The Best

Goth/shapeshifter/actual witch Chelsea Wolfe has for a long time now been a mainstay in heavy darkwave rock. She Reaches Out is her first album post-sobriety, though, and while some artists lose their edge when they give up their substance of choice, Wolfe’s newest record is immediately more powerful, a coherent and gloriously bleak collection of doom rockers that, for once, center her voice as the main instrument. That’s not to say that the layers of icy filth that adorn her songs have gone missing or anything – I actually think She Reaches Out is the heaviest thing she’s done since Apokalypsis (leaving aside that killer Converge collab record she did in 2021). There is a greater variety in the exploration of the shadows, though, and the central motif of letting go, cutting ties, and diving into the abyss leaves plenty of room for a variety of voices.

Far removed now from the indie-country-blues of Alabama Shakes, Brittany Howard has taken her powerfully soulful voice into a new, pop extravaganza realm that feels like a reinvention more than it does a followup to her solo debut, 2019’s Jamie. From the musical rearrangement to the title, it feels like she mined her original signature sound as far as she thought it could go and has now decided to try on different hats. There are still reminders of the past – bluesy passages, Philly soul – but it’s an immediately more modern album than anything she’s attempted before, and she wears its contemporary nature exceedingly well.

Some artists opt for grandeur, trying off different stylistic hats and striking a balance between genres and moods. Other artists find a sound that works for them and mine it for all its worth, extracting new and provoking forms from it. Ducks Ltd. are the latter sort of artist, taking jangly C86-inspired indie rock and consistently building their own spin on it. It’s anxious but dashing, and doesn’t wear out it’s welcome: this is 28 minutes that compresses a lot of great songwriting into itself.

About as hi fi a black metal record as you’re likely to find, Hulder’s latest record, now coming from bigger backing with 20 Buck Spin, conjures up the freezing moon and lives in the shadows pooled in the depths of the trackless forests. Which is to say, it’s kvlt as fvck.

Straight outta 88Rising – the “Disneyland of Asian hip-hop” – 1999 WRITE THE FUTURE present 24 tracks of bomb ass production studded with a really impressive collection of guests. Seriously, who’s been able to put all these people together on one comp: Ghost, Rick Ross, Souls of Mischief, Westside Gunn and Conway the Machine, Busta Rhymes, De La Soul, Del The Funky Homosapien, Dan The Automator, so many others. It’s a celebration and a festival all rolled up into one.

The Rest

Helado Negro – PHASOR ★★★ (4AD) It all has that wistful barely-there vibe that is nice, but every song is basically the same thing.

Declan McKenna – What Happened To The Beach ★★★ (Tomplicated) Forget the beach, dawg, what happened to the Next Big Thing buzz?

Kali Malone – All Life Long ★★★☆ (Ideologic Organ) Gorgeous but ultimately monotonal organ and voice drone.

Zara Larsson – Venus ★★☆ (Sony) B-list Europop that will do nothing to win over people who aren’t already on the dance floor every night.

Usher – Coming Home ★★ (Mega) When The Weeknd did the Super Bowl halftime show he released a greatest hits package beforehand. When Usher does it, he releases a most unessential new songs package.

Mk.Gee – Two Star & The Dream Police ★★★☆ (R&R Digital) A short collection of song-sketches that harvest vaporwave for R&B ideas

Madi Diaz – Weird Faith ★★★☆ (ANTI-) Within the sphere of indie-alt-country crossovers, Madi Diaz performs pretty well, if not outstandingly.

Loving – Any Light ★★ (Last Gang) Lennon spinning his wheels, Mac DeMarco on snooze mode.

The Chisel – What A Fucking Nightmare ★★★☆ (Pure Noise) This is punk rock straight from that dank hole in the wall club you’re not supposed to go to, the one that in reality got paved over for some fucking hipster furniture store.

Kanye West – Vultures 1 ★★☆ (YZY) Leaving aside the weird anti-Semitism, the laziness of the lyrics (par for the Kanye course post-2013), and the wasted potential of a lot of the production, I have a question: What the fuck is up with the mixing? Like it’s not mixed, just sort of knock some of the faders and say good enough? This man used to respect his craft.

Pylon Reenactment Society – Magnet Factory ★★★ (Strolling Bones) This is not the greatest punk rock band in the world – no, this is a tribute. Oh wait, the liner notes say it’s not. Well, you get the idea.

abriction – Banshee ★★★☆ (none) A lengthy diatribe on the virtue of electronic blackgaze.

Planet B – Fiction Prediction ★★☆ (Three One G) Aims for cool and falls somewhere in the shadowy pit of the memory of crunkcore.

The Telescopes – Growing Eyes Become String ★★★☆ (Fuzz Club) Pure unadorned fuzz drone from the acknowledged masters of it.

Rob Lanterman – Knock On Wood ★★★ (Hidden Home) 90s College rock, done punkly

Spinabenz – Chosen One ★★☆ (Hitmaker Music Group) Decent enough flow but uninspired production make for a sleepy outing.

Chapel of Disease – Echoes Of Light ★★★☆ (Van) A fun mix of trad heavy metal and death metal

Fange – Perdition ★★★ (Throatruiner) Heavy, noisy, but pretty one-note in the end

The Pineapple Thief – It Leads To This ★★☆ (Kscope) Prog metal is typically a pretty ho hum affair, tbh, and It Leads To This does not change that at all.