Category: Uncategorized

Global sensation Lorde returns with sun-soaked optimism and weight off her shoulders in a stripped back third album, to mixed effect.

Lorde needs no introduction to listeners across the world after we all fell in love with her debut album Pure Heroine with chart-topping singles like “Royals” and “Team”. The New Zealand-born singer took music lovers by storm, earning her a Grammy nomination for Best Pop Vocal Album in 2013. Pure Heroine was a charming capsule of adolescense without the glitz and glamour, filled with astute criticisms of teenage culture and interpersonal relationships. Her sophomore album Melodrama was a heartwrenching account of the demise of her relationship, with more upbeat melodies but even more devestating lyrics.

Solar Power was released into the world like a healthy snack when a child asks for chips. Lorde wants us to get outside and enjoy the sunshine, when all we want is to sink into our pillows and wait for the worst to be over. Saccharine at the best of times, the record reads like a self-help book: oversimplified and at times a little out of touch.

That being said, pre-release single “Mood Ring” is a ruthless criticism of western wellness culture and its futility, often shielded behind tarot readings and white linen. The profoundly satirical track assures us that Lorde is still thinking critically, despite her newfound optimism.

Producer and musician Jack Antonoff has been passed around the stars of pop like a joint at a house party in recent years. His work with Taylor Swift on her albums Folklore and Evermore gave the popstar a lyrical rebirth in her most authentic albums to date. Similarly, his collaboration with Clairo polished the 70s folk sound she has settled into with great success. Unfortunately, Jack must have been replaced by an imposter for his work on Solar Power, which lacks the intimacy we needed to balance out the tiresome melodies and at the very least: good vocal mixing.

Now don’t me wrong, I love Lorde. Her debut album soundtracked countless brooding walks to school, followed by Melodrama which hit me with the breakup anthems I needed. There is no shame in an artist changing direction, and I believe without a doubt that musicians do not need to suffer to appease their followers. My problem with Solar Power is not its renewed lease on life, or even its half-hearted lyricism. Lorde is an outstanding artist, and like many listeners I just don’t see much of her in this album. We know from her past releases that she has an incredible voice and even more importantly she is an outstanding writer. The album is just not very good, and that’s okay!

Hopefully in the future we will see Lorde more authentically with the grit and emotion we know and love, whatever that may look like.

Rating: 3/10

Melbourne-based singer/songwriter releases an intimate collection of wistful anecdotes on love and longing, fuelled by polished lyricism and raw honesty.

Maple Glider is new to the scene, but with her debut album To Enjoy Is The Only Thing we hear the thoughts and contemplations of an old soul. With her vibrant metaphors contrasted against brutally honest recollections, Glider is already an accomplished poet. Her lyricism echoes the likes of other contemporary folk singers such as Julia Jacklin, Jen Cloher and Haley Heynderickx in its ability to confess loneliness at the heart of all else.

With gently finger-picked acoustic guitar and steady kickdrum, To Enjoy Is The Only Thing is a nostalgic stroll, not a sprint. The record does read as repetitive at times, lacking the melodic range we would like to see from Maple Glider in the future. Though the lyrics lead us along the winding roads of heartache, loss and religion, the musicality doesn’t take the same risks.

The album hits its peak both lyrically and musically at track 6 “Good Thing” where the lulling drums crescendo into a bridge that hears Maple Glider belt viscerally about self-sabotage “So I’ll say goodbye / Because I’d rather kill a good thing than wait for it to die”. Wailing this line with such piercing remorse, it gives the listener an arresting insight into her potential as both a vocalist and writer.

Despite its regrettable uniformity between tracks, To Enjoy Is the Only Thing is a dreamy and overall stunning collection of songs by an artist we can expect to see great things from.

Rating: 5/10

Melbourne-based punk rock group Amyl and The sniffers return for their sophomore album with more guts, more violence and even more heart.

After their 2019 ARIA award for Best Rock Album, the Sniffers are not startled by the challenge of a highly anticipated second release. Dubbed “the most exciting live band on the planet” by NME, the quartet is charged and ready to riot after a year at home, an experience one can imagine to be near impossible for such a force. Locked in a three-bedroom house together over the pandemic, they emerge with a more empassioned collection of fuck you-s to anyone who stands in their way.

