Category: New Album Review

The newest albums, EPs and singles on the air at WKNC 88.1 FM HD-1/HD-2

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New Album Review

how i’m feeling now Album Review

My favorites: forever, 7 years, c2.0

Listen if you like: Grimes, 100 gecs, Allie X

Since Charli XCX’s appearance on 100 gecs’ “ringtone” remix, I’ve been excited to hear this new project of hers. The album, how i’m feeling now, is categorized by “inventive” or “experiential” pop and reflects Charli’s feelings relating to the current pandemic. She created the album and its related media in entirety during self-isolation with the tools she had on hand. Charli has also attempted to involve fans as much as possible, creating interactive Zoom calls, reaching out for advice, and even putting together fan-made clips for the music video of one of the album’s singles, “forever”. 

The album is quite experimental, a transformation from the usual pop melodies associated with the singer. how i’m feeling now opens with “pink diamond,” which perfectly exemplifies the wild, chaotic sound evolution of Charli XCX from her previous discography. However, she continues the alluring pop lyricism and a killer hook in the whole tracklist, which appeals to the ear. She brings the different musical aspects together beautifully, mixing mainstream and experimental sound. This new album also reflects a display of complex emotions reflecting the anxiety which is burdening our world right now. The tracklist includes songs which focus on her current relationship as well as ones highlighting the uncertainty and bizarreness of self-isolation. 

I think this is one of Charli XCX’s best works so far and have really enjoyed listening to it today; definitely would recommend checking it out especially if you like experimental pop.

– Miranda 

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New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Bladee – icedancer

BEST TRACKS: Be Nice 2 Me, Jaws, Linkdin, Inside out, Closer

FCC clean: Inside Out, Jaws, Side by Side, Topman, Special Place, Feel Like, For Nothing, Anything, The Silent Boy Cries

Bladee is one of the forerunners of emo cloud rap, making this style of music since 2013, before the likes of Lil Peep and XXXTENTACION entered the scene in a major way. This mixtape is characterized by plush trap-beats underlaying a dreamy, atmospheric feel created by bright melodies and reverberating vocal distortion. It’s a sound that surrounds you, allowing you to slowly sink in. The album is saturated with memorable lines, sometimes heartfelt and sometimes flexing, but always clever. Refreshingly, this emo-rap album is definitely more emo than flexing. Bladee is vulnerable on this album, showing fear, dejection, and downright desperation. Smartwater is the track most exemplary of this emo display, “If you would want me dead, I would be into it. I just want your attention”.

I’m in awe of the striking production quality on this album. Vocals are heavily autotuned but still tasteful. Droning vocals, reminiscent of quranic recitation, make for a trance-like experience. With the baddest beat, wittiest lines, and best mix job, the starting track of the album is track 4, Be Nice 2 Me. What stands about this track is how the second verse is slowed down and distorted.

There might be a tad too many ice metaphors and references to Drain Gang, to the point where it becomes a little cringe. And the intermission track could have been done without, but this isn’t really a statement on Bladee, as this track is cartier’gods interlude, in which Bladee only makes a fleeting appearance. Critics say that the sonic palette of Icedancer is dizzying and annoying, but I disagree. I think the hooks are hyper melodic and solid enough to ground the music. At first listen, I admit that Bladee’s style might sound chaotic, but even to the untrained ear, the seemingly haphazard elements marry together in a very sensicle way by the second listen. After traversing this hurdle, Icedancer becomes much more enjoyable and even addicting.

-Safia

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New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Jah9 – Note To Self

ALBUM REVIEW: Jah9 – Note To Self

BEST TRACKS: Highly (Get To Me), Heaven (Ready Fi Di Feeling), Love Has Found I, Ready To Play

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Jah9 is a singer born in the Jamaican countryside, who, at the age of nine, moved to Kingston, the heart of Jamaica. Through her strong, regal voice and unique jazz-steeped dub sound, her music has crossed international borders. She is also very spiritually intune, heavily learned in Rastafarian teachings and trained in multiple disciples of yoga. When I came across this album, I was elated to see such confident, talented female representation within Rastafari as well as reggae music. Highly socially conscious, Jah9 intentionally rebels against outdated traditions and mindselts while simultaneously embracing the rich and warm Jamaican culture.

