Sunn O))) - Life Metal

7.6

Undoubtedly their best release of the decade, the already-legendary drone doom metal band from Seattle finally team up with Steve Albini on production and mixing to create what's by far their loudest and most quality-edged record, albeit not their most adventurous nor diverse.

Highlights

- Steve Albini's masterful production/mixing/engineering techniques.

- The amazing collaborations with cellist Hilda Guðnadóttir and moog synthesiser player T.O.S. Nieuwenhuizen.

- The extreme tension and coherence between tracks.

Lowlights

- The songs seem excessively long, even for the band's standards.

- One could wish for more variability and diversity here and there.

Standouts

- Between Sleipnir's Breaths

- Troubled Air

Country: USA

Released: April 26, 2019

Length: 68:56

Laurel Halo - Sweetie (DJ-Kicks)

8.1

Experimental techno artist Laurel Halo comes back after proving she's capable of morphing and concocting sturdy melodies as well as sedated landscapes with a DJ-Kicks edition that sees her returning to her stark, menacing and cleverly danceable dance roots. The 29 tracks are greatly intertwined, bearing strong ressemblances and acute rhythms to maintain power and interest for its hour-running time.

Highlights

- There's tension and release in the songs; they breathe and push constantly.

- Laurel has found a way to also include percussion and worldly sounds to traditional techno structures.

- Halo's knack for the movement and the experimentation are somewhat introverted yet intact.

Lowlights

- Some tracks go around the same pattern a bit too much.

- I'd probably cut the record 10 minutes shorter.

Standouts

- Always Hate (Mixed)

- Canto (Mixed)

- Temptation (Mixed)

Country: USA/Germany

Released: February 12, 2019

Length: 60:37

Westkust - Westkust

6.7

Swedish twee-gaze band Westkust releases their sophomore record in the form of a tight, seemingly coherent package. It's difficult to tear the tracks individually, as the members are truly busy playing it straightforward, without paying much attention to diversity nor nuance.

Highlights

- The instrumentals' thickness and their sense of engrossing atmospheres.

- Julia's warm, lush and distorted vocals and lyricism.

- The strong commitment and cohesiveness across the record.

Lowlights

- All the tracks seem like a single piece played and sub-divided into small chunks, without much variance and interesting details to bear in mind.

- At times it feels as if the potency the band displays lacked emotion and distinctiveness.

Standouts

- Rush

- Cotton Skies

- Drive

Country: Sweden

Released: March 1, 2019

Length: 31:02

Angel Bat Dawid - The Oracle

7.2

The Chicago composer and jazz musician delivers a troublesome but heavily-spiritual musical journey through rage, peace, weird rhythms and a constant sense of tenderness. The tracks breathe life and passion, though some lessen their energy as time passes by.

Highlights

- Angel's fantastic arrangements, as unusual as undeniably jazzy.

- The themes of race, pride and communion all throughout.

Lowlights

- Sometimes less is more; here, the more at times becomes the less.

Standouts

- Black Family

- Impepho

- What Shall I Tell My Children Who Are Black (Dr. Margaret Burroughs)

Country: USA

Released: February 8, 2019

Length: 43:50

Avey Tare - Cows On Hourglass Pond

7.1

On Cows On Hourglass Pond, Animal Collective's co-founder Avey Tare seems barely inspired and in a constant mood for repetition of his already-known formula while creating psychedelic pop-soul. And the record suffers not because of what it is, but because of what it could have been.

Highlights

- Avey Tare's great take onto eerie, moody and heavily delirious micro-sounds.

- The album's motifs and cinematic sketches all throughout.

Lowlights

- It turns out to be more of the same after the first half.

- Avey's voice seems dull and unimaginative; as if lacking distinction and energy.

Standouts

- What's The Goodside?

- Nostalgia In Lemonade

- Saturdays (Again)

Weyes Blood - Titanic Rising

8.8

Natalie Mering's latest album as Weyes Blood is her most cinematic and gorgeously arranged by a mile. The turbid lyrics contrast fantastically with the lush instrumentation to create material that can easily compete with the best pop-rock of the late 60s and early 70s. Titanic Rising is immaculate; an overall triumph for form and music.