Every member of the band seems to have been at a year long boot camp in their chosen instrument. Lead vocalist Amy Taylor roars at the grasp of the male gaze with more clarity than ever, unflinching in telling people exactly where they can stick it “I am still a smart girl if I’m dressing daggy / I am still a tough girl / Don’t you fucking bag me”. Her lionhearted lyricism is what gives her the crown of Australian punk’s biggest badass, but with this release she dares to let us in to the softer parts of her psyche with track “No More Tears”. If anyone can write a self-conscious lovesong and put it in a punk album, it’s her.

Guitarist Dec Martens graduates with flying colours from pub-rock to 70s/80s metal with soaring riffs and ecstatic solos, adding the verve that lifts this album far above its forerunner. Hand in hand with the rhythm section comprised of Gus Romer and Bryce Wilson, the band never miss a beat.

Amyl and The Sniffers are as raw and riotous as we’ve ever seen them in a record that exceeds expectations and then some. They’re here to have fun, and god help anyone who gets in their way.

Rating: 8.5/10

Indie pop-rock icon Angel Olsen takes a hiatus from her tormented tales of love and desperation for a five track EP of 80s tunes she’s heard in the grocery store. Nothing less, nothing more.

The events of the past two years have led many artists to the carthasis of deeply personal, analytic songwriting. Where there is pain, it seems obvious to channel it into our weapon of choice. Angel Olsen flips this idea on its head and gives herself the space to “laugh and have fun and be a little less serious about the recording process in general” she says in a statement accompanying the release.

Olsen is by no means the first indie star to temper a pop song into a brooding ballad, and talented as she is, the project doesn’t give the listener a take we haven’t heard before. “Safety Dance” bares a close resemblence to Lorde‘s sombre 2013 cover of Tears for Fears “Everybody Wants To Rule The World”, a villainous battle track. Similarly, opening track “Gloria” seems to switch to the minor key and call it a day.

Authenticity is found only in the subtleties of Olsen’s vocal delivery, transforming lyrics long overlooked into something far more cerebral. She finds her voice in track 2, Billy Idol’s “Eyes Without A Face”, delivering her dream-like alto we know and love with more affection than the later tracks. Regrettably, we miss this same quality in final track “Forever Young”. The Alphaville anthem falls flat in its battle between strings and analogue synthesizers, washing out the lyrics half sung/half cried around firepits for decades.

Angel Olsen is a master of interpersonal chaos and angst, but she makes no mistake in letting us know Aisles is nothing of the sort. Though we miss the splintering desperation of her lyricism, the singer-songwriter returns less tortured in a time where we could all take a leaf out of her book and give ourselves a break.

Rating: 4/10

Fourth Album by Watford-born sister trio The Staves paints a bittersweet portrait of adolescence, grief and ultimately as the title suggests: womanhood.

Raised by storytellers Simon and Garfunkel and Crosby, Steels and Nash, illustrious harmonies are as natural as breathing for this trio. Though parallels may be drawn between them and their american equivilent HAIM, The Staves instead approach love and loss with unwavering vulnerability and tenderness. Track “Paralyzed” encapsulates this as best as any, grieving the loss of autonomy and former self, burnt out by an overbearing partner: “Don’t snuff me out / I used to be magic / I used to be rage uncontained”.

The Staves greatly improved their sound with production by Bon Iver’s Justin Vernon on their 2014 sophomore album. Unfortunately, Good Woman lacks the same intimacy to some degree. The trio self-produced the record with the aid of John Congleton (Sharon Van Etten, St Vincent) late in the piece. This regrettably creates a disjointed listening experience at times, particularly seen in track “Failure” which lacks the texture and weight of the rest of the tracklist. These missteps are not a dealbreaker by any means, but carve away at what could have been a fluid and wholly enchanting finished product.

The group’s newfound maturity shines sunlight through every inch of this record, granting it the introspection found in poetic masterminds such as Big Thief’s Adrienne Lenker. The title track sees the trio begin to question how quickly they relinquish the upper hand: “Surrender is sweet / forgiveness divine / But who will build statues of me when I leave you all behind?”. They are not yet free of self-doubt, and are not pretending to be.

Good Woman narrates the beginning of personal growth, when you start to assess the walls you build around yourself and who you let beyond them. An album imperative for young women, it illustrates the spaces we inhabit between highs and lows, not yet established within ourselves but trying damn hard to get there.

