Flying Lotus - Never Catch Me (feat. Kendrick Lamar)
"Say you will never ever catch me"
Flying Lotus' new album makes me feel real classy. Like I'm at an art exhibition and i can afford to buy everything: It must be the jazz influences (poor cheek to cheek).
Anyways, this song is definitely the best on the album, and it's better than w/e else Kendrick was doing this year. The ending gives me so much lifeeeeeeeee
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35.
Ariana Grande - Problem (feat. Iggy iggz)
"Headinthecloudsgotnoweightonmahshoulders"
Ariana's album is generic and lacks replay value, yes. But this song is a good generic and I still give it a spin sometimes.
And I do think ATRL does a bit to much on poor igloo, so I had to include this, her verse is aight.
34.
Kimbra - Teen Heat
"Can we lose ourselves in the moment?"
Kimbra's album didn't wow me at first, but this was an exception. It starts of quite mellow, but then the the IF.I.CANNOT.STOP. kicks in and this huge chorus scalps me.
Apparently this song is about Kimbra losing her virginity or something. Her GGGB era.
33.
Angel Olsen - Windows
"What's so wrong with the light?"
It took me a while to connect with Angel Olsen's album. But on the first listen this really stood out to me. It's just such a gorgeous closer, and I always love it when an artist saves the best song for last. Angel's lyrics here are simple, yet hard hitting: I think the song is about someone who's depressed or agoraphobic, but maybe I'm taking it too literally. .I love Angel's voice too, it's so expressive, especially in this song. Kinda reminds me of Fiona Apple in that sense..
It was difficult picking something from Little Red, because there's no clear favourite for me. Crying For No Reason and Everything seem to be fan favourites and have appeared on some best ofs, so I ruled them out. I haven't seen much love for this little bonus track though! I adore the blippy production, I think this (and I Like You), are the only tracks that live up to the unique production on her debut's standouts
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31.
Jamie xx - Sleep Sound
"It's an instrumental hihi"
So yeah, he's from the xx, which is kinda weird because there's more variation in few solo tracks he released than the xx's discography...
But yeah, this song is really cool and interesting, not much more to say.
30.
Spoon - Do You
""Do you want to get understood?
Spoon's album is great, probably the most consistent rock album I've listened to this year (poor War on Drugs). There are many highlights, but I chose Do You as it was the most immediate for me. I really like the background vocals (?) for some reason.
29.
Dillon - Don't Go
""Lightly fall on me and stroke my skin, silently"
Dillon is a Brazilian indie pop singer who had a kinda sorta viral video with her song Thirteen Thirtyfive, probably because of the touching lyrics referencing her unborn child ("You'd be thirteen, I'd be thirtyfive...)
Like most of her second album, the Unknown, Don't Go blends electronic and piano music. This track stands out to me because her usual childlike vocals (think Youth Novels Lykke Li) sound really emotional. She really doesn't want him to go, it's touching.
Sleep Sound is really great! I haven't heard this Katy B song but you're right its production is pretty cool. I must have not listened to the bonus tracks for whatever reason.
"Then why'd you have to go and lock me out when I let you in?"
Out of the Woods
Wildest Dreams
New Romantics
Well, yeah I was never the biggest fan of Taylor.
I just find country music boring in general and it didn't help that some of her stans have the habit of being a little arrogant in regards to her rather impressive ~receipts~. But I did like the poppier direction in Red and enjoyed a handful of tracks. But then came along Shake it Off, a very well crafted hit, yes. But let's just say there's no chance in hell it's gracing my song list.
The promo track, Out of the Woods did regain my faith a little, however, and I found myself listening to the leak(remember the iconic Piste 5 & You R in Love?) because of ATRL hyping it up so much. Needless to say, I wasn't disappointed.
I think the reason I like this so much is because, there are clear influences of other artists I like: Blank Space gives Lorde teas, Out of the Woods is very CHVRCHES, I Wish You Would is what Haim would sound like if they wanted a top 10 hit and Wildest Dreams is a Lana song in all but name.
So why isn't this higher? There's still some less than excellent songs here: the robotic opener, the Katy Perry half diss, half homage, Bad Blood and, of course, Shake it Off. But once I deleted a couple tracks, I did really enjoy this album,. And if someone has to completely scalp the girls and sell millions of albums, i'm glad it's Taylor.
So this had been on my to listen list for a while. And it's a shame I didn't listen sooner because it's got a real laid back summer vibe, it reminds me of when I used to go for picnics when I was a kid, for some reason. I think the best way to describe the album is modest, with the album being built solely on guitars and vocals, making it an easy listen and very cohesive.
There are some great lyrics here although it's not always easy to notice, cause the lead's soft vocals kinda bleed into the guitars. Talking Backwards and Navigator are especially well written.
Overall this is just a nice, chill album, some of the songs are kinda just there, but I think it's just because I need more time.
Oh and the album cover is really pretty, even if I'm not sure what it's meant to be.