Lollapalooza Pack: Carly Rae Jepsen, Karol G, and Key Glock

The Loveliest Time - Carly Rae Jepsen

After releasing two of the best pop albums of the 2010s Carly Rae Jepsen established herself as the best and one of the most underrated songwriters in all of pop music. Her most recent project, last year's The Loneliest Time, was the first time in a decade that I wasn't blown away by her material either studio albums or B-sides. Despite having a few incredibly good moments it was surprisingly inconsistent for an artist who felt like they just never ran out of good songs. Now, that album is getting a quick follow-up in companion album The Loveliest Time. While it's easy to reflexively call this a B-Side project, it also kind of feels like a more romantic answer to its predecessor. Given that has historically been right up Carly's alley and that I thought the lead single Shy Boy was pretty good I was excited about this. 

Unfortunately, the four songs proceeding Shy Boy on the album don't add up to a ton of intrigue. The opening two songs show Carly near her sugariest but without the instantaneous punch of a track like Let's Sort The Whole Thing Out. By comparison Aeroplanes and in particular, After Last Night feel like duds. But from that point on the quality improves quite a bit. Kollage is a distinctly soulful track that has gone a bit viral for just how far outside of Carly's wheelhouse it seems. Regardless, it's a wonderful track that I loved instantly and is still a big favorite. People have also been talking about Psychedelic Switch and for good reason. The dance-pop number is utterly infectious and sees Carly leaning even further into electronics than ever before with great results. The good energy from that song carries on as well leaking into the following two also very dancy and catchy songs. Stadium Love is yet another adventure that Carly fans won't be particularly used to but it's undeniably fun. The Loveliest Time isn't the completion of Carly's perfect trilogy that I've been waiting for. Much like its companion album, this project is more inconsistent than I ever expected Carly to be with some duds on the front end that feel beneath her. But ultimately I think this is a solid outing from Carly that sees her taking risks throughout and they almost all pay off. Her pop instincts are still largely intact and the expanded reach makes them even more infectious. 7/10

MANANA SERA BONITO - Karol G

I wanted to review this album earlier this year as Karol G has quickly become one of the biggest stars in Latin music. Somehow it ended up slipping through the cracks but with a deluxe edition of the album dropping soon there's no better time than now to tackle it. There are certainly highlights early out the gate. I've been fond of the Romeo Santos collaboration X SI VOLVEMOS since the album first dropped and I think the slow unfolding BESTIES has a supremely underrated attitude. In the inverse of how I felt about previous Karol G outings, I actually like the trap-flavored songs here much more than the more fluttering string-backed ballads. While I was mixed about the mega-hit TQG at first hearing it more has caused it to grow on me. Similarly, I think GATUBELA is a hard-hitting collaboration that features solid performances all around. 

While there are minor highlights all over the album I do think it lacks a certain high-end punch that really blows me away. Even worse is that when it wanders away from Karol G's girlish charm the results can be extremely inconsistent. Generally speaking, I would say about half the features on the record take more away from it than they provide. And when Karol kind of disappears out of herself to take on a really distinct sound or form, that also doesn't often go well. Not to say that she's a one-trick pony, but throughout this record the thumping Latin trap bangers tend to lap the field around almost anything else. I like this album and I recognize Karol G's star-power within it. The project has stuck with me since I first heard it in February and I felt compelled to cover it now. But it does have its flaws in the way almost all mainstream records do. While slimming down the tracklist could have helped the main thing I'll be looking for in the future is for Karol to connect her talents to sounds outside the ones that have come to define her commercially. 6/10

Chris Black Changed My Life - Portugal. The Man

While there are moments in Portugal.The Man's back catalog that I've always felt were okay, ultimately I can't really say I've ever been that big of a fan. By the time they had their breakout mainstream hit Feel It Still I was pretty disillusioned with their music. I didn't anticipate the band continuing down their path of commercial success, as it always felt like an uncomfortable and frankly accidental fit. That feeling was validated once I saw the tracklist for this project which features an array of strange features I would have never expected. While Jeff Bhasker, Unknown Mortal Orcheatra and maybe even Edgar Winter if you squint could possibly fit in. But Black Thought and Natalia Lafourcade?? On the same song?? To say the project had my curiosity would be an understatement. Turns out that's all it has.

I have no idea what to make of this album. Let's start by saying this might be the most severe misuse of talent I've heard in a LONG time. Why do they assemble some genuinely talented people into an album that seeks to have political muscle but sounds like the bubblegum pop of the early 70s in tone. The Black Thought and Natalia Lafourcade is the worst example just because of how little the try to play to either artists strength or make them fit in, but the pain of this record is really spread out throughout. I didn't like the singles that I heard from this album but I didn't realize until hearing the whole project just how bad they actually are. Dummy has been the big hit from the album but I really can't stand to listen to its awful hook more than once. Summer Of Luv is slightly better but I think they're really misappropriating some of the "vintage" sounds that Ruben has done so well as Unknown Mortal Orchestra. This album has an INSANE list of collaborators which is packed full of interesting musicians, and apparently Ben Stiller according to Wikipedia. 

To that end, this album isn't made unbearable strictly by the sound of it. In fact, instrumentally I could envision a lot of these tracks being good in a completely different context. The issue here is application and it's an issue that goes deep. Even stranger is the seemingly genuine message underlying the entire album spawning from its title feels like its in HARD contrast with the shallow and often silky demeaor of the songs. When I first heard this album I considered doing a full length review because there was just so much wrong with it that I wanted to talk about. But that isn't really productive in any way so I'll keep it short. This is FAR worse than Portugal. The Man's pivot in the direction of mainstream indie. I'm just not sure what to say about this record. It's obvious that those involved tried and I can see flashes of potential here and there. But I just do not vibe with the sound of this record at all and I can't really find a good way to align that within the artistic progression of the works in their discography I have enjoyed. 3/10

Glockoma 2 - Key Glock

I have never really been all THAT interested in Key Glock. I've heard him on plenty of features and never been interested enough to check out a whole album. But like much of the music listening world, I pay attention to Anthony Fantano and when he gave a pretty glowing review to this album I was surprised. Seeing him playing Lolla was all the opportunity I needed to check it out. Ultimately while I'm not as crazy about it as he was, I certainly see the appeal. The rumbling southern rap beats are often added onto with meaningful flourishes that elevate these instrumentals above some of his contemporaries. Combining that with a good chorus on a song like Pop My Shit makes for great highlights. I also have to say I really enjoy some of the murkier songs on the record like In & Outta Town. While it isn't always quite as lethal the highlights definitely add an edge of variety to the tracklist. The closing track Fuck A Feature isn't a particular favorite of mine but it does explain Key Glock's approach to collaborators on the album. The lack of anybody else's voice isn't inherently a problem but for an album where variety can be a bit of an issue it does stand out. It's hardly the end of the world but as his flows and cadence start to become exceedingly familiar by the end of the album's runtime it can dull the impact of some later tracks. This album is solid. It's definitely better than I anticipated and I see what people like about it. The southern rap grime is all over these songs from the most hard-hitting to the most obscured. The result is intense even if it never really reaches a point of transcendent. If any of this sounds appealing to you, maybe give the album a shot because I think you'll like it. But going forward I'd love to see Key Glock expand his horizons a bit because it really could elevate things here. 6.5/10