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Music Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Frances Quinlan – Likewise

Frances Quinlan’s powerful voice and songwriting shines on Likewise

Frances Quinlan has been making critically acclaimed indie rock with the band Hop Along for almost a decade. Now, on her first solo project Likewise, Quinlan creates a meandering and powerful testament to her writing and vocal chops.

While less bombastic than most of the Hop Along discography, Likewise gains power from its instrumental simplicity. On this record, Quinlan’s anti-folk inspired winding lyrics are nicely complimented by a mostly acoustic backing.

Due to the acoustic style of this album, Quinlan’s beloved howling singing style shines brighter than ever. In “Went to LA,” a song about searching for your identity in an unfamiliar place, Quinlan’s mystifying and narrative lyrics climax in her howling “Heaven is a second chance” over and over, her voice cracking with desperation. It’s both shockingly powerful and emotionally intimate.

Yet, while there are some stand-out tracks such as “Now That I’m Back” and “Your Reply,” which are incredibly catchy and complex, overall, this album is frontloaded and contains a few lackluster tracks. “Lean” and “Carry the Zero” don’t pull the emotional or artistic weight of the rest of the album, and never feel like they come to a rewarding conclusion.

That being said, Likewise is an incredibly gratifying listen for folk rock fans, and it shows that now as a solo artist, Quinlan does not disappoint.

Rating: 7.5/10

Trial Track: “Now That I’m Back”

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QUICKSPINS: Lil Wayne – Funeral

On his latest release, a potentially amazing album is bogged down by bloated sections of boring filler.

Lil Wayne is an anomaly. With a career spanning over 20 years, his continued relevance is a rarity in hip hop. His longevity lies in his willingness to evolve as an artist, as his ability to adapt has led to him amassing several styles throughout his career.

On Funeral, Wayne showcases these various styles, from auto-tuned crooning to high energy, multi-syllabic rhyming. Though the lines might not always be great, Wayne’s ridiculous level of charisma can make even his most absurd lyrics entertaining.

Wayne is in rare form on a few cuts on here. The initial three-track run from “Funeral” to “Mama Mia” displays his technical abilities at their best. The album peaks with “Harden,” a reflection on past relationships set over a gorgeous soul-sampled instrumental.

While there are some brilliant highs, there are also some horrible lows. However, nothing is as bad as the absolutely abysmal “Get Outta My Head.” This song would’ve been bad had it been just Wayne, but XXXTentacion’s screaming vocals make for an especially excruciating listen.

All in all, Funeral would have benefitted from some serious quality control. For every two or three good tracks, we get one that ranges from forgettable to outright bad. It’s frustrating because there is a great album in Funeral, it’s just hiding in a mess of horrible filler.

Rating: 5.5/10

Trial Track: “Harden”

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QUICKSPINS: Halsey – Manic

The return of Halsey

We have all heard of Halsey, but her new album Manic unveils her true self as Ashley Frangipane. It has been over two years since the artist released an album, but with an outcome like Manic, it was well worth the wait.

Manic features other artists like Dominic Fike, Alanis Morissette, SUGA and BTS. Also, despite being an alternative album, it has a nice mix of soft rock, indie pop, and pop.

The lyrics for the song “Graveyard” speak of “when we get to know a lover, and conveys the feeling of vulnerability and darkness.”

“Dominic’s Interlude,” featuring Dominic Fike, is an indie-pop song that has an edgy style with lyrics that speak powerful messages, while the catchy pop song “Still Learning” shows how Halsey decided to put herself first, accept her mistakes, and love herself.

The album takes you on an emotional rollercoaster. After Halsey deals with bipolar disorder, past toxic relationships, and other personal struggles, she bares her soul on Manic. The album is relatable, and may even be too intense for some people to listen to. Overall, Manic is an empowering album that could inspire anyone who listens to it.

Rating: 9/10

Trial Track: “Still Learning”

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QUICKSPINS: Black Lips – Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart

Black Lips take a walk on the twang side

Sing in a World That’s Falling Apart might tell the wretched tale of ashes falling and corner girls balling, but in a contrary fashion to the subject matter at hand, this album sure is well put together. Blending acoustic rock melodies, alternative music, and a sweet Southern drawl (with a little bit of trash thrown in there for class), The Black Lips kind of do it all here, while at the same time doing nothing new with this one. There’s keyboards, great drum work, and the vocals are right on point, which all combine to form a very specific country rocking ballad sound. But while the Black Lips hit the nail on the head when it comes to the tangible aspects of this album––the songs, cover, and overall vibe––there isn’t enough variation present for this record to stick.

