I catch up on albums from Andre 3000, Avenged Sevenfold, Caroline Polachek, Drake, Foo Fighters, PinkPantheress, Sampha, Squid, Sufjan Stevens, Thantifaxath, Tomb Mold and Wednesday.
I didn't review a whole lot of albums in 2023. In fact, it's the least amount of albums I've reviewed in a year since this blog began. However, I did listen to a lot of albums in 2023, and I thought I ought to discuss my thoughts on a few of them here on the blog. So, as always, here are the albums I didn't review...
New Blue Sun - Andre 3000
If an unknown artist had dropped this 90 minute instrumental
flute album, I wouldn’t have listened to it. And you can bet your bottom dollar
Pitchfork wouldn’t have touched it, let alone given it Best New Music. But this
is Andre 3000 and all us hip hop heads have been gagging for a new album from
him for what feels like forever. So of course we all gave this a listen,
despite having no previous interest in listening to 90 minutes of flute soloing,
secretly hoping he might sneak in a cheeky rap verse. Sadly, there are no
cheeky rap verses. Instead, we get a selection of very long ambient jazz/new
age tracks with very long titles. There are some cool textures on this album (I
particularly like the synths) and some playful flute effects. But each track is
pretty stagnant in terms of progression, so I found myself zoning out a lot. I’m
simply not patient enough for this type of music. I can see the appeal though.
★★★☆☆
Life Is But A Dream… - Avenged Sevenfold
Avenged Sevenfold were my gateway drug to metal as a teenager. My blast-beat-and-death-growl-damaged brain now finds them too tame. However, I was excited by the news that they were moving in a new experimental direction. Metalheads were comparing them to Mr Bungle and I love Mr Bungle. So, I checked this album out. And this shit is indeed thrillingly loco and erratic. There are theatrical thrash jams, funk songs with vocoders, a Sinatra-esque swing ballad and a classical piano instrumental as a closer. Not all of it works. ‘Beautiful Morning’ sounds a little bit too much like Alice in Chains’ ‘Them Bones’. ‘(O)rdinary’ sounds a little too much like Daft Punk’s ‘Get Lucky’. And ‘(D)eath’... well, this track just sounds like crap. But other moments like ‘Game Over’ and ‘We Love You’ are genuinely quite fun. And the piano closer is absolutely beautiful.
★★★☆☆
Desire, I Want To Turn Into You - Caroline
Polachek
Caroline Polachek’s octave-traversing voice (which is like a
mix of Annie Lennox and Dido – the latter of whom appears as a guest on this
album) combined with her seductively cryptic lyrics make her such a captivating
vocalist. It helps that her production is so colourful too, throwing in
everything from Balearic guitars to bagpipes. Sporting catchy melodies and
simple song structures, this is undoubtedly pop music. But it’s also so much
richer and more dynamic than what’s dominating the charts. With its reggaeton-flavoured
beat and Drake-inspired delivery, ‘Bunny Is A Rider’ is the closest she gets to
attempting a commercial sound, and it’s probably my last favourite song here
because of that. The rest of the album feels much more adventurous, particularly
‘Billions’ which is such a unique song on all fronts (my track of the year from 2022).
★★★★☆
For All The Dogs – Drake
The longer Drake remains a bachelor, the more jaded his attitude
towards of women becomes. In fact, a good chunk of For All The Dogs is Drake
blethering on about how fed up of women he is. That’s about as close as the singer/rapper’s
8th studio album comes to a running theme across its outrageous 23
track runtime. As always, his new record feels like a messy jumble sale of various
commercial sounds infused into songs that could have been written by AI. And
yet, once again, what’s so frustrating is that there are some fun and enjoyable
moments peppered throughout (largely when he’s not moaning about women). For
example, the part where he cycles through all the months of the year on ‘Slime
You Out’ is very cool. And he shows some playfulness in his ability to rhyme ‘Griffindor’,
‘kitchen drawer’ and ‘Singapore’ on ‘Drew A Picasso’. I even think the rap
verse from Adonis is cute. I just wish he’d consolidate all these fun moments
into a leaner record.
★★★☆☆
But Here We Are - Foo Fighters
Tragedy sadly brings out some of the best material in
musicians. This is clearly the case with But Here We Are, which feels
like the Foos’ most accomplished album since 2011’s Wasting Light (if
not better). Fuelled by the death of his mother and his bandmate Taylor Hawkins, Grohl has laid to rest the cliché-ridden lyrics of previous albums in
favour of a raw exploration of loss and moving forward that comes straight from
the heart. I never thought I’d almost cry while listening to a Foo Fighters
record, but here we are. Musically, most of the songs do stick to a familiar
alt rock sound. However, we do get a surprise dreampop song with some beautiful
and moving vocals from Grohl’s daughter, Violet. And 10 minute track, 'The
Teacher', has an almost proggy feel, while also delivering the biggest
emotional gut punch.
