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Miley Cyrus – Something Beautiful (6 June 2025)

Miley Cyrus went through a lot of artistic changes over the course of her career. She’s once the biggest name in teen pop under her portrayal of TV star Hannah Montana. Then, she pivots to the scandalous bad girl image before stepping away from it in favour of looking like a rockstar. Something Beautiful marks the beginning of a new era for Cyrus as she forgoes continuing any of her personas to instead carve a new one. One which is marked by wide musical variety, glamorous aesthetics and effects, and more diverse collaborations. It might not land on every note that you could have wished for, but the album’s depiction of the apocalypse, nature, and stardom as being analogous to personal life developments offer a refreshing interpretation. It’s a largely refreshing sight to the ears to know that there are some mainstream names like Kesha or Charli XCX who aim to push the boundary of what we consider to be accessible. Miley Cyrus is no exception to the movement.  3.9/5

Highlight Pick: ‘Something Beautiful’

Lil Carter – Tha Carter VI (6 June 2025)

One of the most commercially successful rappers of the 2000s is out to present the latest instalment of his series of albums Tha Carter. The sixth record released as part of that, as much as it aims to highlight his skills, feels less like a realised endeavour that proves his artistry and more like a caricaturised landscape painting of decadence. Cocaine, coochies, and bitches are all recognisable parts of his repertoire alongside introspective pieces on his personal life that are on display as exhibits. There is however the immaturity both in theme and in development that threatens to wear out his future prospects outside of rereleases. It feels like he doesn’t put in specific requests to push his music in a direction that would prove exhilarating compared to the new blood. At least the duo in Clipse have shown that they are able to adapt to the current era while keeping their essence in the crack trade. This one desperately needs a rehab for a refresher. 0.3/5

Lucrecia Dalt – A Danger to Ourselves (5 September 2025)

Lucrecia Dalt is a Colombian music artist who is known for her experimentations which utilises electroacoustic features and gritty dark jazz. Among some of her most well-known works include ¡Ay! from 2022 and 2018’s Anticlines which saw praise from critics for its forward-thinking incorporation of its instrumentation and flexive vocal delivery. A Danger to Ourselves is her latest release which, based on some bits of listening, is best described as being reliant on acquired tastes. For one, its instrumentation has a certain post-industrial touch and a certain kind of rattly sparseness which brings to mind the most restrained of Tom Waits or even Fiona Apples. Its subtle hypnosis isn’t enough however to hold your attention and it can on more than one occasion wear you out in dullness over its direction rather than intrigue your thinking. Fans of experimental music will find this to be a worthwhile check even if it might not exactly be one that meets with much of my interests. 2.2/5

Highlight Pick: ‘hasta el final’

Celestaphone & Dealers of God – Cult Subterranea (20 April 2025)

Celestaphone is a Californian producer who rose to fame for his instrumental works which incorporate serious plunderphonics influence. Meanwhile, Dealers of God is a rap group where members would adopt a different alias for the psychedelic and oftentimes weird array of themes. Such names include p.rosa as DJ Cheesehall, Australian-born Prizefight as Yung Bronchitis, and Swede Teyos as one of the producers. Cult Subterranea is the collaboration between the two acts and the result is one that would be best described as divisive. The beats are as alien as the cover art and the rapping as a whole are choppy in the sense that the flow does not match the melody of the track. There’s also a political undertone that blends religious fundamentalism with the vastness of the cosmic alongside the use of technology for sociomaterial gains over the downtrodden. It isn’t my cup of tea as the experimentation verges too much into the eccentric. However, it is as weird as weird gets for fans of Death Grips, By Storm, or the OG MF DOOM. 2.8/5

Highlight Pick: ‘Draconian Starseed’

Shearling – Motherfucker I am Both “Amen” and “Hallelujah”… (1 May 2025)

Remember Sprain? Since the abrupt disbandment that appears to derive from difficult behaviors, frontman Alex Kent alongside his band compatriot Sylvie Simmons are back under a different name. Motherfucker I am Both “Amen” and “Hallelujah”… is the debut from the newborn band in Shearling which should be able to attract a sizable chunk of the past fandom. It’s a noisy type of post-rock that’s rife with apocalyptic lyrics, gruelling feedbacks, and a sheer grandiose scope that is best encapsulated by how it consists of only just one song. Compared to the last effort in The Lamb as Effigy, Shearling comes off more as a parodic repeat where the record, being made up of one song with multiple sections, overstays its welcome in execution. The screaming now comes off as forced faux-madness, the instrumentation feels too similar to Sprain’s that the musical direction doesn’t feel as deep as you would have liked, and the tale of self-disintegration now comes off as purely pitiful. Its vision is very much noticeable as is the technical prowess, but you shouldn’t really listen to it with the intent to give away your hopes. Because it’s only a performance. 3.1/5

Baths – Gut (21 February 2025)

