Carly Rae Jepsen Finds Life’s Balance on ‘Day and Night’
On Day and Night, Carly Rae Jepsen blends funk, synths, and acoustics for an eclectic but cohesive collection of tunes about love, loss, and settling down.
pop
Thank Goodness for Joy Oladokun and ‘Hope Is a Heavy Thing’
In Hope Is a Heavy Thing, Joy Oladokun seamlessly pairs concerns about violence and environmental catastrophe with lamentations of her own flaws.
The 10 Best Pop Music Books of the 2000s So Far
These ten books are not a poptimist syllabus, but they represent some of the best music writing of the 21st century on pop music.
Chuck Klosterman’s Rock* Makes Rock Music History Wobble
The further Chuck Klosterman’s alternative music history Rock* travels from its first impossible assumption, the more plausible its cultural logic becomes.
The Flawless Vitality of Paris Paloma’s ‘The Fatal Flaw’
Paris Paloma tackles art, love, and everything in between through a feminist lens in her empowered sophomore album The Fatal Flaw.
Joshua Bassett Digs Deeper on ‘Easier’
With his penchant for deep emotional hooks and insight, Joshua Bassett’s music has always been easy to get under your skin. Easier is his best.
Tess Clare Becomes Her Own Permission on ‘Diva 98’
Tess Clare’s debut album, Diva 98, is made by someone who decided she had waited long enough and mostly proves she was right.
‘A Strange Light From the East’ Sounds Beautiful, Provokes Thought
Strange Light explores many permutations of mostly English and American folk, rock, and pop, laced with modes, rhythms, and philosophies derived from the “East”.
The 10 Best Dolly Parton Songs (Plus One More)
Dolly Parton was perhaps the first country mega-star, and the first to successfully crossover into pop music. These are her 10 finest achievements.
Anthony Kavanagh on ‘Pop Scars’ and Taking the Long Way Home
Through a brisk succession of filmic vignettes – each rendered in unflinching, sometimes grotesque detail – Anthony Kavanagh relays being swept from a council house in Manchester and dropped into the jaws of the teen idol-making monster.
Joan As Police Woman Reimagines the Past and Present
Joan As Police Woman revisits her 2009 debut Real Life with warm, retro-modern arrangements, showcasing her skill as a songwriter and producer.
Charli XCX Discovers the Antidote to Fame
On Music, Fashion, Film, Charli XCX turns experimentation into self-deprecation, vindicating pop music’s commercialism.