The second part of this month’s Capsule Review will carry on with the next 13 records that I managed to listen to. There are other albums outside of the list that I had listened to like Deathcrash, Squid, or other names. I’m hoping to try and cap it all off in the next few months. Expect a good load of lengthiness throughout this article with the goods, the bads, and a bit of joking about with the albums. I hope that you enjoy your time reading through this as I do writing it.
Tainy – DATA (29 June 2023)
Reggaetón artist and producer Tainy is a veteran with more than 15 years’ worth of experience when DATA was finally dropped. It’s a concept album based around the cyborg Sena’s ‘birth’ through music with a couple of interviews alluding to disintegrating organic connection in favour of technology. Despite its interesting premise with how it relates to being human, there’s a lack of abundant experimentation to hammer home becoming digitised. The handful of creative beats generally does little to push back on the relatively generic trap sounds. The lyrics, at least once translated, does little to address technology and relatability in favour of booty and love. These might be tried-and-true in their effectiveness, but it fails to feel a bit more impactful. It’s a perfectly missed opportunity to get ourselves to evaluate AI, anonymity, and identity crisis in the progress of science no matter how professional the whole listening experience is. 2.4/5
Blur – The Ballad of Darren (21 July 2023)
The Britpop legends have finally made their comeback after nearly 8 years’ worth of hiatus as frontman Damon Albarn had gone to experiment with Gorillaz. Named after a body who works for Albarn, the album incorporates the band’s signature alt-rock vibes with the retro-styled production and classiness of the 1970s’ lounge pop. While there are moments that do hit pretty hard with the sentimentality like ‘The Narcissist’’s sincerity (ironically enough), much of the album simply does well with its role. There’s little around the album that stuck out like gold aside from the clear competency in playing the instruments. There is little sense of adventurousness and the singing feels a bit off in how Albarn tries to get himself in sync with the Baroque instrumentation. However, that shouldn’t be used to detract from the fact that Blur still exhibits a certain drive to try and push themselves to the limit. The vocal layering and slight tinge of psychedelia do at times make for a pleasant listen. They’re well at peace with what they’ve accomplished. 3/5
Grian Chatten – Chaos for the Fly (30 June 2023)
The frontman of Fontaines D.C. has his debut album be set to chamber pop rather than the sturdy post-punk that many enjoy. If you were to enjoy the band for the amount of swagger that could be found in their most recognisable hits like Skinty Fia’s ‘Jackie Down the Line’, Chatten might have something to offer. Tracks like ‘Bob’s Casino’ feels reminiscent of Tom Waits’s lyrics on impoverishment and crime had he delved into baroqueness rather than the blues. This, unfortunately enough, simply lacks even the slight tinge of grittiness that makes the original band enjoyable for a bit even if I might not be as head over heels with them as others. Chaos for the Fly is at least a badass name for an album. 2/5
The Clientele – I Am Not There Anymore (28 July 2023)
The dream pop experts have returned with a notable left turn that eschews constant ringing echoes in favour of a more melodic, Easy Listening-inspired gentleness of chamber pop. While the tracks are sandwiched with some piano-driven, new-age interludes as in ‘Radial H’, lengthier works like the expository ‘Fables of the Silverlink’ opens the gate to the same kind of magic as in 2000’s Suburban Lights. Soothing and cathartic in its right as the records back in the Clientele’s early years, I Am Not There Anymore feels like a poetic transition to grander sound palettes even if the road might at times feel bumpy. 3.5/5
Travis Scott – UTOPIA (28 July 2023)
Fantastic electronic production that is let down by a whole load of questionable song structures, lyricisms, excessive autotune, jumbled themes, and hackneyed rhymes. Try and treat this like a Pharrel William project because the reality is, you’re in it for the beats and not so much on the other major aspects. Please skip it if you’re not a fan of trap; Travis Scott’s work here might feel a lot harder to truly like compared with Rodeo. 1.8/5
Carly Rae Jepsen – The Loveliest Time (28 July 2023)
Carly Rae Jepsen is clearly setting herself up to be among one of the handful of pop stars who is capable of earning the respect from the underground/indie community. The Loveliest Time, despite coming out as a companion piece to last year’s The Loneliest Time, feels more like a sequel to her magnum opus E·MO·TION. It might not feel like there are clearer big hits with infectious hooks and bouncy electronic production, but you can definitely feel the prowess of her craft. It lacks the cutting-edge drive that makes E·MO·TION a gem to behold. However, The Loveliest Time is, frankly speaking, a bit of a bop once you listen to it well enough. 3.3/5
Oxbow – Love’s Holiday (21 July 2023)