Ultimately, the overall work leaves the listener wanting more. Firstly, most of the songs on the record are three-minute bops, more or less catering to the same flow; and the songs with more variation tend to feel more like a novelty than something you’d spin again. For the forty minute runtime, despite the songs being executed well, the album feels too repetitive.

Rating: 6/10

Trial Track: “Rumbler”

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QUICKSPINS: Bombay Bicycle Club – Everything Else Has Gone Wrong

After six years, Bombay Bicycle Club is back with what they do best

It’s been a long six years since Bombay Bicycle Club’s last album So Long See You Tomorrow came out in 2014. After a three-year hiatus, during which time the London band’s members tried to pursue solo projects, they reunited having realized how much they missed recording together. From this, Everything Else Has Gone Wrong was born.

At 11 tracks long, this fifth studio album successfully captures many of Bombay Bicycle Club’s ever-changing sounds and styles from over the years. The percussion and horns in “I Worry Bout You” and “Do You Feel Loved?” display their world music influences. The bright electric guitar riffs in “Eat, Sleep, Wake (Nothing But You)” and “Is It Real” capture that indie rock spirit, which contrasts, but still suits, the electronica leaning “People People” and “Let You Go.”

On their official website, they describe the album’s main topic as  “the comfort that music can provide in times of need”. Upon further listening it’s easy to see it also covers themes of friends falling out, missing the people you love, and second chances. In the title track “Everything Else Has Gone Wrong,” Jack Steadman sings “And yes, I found my second wind // And yes, I found some hope again,” and this truly does feel like a second wind from the band. While there’s a little bit for everyone in this album, and nothing is that risky or new, it still feels like the Bombay Bicycle Club we know—and I’m happy with that.

Rating: 7.5/10

Trial Track: “Everything Else Has Gone Wrong”

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QUICKSPINS: Eminem – Music To Be Murdered By

Eminem continues his streak of horrible albums with his newest surprise release.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was convincing the public that Eminem is the greatest rapper alive. On Music To Be Murdered By, his latest offering since 2018’s Kamikaze, the Detroit-based edgelord tries to maintain his relevance by rapping fast and recruiting modern producers.

To the chagrin of my ears, Eminem has somehow managed to top Kamikaze’s awful raps by including some of the worst bars ever written (But I’m contemplating yelling “Bombs away” on the game / Like I’m outside of an Ariana Grande concert waiting).

Before heading into everything wrong with this album, there are a few interesting moments that distract from Eminem’s terrible lyrics. The hook on “You Gon’ Learn” is engaging and pleasant over the richly-produced beat from frequent collaborator Royce Da 5’9”. Juice WRLD and Black Thought’s inclusions on “Godzilla” and “Yah Yah,” respectively, are nice but can’t save the tracks from a jarring Eminem desperately trying to convince the listener he’s still got it.

The best track on the album comes from the Anderson .Paak-assisted “Lock It Up” that sounds much better than it should have been. Paak adds a fiery hook and Eminem isn’t that bad on it, which makes it digestible.

For the most part, the instrumentals are sound and Eminem’s rapping is technically decent, but not much else can be said about the positive aspects of this project.

Once again, Eminem decides to collaborate with pop singers like Ed Sheeran and Skylar Grey in which the song with the former sounds like a five-year-old created a beat on a Fisher-Price toy piano. Both singers sound sleepy and disengaged from the songs they’re on.

The most glaring issue with this new album is Eminem’s failure to put the spotlight on Griselda, the group of rappers he signed to Shady Records. It’s almost a certainty that their inclusion would have elevated this album in every conceivable way given that their recently released project, WWCD, is a breath of fresh air in rap.

The album is also painfully long and clocks in just over an hour with 20 tracks, including some skits. 

Despite all these issues, this is Eminem’s best work since The Marshall Mathers LP 2, though that’s not saying much. It’s a step in the right direction as Eminem smartly drifts away from the pop songs that made his previous efforts so unbearable.

Unless Eminem starts rapping about interesting topics and stops sounding like an adult baby, he will never return to making compelling music again. Can someone please teach Eminem that rapping fast does not equate to rapping well?

Rating: 4/10

Trial Track: “Lock It Up (feat. Anderson .Paak)”

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QUICKSPINS: Selena Gomez – Rare

Nearly five years after Revival, Selena Gomez releases her new album, Rare.

Nearly five years since her last album, Selena Gomez has finally returned with a new project, Rare; her most personal and introspective album thus far.

