The Ascension is expectedly deep and rich, but it still offers surprises in Stevens’ biting, moodier voice and more pared down arrangements. What exactly is Sufjan…
Lana’s latest might be branded as spoken-word poetry, but Violet still features the introspective lyricism, emotional vulnerability, and intelligent songcraft we’ve come to expect from the singular…
All the Time is both a breezy bit of oddball dance-pop and a rich record that benefits from deeper listening. While Hamilton, Ontario may not seem…
American Head represents a reflective and promising reinvigoration for the legendary outfit. Rather remarkably, 2020 has brought us a new Flaming Lips album that is, in…
Ellie Goulding’s latest sees her transition from pure chart persona to an assured pop artist. In the five years since her last album, the excellent…
Miss Anthropocene is the type of pop eccentricity that only an artist like Grimes could conceive of. Not since Bjork’s 1997 watershed Homogenic has a weird pop artist…
Translation is an unimaginative record of lazy appropriation and weak production. To put it as eloquently as possible: the Black Eyed Peas are stupid. That’s not…
Jessie Ware’s latest does exactly what pop should do — it innovates and bears beautiful reassurance. Jessie Ware nearly called it quits after 2017’s Glasshouse,…
After Hours still revels in The Weeknd’s familiar hedonistic lyrical content, but also evinces an unexpected artistic progression. 2020For the better part of the last decade,…
Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters might be her greatest yet: a confrontation of trauma and exhibition of musical excellence. Eight largely reclusive years later and Fiona…
Notes on a Conditional Form is a marathon of an album and the latest evidence of The 1975’s status as a singles band. With Notes…
I Disagree is a ferocious pop album and a defiant, artistic declaration of autonomy. Just who even is Poppy? There are a few floating ideas, vague…
Haim’s latest represents their most cohesive artistic vision yet and a grand promise of continued evolution. “Goodbye for now” were the words that the Haim…
Homegrown is the rare archival release that actually offers substance rather than just ephemera. In an age where exhuming stacks of demos and alternate mixes has…
Chromatica delivers occasional melodic pleasures but is otherwise stripped of the complexity and contradiction that usually defines Gaga’s brand of pop. Each new release from Lady…
Charli XCX has found her niche as an entertainer but lost her way as an artist on How I’m Feeling Now. How I’m Feeling Now,…
Petals for Amor finds Hayley Williams at her most vulnerable as a lyricist and most experimental as a musician. If Hayley Williams intended to hide her…
The New Abnormal sees The Strokes return to a familiar sonic landscape with a newfound lyrical maturity, to somewhat mixed results. The New Abnormal is the…
Recall that Cartoon Network’s The Powerpuff Girls had an opening sequence which explained how to create “super-powered” girls: mix sugar, spice, and everything nice —…
Across three mixtapes preceding Chancelor Bennett AKA Chance the Rapper’s studio debut, an organic maturation, both personal and artistic, occurred. 10 Day proved a largely…