This album is a contemporary take on Jamaican music. The classic reggae beat is the core to this alluring music, underlaying a soulful, jazzy, afrobeat funk sound. The incredible rhythm and sway of this album momentarily soothed my soul. The smoothness and slow of this album cannot but be appreciated. Most impressive element of this immaculate album is Jah9’s lyrical capability. Her syllables never miss a beat, and are dense and complementary to the music, without feeling rushed or squished into the bars. I would describe Note To Self as roots reggae, dealing with social issues faced by the African Diaspora, black and female liberation, and the honoring of Jah.

This Jah9 certainly draws inspiration from mystic and ancient sources. Jamaican or not, this album provides clarity and power to all who listen openly. If anything, this music will awaken the energy in your blood and make you want to move. Not to hate on indie (I love indie), but I recommend this album if you’re burnt out on listening to the same old oppressed white indie boys and want something more spiritual and rhythmic. I also recommend Note To Selfif you like similar artists like Popcaan, Hollie Cook, and Chronixx.

-Safia 

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New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Other Worlds by Módl

Other Worlds - EP by Módl on Amazon Music - Amazon.com

ALBUM REVIEW: Other Worlds by Módl

BEST TRACKS: Hate to Turn, Daydreams, Fallen

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Módl is a 23 year-old producer, songwriter, and vocalist from Virginia who infused his future bass roots with the likes of Indie, R&B, and Hip Hop. Módl’s first EP, Other Worlds, was released in 2016 with the idea of energetic songs in mind.

Módl’s Other Worlds EP is, in fact, otherworldly. To me, this almost dance but also downtempo EP sounds similar to artists such as Illenium or ODESZA. All of Módl’s songs in Other Worlds consist of deep, future bass-esque bass and bubbly synths to contrast. The thing I love most about Módl’s songs are the vocal chops. The vocal chops are well done and add an extra element of rhythm. 

Daydreams and Hate to Turn are instrumental tracks, while Before I Leave, Questions, and Fallen contain lyrics. Particularly, Before I Leave has the most different sound with the inclusion of an acoustic guitar mixed with the same synths and deep bass. Also, the entire EP has an atmospheric sound that makes you feel like the sound is all around you. After listening to the album, I had the sudden urge to create a travel video since the songs felt so atmospheric. It is a great EP to listen to in the car, especially Hate to Turn, that one is my personal favorite. 

I recommend Other Worlds for fans of ODESZA, Illenium, or other future bass artists who are looking for a similar style but with a focus on vocal chops and a balance of deep bass and synths. I found this EP after I was exposed to another song by Módl named Coastline and I explored the rest of his discography. 

-Tegan 

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New Album Review

Making A Door Less Open Review

My favorites: Can’t Cool Me Down, Martin, Deadlines (Thoughtful) 

Listen if you like: Pixies, The Microphones, LCD Soundsystem

The album, Making A Door Less Open, is Car Seat Headrest’s newest musical project released May 1st. It is the first new music they have released in a few years, and has been long-awaited by indie fans. This new album is synth-heavy and widely experimental, to me it seems heavily influenced by 70’s electronic rock bands. Car Seat Headrest has definitely evolved from where it began, as a solo project of Will Toledo created in 2010. This album has pushed past the lo-fi alternative/indie sound of their past albums into a more electronic, developed sound. Making A Door Less Open is sonically appealing as it intricately meshes gravelly vocals and synth electronics into something truly distinctive.

I found no clear narrative or pattern throughout the album, though a lot of it focuses on future plans, fame, and commercialism. The songs generally seem scrambled throughout the tracklist without thought, though the chaos somehow fits all the expectations I had for the album. In the almost-punk electro melody of Hollywood, Toledo yells out “Hollywood makes me wanna puke.” On one of the more acoustic-styled tracks, Life Worth Missing, he sings out: “I’m coming up short in a life worth nothing.” It’s a clear rebellion against consumerism, money, and all the other problems infecting society; though every song has a slightly varied melody and style. 

Though I don’t think this is the best album by Car Seat Headrest, I really appreciate the direction Will and the other members are taking to evolve their sound and try new things, especially because I heavily enjoy the synth/electronic sounds. I hope that this project leads to new and better albums in the future by CSH, and hope you enjoyed my review of the album.

