Five albums, five minutes to make points. More than five minutes to write-up a review because I am lazy and get distracted easily. It means only one thing: my Tight Five segment is RECURRING!
By Findlay Anderson
Carnage – Battered Bruised & Bloody
His name is Carnage. His album is called Battered Bruised & Bloody. He loves synonyms.
As producers are fighting more in the rap game to earn their share of royalties, it should come as no surprise that most are turning to release solo projects in order to compensate for the lack of income. Carnage has been a chart-bothering producer for the likes of Young Thug, Rich the Kid and Lil Yachty for seven years now; even releasing a brilliant EP with the former last year.
Following up from his largely underwhelming debut three years ago, Battered Bruised & Bloody is one of the most unoriginal and uninspiring albums this year. It is a weird one; a third of the songs are bad, a third of the songs are passable and a third of them are just dumb as shit.
Kaytranada this is not. For the most part, you could be forgiven for not really listening to the music at all. The beats are generic and the features are wildly unimpressive; KILLY and Lockdown in particular disappoint.
The trap numbers can be entertaining; the production is, at best, inconsistently good. Obvious shout-outs to i Shyne featuring Lil Pump for being absolutely amazing while even Lil B comes through with a solid feature pairing well with a great track.
Closing cut Waterworld does save the best till last – the Migos collab is a solid dose of verses from the Atlanta tour de force. That being said, it isn’t a direct reference to the smash 1995 Kevin Costner epic, so what’s the point?
I cannot talk about this album without mentioning one song. I could talk about it for 1000s of words but I won’t. Sadly. After a startling screamo cut Up NXW, you think nothing could top the weirdness of that. Nope. Morokomba! may go down as the most unnecessary – and worst – song of the year. Or is it the best? I don’t know. It is a blast of EDM wank, a cocktail of bloated proportions with a beat drop that screams: “I am a virgin”. I have no idea how it appeared at the halfway point of this. It is awful. Then again every song after it leaves you thinking: “well it isn’t Morokomba!” and unsure whether that is a good thing or not. It is not. Eurgh.
3/10
Tinashe – Joyride
Few albums this year command as much attention as Joyride. I mean, JESUS CHRIST! You cannot help but feel a little bit of sympathy for Tinashe at this point. Realistically she should be one of the most popular, if not the most popular, R&B singer in the world right now.
Look at her credentials: strong vocals with range, BIG fan of choreographed dancing and a knack for some pretty tasty pop bangers when she wants. It is simply a shame how her career has played out. Somebody flocked her eventual title track to Rihanna (who later didn’t need it) then her sophomore was put on hold completely after Zayn went solo. This is all on the back of an acclaimed debut album and some clearly great singles – Superlove had the commercial potential to be her Super Bass, not just in name.
2016’s Nightride, a placeholder mixtape released in frustration as labels held her back, served as a teaser for what’s to come; 15 songs of side-flipping R&B, from slow-tempo snores to some pretty great numbers. Company was a suitable lead single; full of a brilliantly independent bass injection, a head-turning chorus and a 90s-inspired music video to match.
That is the thing: Tinashe would have been fucking massive in the late-90s to early-00s. Not to start a war or anything, but her aforementioned credentials would see her rival Aaliyah, not SZA. Instead this is who she is sharing the spotlight with: SZA’s debut full-length sees her experimenting with production while contributing with some of the most idiosyncratic names in hip-hop – Kendrick, Travis Scott and Isaiah Rashad for example. Tinashe’s full-length sophomore finds her exploring a too-cool-for-you form of romance over sleek production and an impressively coherent track-listing.
So after this three-year wait, was it worth it? No.
I am sitting here wondering what to talk about when I am stumped. I’ve heard Joyride four times now and with each listen, I cannot help but wonder: “HOW is this the best she could come up with?”. Of course the title track was sold to Rihanna, the slurred verses before a “la la la la” chorus is the recipe for a Rihanna winner. Have you heard it? You cannot unhear Rihanna.
The singles are, for the most part, bad. No Drama portrays an uncharacteristically dull lifestyle (“If my life was like a movie, I need fifty sequels”) while the tropical Me So Bad, despite its RiRi repetitiveness, just does not sound interesting.
Faded Love at least highlights imaginative production and Tinashe’s genuinely promising songwriting. He Don’t Want It is like Grimes singing over an FKA Twigs beat – so it is good. Ooh La La has the potential to be a club smash, even if the bed-squeaking samples are as repulsive as yet another Future feature.
