The Weeknd’s ‘Dawn FM’ Carries the Weight of Party Hauntology
In Dawn FM, the Weeknd carries the weight of party hauntology, which explores how our cultural past haunts the present and future and mourns what never comes.
pop
Joan Armatrading’s ‘Show Some Emotion’ at 45
Joan Armatrading swerves from one musical idiom to the next, and yet, Show Some Emotion never feels chaotic or inconsistent. It’s a surprisingly cohesive work.
Janet Jackson Made Her Album Debut 40 Years Ago
If Janet Jackson wanted to declare independence from her famous family, she didn’t entirely succeed with her debut LP. It wasn’t until 1986’s Control that she fully emerged.
Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes Cover the 1975’s “Be My Mistake” (premiere)
Guitar virtuosos Tommy Emmanuel and Mike Dawes create a gorgeous rendition of The 1975’s “Be My Mistake”, a single from Accomplice Series Vol. 3.
Rina Sawayama’s ‘Hold the Girl’ Is a Raw Coming-of-Age Tale
Beneath the dance-pop, Rina Sawayama’s Hold the Girl is a liberating saga of growth, maturity, and forgiveness branded in the form of an alt-pop album.
Rina Sawayama’s ‘Hold the Girl’ Is a Bewildering Anticlimax
Rina Sawayama’s second LP, Hold the Girl, suffers from a lack of risk and is self-consciously conservative in terms of execution. It’s a bewildering anticlimax.
Mariah Carey Spread Her Creative Wings with ‘Butterfly’ 25 Years Ago
Mariah Carey’s Butterfly is rightly heralded as the finest work in her long discography and it would prove to become one of the best pop albums of the 1990s.
Miley Cyrus Revealed All Long Before She Climbed Up On That “Wrecking Ball”
Before Miley Cyrus performed the twerk heard ’round the world and then climbed up on that “Wrecking Ball” she showed the world who she really was with ‘The Backyard Sessions’.
Oliver Sim Gets Frank and Frightening on ‘Hideous Bastard’
The xx’s Oliver Sim goes solo with Hideous Bastard, which deals with deconstruction and learning to surrender to desire as a means of a resurrection.
Demi Lovato’s ‘Holy Fvck’ Is One Reset Too Many
Demi Lovato’s eighth album Holy Fvck is a rock star about-face that might have substance but comes too soon after her last reinvention to feel authentic.
Demi Lovato Smashes the Narrative on ‘Holy Fvck’
Empowering and cathartic, Demi Lovato has created a refined and sophisticated collection of songs with Holy Fvck that is their best work lyrically to date.
Mike Nesmith’s Country Rock Deep Cuts Take Center Stage on ‘Different Drum’
Different Drum continues to bolster the case for considering the Monkees’ Michael Nesmith as a major figure in country rock and American popular music.