– Miranda 

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New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Lila Blue – Leave Me Be

ALBUM REVIEW: Lila Blue – Leave Me Be

BEST TRACKS: Grown Bones, Somber Silence, Indigo

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Recommended if you like: Angel Olsen, Fiona Apple, Mitski

Lila Blue is not your average hippy dippy folk singer. Leave Me Be is by far the darkest, eeriest, most macabre folk album that I’ve ever heard. Music is Lila Blue’s entire life, and she has even traded her childhood for this, writing music since the age of 8. Now, at the young age of 20, she has released her third album, containing a power and intensity that would have made you think it was written by someone much older.

Blue’s voice changes styles astonishingly quickly, multiple times within the same song. In the first track, Grown Bones, Blue sings the line “hurricanes and lukewarm soup” with a sweet and beautiful intonation, but the way she growls the lyrics two lines down, “mama pushed you down the river in her favorite basket” sounds downright insidious. Adding to the frightening mood of this album are the suspenseful, discordant strings and deep, booming, rhythmic drums. This music makes me think of acres of burning cornfields and demonic symbols written in blood on the walls.

In this album, I feel the sweetness of youth and the pains that come with growing up and having to take on different roles in life. I especially felt this in the 5th track, Somber Silence, in which you’ll hear Lila Blue helplessly wailing “I can’t stop and I can’t go, I can’t go on, I can’t go on…” over and over again in the chorus. I appreciate that this song ends on a strong note: in the last chorus, the lyrics are changed to “I will go on”. The 8th track, Indigo, is about the apprehensions of growing old with someone, and then falling out of love and losing touch with your children, and forgetting what it was like to be young.

This album will bring out your deepest anger and fear.

-Safia 

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New Album Review

ALBUM REVIEW: Elvis Depressedly – Depressedelica

ALBUM REVIEW: Elvis Depressedly – Depressedelica

BEST TRACKS: Who Can Be Loved In This World?, Let’s Break Up The Band, New Love In The Summertime

FCC violations: Who Can Be Loved In This World?, Let’s Break Up The Band

This experimental pop band hails from Asheville, North Carolina! You might have heard of Elvis Depressedly from their most popular song ‘Weird Honey’, from the album Holo Pleasures / California Dreamin’. This band is characterized by their soft, cloudy, sad boy hours aura.

Depressedelica sounds fuzzy, muted, and autotuned. It sounds like grittier, anxious dreampop. Like shoegaze if shoegaze was pushed down a flight of 20 stairs and then told that its dog was being held hostage. That’s okay because I always like my music burnt with a side of dinge. I prefer the less-autotuned, more acoustic-sounding tracks on the album such as ‘Who Can Be Loved In This World’ and ‘Let’s Break Up The Band’ because Mathew Lee Cothran ’s unfettred voice feels so genuine and vulnerable. These non-autotuned songs feel more heartfelt and personal to me than the more autotune-clounded songs on this album such as ‘Jane, Don’t You Know Me?’

I was drawn to this album because I’ve been feeling pretty low lately and wanted some music to wallow with. Depressedelica is perfect because even though I can’t make out the lyrics for half the songs unless I concentrate really hard, the music itself and Cothran’s quavering voice make this album effortlessly heartbreaking. I can, however, understand the lyrics of my favorite track on the album, Let’s Break Up The Band. This song is, obviously, about breaking up the band and moving onto life’s next adventure, but the underlying theme here is how lost you feel after trying so desperately hard to make something important work out and having it crumble apart in your hands anyway.  It resonates so deeply with me.

I reccomended this album to you if you like teen suicide, dandelion hands, Starry Cat, or any other bleak-mood band that sounds like the singer put a sock over the microphone.

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New Album Review

Porter Robinson’s Get Your Wish

Porter Robinson recently announced his second album, titled “nurture,” on his Instagram. It’s been four years since he released his last single, Shelter, and six since the release of Worlds, his first album. 

Porter released his most recent single, titled “Get Your Wish,” this past month. I definitely recommend giving it a listen, it is an upbeat mix of instrumentals and interesting vocals so reminiscent of Porter’s previous projects. There is definitely more of a pop/EDM influence in this most recent track, which I hope will continue with the release of the rest of the album. The single is Porter’s response to his four-year hiatus. He posted an explanation of the song on his Twitter, stating that the single is about “finding a reason to move forward, even if it’s not for your own sake.” Porter has been relatively open about his struggles with creating music and enjoying the process within the past few years, and this single reflects his renewed motivation and the reason behind all of it: to “move people the way music moves [him].” The song is available on all major streaming platforms, and the music video is already up on YouTube. 

