neck backwards and holding her hands out. She is wearing a red turtleneck.White text reads "Laurel Hell" and "Mitski"

Mitski’s sixth album, “Laurel Hell,” came out on Friday, February 4. While I haven’t had time to collect my thoughts on the album as a whole, I know one thing for certain: “That’s Our Lamp” is one of my new favorite songs of all time.

The song opens with bouncy-sounding synths and steady percussion and quickly blossoms into full-blown 80s synth-pop inspired instrumentation. The lyricism is simple, and consists of Mitksi accepting that her relationship with someone has come to an end. 

The crux of the song lies in a collection of lyrics. In verse one, she states “You say you love me / I believe you do / But I walk down and up and down / And up and down this street.” Immediately following this, the first chorus kicks in: “’Cause you just don’t like me / Not like you used to.” Finally, in the second verse and second chorus, Mitski lets go of this love: “We may be ending / I’m standing in the dark / Looking up into our room / Where you’ll be waiting for me / Thinking that’s where you loved me / That’s where you loved me.” The outro then repeats “That’s where you loved me” over and over into eventual oblivion.

These lyrics tap into a feeling that’s hard for me to put into words besides the ones she used to make me feel them. The hopelessness that comes with knowing you’ve grown out of someone’s love, and they’ve grown out of yours. Being in the places where you used to love each other into ecstasy, and feeling foreign in them. Knowing that time is waiting to embrace you with open arms, but not totally being ready to move on from the past– pushing forward anyways.

Mitski brings a new light to this hopelessness, juxtaposing her lyrics with the aforementioned 80s synth-pop backing instrumentals. The end builds and builds, layering in sounds of people laughing and talking, representing that there’s always a new love after old loves and friendships fade away. So it goes.

Mitski is going on tour in support of her sixth album “Laurel Hell,” starting in North Carolina. The first two dates are in Asheville and Raleigh, on February 17 and 18 respectively.

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New Album Review

“Posey Hollow Quartet” by Ably House Album Review

Posey Hollow Quartet Album Cover

It’s not an ordinary day when you stumble upon a hidden gem of an album. The kind of album that you try to talk to your friends about, only to be met by blank stares. The kind of album that you expect to be the magnum opus of an already famous band, only to discover they have less than 1,000 monthly Spotify listeners. That’s the kind of day I had last March when I discovered “Posey Hollow Quartet” by Ably House.

The whole album has an eerie feel, fitting for a band named after a famous haunted house. Many tracks have strange, unidentifiable instruments and distorted, experimental guitar parts that are simultaneously satisfying and suspenseful. Not only that, but the album is incredibly cohesive; I am a strong believer in the art of the album, and Ably House knocked it out of the park with this one. Some tracks blend seamlessly into one another, while others have small breaks in between them for the listener to get a breath.

Along with being an incredibly cohesive album, “Posey Hollow Quartet” encompasses multiple different vibes. “Melancholia,” my favorite track on the album, has a distinct 90s indie feeling to it. Meanwhile, “Balcony” and “Down on the Farm” have the feel of a Revolver or Sgt. Pepper-era Beatles song with a more modern twist. And “Grave Song,” with its rhythmic bassline and impressive guitar solo, reminds me of a psychedelic rock song from the 60s; if you told me it was a cover of a Creedence Clearwater Revival or the Doors deep cut, I’d probably believe you.

I’m still not completely sure how I stumbled across such a diamond in the rough. With its so few monthly listeners and almost no social media presence, I know close to nothing about the band itself, but there is one thing I do know: they created a no-skip gem of an album with “Posey Hollow Quartet.”

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Blog New Album Review

“We” by Mythless EP Review

"We" album cover
"We" by Mythless album cover

I’ve noticed that in a lot of the album reviews I’ve done in the past few months I’ve made one specific observation: the lack of a verse-chorus-verse structure. I bring this up whenever I get the chance because it’s usually associated with a more experimental presentation that I notice and appreciate, but by now I’ve probably reviewed more albums that don’t adhere to this standard songwriting practice than do. So strap in as I talk about yet another structurally experimental release, this drone metal EP by Mythless.

Confession: Metal music isn’t one of my areas of expertise, and I had never intentionally listened to a drone metal project before so I didn’t really know what to expect. I was pleasantly surprised to find a very restrained, emotive group of songs, kind of like a souped up Animal Collective sound. Opening track “Dreadless” kicks things off with a frenetic drumbeat and soft keys to propel things forward slowly, for me this was the weakest off the project because it had this one annoying piano line that kept popping up but the rest of the track was quite good; the vocals have a very intriguing cadence that says as much as the lyrics behind them and the way the drum patterns combine to elevate the song.