Highlights

- Natalie's voice gives character, drama and passion to all the tracks where it's involved.

- The instrumentals feel opressed but thinly orchestrated, and the mixture of them swells you into a gigantic hole of sound and pace.

- The lyricism is cryptic and at-the-point, fulled with queasy anecdotes and sharp metaphors.

Lowlights

- At times, it feels like some songs could have used a bit more of diversity in lyrics and harmonies.

Standouts

- Everyday

- Andromeda

- Movies

Country: USA

Released: April 5, 2019

Length: 42:28

Spellling - Mazy Fly

8.4

The sophomore release from the American outcast Tia Cabral is a thick impersonation of lovely disdain and exhuberant melodrama in the form of pseudo-industrial hypnagogic pop and a melange of styles, moods and textures that serve for an experience as invigorating as entertainingly engrossing.

Highlights

- Spellling's vocal range and delivery are fantastic.

- The instrumentals are rotten and suffocated at the edge of delicate saturation.

- The cinematic narrative of the album.

Lowlights

- Some songs might be excessively long.

- The instrumental tracks, while good, do not live up to the rest of the record's potential.

Standouts

- Under The Sun

- Haunted Water

- Afterlife

Country: USA

Released: February 22, 2019

Length: 42:37

Billie Eilish - When We All Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go?

8.6

With just her brother Finneas on production, 17-year-old sensation Billie Eilish manages to surpass common critics and stereotypes to come up with a debut album which is a fantastic exploration and depiction of how it feel to be young, depressed and fulled with existential angst against the world and its people. The bassy, magnetic beats melt with the singer's whispery, heavily-manipulated, demonic vocals in pretty original and diverse ways, making the record both an entertaining experience and a constant, ever-growing adventure. Moreover, it feels the perfect artistic statement for a star on the rise.

Highlights

- The production is otherworldly, thick and thoroughly crafted.

- Billie's voice is a gravitational force on its own, going up and down with every emotion.

- There's an amazing sense of cohesion connecting the songs and topics altogether.

Lowlights

- Some tracks overuse space and melancholy a bit (especially on the second half).

Standouts

- bad guy

- xanny

- my strange addiction

Country: USA

Released: March 29, 2019

Length: 42:56

Flume - Hi This Is Flume

8.7

After two years of silence, the Australian producer returns with a mixtape that's his most realized and authentic release to date. Fully inhabiting experimental wonky fields, Flume excells at disjointed story-telling and marvellous bassness with focus, charisma and angst.

Highlights

- The tracks that contain vocals make the singers/rappers shine amazingly.

- All moments feel urgent and desperately hyperkinetic in form and shape.

- There's cohesion and diversity throughout, and a sense of constant self-discovery.

Lowlights

- Some experiments are fantastically executed, but fall too short in comparison to others.

Standouts

- High Beams

- How To Build A Relationship

- Voices

Country: Australia

Released: 20 March, 2019

Length: 38:20

Helado Negro - This Is How You Smile

6.6

The latest release from the Ecuadorian-American singer-songwriter melts into tropical lullabies and spacious poetry in an album that's at times too busy being taciturn and sleepy to leave a moving impression on the listener.

Highlights

- The production, though shy, is packed with beautiful details.

- The transition between songs is smooth and effortless.

Lowlights

- Roberto Carlos' voice cannot sustain the album's momentum for long.

- Some songs are so quiet and numb that they lose the feeling.

- Though relatively short, the record seems too long and dense at times.

Standouts

- Please Won't Please

- Seen My Aura

- Fantasma Vaga

Country: USA

Released: March 8, 2019

Length: 40:54

Nihiloxica - Biiri

8.2

The second EP from the Ugandan ensemble once again defies what "traditional music" actually means by blending Bugandan rhythms with industrial techno, schizophrenic ambient and a perpetuating feeling of danger and disdain.

Highlights

- The music is absorbing and heavy-loaded.

- The musicians are at the peak of their revolutions and moods.

- The record is dark, menacing and relentlessly savage.

Lowlights

- The technique of speeding up the pace in the last minute gets repetitive after the first half.

