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

Jay Mitta - Tatizo Pesa

7.4

This debut studio album from a Tanzanian DJ and producer redefines what Singeli music means and should be perceived as, morphing into hyper-kinetic takes that feel bassy, menacing and utterly uplifting in equal ways.

Highlights

- The relentless energy that the album possesses.

- MC guest Dogo Janja plays an interesting, refreshing role.

- The attention to detail, repetition and hypnosis.

Lowlights

- Some cuts don't deliver enough great tunes before they abruptly finish.

- I would have prefered more vocals in some tracks instead of pure looped rhythms.

Standouts

- Don Bet

- Sapienz

- Tatizo Pesa

Country: Tanzania

Released: January 11, 2019

Length: 40:50

Beirut - Gallipoli

7.6

Beirut's fifth release sees them coming back to their original formula and staying for most of its running time in their comfort zone, blending Balkan, African and Middle-Eastern instrumentals with longing lyrics in ways that might never get exctinted after all.

Highlights

- There's urgency in the tracks, each of them fulfilling a purposeful role in the record.

- Zach Condon's melancholic tune will always be something to aspire at.

- Once again, the guys make you fly through different geographies with their musical decisions.

Lowlights

- In some ways, it seems like their most experimental album and, as with every experiment, there's a certain amount of error in the trial process.

- While the instrumentals play a heavy part in the record, one wishes they would explode more easily or substantially.

Standouts

- Landslide

- Gallipoli

- Varieties Of Exile

Country: USA

Released: February 1, 2019

Length: 44:36

Panda Bear - Buoys

7.7

Indietronica legend Panda Bear lays back and dives fully into bassy atmospherics on Buoys, an album that's as inoffensive and unseen as heavily textured (aquatic, nautical, porous and airy, but also lethargic, remorseful, sly and gloomy).

Highlights

- Once again: textures.

- The cocky attention to detail in the most serene parts of the record.

- Unmistakably Panda Bear-ish in layers, tones, themes and breathy executions.

Lowlights

- Some tracks fall excessively numb and strolled around.

- Lyrics get too cryptic at times to understand them and/or enjoy them.

Standouts

- Dolphin

- Token

- Cranked

Country: USA/Portugal

Released: February 8, 2019

Length: 31:02

Croatian Amor - Isa

6.4

The fifth solo release from the Danish sonic screwdriver not only lacks pace (no matter how abstract that term could get) but also identity, being the vocal guests the ones who bring the only pinches of brain, heart and movement onto the post-industrial sculptures.

Highlights

- Artist Soho Rezanejad might play the most interesting and pulsating role in the record, adding gut and vibrance to the tracks where she's guested.

- The concepts of pop structures are curiously compacted and warped throughout the running time.

Lowlights

- The voiceless tracks lack substance and depth in both meaning and execution.

- There's not a clear reason d'être to the disk and, for that, the experience might get a bit heavy to lift up at times.

Standouts

- In Alarm Light

- Eden 1.1

- Into Salt

Country: Denmark

Released: January 25, 2019

Length: 34:48

Ariana Grande - thank u, next

6.8

Outbursts of empowerment, reflection and resilience are stubbornly paired up with underdeveloped and redundant trap pop tracks. But despite its turbulence and hurry, thank u, next stands as Ariana's most down-to-earth, sonically consistent and laid back record in her ever-ascending career.

Highlights

- It's good to know it's her first album with all songs co-written and produced by herself, and with no vocal guests at all.

- Most of the tracks are greatly formed and are undeniably catchy.

- The artist's emotional versatility and vulnerability pay off, especially on the slower parts.

Lowlights

- As tightly packed as it seems, there's little coherence in motifs and well-thought connectivity between songs.

- Some less impressive standouts seem equal between one another.

- Ariana's voice doesn't seem to be catching up with her full potential, not even by a half.

Standouts

- thank u, next

- needy

- ghostin

Country: USA

Released: February 8, 2019

Length: 41:10

Dawn Richard - New Breed

7.8

Dawn delivers an effortlessly whimsical record that pays homage to her hometown New Orleans, her newly re-found empowerment, her blackability and her unquestionable desire and knack for woozy R&B. It's a subtle triumph for both heart and pace.

Highlights

- The tracks flow wonderfully from each other, making up for a tight concept record.

- Dawn's muscular voice that mumbles and drops whenever she pleases to.

- Tacky production mixed with solid themes and topics.

Lowlights

- At first glances, some tracks may not seem to have an impactful development.

- I would have personally have all the voiced interludes as separate tracks, so that they can flow on the album but let the proper songs be enjoyed without them, just as in "A Seat At The Table" by Solange.

Standouts

- shades

- vultures | wolves

- jealousy

Country: USA

Released: January 25, 2019

Length: 32:32

Juan Wauters - La Onda de Juan Pablo

6.2

Inoffensive, insignificant blend of Latin American pinches and samples curated into a somewhat naïve, somewhat tenderly elusive portrait for and of reality. Sometimes though, less is less.

Highlights

- Its liberating execution and choice of instruments and harmonies.

- Juan's breathy, airy vocals and nihilistic lyrics.

- A true respect for traditional rhythms.

Lowlights

- Most of the songs exist just to fulfil space, without much topic or function to the record.

- Repetition sometimes gets overtiring in the tracks.

Standouts

- Blues Chilango

- Guapa

- A Volar

Country: Uruguay

Released: January 25, 2019

Length: 29:28