Also are two interludes and an intro really warranted for an album that spans thirty-six minutes?
Anyway, Joyride is simply an album that could have been. Tinashe has the talent, she just needs the backing from a label willing to at least put her on the New Releases section on Spotify for Christ sake (if bloody Confidence Man can get on there…). In truth this is dull and regrettably forgettable. It is a long thirty-six minutes and that shouldn’t be the case for such a promising artist. For an album called Joyride, you really need to at least offer something worth going home to.
3/10
Manic Street Preachers – Resistance Is Futile
As legacy acts go, none straddle old-age as well as Manic Street Preachers. Where Pixies fluffed and Pearl Jam shrugged, the Manics have continued to cut their cake with a sword, emerging as a reflective band unafraid to delve into politics.
Futurology was a weird album. Don’t get me wrong; I liked it, a lot, it was my tenth-favourite album of 2014 after all. It is just very weird. Back with their thirteenth album, the Welsh rockers have seemingly settled for something more straightforward – this is coming from a band who were known for self-mutilating on stage and covering the theme for M*A*S*H, after all.
This is a largely entertaining and rewarding album from James Dean Bradfield and crew. While a lot of the lyrics are typically democratic, the band have placed an emphasis on melody and as a result, this is a surprisingly spry album. It wouldn’t be unfair to say this album is powerful enough for BBC Radio 6 Music yet unfussy enough to fit on a Cold Feet soundtrack.
Can you imagine the MSP of 1990s releasing a song like Vivian? Fuck no. But it is lovely. Liverpool Revisited displays Bradfield’s impressive vocals while People Give In may not be a Stephen Hawking diss track (“there is no theory of everything”) but it sure as hell packs a punch. This is Manic Street Preachers on cruise control but that is not to say their eyes are off the road.
7/10
Mouse On Mars – Dimensional People
It has been a long six years since Mouse On Mars last released an album. The Duesseldorf duo have never been one of the loudest electronic groups on the scene, but their influence is omnipresent.
The very idea of Mouse On Mars collaborating with Justin Vernon (Bon Iver) is absolutely orgasmic. This is the same Vernon who brought his folky delicacy and butchered it with a vocorder – in a good way, of course – working with the titans of electronic glitches and stuttering samples.
While Dimensional People finds the group collaborating with a plethora of guests – Aaron and Bryce Dessner of The National, and Lisa Hannigan feature – it is Mouse On Mars who apply their formula and experiment creating an uneasy and remarkable soundscape.
The twelve tracks are more parts than songs, vignettes rather than stories. Segregated to allow each idea to blossom into its own beast, the album offers opportunity for the featured guests to truly collaborate with the group, creating a sharp and surreal atmosphere. My personal favourite parts are Dimensional People Part II and Aviation.
6/10
Fiddlehead – Springtime and Blind
With ten songs in 24 minutes, Fiddlehead’s debut is a blistering and emphatic introduction to the Boston rockers. While each song is sharp and instantaneous, the group make heavy use of melody and festival-worthy singalongs. Poem You and Tidal Waves are tuneful anthems with powerful lyrics; the former is an ode to the singer’s recently deceased father.
The production is loose and the rhythms fill the gaps. Vocal performances are strong and guitars call back to everything from Brand New to Jimmy Eat World. While 24 minutes may not seem like a long time, the band use the short runtime to leave an impression then evacuate. Rejoice features a euphoric chorus with kinetic drums before cutting off as if they weren’t there. While emo is a term devoid of meaning nowadays, Fiddlehead certainly fill the old quota easily and with abundance. Yeah, it is a good album. Not much else to say. Check it out if you want some good ol’ rock, aight?
7/10
Single of the Week
Snow Patrol – Life On Earth
When I heard the first single off of Snow Patrol’s comeback record, I was bored. I couldn’t quite believe what I was listening – it just sounded off, Gary Lightbody’s vocals seemed off-key and the song was exceptionally dull. I am a big fan of the Irish troupe and I was very disappointed.
This, however, is quintessential Snow Patrol. Euphoric chorus with passionate lyrics (“it doesn’t need to be so fucking hard”, Gary exclaims), it seems like the comeback is well and truly on. Also, I commend Gary and Snow Patrol for opening up about mental health and how men cope – or rather how they don’t – with mental health.
Side B 