★★★★☆
Heaven Knows – PinkPantheress
It feels wrong to put PinkPantheress in the same category as
other TikTok stars, because while her songs do share the shortness, they have a
genuinely unique sound and don’t feel like a deliberate attempt to follow a
quick-hit formula. Her British-accented mousey voice may have similarities to
Hannah Diamond and Aluna George, but it also feel distinctive in its shy speedy
delivery. And no other big pop artists are jumping on chirpy garage beats like
this (or certainly throwing in MIDI guitar solos). Maybe her sound does lack a
bit of dynamics at points. However, the sticky hooks do all seem to stand out
from one another and have kept me coming back.
★★★★☆
Lahai – Sampha
Every time I’ve heard Sampha as a guest vocalist, I’ve
adored his unique buttery whimper. However, I’ve never really checked out any
of his solo material beyond a few live performances. I assumed he wrote fairly
conventional piano ballads in the style of John Legend. Therefore, I was
pleasantly surprised by the selection of left-field tunes here on Lahai.
There are pianos all over this album, but they’re not your usual four chord
arrangements, instead arranged into frenetic arrangements with equally frenetic
percussion on top. Sampha’s soulful voice glides over the top, encapsulating
the album’s running theme of flying which is portrayed through references to
Jonathan Livingston Seagull and track titles like ‘Suspended’. It feels like an
album conceived while flying around the world, filled with small cosmopolitan
touches like the pronunciation of ‘Mexico’ as ‘Mehico’ or the brief bit of
French in ‘Can’t Go Back’, beckoning you to explore the world and make the most
of it.
★★★★★
O Monolith – Squid
At this point, Squid have truly outgrown their post-punk
label and mutated into something else. They’re more like a Pink Floyd/Radiohead
hybrid at this point, while also sounding noisier and more unhinged than either
of those bands. Their songs are intricately composed, building and building towards
unpredictable climaxes. Vocalist/drummer Ollie Judge’s vocals meanwhile are
much more subdued and dynamic this time around (as much as I like his loopy yelping,
it prefer it in small doses as is the case here). I wish there was a song I
adored here as much as ‘Narrator’ on Bright Green Field. But all the songs do
have their exciting moments.
★★★★☆
Javelin - Sufjan Stevens
The Ascension was the grandiose opus I wanted from Sufjan,
but I can see a lot of fans preferring this return to his folksy roots. Some of
the instrumentals are personally a little too stripped back and dainty for my
taste. But there are still many vibrant louder moments like the crescendo of
‘Goodbye Evergreen’. And of course Sufjan is still able to get up in listeners’
feels. ‘Will Anybody Ever Love Me’ might be the most heartbreaking song Sufjan
has written, and is one of several songs in which a sense of defeat is the
theme. But there’s also a sense that Sufjan is making peace with it
(particularly in the closing track), which wasn’t the case on The Ascension.
★★★★☆
Hive Mind Narcosis – Thantifaxath
I find a lot of black metal to be too muddy or repetitive. Canadian
metal band Thantifaxath bring a cleanness and complexity to their sound, while still
sounding utterly evil. They’ve been fairly quiet since their 2014 debut and I
assumed that maybe they’d disbanded or sacrificed themselves to Satan. But no,
they’re still going, and they’ve revved up the dissonance and progginess on Hive
Mind Narcosis. From the stumbling percussion rhythms of ‘Solar Witch’ to
the woozy pitch-bending tremolo guitars of ‘Mind of the Sun’, the album seems
determined to be a more challenging listen. And yet the songs still flow very
well and offer enough melody (albeit a very sinister kind of melody) to make it
enjoyable. Unless you’re not a metal fan, in which case this’ll be intolerable.
★★★★☆
The Enduring Spirit - Tomb Mold
Tomb Mold are another crazy Canadian metal band. On their fourth
studio album, The Enduring Spirit, they weave an intricate tapestry of addictive
proggy riffs and chaotic everychanging drum patterns. A lot of it’s pretty dissonant
and restless. But the band also know when to throw in pockets of groove as on ‘Flesh
as Armour’ or melodic Death-flavoured harmonised guitars as on ‘Servants of
Possibility’. The vocals are the only area where the music lacks dynamics. ‘Will
of Whispers’ for example could have probably benefitted from some clean vocals
to match the clean guitars. But I guess out-of-place growls are better than out-of-tune
singing.
★★★★☆
Rat Saw God – Wednesday
There’s a lot more country on this album than I was
expecting. But when Wednesday rock out they do so in spectacular fashion. Not
only do the Asheville band know how to write a satisfying grungy riff, but
they’re able to develop songs in unique and volatile ways – gradually speeding,
slowing down or dissipating into noisy chaos as on ‘Bull Believer’. Karly
Hatzman’s distinctive wail sets her apart from other rock vocalists, and I love
her dingy descriptions of suburban life. And for the record, this band has nothing
to do with the Addams Family character.
★★★★☆