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Rapid Fire Album Review
- Myra Dodd
- Apr 1
- 4 min read
Overall, I have been much more selective with the new releases I've listened to this year. I tended to stick to artists I already liked or received high praise online. This week was the first of the year I was already excited about multiple projects. I decided to give a quick review of each of the four I listened to this weekend.
Disclaimer: This is purely and extremely objective
Portrait of my Heart - SPELLLING
Like many others, I'm a big fan of SPELLLING's 2023 album "The Turning Wheel" and was excited to see what she did next. From the singles, it was clear that she was going a more rock-infused route, and I remained decently optimistic. I hoped the full album would give me something to latch onto, but overall, I was left pretty underwhelmed. The album is pretty consistent throughout, focused much more heavily on guitars than her previous work. I'm not sold on Cabral's vocals throughout this album, which starkly contrasts "The Turning Wheel," where she blows me away with her unique and enchanting voice. In the rock style, for whatever reason, they tend to fall a lot more flat. Unexpectedly, my favorite track on the album is the cover of My Bloody Valentine's "Sometimes." This threw me for a loop while listening as I was not currently looking at the track list, and it took me way too long to realize why It sounded familiar. Once I got past my confusion, I was able to appreciate how well her voice complimented the shoegaze sound and the new life her band was able to bring to this classic. I also really enjoy the title track as well as "Destiny Arrives," but overall, the best thing this album did for me was prompt my monthly life-changing listen to "Loveless."
Forever is a Feeling - Lucy Dacus
I am a long-term Lucy Dacus and Boygenius fan who is not at all upset with the group's time apart when it means solo projects like this. This is Dacuses fourth studio album that overall is focused on the concept of love and her relationship with Julien Baker. A lot of an album is so heavily reliant on lyrics, which isn't a weakness but makes it a bit of an overwhelming first listen. Luckily some of this was remedied on relisten as I found myself liking almost everything about it more the second time. She can be very wordy to a fault, which sometimes leads to awkward delivery and production on some of the tracks. Dacus has always been a visual artist for me. Her storytelling is one of my favorite things about her as an artist, and she continues to be very effective on this record. Although, nothing here quite reaches the heights of "Home Video". I was lucky enough to have heard most of these tracks during her brief tour in February, where she performed at the Driehaus Museum. While watching her perform in a small venue is captivating enough, the instrumentals to many of these tracks elevate them beyond what could have been achieved with just an acoustic guitar. Overall I'm a big fan of the orchestral instrumentals and would love for her to explore more of the baroque pop sound in the future. The standout tracks for me were "Ankles," "Modigliani," and "Talk." Oh also completely unrelated, but I cannot get behind this album cover.
Lonely People With Power - Deafheaven
This Deafheaven project was a shot in the dark as I'm very averse to most metal, but I think I liked it just about as much as I could have. I decided to check it out despite having never listened to Deafheaven before, thanks to the incredibly high reviews and praise I saw it receiving online. The production of this is fantastic as it mixes elements of black metal and shoegaze. I will say the instrumentals blew me away in every way imaginable. Now, this is purely a fault of my own, but I am unfortunately tuned out to the screamo vocals. I was automatically attracted to the more laid-back sounds of tracks like "Heathen," which balanced the two well. As I mentioned, the only fault this album had was my own distaste, and I recognize that it is pretty fantastic. I look forward to revisiting when I am more familiar with the genre. The standout tracks for me upon first listen were "Heathen" and "Amethyst."
Glory - Perfume Genius
"Glory" by Perfume Genius was the surprising highlight of my weekend listening. Despite being in genres i love, I will admit I am not as familiar with Perfume Genius's work as I should be. Aside from a singular listen to his 2014 album “Too Bright,” this was my introduction to Hadreas as an artist. I am equally captivated by his lyricism as I am by the stunning instrumentals; this album is reflective in a whimsical way with tracks like "No Front Teeth" that explore memory. I can see the Sufjan comparisons that people have made, especially on tracks like “Clean Heart” that boaster string-focused instrumentals similar to "Javelin". This album did the best an album could do, peaking my curiosity about the artist and leaving me wanting to explore more. From what I have heard, Perfume Genius has an extremely consistent discography that I cannot wait to dig into. My favorite tracks would have to be "In a Row," "It's a Mirror," and "No Front Teeth."
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