Gomez uses extremely powerful lyrics to explain what she’s been through in the past few years. Struggling with her kidney transplant, lupus, and Justin Bieber drama, Gomez shows that she’s back and stronger than ever, and uses deep bass in multiple songs to emphasize it.

When listening to Rare in order, it does exactly what Gomez intended: it tells her story—loud and clear. There’s a good balance of soft songs, like “Cut You Off” and “A Sweeter Place (feat. Kid Cudi),” and fast-paced upbeat songs like “Look At Her Now” and “Let Me Get Me.”

The rawness of songs like “Vulnerable” adds to the authenticity of the story Gomez is telling, with the use of soft, low vocals and slow beats.

However, 13 songs feels like a lot for this album as they get a little repetitive by the 10th track “Kinda Crazy.” A seven-song album would’ve worked just as well, but since Gomez uses the album to share her feelings, and given it’s been so long since her last project, a 13-track album is perfectly understandable.

Rating: 8/10

Trial Track: Look At Her Now

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QUICKSPINS: Mick Jenkins – The Circus

The Circus is Mick Jenkins’ most accessible project since Wave[s]

When a new Mick Jenkins project drops, it’s always expected to be an incredibly dense thematic experience with thoughtful lyricism and wavy beats—most appropriate for a smoking session. The Circus, the newest EP from the Chicago rapper is nothing if not complex, but its short length makes it entirely more digestible and engaging.

While his 2018 album, Pieces of a Man, was solid, it simply hasn’t stood the test of time and has been all but forgotten by anyone outside of his core fan base. At seven songs and under 20 minutes, The Circus takes everything he did so well on his previous projects and compresses it into a brisk EP that highlights Jenkins’ strong rapping and the best instrumentals he’s rapped on since his Wave[s] EP.

The Circus begins with “Same Ol,” with Jenkins rapping about walking into a room where he’s virtually unknown but maintains his confidence. The beat is tight and aggressive, featuring a single synth cord to drive the track home. It’s simple, yet appealing and fits Jenkins’ flows nicely.

The quality of that track is representative of how good the other six songs are as well. Highlights like “The Light” and “Different Scales” are quintessential Mick Jenkins tracks and encapsulate what made Jenkins a highly touted MC to begin with.

The Circus isn’t a reinvention or an innovation in rap music. It’s a step back from Mick Jenkins that allows him to shine his brightest on a tight EP that has barely any cracks in it.

Rating: 8/10

Trial Track: The Light (feat. Earth Gang)

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QUICKSPINS: Harry Styles – Fine Line

Harry Styles inches closer to delivering a truly great rock album

With his debut self-titled album from 2017, Harry Styles made it evident that he was fully abandoning his sugary teen-pop image from his One Direction days. As the star of his own show, the British singer-songwriter opted for a sound rooted in classic rock, a genre that is increasingly waning in popularity.

On Fine Line, it seems like his personality as a solo artist is developing even more. Songs like “She” and “To Be So Lonely” offer a different perspective from Styles that would make you jump at the thought that this man was the frontman of the band that made “What Makes You Beautiful.”

The singles are, without a doubt, attempts at cracking Billboard’s Top 40, but they are nothing if not entirely pleasant and fun, especially the trumpet-filled “Watermelon Sugar.” The song is sequenced perfectly as its follow-up “Adore You” is another potential chart-topper.

Styles falters, though, in his attempts to make folk songs. “Cherry” is a slow-paced generic tune that features the same guitar strings that could be found on a Mumford & Sons track (and no, that’s not a compliment). The song’s progression is uneventful and the songwriting is lacklustre, two essential elements when crafting a track like this.

“Falling” is a powerful ballad that never quite reaches the highs of “Sign of the Times” from Styles’ self-titled project, but manages to capture the raw emotion conveyed through his strong voice.

Despite being sold as a rock album, Fine Line often finds itself jumping around from subgenre to subgenre, and that lack of sonic cohesiveness is often what makes the record so disjointed at times. It never quite figures out what it wants to be, and while that doesn’t necessarily ruin the quality of its strongest songs, it makes the album sound like a loosely compiled amalgamation of tracks, rather than a streamlined body of work.

Rating: 7/10

Trial Track: Watermelon Sugar

 

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QUICKSPIN: JACKBOYS & Travis Scott – JACKBOYS

Travis Scott proves his label has more to offer than just himself as their quarterback

JACKBOYS is Travis Scott’s formal introduction of his Cactus Jack label signees to the world, that being Sheck Wes and Don Toliver. While we may have already been acquainted with them through their solo projects, Scott wanted to shed light on the rookies on a collaboration album alongside industry titans like himself, Migos, and Young Thug.

