The combo of that slow and steady bass line, the plucking banjo, and then the harmonies in those voices is just like a salve to my brain. So damn nice. "i’ve been yours for so long / we come right back to it / i let my mind run wild / don’t know why i do it / but you just settle in / like a song with no end / if i can keep up / we’ll get right back to it." As someone who just celebrated 23 years with my wife, anything singing about being with someone for "so long" nails me. Sometimes, this album is straight indie rock, other times it leans into that country sound, but it never strays from a lovely vibe.
Taylor Swift - The Tortured Poets Department. And then on the other hand, the best known artist on the planet put out an absolute dud of an album. Over 2 hours of completely underwhelming whispery confessions. Zero bangers. Zero interesting, memorable, or exciting tracks. People spent the weekend tweeting out snippets of the lyrics that were of interest, but this is just such a pile of deeply boring white noise that I don't even care about all the names she checks throughout. What a disappointment. The album opener, with Post Malone warbling along with her, is the top streamer. 39.8 million streams.
Sounds like Lana Del Rey. And actually, I laughed out loud at the face tattoos. That is funny. But nothing there is going to stick with me past the next ten seconds. Just a throwaway track. Maybe my brain has reached peak TayTay saturation, but I really believe this is a bad album. I'll let this go (and probably be proven wrong when this becomes her biggest album, but whatever, I'll take the potential L versus having to hear more of this).
Sierra Ferrell - Trail of Flowers. So, I actually just saw her play live yesterday, and it was fantastic. The group I made walk over there to see it (skipping out on Neal McCoy and his classic hits) likewise were loving her sound. But to be honest, all of us were a little turned off by her look - she had some sort of tooth thing going on that she normally does not, like a huge gold snaggle-tooth thing - that was super distracting. But she sounds phenomenal. And this album is very good as well - country, bluegrass, folk, and more of that patented Patsy Cline-esque sound. "Fox Hunt" has the lead for streams with 2.3 million.
I sort of wanted her to throw a fist into the sky as she unloaded this one into the sky. But she's too busy playing. Love the hollerin' in there like you're really at a hoe-down with her and her band. Not only does she make wonderfully rootsy music, but she's also just a wild person - she apparently died while shooting up with heroin and then came back to life. Keeper.
Gary Clark Jr. - JPEG RAW. This album does nothing to dispel the thought that my man could really benefit from being part of a band. I just imagine someone else helping him get aimed at a particular sound or style, and then unleashing his rad guitar into that chosen space. Instead, this feels like he just went into the studio with his guitar and some curiosity and just got after it. The most fascinating song, without any doubt, is the Stevie Wonder one. On my first listen, I was like "damn, that intro makes this sound like an old Stevie Sonder song," and then I'll be damned if the man himself didn't pop up to sing and boogie around. Low stream count all around this one - I wonder what the hell he is doing with the title as well, as it makes it sound like some sort of throwaway single. "Maktub" has the most streams, barely edging out the Stevie tune, so here you go. 1.1 million streams.
Got a wild influence in there - uh, African? Indian? It is fine, lyrically, I just don't know where it gets me. Is it supposed to be a protest song? Just feels trite to say we gotta move and time for a new revolution over and over. Mainly, I feel like if he could just focus his powers and make the songs aim for a catchy vibe - I don't need pop or anything, and I don't want just an Eric Johnson collection of molten lava guitar solos either, but there is a scattershot quality here that never lets this disc coalesce.
No comments:
Post a Comment