Rating: 8/10

In her latest LP, indie darling Julien Baker spares her audience the optimism and opens the darkest parts of her story to us.

Four years after her sophomore album, Tennessee-born musician and producer Julien Baker delves straight into the real shit, at the forefront being her struggle with substance abuse and addiction. From the first line of the opening track we know exactly what flavour of heartbreak she has served for us this time: “Blacked out on a weekday”. This raw and unabridged lyricism continues throughout the entire project, impressively without lacking variety or dimension. Much like her previous releases, Julien faces inwards and cuts herself no slack.

Though her style of writing hasn’t evolved noticeably from her other two albums, she returns with a more full-bodied sound in Little Oblivions. The opening track “Hardline” sounds like a live set in full clarity, devoid of the distance a studio-feel would have given. Where her previous projects felt very singer-songwriter, this LP features a full band without drowning out the salient vocal performance.

That being said, at some points in the album the vocal mix doesn’t quite do her justice. Track 4 “Relative Fiction” sees Julien hiding behind the harmonies, missing an opportunity for her signature belt we see in fan favourite “Appointments” from her sophomore album. Strangely, we get back this vocal purity in “Song in E” where the reaching harmonies would have added more substance to what stops just short of an album highlight.

Julien Baker’s supergroup Boygenius with fellow stars Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus heavily shows its influence in this album, and not just in track “Favor” where Bridgers and Dacus are backing vocalists. The sonorous drums and effortless guitar riffs pay montage to their self-titled EP, which received critical acclaim upon its release in 2018.

With few missteps, Little Oblivions is full of life and loss in all its forms. Julien Baker proves herself as the queen of self-awareness, and even for those who don’t bear the weight of addiction, her songs reflect trauma of any origin.

Rating: 7.5/10

Melbourne-based group Hiatus Kaiyote cannot be described by any singular genre. They dance between neo-soul, R&B and jazz-funk within a matter of minutes, leaving their listeners in what can only be described as an LSD-infused soundscape.

With their fourth studio album, the group sounds more united than in their previous records, where the albeit mesmerizing synth riffs washed out the true star of their show: lead vocalist Nai Palm. Her 2017 solo album Needlepaw freed her from this issue as she bared her soul with heartwrenching honesty in tracks such as “Homebody” and “Atoll”.

In this this latest LP we finally see glimpses of Nai Palm untethered. Eleventh track “Stone or Lavender” strips back to the essentials: Piano and strings lifting up the pleading message the singer delivers: Some day it will be okay. I had the pleasure of attending the pre-release listening event for this album and may I add: there was not a dry eye at this point.

Much like in all their previous releases, Hiatus Kaiyote delivers as broad a range of emotion in this album as you could wish for. Standout track “All The Words We Don’t Say” steps away from the ballads and heartbreak for a syncopated, danceable power track. The chorus repeats the title with pure conviction, shouting out to anyone who feels they leave too much unspoken, too much bottled up. This is Nai Palm’s strength in her songwriting, though her songs read like a haiku with vivid, natural imagery she is not afraid to say exactly what she means. We find a similar honesty in the tenth track “Sparkle Tape Break Up”, where she fills the verses with Warahtah flowers and Deadly nightshade before delivering the innermost message of the track like a punch in the gut: “Maybe if I was hard and not so emotional”. Nai Palm-1, My feelings-0.

I have very few criticisms of this album, and Haitus Kaiyote are one of those bands where if you don’t enjoy something, you assume you’re just not getting it. Only a couple of tracks don’t find their home on my playlists, “And We Go Gentle” being the only full length one.

Hiatus Kaiyote have achieved the potential they showed in their previous albums in what is undeniably their best album yet.

Rating: 9/10

Hey there!

I imagine the only one reading this will be my dad but if you’re new here, Welcome!

What better time is there to start my first blog than a mandated 14 day lockdown? For the next two weeks I will be reviewing an album per day, then after that: who knows? More shouting into the ether?

I hope you can find something of use in my posts, and let me know how you find the reviews! I will be opening a new email account and would love to hear from you. If you are a musician and would like my thoughts on any projects, even better!

So to all my fellow music nerds, let’s get reviewing…