Standouts

- Baksimba

- Ding Ding

- Digga Dagga

Country: Uganda

Released: February 13, 2019

Length: 19:17

Yak - Pursuit of Momentary Happiness

8.0

The sophomore release from garage revivalists Yak astounds with its imperfect debauchery and innocent anger at and from the world, providing a trenching, exhilarating feeling that transcends comparisons and competence for its vibrance and ugly delicacy.

Highlights

- Oli's voice feels aggressive and tender, giving space for variability and layered sentiments.

- The instrumentals play a decisive role in communicating mood and energy.

- The tracks are catchy, well-executed and well-distributed all throughout.

Lowlights

- Some songs have an excessive pace and energy that might turn into saturated noise.

- There's a lot of Cage The Elephant influences here, as well as Lou Reed and Iggy Pop; maybe too much sometimes.

Standouts

- Pay Off vs. The Struggle

- Bellyache

- Pursuit Of Momentary Happiness

Country: UK

Released: February 8, 2019

Length: 41:35

Solange - When I Get Home

8.8

With When I Get Home, Solange reaffirms her unbeatable ability to concoct effortlessly sequenced tracks that seem like a whole long song while still sharing varied layers and moods altogether. Not only that, but she cements herself as an unstoppable force redefining soul and crafting galactic production that plays with ambient and stoic repetition. More of a complement of than a contraposition to her previous magnum opus, the album lulls with the universal and the sensual in a work of art that transcends and awes from beginning to end relentlessly.

Highlights

- The stellar production team, in love with tiny details, delirious moods and constant magic.

- Solange's voice, as deadpan as savvy, offering just as much as it wants to and no more.

- The sequence the songs hold is a feature few other artists can show off.

Lowlights

- The use of repetition does have a purpose, but it gets excessive at certain parts.

- The majority of the tracks seem like interludes or mini-songs. While they find ways to grab power and substance, one is left wanting for even more.

Standouts

- Almeda

- Down With The Clique

- Binz

Country: USA

Released: March 1, 2019

Length: 39:02

Ultramarine - Signals Into Space

7.3

The introverted duo returns with another classy, moody ambientronic record that exhumes breathiness, calm and instrumental creativity. Anna Domino turns out to be the gem element, and the piece that saves the record from falling into sea-level outrun.

Highlights

- Anna's voice gives power, mystery and substance to the tracks where she's involved.

- The tropical percussion and the nocturnal saxophones play a heavy role in developing the pace of the album.

- While long, the men never seem to lose their focus and inter-momentum.

Lowlights

- Some songs are too subdued in ambience that they get run out of strength.

- The record is 5-or-10-minute too long.

Standouts

- Arithmetic

- Breathing

- $10 Heel

Country: UK

Released: January 1, 2019

Length: 57:18

Bring Me The Horizon - amo

6.2

While it occasionally blossoms, the main problem with amo is that its ambitious ideas hardly ever match up with its repulsively generic lines, lyrics and performances. There's potential for change and versatility; there are not great ways to achieve them, nonetheless.

Highlights

- The production (while at times suffering from overload) is risky, detailed and multi-faceted.

- On some tracks, the vocals feel expressive and in-the-point.

- As long as concept albums go, this pretty much stands in the line.

Lowlights

- We've heard this heavy-pop crossover on Twenty One Pilots and The 1975 already, and much better-performed.

- Some tracks contain cheesy ideas that are executed in an even more underwhelming manner.

- The record is at least 3-song too long.

Standouts

- wonderful life

- MANTRA

- nihilist blues

Country: UK

Released: January 25, 2019

Length: 51:59

Better Oblivion Community Center - Better Oblivion Community Center

8.0

The duo composed by Phoebe Bridgers and Conor Oberst is calculatingly successful because it manages to foresee what's best in each other and still find a sense of implicit communion. The tracks are breathy but complex and the atmosphere serene but pulsating.

Highlights

- The singers' voices go so well together, letting space for the other to spotlight and also shine in harmony.

- Lyrics are cynical, realistic and simplistic; they still hold captivating messages of mortality and bittersweet delight.

- The effects and little details on the songs make them stand out even more.

Lowlights

- While "Exception To The Rule" is a good tune, it certainly ruins the momentum and pace of the record.

- Tracks where Phoebe takes the more active role are slightly better.

