Kacey Musgraves Renews Her Faith in Country Music
Kacey Musgraves’ Middle of Nowhere is the most classically country album she has released in over a decade. Lyrically, she’s still one of the genre’s biggest rebels.
Jeffrey Davies
Jeffrey Davies is a professional introvert and writer with imposter syndrome whose work spans the worlds of pop culture, books, music, feminism, and mental health. In addition to PopMatters, his writing has appeared on HuffPost, CBC Arts, Book Riot, Collider, Slant Magazine, and other places.
Jessie Ware’s ‘Superbloom’ Is Her Gayest Album Yet
Jessie Ware is hornier on Superbloom than its predecessors, and that alone makes it more assertive. It’s quite possibly her gayest record yet.
Holly Humberstone Is Raw and Mature on ‘Cruel World’
Although Holly Humberstone ends her new album on a signature sad note, Cruel World has a promising tone that shines through the clouds.
Shawn Colvin’s ‘Whole New You’ Is a Revelation at 25
Shawn Colvin knows who she is, and she wasn’t about to start chasing someone else’s pop dreams. That’s what makes Whole New You so captivating still.
Harry Styles Is Surprisingly Subdued on ‘All the Time’
Harry Styles sounds tired of trying to check boxes on someone else’s list, and he’s trying to figure out his own sound as an adult man in his third decade.
Hilary Duff Grows Up on ‘Luck… or Something’
Hilary Duff toes the line between acoustic and dance-pop, but she ties it all together with songwriting about, for lack of a better term, millennial ennui.
Nick Jonas Finds Himself on ‘Sunday Best’
On Nick Jonas’ fifth solo album, Sunday Best, he looked inward for inspiration and created what is arguably his strongest music to date.
Taylor Swift’s ‘The Tortured Poets Department’ Is Ambitious and Experimental
The Tortured Poets Department‘s songs are calculated, complete, and the most experimental and ambitious of Taylor Swift’s work to date.
Maggie Rogers Turns Inward on ‘Don’t Forget Me’
Maggie Rogers’ latest album, Don’t Forget Me, is a soft and breezy return to the musician we met on her debut studio effort Heard It in a Past Life.
’10 Things I Hate About You’ Is a Revolutionary Riot-Grrl Inspired Teen Comedy
Gil Junger’s alteration of The Taming of the Shrew, 1999’s 10 Things I Hate About You, is a revolutionary Riot Grrl-inspired teen comedy for today’s girls.
Lizzy McAlpine Ages Into Herself on ‘Older’
Older hones in on what makes Lizzy McAlpine a compelling artist: astute observations of being young and in love and still learning what those things mean.
Kacey Musgraves Returns to Her Roots on ‘Deeper Well’
Kacey Musgraves, like all of us, is just trying to learn how to sway in the face of life’s challenges, and she chooses to gift them to us in the form of songs.