Baths is the stage name of William Wiesenfeld, an American musician who resides in Los Angeles with a knack for electronica and indie rock. Gut is the fifth album from him which sought to blend the two genres together with the product being a quirky, queer, and quaint piece of work. It’s vocally expressive in all its weird little ways as Wiensenfeld signals his unabashed life as a gay man within the ocean of glitchy production, synthesizers roaming about, and even some lushness from the plucking. It is one that doesn’t shy away from homosexuality and as on-the-nose as it is lyrically, it is still a record that is well worth the look into even if it doesn’t match the marvel of Model/Actriz’s Pirouette. 4.3/5

Highlight Picks: ‘Homosexuals’

Shinsei Kamattechan – Danchi Thesis (22 January 2025)

Just over 25 years ago, a certain group called Boredoms released a cult classic called Vision Creation Newsun. It’s rife with primal drumming, complex and multilayered polyrhythms, and nonstop effects that will devastate every subatomic particle of your eardrum. A few months ago, another band called Shinsei Kamattechan released Danchi Thesis which feels a bit like it’s bidding to be the spiritual sequel to the album but the pieces don’t quite come together as smoothly as it could have. The symphonic array of instrumentation feels like clutter way too much. The effects are overbearing without any sense of appropriate timing to the track’s context. The mixing might have created a wall of sound, but it’s one that washes all possible interpretations away including the intent of depression, nihilism, and anxiety. The album’s ambition reigns high yet that is by and far its greatest weakness as it tears at any possibility for a breather. 1.7/5

Highlight Pick: ‘Zensekai no kasu Domoe Kanpai’

Lupe de Lupe – Amor (1 July 2025)

Lupe de Lupe is a Brazilian noise rock group who has been producing music since 2008. With noticeable shoegaze influences as well, they have managed to cultivate a following for their distinctive direction. Amor sought to take that trajectory towards post-rock instead with love as the headlining theme to carry the entire album. Its sound will inevitably draw comparisons to either one of Black Country, New Road or Hesse Kassel. A bit further, Slint might come to mind for notable names that this album will likely remind you of. This alone shouldn’t be used as a deterrent owing to the possibility that the direction is unoriginal although there are rough spots that could do with some polishing. Instead, Amor’s disobedience to the chorus-verse-chorus structure and its fuzzy textures from the band’s experience makes the heartfelt singing come off as more authentic. It is through its execution from its use of the genre that elevates the theme beyond cliches much like August, Yours Truly. 3.9/5

Huremic – Seeking Darkness (13 March 2025)

Huremic is the new project of the anonymous artist behind Parannoul who had voiced his likely chance at not revisiting the name for a long while. Under the different name comes a different style as Seeking Darkness eschews South Korean angst as displayed by contemporary Asian Glow in favour of more instrumental-driven dissonance and viscerality of noise rock. In fact, it’s more of an experimental endeavour with krautrock, psychedelic, and even metal influences. It intersperses between brief episodes of tranquility and thunderous feedback that atomizes any semblance of expression uttered by the artist himself. Whatever it may be, the talent is still at play although its maximalism might fall shorter than either Sky Hundred or After the Magic. 4/5

Highlight Pick: ‘Seeking Darkness Pt. 5’

The Last Dinner Party – From the Pyre (17 October 2025)

The Last Dinner Party is seemingly set on being the next Florence and the Machine much in the same way that Wet Leg is paralleling the heights of the Strokes. While their debut in Prelude to Ecstasy was released with much-lauded arrays of lushfully orchestrated bangers, it was in their second album that they struggled to strike hot the zeitgeist. From the Pyre contains all the characteristics that are already established as the band’s trademark from the singalong vocal harmonies in the chorus to the bombastic glam in the instrumentation to add character to the track’s sense of theatricity. However, it feels as if it doesn’t have the same kind of magic as the debut. It feels lacking in more impassioned singing, the slower-tempo parts of the structure might lack the zinger to make itself settle in, and even the chorus lacks the gut punch that exudes from the likes of ‘Sinners’ or ‘Nothing Matters’. The gals have both the talent and the grit to become one of this decade’s definite greats and you can still feel it in this album. From the Pyre sadly enough isn’t quite the X-factor in showing them at their fullest potential. 3.3/5

Highlight Pick: ‘This is the Killer Speaking’

John Michel and Anthony James – Egotrip (23 May 2025)

Usually, I would try and revisit the albums I wanted to write a short review of as a reminder of their style and whether there might be any last-minute change of heart with regards to my feelings for this kind of post. For Egotrip, it’s the kind of experience that sticks on you so well that it’s hard to forget it. It’s not a wholly original kind of rap album with its jazzy production and mostly surface-layer exploration of its themes regarding family and life as a Black American. The parts that will win you over are the strings of passionate rapping with delicate flows, vivid imagery, and incredible chemistry between the two rappers in John Michel and Anthony James even though this is only a collaboration. It’s no Little Simz or McKinley Dixon, but this album is one that fans of conscious hip hop should consider checking out as one of the prospective hits of this year. 4.2/5

Highlight Pick: ‘PREACHER! (Feat. colin!)’