YMA - Par De Olhos

7.5

Straight up from São Paulo, YMA delivers sharp, minimal but strictly confident synth-pop tunes that not only mix languages and tones, but also feelings and changes of perspective. It's a solid, self-aware and continuously odd reflection on tinged love.

Highlights

- Amazing production and mixing of instruments, that feel furious and settle at the same time.

- YMA's voice is as self-assuring and tender in English and in Portuguese.

- The aesthetic of the tracks match up the visual images portrayed in the cover art.

Lowlights

- Only 26 minutes? Come on! They could have added at least two more songs to make the statement even more concise.

- Some song structures seem basic in comparison to others.

Standouts

- Par De Olhos

- Vampiro

- Shake It

Country: Brazil

Released: January 11, 2019

Length: 26:17

Legion Of The Damned - Slaves Of The Shadow Realm

6.0

Yeah, the hooks are good and the drumming is phenomenal, but on the whole there's nothing particularly engaging about this record; and one can't help but feeling it's something we have already heard a trillion times before.

Highlights

- Some dungeoun synths here and there do make the difference at certain points.

- As I said, the drumming is schizophrenic in execution. Love it.

- The cover art matches the music perfectly and is a hell of a picture.

Lowlights

- The song structures are extremely predictable and obvious.

- The lyrics repeat the same motifs again and again, and again.

- Some tracks seem unpurposefully out of rhythm.

Standouts

- Charnel Confession

- Slaves Of The Southern Cross

- Priest Hunt

Country: Netherlands

Released: January 4, 2019

Length: 47:02

ROME - Le Ceneri Di Heliodoro

6.0

Thirteen albums in, it might seem like the Neofolk duo is starting to run out of ideas or, at least, cannot find the same ways to exploit them. Besides some moments of instrumental shining, Le Ceneri di Heliodoro is unable to sustain its diligent intentions.

Highlights

- The album sounds thick in execution and overall engrossing in its concept.

- The voices still feel beautiful to the ears in most of the record.

Lowlights

- There are tracks that simply don't have a clear purpose in the whole.

- The record's concept isn't original or fascinating enough to keep the listener awake for its running time.

Standouts

- Desinvolture

- A New Unfolding

- Uropia O Morte

Country: Luxembourg

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 44:51

Aesop Rock & TOBACCO Are Malibu Ken - Malibu Ken

7.7

The unsurprising duo fuses what we all were expecting: abstract, cathartic pieces of poetry made rap verses, all hung out into psychedelic, trippy synths and modulations. And besides that, Malibu Ken manages to sound both compact and full of charisma.

Highlights

- Aes' verses kill it once again, razor-blading with edgy alliteration and deadpan humour.

- Tobacco shines throughout most of the tracks, elevating the verses and giving enough space for them to grow.

- The record hardly ever loses momentum and sense of purpose.

Lowlights

- Distorted vocals at the end of each track is kind of an overused weapon after the first half.

- It seems like a couple of songs lack force or intuitive gut on and within them.

Standouts

- Corn Maze

- Sword Box

- Dog Years

Country: USA

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 34:34

The Twilight Sad - It Won/t Be Like This All the Time

8.0

The Scottish band's fifth record seems like their most acutely mature and sonically stated, packaging eleven thick songs that let each member's precise job flourish, indulge and renegate. Enough proof that they still have a lot to say 13 years in.

Highlights

- The extreme coherence makes it difficult to differenciate tracks, and they all still have particular charms.

- James Graham's voice sounds equally as engrossing and aching as ever before.

- Dreary lyrics continue to overflow, but more upbeat rhythms do serve the album a better purpose.

Lowlights

- Though all the tracks fulfill a certain job, some are more forgettable than others.

- The drums and guitar interplays could have had more diversity.

Standouts

- I/m Not Here [Missing Face]

- Shooting Dennis Hopper Shooting

- The Arbor

Country: UK

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 46:42

Forests - Spending Eternity In A Japanese Convenience Store

6.7

Coming from Singapore, the emo/math rock trio Forests delivers some quite intoxicating, angstily naïve and unapologetically refreshing tunes to the table, meandering wobbly song structures with tales of lost love and pseudo-existential crisis.

Highlights

- Math rock always keeps you aware of what the next move will be.

- Screaming suits the record just as well as harmonically singing.

- The tracks are complex and burdened, but also fun and ambitious.

Lowlights

- The formulas they use while developing their sound might get too repetitive over time.

- Some of the lyric passages can be dull and childish.

