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A personal review of some of my favourite albums from the last month.
In November, few albums were truly enjoyable but challenging enough to stay in my rotation for a significant amount of time. I found myself filling this void with albums from earlier in the year. As such, November’s Flavour of the Month only features new albums from three artists: Fazerdaze, Kendrick Lamar and Father John Misty.
Artist: Fazerdaze
Album: Soft Power
Label: Buttrfly Records, section1
Genres: Dream pop, shoegaze, indie pop, indie rock
I didn’t know Fazerdaze before this month. I have since learnt that she is a multi-talented songwriter and producer from New Zealand. I have also learnt that she knows how to make a banger. It’s refreshing to review an artist whose background I’m unaware of.
I must admit that I’m a sucker for jangly shoegaze and “Soft Power” has it in abundance. The purest examples of this are “Bigger” and “Cherry Pie” with their luscious guitars and wide drums. To avoid giving us 11 similar songs, Fazerdaze blends a variety of different adjacent genres into the album. For example, “So Easy” and “Dancing Years” bring the indie nostalgia with their tannoy vocals and gritty, lo-fi drums. “A Thousand Years” and “Purple_02” bring a nice taste of electronic instrumentation which provides some contrast to make the back straight even more enjoyable. The album ends with two impressive acoustic tracks, the first more intimate than the second. During my first listen, they perfectly coincided with the end of my walk home from work, and therefore I see them as the album’s fond farewell.
Soft Power was a pleasant surprise recommended to me by my brother. The album is packed with catchy tunes which traverse several complimentary genres in a way that feels natural. There may not be many parts that stick in your brain but this could be a good thing in a world of brainwashing pop music!
Artist: Kendrick Lamar
Album: GNX
Label: PGLang, Interscope
Genres: Rap, hip hop
I try to avoid superlatives where possible, but, with Kendrick Lamar, I struggle. I am certain that Lamar is unrivalled in the hip hop genre. Furthermore, it’s by no means outlandish to think that there is no better wordsmith across all genres. His countless accolades (including a Pulitzer Prize) support this.
On the 22nd of November, we were blessed by the arrival of a one-minute album teaser. The world erupted with hysteria, and this was quickly amplified by the release of the entire album, ten minutes later. The success of this unexpected release was a testament to the influence that Lamar has following his powerful past work and recent media attention.
I found that the commercial appeal of “GNX” hindered my initial enjoyment of the album. It took me time to adjust to the West-coast sound palette and humourous elements which contrasted Lamar’s more “sophisticated” discography. Despite this, I feel it was worth persevering. “wacced out murals” perfectly sets the scene, letting us know that we’re in for some of Lamar’s darkest sounds coupled with some of his most light-hearted ideas. “squabble up” is funny and catchy and features my favourite sample on the album. SZA brings a huge amount of quality and charisma to two of the songs. “heart pt.6” is a stunning continuation of the “heart” series with a gripping narrative and sensuous chorus. It was also interesting to hear from guest rappers I hadn’t heard of, but they often served to highlight how truly great Kendrick is.
Although I could write essays about Kendrick Lamar, I know that this genre is not very popular in the COMUSO community. Despite this, I strongly recommend absorbing albums such as “To Pimp a Butterfly” or “DAMN.” because they will be talked about for centuries. In terms of GNX, I eventually loved it, but this isn’t where I’d recommend someone to start, because I think a listener needs some background to enjoy it.
Artist: Father John Misty
Album: Mahashmashana
Label: Sub Pop, Bella Union
Genres: Art pop, art rock, disco, orchestral pop
Joshua Tillman (A.K.A. Father John Misty) has been around for a little while now. After doing a bit of solo work in the early noughties, he was recruited as drummer for the band Fleet Foxes. This made him hungry for further solo work and he has been balancing this with assisting a plethora of mainstream artists with their writing and recording ever since. The eerie synchronicity of Misty’s album discography with Kendrick Lamar’s has sparked a wave of jokes and interactions between the two artists which has hopefully brought Mahashmashana to the attention of new fans.
Mahashmashana opens unconventionally with a nine-minute slow-burner; but this is by no means just an intro! The track layers huge strings and features some of Misty’s strongest vocals. This is probably my favourite track, and I like to visualise a slightly humourous, slow-motion scene of destruction and fire to accompany it.
Misty set himself a difficult task to match this quality for a whole album and, although he doesn’t always succeed, there are some other highlights. For example, “Josh Tillman and the Accidental Dose” is a cool, bluesy tune with a fantastic piano lick separating each section. “She Cleans Up” is fun, with its rock-and-roll guitars and crispy vocals. “I Guess Time Just Makes Fools of Us All” is also great for a bit of a boogie due to its disco influences.
Despite having always been aware of Misty’s music, I’ve never really gotten into it. Now, although I’m not hooked by the entire album, I’m listening to at least one of these songs every day.
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