too late to die young - sonder
Sonder's EP "Too Late To Die Young" had been dropped previously on YouTube but was officially released on other streaming platforms recently. It carries a very mellow sound. I enjoyed listening to it with noise-cancelling headphones, as it felt like I was being transported to another dimension. The instrumentals on Indonesian Fantasies are the perfect example of what I mean when I reference feeling like you have been transported to another world. Brent Faiyaz has a very beautiful vocal range, and this EP truly showcases that. I think it follows the typical model for Sonder and Brent songs, but this safe route is not inherently a bad thing. I believe some people might say that taking the safe route in terms of sound would be a negative aspect of the project, but I would beg to differ. Sometimes it is better for an artist to stick to a sound that people know and love, rather than branch out or be experimental just for the sake of doing so. I feel like it was short and sweet; if there were more than 5 tracks, it would have certainly felt stale and bored me, but because there weren't, I was engaged throughout my entire listening experience. This EP has impeccable album sequencing. Most of the time, I hardly even noticed that it had flowed from one song into the next; it was that seamless. I feel like I need to be in a particular mood to listen to this EP; it has to be an easy-going evening, with dimmed lights and laying atop my comforter. I am not sure I would listen to it casually, as it does not keep me fully engaged in that sense. I would recommend Sonder's music and this EP specifically to anyone who is a Brent Faiyaz fan and can't seem to get enough of his music, as this is a collaborative group he is a part of. When it comes to Brent, his typical sound is always a pleasure to listen to, and I found myself adding most of the songs to my playlist after my first listen. Despite their relatively modest presence on the music scene, I am positive Sonder will continue to shine and release great projects. Thank you for reading this week's review, see you next week!
gemini rights - steve lacy
It has been 2 years since we last received a solo project from Steve Lacy, and I think I have overplayed his narrow discography more times than I can count. Generally, I was engaged while listening to Gemini Rights–I was interested in hearing about the romance storylines portrayed across the tracks, and the incredible instrumentals certainly kept me awake. I don’t believe this project was supposed to be groundbreaking or leave me with some sort of epiphany; it entertained me and I added about half of the songs to my playlist. I would say it did its job as an album full of summer bops. The instrumentals were fantastic, it was funk-infused to the highest degree, and the overall production quality of this project was out of this world. This was especially evident on Helmet, Buttons, and Mercury. Buttons was without a doubt the most well-produced track on the album, and this is only magnified by the addition of a stunning electric guitar instrumental; it made me feel like I was sitting and sipping tea in a dimly lit jazz café. Static had a very simple yet effective piano instrumental, which was much appreciated. Nowadays, artists can be washed out by the background, so going this route for the introductory track let his voice shine. A critique of mine is that it was so short--only 10 tracks--and the album rollout gave us 3 of the songs in advance, so we weren’t left with much when the full thing dropped. However, I much prefer this to what artists usually do these days. They drop an exhaustive album with twenty or more tracks. Many of these artists lack the versatility to keep me awake for this long. It can begin to feel like they are aiming for quantity over quality, as most of the songs sound the same: boring and flat. Compared to other Steve Lacy projects, I think this one was not necessarily as good. I will reference Apollo XXI and The Lo-Fis in my analysis. I feel that compared to these projects, there were fewer hits on Gemini Rights, but that it was just as well produced. I will again mention the weird rollout order–most of the best tracks were released before the full album was, which made for an interesting listening experience. Unfortunately, Bad Habit was run into the ground by TikTok. Usually, this doesn’t inhibit my listening experience, but the sheer number of times I heard it inflicted a negative recency bias on me (because I heard it too much recently, I don't like it, the opposite of a typical recency bias). Steve Lacy is an incredible vocalist and his rise into the mainstream light, especially last year and this year, is something that makes me very happy. R&B is getting oversaturated with songs that all sound the same, so this project is a welcome gift. I look forward to what his future projects will bring. Thank you so much for reading, see you next week!
dawn fm - the weeknd
I have been listening to The Weeknd since I was a wee lad. He has indefinitely made his mark as one of the greatest pop and R&B icons of our time. He is very consistent in his projects and typically caters to a wide array of people. The project which preceded Dawn FM, After Hours, had many sensual ballads and a coherent storyline. This storyline was extended into Dawn FM, with The Weeknd’s character aging and developing new experiences. I LOVED THE ALBUM SEQUENCING! The flow of each song just makes sense, and if you can you should watch Nathan Zed’s video on YouTube called “The Lost Art of Album Sequencing” for further insight into why this characteristic of the album is so important in these times. The album rollout was another strong selling point. The Weeknd oftentimes takes on a character in anticipation of a new album release, and this, also spoken about by Nathan Zed makes a point of talking about how the dying practice of album rollouts kills the hype for an album. The Weeknd has always had this skill on lock, and it shines through once again with Dawn FM. He had great features. Even though there were only two actual artist features (cameos from celebrities or actors on interludes don't count), because they were such influential individuals, it made a bigger impact. The strongest quality of this album was indefinitely the sound is borrowed from the seventies. However, despite all of its positive characteristics, it is not all sunshine and rainbows. Despite it being a relatively good project, a lot of the tracks sound the same. This tends to be the case with a lot of The Weeknd’s songs. However, because I just like him a lot I usually allow it. Additionally, there was not a lot of originality compared to his past projects. Of course, he did create a new character in his own cinematic universe, but in terms of versatility in sound, there was not much deviation from his usual. This is not the worst thing an artist could do with a project, but it does mean that some songs end up being forgettable. This album was released at the beginning of the year and I practically added most of the songs to my January playlist. At the time, with very few releases–this and Gunna’s DS4Ever were in my rotation–the album was a staple in my library. However, as the year went on and we were blessed with releases from Brent, Steve, and Giveon, among many artists, the album became a little underwhelming. I really like The Weeknd so I continued to listen to my ultra-favourite tracks, but other than that, it was not the most memorable album. I will give it props for its rollout and the experience I had listening to the album, but post-listen was not too memorable. I would recommend this album to anyone who is trying to get into R&B in 2022 and wants to start with something digestible and appealing to a large group. However, if you have already stumbled down the R&B rabbit hole and are looking for more experimental and unique-sounding tracks, this album might not be your cup of tea. Once again, thank you all for reading! Until next time, peace out.