Monday, January 31, 2022
BLACKOUT (2007) 🤩 – Britney Spears
Rating: 9.1/10
Favorite song(s): “Gimme More” and “Radar”
Favorite lyric: “It’s Britney, b****” – “Gimme More”
All I can say is: “It’s Britney, b****.”
Tuesday, February 1, 2022
WILDCARD (2019) 🤩 – Miranda Lambert
Rating: 9.0/10
Favorite song(s): “Bluebird” and “Tequila Does”
Favorite lyric: “And if the house just keeps on winning / I got a wildcard up my sleeve / And if love keeps giving me lemons / I’ll just mix ’em in my drink” – “Bluebird” and “Well, I’m a pretty hot mess, but hell, I guess / I’m pretty sure it’s a family tradition” – “Pretty Bitchin'”
WILDCARD has a confidence and playfulness to it that makes it sincerely entertaining. The storytelling of songs like “Way Too Pretty for Prison” and the quirky lyricism of songs like “It All Comes Out in the Wash” is genius. The constantly changing rhythm in “Tequila Does” that producers use to achieve a “drunk effect” is one of the most interesting and fun production techniques I’ve heard.
Wednesday, February 2, 2022
BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER (1970) 😊 – Simon & Garfunkel
Rating: 7.0/10
Favorite song(s): “Bridge Over Troubled Water” and “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)”
Favorite lyric: “I’d rather be a hammer than a nail / Yes, I would / If I only could / I surely would” – “El Condor Pasa (If I Could)”
I had high expectations for BRIDGE OVER TROUBLED WATER after falling in love with the first two tracks, both of which are masterclasses in songwriting and harmonies. Unfortunately, the album goes downhill from there and tumbles into, to put it plainly, a boring mess.
Thursday, February 3, 2022
LAUREL HELL (2022) 🤩 – Mitski
Rating: 9.2/10
Favorite song(s): “Should’ve Been Me” and “Stay Soft”
Favorite lyric: “I’ll have to learn to be somebody else / It’s been you and me since before I was me / Without you, I don’t yet know quite how to live”
Mitski is the queen of sad-girl indie music, and LAUREL HELL is just another feather in her cap. Her dexterity with words allows her to perfectly capture hurt and heartbreak, and the edgy production brings new flavor and dimension to already haunting songs.
Friday, February 4, 2022
BLOOM (2018) 🤩 – Troye Sivan
Rating: 9.9/10
Favorite song(s): “My My My!” and “The Good Side”
Favorite lyric: “Oh, I want to skip stones on your skin, boy / And drown me in your water” – “Lucky Strike” and “When our prime has come and gone / And our youth is all but melted, melted / We can listen to this song / So we don’t have to accept it” – “What A Heavenly Way To Die”
With BLOOM, Troye Sivan eloquently expresses the bittersweet yet beautiful moments of queer love and imbues each of his songs with unique romanticism and Lorde-esque angst that makes his songs cut deep. I especially appreciated “Seventeen,” in which Sivan sings about the innocence lost to predatory relationships, which happens far too often in the queer community.
Saturday, February 5, 2022
CHANNEL ORANGE (2012) 😊 – Frank Ocean
Rating: 8.9/10
Favorite song(s): “Lost” & “Thinkin Bout You”
Favorite lyrics: “A tornado flew around my room before you came / Excuse the mess it made” – “Thinkin Bout You”
CHANNEL ORANGE feels like a setting sun — serene, romantic, breathtakingly beautiful — and Frank Ocean’s voice is like the fading rays of sunshine, warming your skin and comforting your soul.
Sunday, February 6, 2022
CHEAP QUEEN (2019) 😊- King Princess
Rating: 6.9/10
Favorite song(s): “Cheap Queen” and “Ain’t Together”
Favorite lyric(s): “I need you to search my clothing /Pat me down and feel the molding” – “Hit the Back”
After hearing King Princess’s other songs like “1950” and “Talia”, I was expecting CHEAP QUEEN to be poignant and striking; instead, it was tragically bland, both lyrically and production-wise. The titular track, “Cheap Queen,” and “Ain’t Together” were the only ones that stood out, and that is a shame because King Princess has such a deeply expressive and special voice that should not go to waste.