- There's nothing particularly original about their sound that'd make them rise above the genre's standards.

Standouts

- Kawaii Hawaii

- Goldust

- I Miss Your Dog (More Than I Miss You)

Country: Singapore

Released: January 1, 2019

Length: 34:30

The George Costanzas - Éponyme

3.6

I get it: arguably young guys gather around to fantasize being actual musicians and, while they do have some kind of potential, they're constantly too busy mocking their fears or insecurities with layers and layers of humour and hubbub. But, at the end of the day and, if this album was meant to be satirical, aren't jokes supposed to be funny in the first place?

Highlights

- You can't blame them for their oddly virtuosic versatility, both instrumentally and vocally.

- Youngish joy sets well with lo-fi aesthetics. Good choice!

Lowlights

- Almost just 30 minute-long and it still feels endless at times.

- We know you can actually sing behind those terrible impersonations. Show it!

- Cacophony doesn't always end up in artistic burst, sadly.

Standouts

- Frog Waltz

- Hippy Machine Gun

- S.T.A.R

Country: USA

Released: January 8, 2019

Length: 29:50

Sharon Van Etten - Remind Me Tomorrow

7.5

Sharon comes back to propel fire into the quietest storm. Her songwriting seems sharper than ever, while producer John Congleton once again demonstrates he's one of the most prolific figures in independent music to collaborate with. Candid and ever-longing.

Highlights

- The precious storytelling, recounted with gut and tender paranoia.

- The beats feel opressed, and the coy noise infiltrates tension to the songs.

- The immense love for life, love and music that the singer portrays all throughout.

Lowlights

- Some tracks are patience-defiers, and the record could have still gone well with 5 minutes less.

- While lyrics are fueled by longing and melancholia, some are heavy to understand.

Standouts

- No One's Easy To Love

- Seventeen

- Comeback Kid

Country: USA

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 41:17

Deerhunter - Why Hasn't Everything Already Disappeared?

6.5

For every alluring step Deerhunter brings up somewhere, there's another questionable one they take elsewhere; in conclusion, this is a messy album that has solid ideas but overall flaccid executions.

Highlights

- The trembling instrumentals give the record pace, nerve and personality.

- It's interesting to juxtapose the sordid lyrics with the sepia-infuced vibrance and atmosphere.

- Some songs' melodies are impossible to resist.

Lowlights

- Out of the ten ideas presented here, only half of them leave great impressions.

- There might be too much space left for instrumental interludes.

- Détournement must be Deerhunter's worst idea in their career.

Standouts

- No One's Sleeping

- What Happens To People?

- Element

Country: USA

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 36:09

Joey Walker - Supersoft

7.3

Just as Perfume Genius, Joey Walker converts twink stereotypes into forceful pieces of art rock that sweat gut, anger but also compassion, introspection and self-deprecation turned into personal bravura.

Highlights

- Lyrics are explicit, in-your-face, but carry enormous sentiments and double entendres.

- Instrumentals get suffocating and airy all at once, as if they were not only fighting but coexisting.

- It's pretty consice; however, it lets itself license to sometimes broaden and indulge.

Lowlights

- Some tracks look like half-baked ideas that could haven been better-developed.

- Lowness can at times narrow down listlessness.

Standouts

- Hollow

- Crater

- On Top

Country: USA

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 35:58

Toro Y Moi - Outer Peace

6.3

This is the perfect example of a roller-coaster made album, not precisely for the variety of emotions but for the weird feelings it gets you going: the first tracks nail it, the middle is a chaotic mess, the songs that follow try to help but the closing ones are terrible.

Highlights

- When it gets groovy, it's impossible to stop dancing around.

- There's simplicity here, where the less is more and the less is poignantly utter.

- Hypnagogia oozes out and ballances the record all together.

Lowlights

- Chaz seems to be in better control when he's just playing funky fun and not indulging into current trends like trap or spacey R&B.

- The synths are great but the lyrical content just seems redundant and unimpressive.

- For an album this short, it surely suffers from personality disorders.

Standouts

- Fading

- Ordinary Pleasure

- Freelance

Country: USA

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 30:37

James Blake - Assume Form

7.4

Though more often than not too numb in love to vary subject matters, and besides the quite unnecessary traptronica beats here and there, James Blake continues to deliver beautiful, sumptuously introspective and shyly experimental pop-soul like few others can.

Highlights

- James' voice seems crackling, playful and addictively emotional all throughout.

- As on any of his productions, the instrumental and vocal layers are glorious.