Standouts

- Dylan Thomas

- Chesapeake

- Didn't Know What I Was In For

Country: USA

Released: January 25, 2019

Length: 37:21

Ustad Saami - God Is Not A Terrorist

8.0

The much respected khyal singer Naseeruddin Saami presents a record that mesmerises with its microtonalities, profound drones and sensational vocals. It's raga, ambient, hypnotic music that transports you to another era.

Highlights

- Saami's magnificent voice, prolifically trained and utterly touching.

- The production is loud and piercing, itching monotones and long passages with bravura and gut.

- The record doesn't abuse from time or over-repetition.

Lowlights

- At this point, it might be absurd to ask for more variety in the album, right?

Standouts

- Twilight

- God Is

- War Song

Country: Pakistan

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 46:50

Jessica Pratt - Quiet Signs

8.3

Alike female folk heroines Nico, Vashti Bunyan, Joni Mitchell or Sybille Bayer, Jessica Pratt unfolds quiet but concise, tender but menacing psychedelic songs that are cryptic and embracing, accompanied by nothing more than a guitar and a couple of windy effects now and then. It's a surprisingly good example of grandeur made into solitude and coyness.

Highlights

- Jessica's voice is mesmerising, drenched into reverb and lo-fi microphones to create a sordid, intimate effect that's at the same time distant and disturbing.

- The record is so laid-back and low-profiled but still shines and swings in mood and volume.

- The lyrics are modern poetry, and are as difficult-to-classify as universally-inclusive.

Lowlights

- A couple of tracks fall pale in comparison to others.

Standouts

- This Time Around

- As The World Turns

- Poly Blue

Country: USA

Released: February 8, 2019

Length: 27:50

White Lies - FIVE

4.2

FIVE is pure pastiche and almost no sentiment; it wears its influences up on its sleeves and doesn't hesitate to embark on levels of cheesiness that even feel disrespectful. Radio-friendly lovers couldn't be happier, I suppose...

Highlights

- On certain tracks, the instrumentals try to save the day.

- Let's face it: a couple of songs are a bit catchy.

- There's a certain naïvety and breathiness the band possesses.

Lowlights

- Most of the takes are trying so hard to be edgy and epic, and they all pretty much fail at it.

- Most of the choruses are ridiculously repetitive and childish.

- The tracks are excessively long, no matter their length.

Standouts

- Kick Me

- Time To Give

Country: USA

Released: February 1, 2019

Length: 42:04

Girlpool - What Chaos Is Imaginary

6.2

This record contains some truly endearing moments but it's mostly overshadowed by songs who seem too dulled into dreamy nebulas and melodic cul-de-sacs to leave strong impressions. Harmony Tividad shines, Cleo Tucker doesn't. It's unbalanced, and a shame.

Highlights

- Synthesisers and choral arrangements elevate some tracks to heaven.

- Harmony's voice makes up for the most interesting tracks on the album.

- Lyrics are cryptic and clever.

Lowlights

- Sadly, Cleo doesn't find comfortable ways to express himself. His voice doesn't sound good on the ears and most of the tracks where he takes an active role in are extremely drenched into reverb, repetition and/or ambiance.

- The record is at least 3-song too long.

Standouts

- Pretty

- Stale Device

- What Chaos Is Imaginary

Country: USA

Released: February 1, 2019

Length: 45:38

Xiu Xiu - Girl With Basket Of Fruit

8.6

Eleven albums in, Xiu Xiu once again gives proof that's one of the (if not the) most consistently inventive and stretching pop bands in the world. The songs here are as eerily weird as mumblingly touching, razor-blading Jamie Stewart's one-of-a-kind voice with Angela Seo's perplexing production.

Highlights

- All tracks contain schizophrenic instrumentation that nonetheless make perfect sense.

- As previously said: Jamie's voice is cryptic, hauntingly beautiful and disgusting, and Angela's mixing is phenomenal in shape and in space.

- There's violence, nonsensical reverie and debauchery and profound messages in every corner here.

Lowlights

- It would have been great if some tracks contained a bit more of four-on-the-floor rhythms.

- As engrossing as they are, the lyrics are frustratingly difficult to understand.