I’m so excited to see the storyline of nurture. Porter’s first album, Worlds, follows the story of a post-apocalyptic world where humans and machines collide. From my perspective, the Worlds album begins with a descent into a new world. The album progresses to depict the intertwined relationship of a human and a robot who depend on each other for survival in a world of chaos and war. The final song of the album, “Goodbye To A World,” is almost haunting. The human has left the robot (perhaps in death or by entering a different dimension), and the robot reflects on their time together before it shuts down forever. Each song on the album has a unique melody and detailed narrative. The stories Porter Robinson is able to create within all of his tracks and their visual counterparts are some of the most vivid I have ever found in music. 

– Miranda 

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New Album Review

It Is What It Is Album Review

Listen if you like: Erykah Badu, Toro Y Moi, Flying Lotus 

My favorites: I Love Louis Cole, Black Qualls, Dragonball Durag, Fair Chance

Hello all you cool thundercats and thunderkittens (sorry), I hope everyone is staying motivated and well-rested. Today, I want to discuss my thoughts about Thundercat’s new album, as well as a little bit of an artist background. 

Stephen Lee Bruner, better known as Thundercat, has a long and diverse history in the music industry. He happened to be born to Ronald Bruner, Sr. who worked with iconic soul musicians like Diana Ross and The Temptations. From being in a boy band to working on the iconic album To Pimp A Butterfly, Bruner has gained prominence in the industry and has absorbed musical influence from a multitude of genres. Thundercat’s past works include the well-known album Drunk and features on albums by Flying Lotus and Mac Miller.

It Is What It Is has a funky and soulful vibe, and many of its tracks are more playful than Bruner’s past discography. The album has a surprising amount of artists featured like Ty Dolla $ign and Louis Cole. I especially love how each different voice comes together on Black Qualls, and I adore the vocals Childish Gambino and Steve Lacy provide. As one can expect, this album continues Thundercat’s trend of creating jazzy beats and rough, unfinished-sounding vocals. He delves into great emotional depth within this album. On Existential Dread he falsettos “I’m not sure, of what’s comin’ next/ But I’ll be alright.” The song fades perfectly into It Is What It Is, where Bruner wistfully sings out “So many things I want to say/ This is the end.” What impactful lyrics for all of us to consider at this time, when so much of the future is unsure. I find the questions of existence and love in the lyricism throughout the album to help guide me in my path of calmness amongst the calamity. 

Hope you all enjoyed! Let me know what you think of this album. 

– Miranda 

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New Album Review

Album Review: My Ugly Clementine

ALBUM REVIEW: My Ugly Clementine – Vitamin C

BEST TRACKS: Playground, Who, Try Me

FCC Violations: Don’t Talk to Me

This wholesome four-piece group from Vienna, Austria writes songs for a greater purpose than mere entertainment. Vitamin C, My Ugly Clementine’s debut album, tackles heavy topics such as gender equality, difficult breakups, and self-confidence. Though the band has been together for less than two years, it’s evident by this album’s impeccable composure that this group has already cracked the code to making ears perk up. The band is already known as a supergroup in the Viennese music circle, but are just starting to make promising strides in the U.S.

Instrumental on this album sounds very 90s, including guitar with an exact twinge of fuzz that makes you double check to see when this album was actually recorded. Don’t let the Summery sounds on this album fool you, there are are some meaningful lyrics at work. The first track on the album, Playground, has incredible sway, while clearly conveying the message that being a woman is not a handicap. The last track, Peptalk, is the slowest and most somber song on the album, but arguably the most uplifting, about a person reminding themselves of their individual value.

I appreciate the clear messages embedded in each and every song on this album. There are no excruciatingly vague lyrics that leave you struggling to figure out just what the heck the band is harping on about. I don’t mean to say that songs that leave some interpretation up to the listener are bad, but when lyrics are too generic, it just comes off as lazy songwriting.

Listen to this album if you’re having difficulty being alone with yourself during this quarantine, or if you’re in the process of defining your own identity. This album will empower you and remind you that you’re good enough. I’d also recommend this album to you if you like bands like Soccer Mommy, Haley Heynderickx, and Lucy Dacus.

-Safia