- He managed to canalise his newly-found happiness and still maintain his usual somber, almost ghostly-like perspective on life.

Lowlights

- There are some tracks that don't reach up to the rest of the record's proficiency.

- Repetition has always functioned on his favour, but on several tracks here it does not.

- The collaborations (the one with Rosalía, specifically) could have been better exploited.

Standouts

- Don't Miss It

- Tell Them

- I'll Come Too

Country: UK

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 48:12

Pedro The Lion - Phoenix

5.3

The ideas behind Phoenix hardly ever catch up with the artistic expressions and outfits presented, both lyrically, instrumentally and melodically; and, when they do, they feel nothing but imprecise and dull.

Highlights

- It's breathy and breezy and, thus, easy-to-listen-to.

- There's an element of mundane nostalgia that makes the lyrics kind of empathetic.

- Certain parts show half-hidden angst and volume. Would go to that direction.

Lowlights

- There's nothing that drops your jaw anywhere; not even interesting motifs or stuff.

- The record might be 3-song, 10-minute too long to bear full consistency.

- For a comeback release, it seems the guys didn't have much to say this time.

Standouts

- Quietest Friend

- Model Homes

Country: USA

Released: January 18, 2019

Length: 45:01 

Angelo De Augustine - Tomb

5.7

While the emotions expressed are sweetly intertwined with paced catharsis and bleak optimism, the record can't sustain its snail-like developing and suffocating over-impressions for that long.

Highlights

- Angelo's voice melts into the ears lullabying you to a serene atmosphere and place.

- It's good to see lyrical directness and complexity in acoustic folk music.

- Some non-analog details in some tracks show off slight versatility and willing to experiment.

Lowlights

- The guitars and the high-pitched phrases turn out boring after a couple of songs.

- There's too much Sufjan Stevens influence here.

- Nothing particulary impressive appears throughout its running time.

Standouts

- All To The Wind

- Bird Has Flown

Country: USA

Released: January 11, 2019

Length: 46:18

crushinglove - Malevolent Melancholy

3.0

Above the numerous problems this album has, the quintessential aspect here is that it never ever deciphers what on earth wants to transmit and how on hell wants to sound like; in the meantime, all the efforts it develops are excruciatingly languid and famished.

Highlights

- Lyrics are simple, raw and obtusely mundane.

- There's always praise for trying to high up the bar, right?

Lowlights

- It's messy: the tracks jumble from quiet folk to dischordant electronics in no logic manner.

- The mixing is terrible; neither the voices nor the instruments can be fully enjoyed.

- It's monochromatic in tone and prose while never displaying something actually substantial.

Standouts

- Wooden World

- Kill 4 U

Country: Philippines

Released: January 12, 2019

Length: 31:24

คณะ เบียร์บูด/Khana Bierbood - คนแปลกหน้าจากดินแดนบูรพา​/​Strangers From The Far East​

7.2

Far from the East this band comes to mix up surf, garage, noise, psychedelia and traditional Thai music (molam) to expand proof that there's more to the eye than Anglo-Saxon anger turned into musical blast.

Highlights

- The record feels raw and rusty, just as garage rock should sound like and more.

- Despite its unabashed turmoil, the guys leave room for playfulness and colour.

- There's a solid story running throughout the tracks that packs it all together really tightly.

Lowlights

- It's excessively short for an LP, and it still has holes and glitches.

- It sometimes gets too inconvenient to discriminate the individual sounds and voices.

Standouts

- แสงดาว/Starshine

- อัตคัด/Bad Trip

- ลูกรัง/Dusty Lane

Country: Thailand

Released: January 10, 2019

Length: 23:26

Dan Mason - Hypnagogia

6.0

Yes, vaporwave had its breakthrough and I can't blame fans for their upcoming passion onto the genre, but works like this make me rethink the purpose of lousy melancholia and over-candyed nostalgia for the simple sake of it at the end of the day.

Highlights

- It benefits from itself more when it dares to be backed up with singing and timid noise.

- If ambient stretches its primal conceptions, it pretty much does its job.

- It respects its monochromatic approach at the edge of obsequent coherence.

Lowlights

- It's just 9 songs and 39 minutes, but it still bores at times.

- Rapping through cliché-like plastic demagogy feels cringe-worthy.

- The surprises that appear every now and then underline the rest as even more dull.

Standouts

- Fade

- Shade

- Hopefully Forever

Country: USA

Released: January 11, 2019

Length: 39:56