Lav's Music Corner

Review by Lavender: This one always rubs people the wrong way. I've never been a fan of Fontaines D.C. despite giving the band shot after shot after shot every single time they emerge with new music. That culminated in their third album, 2022's Skinty Fia . After absolutely loving the record's lead single Jackie Down The Line  I thought it was time they finally clicked with me, but when I reviewed the record in full I found it even weaker than their already underwhelming discography so far. It brings me no joy to report that I've been fooled again. I was excited for this record once again based on a single track, the second single and album closer Favourite. It may be my favorite song the band has ever released as they shift their sound into a blissed-out combination of 80s psychedelia and 90s shoegaze. It's so genuinely life-affirming in a way I never expected to hear from the band and I find it completely irresistible. The one thing I'll say for this record is...

This week some big favorites dropped duds and the best songs came from a few surprising places.  5.  Life  - Jamie xx (feat. Robyn) Even lacking the variety of his legendary debut album, the singles from Jamie xx's long-awaited follow-up have still been satisfying. Life  sees him teaming up with Robyn, who appears to be fully back in 2024, for what may be the most satisfying of the bunch. Jamie's vibrant house beats combine with Robyn's unmistakable direct swagger for a crossover that meets the moment perfectly. Listen 4.  TGIF  - GloRilla Glo isn't slowing down off the release of her admittedly pretty solid mixtape earlier this year. Her voice continues to be one of the most commanding in all of rap and the sparse popping beats she chooses to lend it to make things hit even harder. Even if this track has one or two lyrical moments that tend to drag down the energy with silly punchlines it's still an absolutely thumping song.  Listen 3.  Favourite...

Slowthai is a British rapper who also dabbles in the styles of punk with his screamed vocals and distorted arrays of instrumentation. After his first album Nothing Great About Britain  took on heavy political and societal themes he shifted the focus on 2020s Tyron  a double LP that paired some of his normal bangers with some much more emotional and introspective songs on the second half. UGLY  is a follow-up to that second half of Tyron , but applying that introspection to a much wider array of aesthetics. Review by Lav: While I did give Tyron  a positive review when it came out, I can't say I was ever in love with the album and I'm not sure it's aged as gracefully as I had anticipated. These days I'm still much more likely to recommend Slowthai's debut, which is why I was a bit nervous to hear that this record was dipping into that more personal side of things, even though that half of Tyron  was generally much more consistent than it's first. Even though this ...

Kae Tempest is a British poet and spoken word singer who has been releasing albums for almost a decade now. Their debut album Everybody Down  in 2014 was a massive critical success and since then they've expanded into writing across numerous mediums and in 2020 came out as nonbinary.  Review By Lav: While I've never been a Kae Tempest super fan I've always been aware of their music and stop in every few years to check out the new albums, which usually have some highlights to be found. This time around I was more interested than usual for a few reasons. Early on in the cycle Kae showed off a huge change in look and era aesthetic that seemed to serve an entirely new artistic vision for themselves. What had me even more excited was how much I liked the crop of singles which came out one after another with interesting features that lived up to my hopes.  Lets cover those first, three of the four tracks released before the record are great. More Pressure  might be the cat...

So I was sort of on vacation this week which is why this list is one day late, sorry. Reviews will be back in line tomorrow with either a rapid fire or maybe the new Beach House. <3 5.  Magic  - Vince Staples This new Mustard produced single from Vince Staples does feature some uncharacteristic singing but it actually goes over surprisingly well. He also does some of what you'd expect him to spinning confrontational gangster tales over a sparse instrumental. It isn't redefining his sound necessarily but it does take it in a new direction while holding on to what makes him so good in the first place.  Listen 4.  I Love You  - Fontaines D.C It wasn't that long ago that I hadn't really been that impressed by anything Fontaines D.C had done, but earlier this year when they dropped Jackie Down The Line that changed. Thankfully I actually kind of like this new song too even though it can start to feel like its wandering in the middle section the distant crashing dr...