Lav's Music Corner

Weyes Blood is the chamber pop project of singer-songwriter Natalie Mering. Her fourth album Titanic Rising  came out in 2019 and served as a massive breakout for her receiving nearly unanimous acclaim from critics and spawning a fervent fanbase around her work. And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow  has the task of following that record 3 years later and was preceded by a trio of singles over the past few months.  Review by Lav: Not to sound like every critic, but the first few times I heard Weyes Blood's music on earlier projects I could see there was some potential, particularly in her incredible voice, but the details just weren't there yet. That potential was fully realized on her breakout project Titanic Rising  which featured a massive improvement on the songwriting front and the excellent addition of Foxygen's Jonathan Rado on production. Rado is back on this album alongside a handful of other producers and arrangers and my expectations were fittingly quite high....

On time even though I don't have wifi right now because I moved. The things I do for my little darlings.  Enjoy <3 5.  Grapevine  - Weyes Blood Even with Weyes Blood being known for playing it lowkey the verses on this track are on the sparse side. And while the hook doesn't quite erupt like some of her best tracks it doesn't have to because the beauty comes from the subtlety. With Johnathan Rado once again on board for production every single chime, keys and swell of strings sounds immaculately aligned.  Listen 4.  Stressed  - Doechii Top Dawg's new versatile wonder child is back with another impressive new single that shows off her ability to sing and rap across an effective array of styles. Beyond her impressive display the song also has a great instrumental that's creative and pretty uncompromising in its willingness to work in charming small details.  Listen 3.  ours  - R.A.P Ferreira In the middle of this song Rory explicitly says no...

I'm late, sorry. No more wasted time. 5.  Talking To Yourself  - Carly Rae Jepsen While this may be the least spectacular of Carly's new singles this year it's still quite a solid song with an exciting climax that lends credit to just how infectious of a song crafter she is. While the short runtime and verses that don't really take the song anywhere can be issues, ultimately the song has the fundamentals of what a good Carly song needs.  Listen 4.  Washed Away  - Kelela It's good to have Kelela back. While her progressive and futuristic style of R&B has always been closer to maximalizing than distancing, this new song plays it straight with very promising results. Kelela's perfectly powerful yet perfectly intimate singing vocals fit excellently over this creeping instrumental which makes for a song that just has me in its clutches and refuses to let go.  Listen 3.  Ovule  - Bjork Two weeks and two new Bjork singles, what have we done to be so ...

Lana Del Rey is the caliber of pop star who really needs no introduction. She first emerged with a hugely successful album full of hit singles on her 2012 debut Born To Die  and in the decade since has been responsible for numerous critically acclaimed albums culminating in 2019's Norman Fucking Rockwell . Review By Lav: It's no secret that I've dished out quite a bit of critical acclaim in Lana's direction over the years. I called Born To Die  one of my favorite pop albums of the decade last year, I wrote a very positive review for Lana's spoken word album Violet Bent Backwards Over The Grass  and the most recent 10/10 review to that I've given was back in 2019 to my eventual album of the year, Norman Fucking Rockwell . Given her versatility as a singer and a creative as well as her strong cast of collaborators and rewarding songwriting there is always reason to be excited about what Lana is doing next. Turns out Chemtrails  is Lana's most stark effort yet ...

The Killers   are a Las Vegas based indie and alternative rock band who have been dropping consistently successful studio albums since their 2004 debut Hot Fuss . This was the bands first record without regular guitarist Dave Keuning and it was produced in full by Johnathan Rado of Foxygen fame.  Review By Lavender: It is safe to say I was very very excited for this record. I saw the bands last album Wonderful Wonderful  as a really solid and critically underrated album from the band and they have a back catalog that I think can stand up to most any other bands from the 2000's. Given my love for the groups glamorous dramatic alternative rock sound the pairing with produced Johnathan Rad seemed perfect given that Foxygen have helped carry the torch for that sound into modern indie rock. Not to mention he proved his versatility on one of the most immaculately produced albums of last year Weyes Blood's Titanic Rising . Now that the record is here I have to say it has both a ...

Weyes Blood is the pseudonym of Natalie Mering who has been releasing baroque and chamber pop music under the name for almost a year now. After receiving more acclaim and popularity with each release Titanic Rising  has a number of very well received singles leading up to its release and looks to be the most successful Weyes Blood project to date. Review By Lav: I can't say I've ever been a big fan of Weyes Blood up to this point, 2016's Front Row Seat To Earth was a step in the right direction but still an album that I found hard to remember even as I had just heard it. But given her switch to Sub Pop for the release of this album and a trilogy singles well received by her fans and critics alike there is all the more reason to believe that this will be the most complete and essential Weyes Blood project yet. Let's start with the singles, as they represent large categories of what appears across most of this album. Andromeda  is a huge spacey instrumental that...