Quick Hits, Vol. 288 (Coldplay, Kacey Musgraves, Drake, Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real)

Coldplay - Music of the Spheres.  What is going on here?  Where is the band that wrote "Yellow" and "Clocks" and "A Rush of Blood to the Head"?  One of the tracks on here literally sounds like the soccer chant that was stuck in my head for days after going to an Austin FC game.  "Alright! Alright alright alriiiight, Austin, Verde!"  And the name of that song is an infinity sign emoji?  Five of the songs on this album are named as just an emoji of some sort.  One song features BTS.  One song features Selena Gomez.  One song is over ten minutes long and sounds like they are trying to turn the Beatles into a space rock opera?  That last one could probably be a good song, but it's just silly to play along with ten minutes of goofy ideas popping back and forth in the ether.  I guess I actually like it, but it just feels like they could have honed it into a great song instead of what it is.

Just as a by the way, Wikipedia says that "Music of the Spheres is set in a fictional planetary system called The Spheres, which contains nine planets, three natural satellites, a star and a nebula, each of which corresponds to a certain track on the record. According to lead singer Chris Martin, its concept and themes were inspired by the Star Wars film franchise, which made him wonder what other artists could be like across the universe. ... Each track on the album represents a celestial body from The Spheres. Following the album's track listing, they are: Neon Moon I ("Music of the Spheres"), Kaotica ("Higher Power"), Echo ("Humankind"), Kubik ("Alien Choir"), Calypso ("Let Somebody Go"), Supersolis ("Human Heart"), Ultra ("People of the Pride"), Floris ("Biutyful"), Neon Moon II ("Music of the Spheres II"), Epiphane ("My Universe"), Infinity Station ("Infinity Sign"), and Coloratura ("Coloratura"). Supersolis is the star at the centre of the system, and Coloratura is the Nebula. Each celestial body in The Spheres has its own language: EL 1 for Neon Moon I, Kaotican for Kaotica, Mirror Text for Echo, Qblok for Kubik, Aquamarine for Calypso, Supersolar for Supersolis, Voltik for Ultra, Bloom for Floris, EL 2 for Neon Moon II, Spheric for Epiphane, Infinitum for Infinity Station, and Coloraturan for Coloratura."  THAT IS SO DEEPLY STUPID.  Why can't y'all just make a normal album with 12 kick ass songs on it?

Here is the top track - "Higher Power," which has somehow belched out 122.9 million streams on Spotify and 28 million views on YouTube.

If Blade Runner had more robot bugs and rainbow lights and dancing aliens...  I get bummed out when I realize how vapid some band lyrics are.  I've stubbornly stuck by the side of the Foo Fighters despite evidence of their bad lyrics, but these are tough to stomach.  "I'm so happy that I'm alive, happy I'm alive at the same time as you, cause you've got a higher power, got me singing every second, dancing every hour, ... and you're really someone I wanna know."  Ugh.  Again, I wish they had just released another album of classic bangers, included BTS to get their streaming numbers up, and left out the alien space crapola.  [of course, ten minutes later I find myself singing the chorus from that damn song despite myself...]

Kacey Musgraves - star-crossed.  On the one hand, I wanted to jump to her defense when the idiot Grammy people excluded this new album from the Country Album of the Year category because they deemed it to be outside of that genre, and instead put it in the Best Pop Vocal Album category.  But then I actually listened to the album, and its pretty much a pop breakup album.  I mean, it's not like a Britney pop album or something, but more like some confessional and gentle stuff from Stevie Nicks or J. Lo or Lana Del Rey or Olivia Newton John or something.  Actually, I just heard a little of the Harry Styles thing when I just listened again, his pop-roc-70's groove thing that he did so well on his last album.  It isn't bad by any means, but it's also just nothing like what I expected to hear (or wanted to hear, I suppose, especially when she uses autotune despite a great voice).  Those other three albums were vital, even as they pushed the country genre outside of its boundaries through the years, but this one just feels like a bummer to be sad to.  "there is a light" features some jazzy ass flute solos and a quick bongo beat, along with an almost rap near the end, which is entertaining for being weird.   "justified" is the hit with 21.9 million streams (with "breadwinner" right behind at 16 million - which is even more pop-forward).  

I like the driving video.  That is clever.  It isn't a bad song, and although the chorus is killer with the back-and-forth confusion of a breakup, the song overall is just not that interesting to me. That is what most of this album does for me, leave me with disinterest.  It would be like if someone told me that I should watch a documentary about Kanye and Kim splitting up or something.  I'm sure there would be bits that would be interesting, but I don't need to go through someone else's heartbreak for an entire album.  I don't see any song on here gaining pantheon status among her other great tunes.  It feels a lot longer than the 47 minute run-time.  Although the Spanish-language song at the end is kinda cool.  Would have been better at the end of a country-pop masterpiece.  Hopefully she forgets old Ruston and marries Bruno Mars and we get country-pop-smart-lyrics-dance-party perfection again.

Drake - Certified Lover Boy.  Nope.  I don't even know if it is worth writing a full-on review of this garbage, but I swear this album seems like it is nine hours long.  It's just bad and boring from start to finish.  "Way 2 Sexy" is the only song I remember after hearing the album a few times, and that is because it steals from "I'm Too Sexy" and Right Said Fred should be pleased.  But each song is just, like, him talking over a mediocre beat with a bit of singing here and there.  I was hoping "7am on Bridle Path" was going to be about the road on Austin, I had friends who grew up on that street.  Instead it's just him yapping in a boring way for four minutes.  He has no flow, no timing, no sense of how to fit into the beat.  I hate it.

Lukas Nelson and Promise of the Real - A Few Stars Apart.  So weird to hear him sing.  I'd have to expect that he sings like his dad on purpose, because my singing voice is definitely different from my father's singing voice.  And yet when "We'll Be Alright" kicks off, it 100% sounds like Willie is picking the guitar and gently singing towards a kind resolution.  I'm sure that is for a reason - trade on his dad's fame to hook people in, and then make them realize that he is damn good on his own.  That is where I am on this right now.  These songs are good in their own right for sure.  "Perennial Bloom (Back to You)" is the hit so far, with a jangly rock sound like he's been playing with the Jayhawks.

"summer seed become my perennial bloom" is a great line.  Good tune.  "Leave 'em Behind" is another great one on here, makes me think of the Indigo Girls with a banjo.  This album cooks.