Despite the colourful cover art and poppy sound, the lyrics on Get to Heaven are extremely bleak. They’re filled with obtuse references to ISIS, mass shootings, political corruption, and general cynicism about the current state of affairs.
albums you should have listened to
This album is LOUD. Sleater-Kinney were always on the noisier side of indie rock (understandably, given the band’s punk background) but on The Woods, they really bring the noise.
Kid A is definitely one of those albums you won’t be able to fully appreciate until you’ve listened to its whole roughly 50-minute runtime from start to finish.
Shad is one of the most charismatic and talented rappers working today, and The Old Prince is filled to the brim with entertaining and thought-provoking hip-hop.
Simply put, Devon Welsh’s vocals and lyrics are stunning. His booming baritone voice cuts through the songs’ hazy synth-beds and commands your attention—leaving you no choice, but to listen to him as he spills his soul into your ears.
It’s a sound that most North American ears weren’t, and likely still aren’t, familiar with, and may find too British. For that reason, most of the albums’ hits and singles don’t play on rock—or even alternative—radio stations here in Canada.
If you like soft melodic tunes that are at the intersection of genre, you should check out (04:30) Idler.
Having only just discovered this absolute gem, I will unashamedly admit that it is the only music I have listened to for a solid week.
It flawlessly straddles the border between 70s glam and 80s new wave—in fact, the album is often viewed as Bowie proclaiming his dominance as the original freak over a new generation of artists.
In the bygone age of 2012, a throat-singing ensemble of ex-punks chanting about clubbing seals and food security in Iqaluit was too out-there to be picked up by all but the most indie of labels.
Keys collectively combines her classical piano style with soul, R&B, and hip-hop rhythms to create a masterpiece of eclectic and diverse tracks.
With Gambino almost exclusively producing the entire record, there are tracks that hit every note that you want to hit in a hip hop album—corny, sad, excited, and even political.
If not simply for Nate Ruess’ incredible range as a vocalist, Aim and Ignite is a fantastic album with a variety of tracks that demonstrate the band’s immense talent. The album has everything from syrupy sweet love ballads like “The Gambler” to “Benson Hedges,” a song that begins with gospel elements that signify Ruess’ love for music more than any religion or deity.
Apocalypso is eccentric, and not in the cute, quirky way indie music often is. We’re not dealing with whimsy here—instead, it is more of a sensual ambiguity, filled with heavy and aggressive sounds that can leave you seeing stars.
The album never slows down from start to finish, and it’s perfect to dance along to or pick you up if you’re feeling down. Every song can make you laugh. It does everything a peppy pop song should do, just presented in a radically different way, and across an entire album instead of one four-minute track.
The album is a joy to listen to, as the production varies in style but also remains true to the core theme of the album. The content of the record is where it’s worth truly lies. It’s comparable to a reformation of the J.D. Salinger novel The Catcher in the Rye, focusing on the alienation and the painful phoniness of the adult world. It is an exploration of those raised in the Ronald Reagan Era, tackling their skewed identity and fragmented moral compass.