Standouts

- Pumpkin Attack On Mommy And Daddy

- Normal Love

- Scisssssssors

Country: USA

Released: February 8, 2019

Length: 36:36

Cherry Glazerr - Stuffed & Ready

7.5

This record explodes but is not necessarily turmoiled or aggressive. It canalizes its anger so well just because it can be as realistic as utopian when it wants to, and it also sees its members shining in what they are supposed to be doing and feeling.

Highlights

- The instrumentals carry great weights of suffering and longing.

- Clementine's voice and attitude snaps in pretty much all the songs.

- Short and concise, it delivers and unfolds poignantly.

Lowlights

- A bit more explosion would have magnified the record to higher heights.

Standouts

- Daddi

- Wasted Nun

- Self Explained

Country: USA

Released: February 1, 2019

Length: 32:03

Boogie - Everything's For Sale

7.1

Debut studio album from Compton rapper Boogie holds true potential, displaying smooth and knacky instrumentals and beats while asserting at clever, lively storytelling and urban poetry.

Highlights

- Guest rappers are great features to the tunes involved.

- Versatility as well as power throughout the record.

- Interesting wordplays all around.

Lowlights

- While it's a good beginning, one cannot help but thinking his whole potential hadn't been reached out on this record. Time will only tell.

Standouts

- Soho

- Skydive

- Silent Ride

Country: USA

Released: January 25, 2019

Length: 38:59

Pavo Pavo - Mystery Hour

6.6

Indecipherable quintet Pavo Pavo once again defies pop and psychedelic laws presenting something as odd as accessible. This time, with Mystery Hour, some experiments linger on your mind while others simply leave you unaffected. An overall charming mixbag, I'd say.

Highlights

- Continuous challenges to the song structures and moods. It's good to have uneasiness every now and then.

- The voices do play important roles, and they humbly deliver.

- The instrumentals awe, discomfort and comfort at same times.

Lowlights

- The album relies a lot on already established stereotypes of break-up anthems.

- The pace of the record is not fully kept throughout its running time.

Standouts

- Close To Your Ego

- 100 Years

- Around, Pt. 1

Country: USA

Released: February 1, 2019

Length: 34:30

Mike Krol - Power Chords

7.3

The longest record the artist has released so far also turns out to be his most concise and unified, as if we were talking about a single long song with different moods, colours and paces. Krol snatches again, and demonstrates how to canalize heartbreak and self-despair.

Highlights

- The guitars sound loud and angry, lo-fiy and sinister.

- Mike's voice translates feelings pretty accurately.

- There's a strong sense of union in motifs between the songs.

Lowlights

- There's lack of versatility or musical variety in the record, which might cause a bit of repetitiveness after the second half.

- Doesn't he seem a little too much like Cage The Elephant, at times?

Standouts

- Power Chords

- I Wonder

- Nothing To Yell About

Country: USA

Released: January 25, 2019

Length: 33:42

Nicola Cruz - Siku

7.6

On his sophomore release, Nicola furthers down his approach at Andean, jungly electronic to create another immersive trip to an immortal forest full of crispy voices, languid instruments and a restlessly joyful joie de vivre.

Highlights

- Awesome use of sounds from all over the world and all over the times.

- The guest vocalists add fantastic layers to the tunes.

- Cruz's essential need for music and rhythm philanthropy.

Lowlights

- Some tracks are a bit too ambient-like to hold strong meanings.

- I would have roughed it up to just 40 minutes.

Standouts

- Hacia Adelante

- Criançada

- Siku

Country: France/Ecuador

Released: January 25, 2019

Length: 48:00

Boy Harsher - Careful

6.5

Where darkwave duo Boy Harsher sounded risky, edgy and pulsatingly menacing, on Careful they feel pensive, restrained and suffocated in their own derivative song structures. Rare glimpses of greatness cannot lift it up afloat, though.

Highlights

- Synth inter and intra plays are still something to get marvelled at.

- When it pulls out, it truly delivers dancy, spookily grand tracks.

- There's a sense of cohesion holding the record together.

Lowlights

- Some tracks are completely unnecessary and underdeveloped.

- All the elements that made them special in the first place are there, except for the energy.

Standouts

- LA

- Fate

- Come Closer

Country: USA

Released: February 1, 2019

Length: 43:05