Lav's Music Corner

Reviews by Lavender: After finally getting my thoughts out on the new Lorde album, I wanted to look back on the year so far and cover some of the mainstream pop releases I hadn't gotten the chance to yet. So, for better and very much for worse, that's what I did in this week's rapid fire reviews.  Addison  - Addison Rae TikTok star turned pop singer Addison Rae has been one of the most divisive pop storylines of 2025 so far. While she doesn't have anywhere near the most haters of any of the artists we will talk about on this list, a lot of people seem to find her music agonizingly boring and hold her up as an example of why influencers should stay influencers. (Though I'd argue Alex Warren is a much better example.) But there's also a subset of surprisingly devoted Addison Rae fans, and not just among TikTok refugees and teenage pop stans. Actual music critics have been quick to praise her work, and looking at some of the singles from this record, I totally see ...

Review by Lav: COWBOY CARTER  is the HIGHLY-anticipated follow-up to Beyonce's 2022 album Renaissance , an album that I was a pretty big fan of like everybody else. What's so interesting about COWBOY CARTER  is that it was billed through its marketing and promotion as an embrace of country music. And make no mistake, Beyonce does spend part of this record embracing a measure of country that is FAR more authentic than most of her contemporaries are capable of. But that sells the ambition of this album short. Bey genre hops a LOT throughout the nearly 90 minutes of this album and while its ambition can occasionally swallow it whole, for the most part this is pretty damn good.  COWBOY CARTER  starts out INCREDIBLY strong. You have to get a full third of the way through the album before it serves up anything I don't absolutely love. That includes the records two singles 16 Carriages  and Texas Hold Em . Those songs were definitely picked deliberately to help market ...

Miley Cyrus is one of the biggest superstars in all of music and has been for well over a decade. After getting her start as a child star then turning towards a more mature and adult sound she has shifted her musical style quite a bit in the past few years going from a psych-pop collaboration with The Flaming Lips, a return to her country roots, a briefly hip-hop inspired phase, an 80s rock throwback album and finally settling on some more regular old pop music with Endless Summer Vacation . Review by Lav: This is gonna be a quick one. Despite this era launching with Flowers  a single I admittedly like quite a bit, the deep cuts of this record have all the hallmarks of cringey attitude and thin songwriting that Miley has struggled with for her entire career.  Aside from Flowers  the first half of this record is a pretty rough listen. Jaded  has a decently twinkly instrumental but the hook is completely flat with stretched out sullables that sap all the momentum out o...

For the first time in 2023 and covering the first two weeks of the year, let's recap the best tracks of the week.  5.  Sideways Skull  - The Hold Steady Part of me is a little bit scared of dishing out praise to yet another witty, reference-heavy bar-rock anthem from The Hold Steady since they've been doing this for a LONG time now, but sometimes they just do it well. Aside from the messy guitar lick that sticks around for almost the entire song, this is another Craig Finn lyrical expose that will require some googling for even the music nerds. Once the keys rush in on the equally wordy hook it strikes a level of catchy that the band is capable of when at or around their peak.  Listen 4.  Flowers  - Miley Cyrus Color me surprised. One of the early treats of 2023 from Miley Cyrus who I'm not normally the biggest fan of musically. While this disco-flavored self-empowerment anthem could be argued as Jessie Ware-lite, it's still a style that's new for Miley and...

Lil Nas X is one of the newest and biggest stars in the world of contemporary pop and rap music. A few years ago he scored one of the all time most dominant summer chart hits with his breakout song Old Town Road  and has been teasing tracks on social media leading up to this debut album for almost two years. Earlier this year he broke potential one hit wonder claims with a trio of singles, two of which managed to be major chart hits. Review By Lav: I think it's worth stepping back and realizing just how meteoric the rise of Lil Nas X has been. I vividly remember when the news story broke that Old Town Road  wasn't eligible for the country music charts and my only thought being that I was surprised that a song I had only ever heard on Tik Tok was even scoring enough streams to chart anywhere. So clearly after he teamed up with Billy Ray Cyrus and the song became a mega hit the questions becomes is he capable of bucking the sonic aesthetics of his first big hit to become a caree...

Miley Cyrus is a singer, actress, former child star and one of the most talked about artists of the 2010's. Through the decade she transitioned from tame family friendly pop rock into the much more adult styles of her Bangerz  era before releasing an experimental psych pop record with The Flaming Lips and closing the decade off returning to her country roots on Younger Now . The progression of her musical career has unfolded very much in the private eye with as much discussion surrounding how Miley was evolving as an artist as the actual music itself.  Review By Lav: I consider myself a fan of Miley. She has maintained a rewarding career arc which so few child stars ever manage and her outspoken nature on social and music industry issues is always a refreshing break from some of her focus grouped contemporaries. Unfortunately most of my admiration for Miley has never actually come from her music. While she was moderately prolific in the 2000's I can't say there we're ma...

The Flaming Lips are an Oklahoma based psychedelic, indie and alternative rock band who have been releasing material frequently since the mid 1980's. On top of an extensive catalog of side projects, collaborations and covers albums The Flaming Lips have released 16 studio albums, including 3 in the past 4 years.  Review By Lavender: While everybody loves classic Lips records like Yoshimi  and Soft Bulletin  the band has managed to avoid the pitfalls of other major indie artists late in their career and have consistently released studio albums with something to offer. Records like Embryonic  and The Terror  proved that the band still had creativity even while pushing 25 and 30 years of existence but even their weakest record from this period 2017's Oczy Melody  had some notable highlights and stands above some of their now washed contemporaries. They have mainly achieved this by channeling all of their underwhelming and uninspired music into other projects, ...

Mark Ronson Is a veteran music industry producer who has worked with a number of different artists across a myriad of genres for nearly 20 years. In that time he has developed numerous strong connections across the industry while only releasing three true studio records. Late Night Feelings, his fourth record arrives on the back of a string of critically acclaimed singles with a number of high profile features. Review By Lavender: I have never really been a fan of a Mark Ronson record before, while maybe you can count on a single or two to be decent or at least some solid hits, for the most part I paid much more attention to his name when it wasn't as the primary artist. I was hoping after a span of collectively good singles that this woult no longer be the case on Late Night Feelings . I'm happy to report that while the album isn't perfect it's the most complete Mark Ronson experience yet. The a;bum had a number of singles making sure that half of its 13 track...

Lil Nas X is a Georgia based rapper and former Nicki Minaj Twitter stan who found himself in the limelight when his Red Dead Redemption  inspired song Old Town Road  became a Tik Tok meme and ultimately got a remix from country music legend Billy Ray Cyrus. This is the first commercial project since Old Town Road 's explosion and could be a potential indicator of Nas X's potential success to come.  Review By Lavender: I really had no idea what to expect going into 7  given how little material we've had to go off of from Lil Nas X so far. But especially once he began teasing snippets of these tracks it was clear that he wasn't trying to make his name in the lane of country rap exclusively. This album actually features some contemporary trap tunes, straight up rock and grunge songs, and a handful of country to match.  If you're able to overcome the fact that the EP is called 7  and there are 8 tracks, which I have deemed okay ONLY because Old T...