Depeche Mode’s ‘Memento Mori’ Is an Embrace of Life in Death’s Shadow
Depeche Mode’s Memento Mori is a testament to the power of art to call us to see more clearly in the absence of resolution.
Rick Quinn
Rick Quinn is a writer in the Nashville, TN area interested in the interplay between pop culture, religion, and social justice. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Vanderbilt University and is currently managing a burgeoning vinyl habit. He blogs at RickTQuinn and can be found on Twitter @apophatic1.
U.S. Girls ‘Bless This Mess’ Embraces Materiality, Creativity, and Dance Grooves
In Bless This Mess, U.S. Girls identify funk and R&B grooves as conduits for the very pulse of life. It’s brilliantly conceived and executed.
Fantastic Negrito Reimagines His 2022 Album with ‘Grandfather Courage’
Fantastic Negrito’s Grandfather Courage is a compelling, affecting work of acoustic blues and roots music, speaking to the deep currents of blues as an American art form.
Sunny War Preaches Raw Realism in ‘Anarchist Gospel’
Sunny War is one of the most promising, exciting voices in American roots music. Anarchist Gospel is a testament to clear-eyed persistence and gritty hope.
Adeem the Artist Announces With ‘White Trash Revelry’ That It’s Their Country Too
White Trash Revelry offers no elegy for hillbillies. Through deeply empathetic songwriting, Adeem the Artist has made one of the best country albums of 2022.
Taylor Swift Mines Intrusive Thoughts For Pop Artistry on ‘Midnights’
On Midnights, Taylor Swift reflects on the ghosts of the past and maps the rarely straightforward journey of fully becoming one’s self with pristine popcraft.
The Unbearable Lightness of Death Cab For Cutie’s ‘Asphalt Meadows’
Death Cab for Cutie show their place in the indie rock pantheon on Asphalt Meadows while also producing music deserving of consideration with some of their best early work.
The Mountain Goats Expose the Limits of Escapism on ‘Bleed Out’
The Mountain Goats’ Bleed Out is a fascinating homage and a meta-commentary on the action film genre and how it soothes our unease in a world on fire.
The Power of Amanda Shires’ Voice Reverberates Throughout ‘Take It Like a Man’
Emotionally Amanda Shires’ Take It Like a Man interlaces heartache and disappointment with the profoundly temporal joys of new beginnings and aches of desire.
Jack White Dazzles With an Expansive Musical Palette on ‘Entering Heaven Alive’
With Entering Heaven Alive Jack White offers the yang to the yin of Fear of the Dawn while broadening his musical palette.
Mt. Joy Bask in the Present Moment on ‘Orange Blood’
Orange Blood expands the range of Mt. Joy’s psychedelic-tinged folk, moving from reflective acoustic to stadium anthems, cross-pollinating laid-back LA sounds with Philly soul.
Drive-By Truckers Forge Ahead By Looking Back on ‘Welcome 2 Club XIII’
Drive-By Truckers’ Welcome 2 Club XIII is more introspective and subdued than the previous raw, unfiltered laments and analyses of American culture.