Brightside – The Lumineers
Brightside is a creative dead-end for The Lumineers and at best, feels like an inoffensive attempt to recreate their old hits.
Crash – Charli XCX
Charli’s final album in her contract goes in a dance-pop direction that still manages to showcase her natural prowess for melodies and hooks.
Crest – Bladee & Ecco2K
Crest sees Bladee and Ecco2K easing into the synthpop direction they’ve experimented on recent projects.
Let’s Promise to Be Happy – Jyocho
Let’s Promise to Be Happy pushes Jyocho’s uplifting style of math rock even further with emotional highs and gorgeous riffing.
Love Sux – Avril Lavigne
Love Sux feels a bit more like a return to form for Avril Lavigne compared to her forgettable output this past decade.
2 Alivë – Yeat
2 Alivë is the start of Yeat’s ascent into the mainstream and plays up his eccentricities.
Halo – Amorphis
Halo does what Amorphis does best: proggy riffs against an emotional blend of clean and unclean vocals.
Striving Toward Oblivion – Vorga
Striving Toward Oblivion is an impressive debut from Vorga as they mix together cosmic melodies with the pummeling force of black metal.
CAPRISONGS – FKA Twigs
Caprisongs is the first mixtape from FKA Twigs, an adventurous transition to a more traditional pop lane.
Rough and Beautiful Place – Mydreamfever
Parannoul’s new project Mydreamfever dives into new age and ambient sounds for its first full-length release, Rough and Beautiful Place.