What should be the California-based art rock band’s first album in six years feels more akin to a bit of malarkey. It should feel gritty, confrontational, edgy, or even at times relentless thanks to a featured appearance of Lingua Ignota with her choir-like backing vocals on ‘Lovely Murk’. Instead, it’s just sex filtered under post-hardcore vibes. Maybe a couple of references to assault or power struggle, but Love’s Holiday falls completely flat on its potential and thematic explorations. As a piece of entertainment, it’s akin to derivative pop punk hits about getting out of town. As art, it’s like trying to paint an abstract portrait using slightly different shades of red stripes with very vague context. In a nutshell, it’s not a good listen in my opinion at all. 1.2/5
WITCH – Zango (2 June 2023)
Zamrock (Zambia-based psychedelic rock with local influences) pioneers WITCH (We Intend To Cause Havoc) decided to thunder rather than thud on their newest LP. With a whopping 39-year gap from their previous album, it’s a genuine surprise to learn that Zango retains its weirdness in such wondrous ways. Fun vocal harmonies, unconventionally catchy percussions, and a more pronounced bassline makes for an album that is surprisingly unique in its subtle ways. Please, don’t enter it hoping for a bit of theatrical takedowns on the authority because there’s not much here that is new under the sun. Instead, approach it like a fun, juicy piece of African rock that hits hard by musicians at an age when most of their contemporaries would have struggled with reaching their highs. 4/5
Kevin and the Bikes – Fade From View (9 June 2023)
The North Carolina-based slacker rockers are looking to try and outgrow the novelty breakthrough of their 2019 sophomore album Dorkcore 101. With 2020’s Ironic Songs and now Fade From View, the direction went from best-case comedy and worst-case shitpost music towards the more confessional feelings of Midwest Emo and fuzzy noise pop. It’s got a clear unpolished feel due to the lo-fi recording that might hinder the whole anxious sentimentalities. These facts shouldn’t be used to deter the provocations that could be found to make Todd Jordan and Jacob Kuchavik’s efforts tense and heartfelt at all times. If you’re a fan of deliberately snuffed-up audio recordings, feel free to check this out even if it might not be a jackpot. 3.5/5
Teenage Wrist – Still Love (4 August 2023)
One of the shoegaze bands found in Los Angeles released themselves a new record that’s more conventionally alternative as to say. Simply put, it’s got good production and it offers one track that I find emotive in ‘Paloma a.k.a. Ketamine’ with its dissonantly seductive rhythm and its wistfully nostalgic lyrics. Despite that point, the rest of the album feels a bit like schmuck with its lack of creativity. It doesn’t hit hard so much as it just falters in its relative mediocrity. There’s no standard to be found in the record. 1.5/5
12 Rods – If We Stayed Alive (7 July 2023)
More than 20 years after Lost Time was dropped, the underground dream pop darlings return with an unexpected comeback. Much of the sounds there can be best described as the pop rock of the 1980s/1990s being put through a remix of swirliness and breathlessness. If We Stayed Alive doesn’t offer much originality or experimentation that carries the band onward beyond their peak. With that in mind however, the enthusiastic singing makes for a more upbeat listen compared to the other records. Feel free to give this a spin if curious. 3.4/5
Nas – Magic 2 (21 July 2023)
The series of bangers after bangers made over the last few years puts Queensbridge’s eminent hip hop poet back on top with King’s Disease III being his best in a long time. For all his bars being backed by the usually befitting souls samples from Hit-Boy, such a run isn’t going to last forever. Magic 2 carries forth the kind of topics that Nas loves to rap about, that is his romantic struggles, career development, and his tryst with being remembered as one of the greatest emcees of all time. Unfortunately, there are bars that can really take you out of the mood whether that be a weird Breaking Bad reference in ‘Motion’ or the bloated shoutouts in ‘Pistols On Your Album Cover’. Definitely not up on par with his usual lyrical flairs. 2.2/5
iANO – What Will We See (28 July 2023)
Lastly, here is a California-based art pop artist’s dive into post-minimalism and prog-like extensions. With a certain apocalyptic-like vibe, the piano notes tend to be played in a bit of polyrhythms over numerous layers with synths, electronica, and a bit of acoustic guitar even. The lyrics take the backseat although it’s worth bearing in mind that the vocal performance in general is largely gorgeous with the ways that the vocalizer adds a phantasmal impression. There is a certain magic that could be felt as you tune in to the little intricacies, the eeriness that is felt within it, the gradual sublimity that underpins What Will We See. Pretentious that this might come off, you’re best off imagining the album as a doorway to a dimension that you might not know of. It’s special in its own way. 4.2/5
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