Quick Hits, Vol. 233 (Miley Cyrus, Future, Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds, Coldplay)

I've had a stupid cough for about a week and a half, because of my stupid body's stupid reactions to pollen and other garbage in the air, and I' super sick and tired of it.  This happened last year as well and I vowed that I would see an allergist and fix it all forever.  Did I handle my business?  You know that I did no such thing.  Super annoyed with 2018 Jack right about now.  I can't even imagine what I would be like if I was actually sick for real some day.  A simple cough sends me to bed early with seven remedies purchased from CVS and a heating pad.

Miley Cyrus - SHE IS COMING.  Why do people need to use all caps in their album title?  Here's the thing, normally I'd say no before an album like this even got into my new music listening playlist, but for whatever reason I threw this one in there, and I kind of dig parts of it.  The opener is "Mother's Daughter," and it's highly catchy stuff.  I keep bopping it in my head after I've listened to it - lines like "don't fuck with my freedom," and "must be something in the water know that I'm my mother's daughter" aren't groundbreaking or anything, but they flow just right with the beat.  "Unholy" has a groove that is undeniable, although there are multiple times, showcased in this song especially, where I find her voice less than great.  "D.R.E.A.M." made me cringe at first, as a rip off and play on Wu Tang's "C.R.E.A.M," where it is drugs that rule everything around her, rather than cash, but the Ghostface cameo saves it from being terrible.  The next song is the one on here that I find truly terrible - "Cattitude" - with RuPaul getting nasty over a set of generic bounce beats.  Bad one liners like "I love my pussy, that means I got cattitude."  Ugh.  "Mother's Daughter" is, by far, the top track, with 127 million streams.

MMMkay.  Overall, the album (or it might just be considered an EP because it is short) isn't amazing or anything, I think I'm just personally surprised that I liked some of the songs.  I'll let it go though.

Future - SAVE ME.  I still don't understand the appeal of Future.  When he first came out, he was the only guy making this particular brand of rap, so I get that he had some originality appeal, but now, when over Auto-tuned rap/singers are a dime a dozen, this just sounds so tired.  Just a bunch of smeary vocals slathered under and over and through uninspired beats.  Nothing from this 2019 album even makes his top ten on Spotify, revealing that I'm not alone to think this is so weak.  Maybe everyone else thought the same.  And yet I've listened to the stupid thing repeatedly!  Why do I do that?  "Government Official" has the most streams at 14.7 million.

Not a good album.  It acted as a stopper in my queue, so the last five or six albums I reviewed got a ton more listens than I normally would have gone through, just because I'd get midway through this album, realize it sucked, and then go back up to the top to try to find something I wanted to write about.  Nope.

Noel Gallagher's High Flying Birds - Black Star Dancing.  Just a little three song EP, plus two very annoying remixes of the first song, that remind you a little bot of how good Oasis are, but then also remind you that this ain't Oasis.  It's a bummer.  These tunes are fine, but none are revelatory or anything.  "Black Star Dancing" has 3.7 million streams.

I very much want to go hang with all of those crusty old Brits at that club.  Also, those dudes dancing before Noel came on may be the most fit humans ever.  Like I said, not a bad song or anything, I like the bass groove, but nothing nearly as excellent as the classic Oasis stuff that combined good music with clever or interesting lyrics.  We'll hope for better from the full album.

Coldplay - Everyday Life.  Oh, thank God!  Coldplay is back, and they put away the Chainsmokers bullshit!  I'm so please to hear them backing off of the last few albums and going back to the classic reason that everyone loved them in the first place.  I'm not even being sarcastic saying that I am pleased that they have returned - this is real enthusiasm.
The first time I heard "Daddy," I wanted to cry and then share the song with everyone I knew immediately.  It couldn't be softer, or more tender, or more lovely.  And yes, I'm sure some snide internet jerk out there is making fun of it right this second, but I loved it from the start.  Some of the songs come off like they were voice memos on his phone like "WOTW/POTP," that is a nice sounding little acoustic ditty, but literally could just be him sitting by the pool tossing that off.  I thought "Arabesque" would be the big hit off the album (and maybe it will be), but right now it is getting whipped 6.0 million to 23.3 million by "Orphans."  "Arabesque" just has that big sound, that full-bodied Coldplay band sound, as well as some world music flourishes, that makes it seem like the defining tune of the album.

I like it - the semi-unhinged sax solo in the middle is an odd addition, but it kind of gives it a jam band/jazz groove that is outside of the norm for Coldplay.  I'm also going to give you "Orphans" so we can discuss that one as well.

That one feels like the one written to be yelled at top volume on tour for the next few years - "I want to know! when I can go! Back and get drunk with my friends!!!  I want to know! when I can go!  Back and be young again!!!"  I like it.  It sounds epic, and real, and it makes me happy.  Great groove - this is the good stuff.  I've been singing the chorus again for the past week and a half.  "Eko" has some beautiful trills in it that bring Paul Simon to mind.  This album is good - there is more to unpack here, but I already like it.  (although I'll readily admit that I could do without the piece of "Trouble in Town" that is apparently a real recording of police brutality/over-aggressiveness, I get what they are going for by including that, but I'd also rather not have that so expressly under my nose).