JACKBOYS is an easy-listening 20-minute album, and that’s why it works. A 13 track album may have dragged on the project and allowed for many fillers to make the final cut, yet seven tracks, including an intro, made the work feel tight and complete. While Sheck Wes brings little to the table other than his predictable and overdone ad-libs, Don Toliver’s choruses are easily the most enjoyable parts of the album. This, alongside a feature from Thug, makes for a pleasant listen that, fortunately, was not sacrificed for more throwaway tracks in the streaming era.

The success of this album assures that there will likely be many more to come and that the JACKBOYS aren’t going anywhere any time soon. Keep your ear out for the name “Don Toliver.”

Rating: 8/10

Trial Track: OUT WEST (feat. Young Thug)

 

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QUICKSPINS: Hot Pink is hot fire

Doja Cat - Hot Pink

Hip pop is in good hands with Doja Cat’s latest album

Let’s face it: no one expected Doja Cat to explode into such virality after releasing her meme-hit “MOOO!” The song is hilarious and is the antithesis to the current pop formula. She clearly knows her audience is composed of Twitter users and avid meme lovers.

Hot Pink doesn’t stray far from her hip pop formula used on “MOOO!” or her Amala mixtape from 2018. Her wide range of voices is undoubtedly influenced by Nicki Minaj’s earliest works, but it doesn’t feel like a carbon copy. “Say So” could easily reach the Billboard pop charts while “Juicy” with Tyga is already a proven hit.

Doja’s rapping is also strong and her flows are consistently on point. However, where she succeeds in technical style, her content lacks. “Cyber Sex” is a weak intro to an otherwise strong album. “Rules” features a chorus with a line that sounds like it was written by a “Tumblr girl” in 2012 (“Play with my pussy but don’t play with my emotions”).

Still, these weak moments are few and far between as the songs succeed in every other aspect. They’re fun, sexy, and immensely replayable. Standout “Streets” features a lovely B2K sample while the bass-heavy instrumental is an automatic add to a late-night drive playlist.

If Doja Cat is the leader of the new hip pop wave, then the subgenre is in good hands. She knows how to make a hit and how to make an album full of bops that aren’t boring, corny, or watered-down radio songs.

7.9/10

Trial Track: “Streets”

Star Bar:
“Baby, we tried to fight it
We all been there some days
Thought I need something else
And acted like I was okay
We just had to work it out
And baby, I needed space” (Doja Cat on “Streets”)

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Quickspins

QUICKSPINS: Earl Sweatshirt – FEET OF CLAY

Earl Sweatshirt - Feet of Clay

The former Odd Future member delves deeper into the abstract sounds explored on 2018’s Some Rap Songs

At this point in his career, Earl Sweatshirt has fully exceeded any expectations that were set during his early career with Odd Future. The 25-year-old rapper has been turning heads for nearly a decade, continually growing as a lyricist and an artist. With FEET OF CLAY, Earl continues to raise the bar, delivering his second masterful collection of abstract hip-hop tracks in under a year.

While sonically this isn’t too far from the raw, lo-fi sound of his fantastic 2018 LP Some Rap Songs, it still feels fresh. Most of the songs here barely eclipse the two-minute-mark, and don’t have a semblance of traditional song structure. In fact, most are just a single verse, with the occasional outro, feature or chorus throughout. Earl is marching to the beat of his own off-kilter drums and warped horn samples, creating a musical identity that is uniquely his.

Handling most of the album’s production, he has built the backdrop for what feels like the stream of consciousness of an emotionally wounded young man. Throughout the album he opens up about his alcoholism and his depression in the wake of losing his father and grandmother. This is a poetic portrait of grief wrapped in warm but ominous, distorted, sample-based instrumentals.

Serving as the perfect companion piece to Some Rap Songs, FEET OF CLAY showcases a man looking back and trying to come to terms with loss, heartbreak and addiction. Earl’s growth as both a man and an artist are apparent, and this is another great entry into his already phenomenal catalogue.

8.8/10

Trial Track: “MTOMB”

Star Bar:

“Sellin’ kids culture with death, circlin’ like carrion

The more the merrier, phone got you livin’ vicarious

Ice melting ‘cause it’s so hot

The veil lifts, the pain salient” (Earl Sweatshirt on “74”)

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