It only gets better from there, with closing track Glossless being a particular highlight. It has the slow, characteristic buildup of drone but with a driving pace and exciting horns that propel the track forward in a unique and fun way. The chanting vocals suit this instrumental style perfectly and the unceasing motion of the track makes every line feel like a powerful mantra which is the kind of maximalist vibe that I want to see out of this type of freeform, emotionally charged music.

Drone and its various forms has always felt somewhat unapproachable to me, as I got into music through vocal-focused indie rock and this is structurally different in almost every way. But if you’re like me and want to dip your toe into drone music but don’t know where to start, “We” is a pretty great place to begin, it’s accessible and almost like the pop of ambient music where it takes concepts that are definitely unique to the genre and packages them into short bursts of enjoyment. I know I have a long way to go and that this is a genre I’m by no means an expert on, but I know a good EP when I hear one and this definitely fits the bill.

-Erie

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New Album Review

Album Review: “Last Room” by waveform*

"Last Room" album cover
"Last Room" by waveform* album cover

For me, the year tends to start pretty slow musically, with a few months passing by before I find albums I really connect to. In 2022 though, I didn’t make it out of January without finding some absolute bangers. Last week it was “Multiverse” by Reptaliens, and now I found myself loving “Last Room” by waveform* (the asterisk is very important). While this technically came out on Bandcamp in 2020, it’s just now hitting other streaming services and is a great spin for any fan of slower indie rock.

The indie rock sensibilities are immediately apparent on opening track Favorite Song, which features a methodical strum with an emotive downbeat, melting into longing vocal harmonies. “I can’t wait to see you tomorrow” and “I’m getting tired of being alone” are plaintive expressions heard throughout the annals of indie rock but there’s a reason for the universality, when over the right plucked chords and delivered as well as they are here, it always manages to resonate.

The highlights keep coming, “Shooting Star” is a particular favorite, with an wistful yet upbeat chorus over lines like “I want to bleed from the inside” making an interesting contrast in tone that is in some ways more impactful than if everything were gloomy. It, like most tracks on the album, is characterized by a disconnect from one’s surroundings, a longing for something that is at once already here and that never existed. Waveform* wield this ennui expertly and bring it out through individual evocative images (“I want to cut your hair”) that at once mean nothing yet say everything they need to.

“Last Room” is a comfort album, which is weird to say as it isn’t the happiest of listens. But it hits that sweet spot of indie rock cliches that are executed to near perfection. It doesn’t reinvent the wheel, but instead smoothing the edges to make one hell of a ride.

-Erie

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New Album Review

Track Review: “Love is Violence” by Alice Glass

"Love is Violence" cover
"Love is Violence" by Alice Glass cover art

Catharsis is one of the most powerful emotions that can be communicated through music, as it is a very multilayered feeling. There is the empowerment and triumph that comes along with it, but also the place the catharsis has to come out of, the vulnerability and toil that leads to the singular victory that is catharsis. Alice Glass’s solo career has been defined by this, reaching to the absolute darkest places of human experience to craft explosive bangers that resonate because of their authenticity as much as their craft.

“Love is Violence” doesn’t take very long to bring the energy. From the first second of the song screaming vocals come in with a short verse filled with primal imagery, “you taste of rotten meat // sips of spoiled milk” is the first line. Alice Glass’ line delivery has always been very direct, not by screaming as loud as some metal bands but by being able to pack a lot of complex feelings into every yell that acts as a courier for the lyrical themes as well. As the song progresses, the relationship between the central characters unfolds, it’s clearly abusive and taking a toll on the protagonist who is desperate for some outlet for her frustrations: “I don’t want to think // I need to kill”. In tapping into very basic and fundamental emotions, Glass creates a universality while offering a powerfully obvious presentation of what she and the character in the song are feeling.

All of this is conveyed on top of suitably thrilling instrumentals. When the track goes hard the bass goes harder, with powerful kicks accompanying spurts of furious hi-hats to keep up with the speed of the vocal delivery, and when the track goes contemplative there is a simple synth line in the background, comparatively calming but still building towards the next outburst. The quiet is often placed right beside the ferocious to create a contrast that’s both thematic and memorable.

If you get a chance, definitely check out the music video but maybe don’t watch it while eating like I did. It cuts back and forth between two people watching an Alice Glass video and disemboweling each other, all shown in excruciating detail to hammer home her themes of pain in a relationship.

Alice Glass’ debut album, “Prey//IV” is set to release on February 16 and it’s definitely my most anticipated album of the early part of 2022. Part of the anticipation is due to her career trajectory; she left her previous band, Crystal Castles, in 2014 but has taken a long time to heal from the trauma she experienced while a part of it, which has come up in the singles and EP she released since then as well as the statement on the homepage of her website (trigger warning, this gets really heavy). If she feels she’s ready to release an album now, then I’m both very happy she feels she’s at the right place mentally to make more music and also excited for what that means in terms of the music being released.

-Erie