- A$AP Rocky – Don’t Be Dumb
- Charli xcx – Wuthering Heights
- Gorillaz – The Mountain
- Megadeth – Megadeth
- U2 – Days Of Ash
- War Child Records – HELP(2)
A$AP Rocky – Don’t Be Dumb
A$AP Rocky finally returns after an 8 year gap.
Since 2018’s TESTING, listeners have been eagerly awaiting A$AP Rocky’s follow-up album, to the point that it had become the thing of legends — but, after eight long years and plenty of delays later, Don’t Be Dumb is finally out.
On Don’t Be Dumb, A$AP Rocky throws a bunch of different genres at the wall to see what sticks, making for a fascinating, albeit incohesive album — one that feels more like a traditional rap album with some experimental moments, but when he does experiment, the results are mostly good.
ORDER OF PROTECTION is a pretty tame opener, acting more like an intro, which then takes us to HELICOPTER, which feels like something N.W.A might have made back in the late 80s (808 cowbell and all). NO TRESSPASSING, STOP SNITCHING and STOLE YA FLOW are all menacing bangers. STFU is one of the most interesting and experimental songs here, sounding a bit like a Death Grips track. AIRFORCE (BLACK DEMARCO) is an electronic song that also evokes some Death Grips, until it slows down and sounds closer to something like Purple Rain. ROBBERY sounds like something you’d hear in a 1920s speakeasy. PUNK ROCKY is best described as an indie rock song, making it the biggest outlier on the album — in fact, I’d love to see an entire album in this style from a major rapper — well, as long as it doesn’t end up like Lil Wayne’s Rebirth.
WHISKEY (RELEASE ME) is listenable up until the last minute, where there are several annoying ad-libs (“boo-boo-boom!”, “skrrrrrrrrrrrt!”, “doot doot doot doot”, etc.), and there’s a few boring R&B slow jams, like STAY HERE 4 LIFE, PLAYA and DON’T BE DUMB / TRIP BABY.
It could have leaned harder into the experimental angle and it didn’t really live up to eight years of anticipation, but Don’t Be Dumb was still a decent listen with some solid experiments.
70 / 100
Charli xcx – Wuthering Heights
Charli experiments with an orchestra on this brilliant and ambitious film soundtrack.
Released as the soundtrack to the newest film adaptation of Emily Brontë’s famous and controversial work, Wuthering Heights sees Charli xcx experimenting with orchestral instruments and noise on this compelling work, which is so much more than just a mere soundtrack.
The opening track, the gothic and haunting House, which features spoken-word vocals from John Cale of The Velvet Underground, minimal instrumentation and a distorted industrial climax, was an incredibly bold choice for a single, let alone the first single since Charli xcx’s critically and commercially successful BRAT era, only two years prior. This song sees a surreal combination of two musicians whom are separated by half a century of age, and from different generations and completely opposing ends of the musical spectrum, but sees Charli thinking outside of the box of pop confines by having sought out a collaboration with such an artist in the first place, seeking a sound that was both elegant and brutal (as John Cale had described VU). Considering John Cale’s production work with the late German chanteuse Nico and with New York City punk rocker Patti Smith (on her seminal 1976 album, Horses), he’s had a legacy of working well with women.
Chains Of Love was a slightly more conventional single that followed House only a few days later, but is no less rich or exquisite. Wall Of Sound is appropriately-titled, with a wall of strings that push up against Charli’s vocals. Dying For You and its delayed synth intro feel like something Kate Bush would have made in the 1980s. Altars is a grandiose romantic ballad with a sensual drum beat. Eyes Of The World sees an appearance from singer/actress Sky Ferreira. Funny Mouth is an epic closer, with some intense industrial flourishes.
Charli promised that her next album would be the anti-BRAT — and this does fit the description, as the instrumentation on Wuthering Heights is primarily vintage, rustic and a little bit industrial, so it doesn’t feel much at all like BRAT, though it does still feel 100% like Charli. There are still flavours of 1980s revivalism throughout the album, and no other song gets quite as dark and strange as House, but this is far more experimental than most pop artists would ever dream of being. If Charli’s goal was to make an album that was both elegant and brutal, I’d say she succeeded. Every track here was immaculate and theatrical and I love seeing pop artists be this adventurous and unpredictable.
Charli xcx’s Wuthering Heights works very well as a standalone album, something many soundtracks fail to do, and while I’m yet to see this music in the context of the film, I can still say that this has the potential to become one of the memorable film soundtracks of all time — that’s how great it is.
100 / 100
Gorillaz – The Mountain
Damon Albarn returns from India.
Following family losses and a spiritual journey to India, Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewlett take Gorillaz up to heights unseen since Plastic Beach on the grand and ambitious The Mountain.
The title track uses classical Indian music and includes a spoken word bit at the end from late actor Dennis Hopper (who previously appeared on the Demon Days track Fire Coming Out Of The Monkey’s Head). The Moon Cave goes a bit funky, with a more typically Gorillaz electropo sound. One’s enjoyment of The Happy Dictator might depend on whether or not you like the campy duo Sparks, (who makes an appearance here). Damon Albarn sings of how hard it is saying goodbye to those you love on the emotionally-packed The Hardest Thing. Orange County‘s upbeat sound and the constant whistling was more annoying than endearing.
The Plastic Guru sounds like a less tripped-out Flaming Lips. The God Of Lying should appease fans of old school Gorillaz. Delirium was a lot like The Happy Dictator, in the sense that you might love or hate the silliness of it. Damascus is a spicy Gorillaz track with a killer Yasiin Bey feature. The almost 50s sounding Casablanca has Johnny Marr (The Smiths) and Paul Simonon (The Clash). The Sad God ends with a bass line that feels like more like it’s from a doo-wop track than anything.
Like most Gorillaz projects, The Mountain is very feature-heavy. Literally every single one of the 15 tracks has features, which is admittedly fitting for a grand project like this. This does bring me to my next point though, which is about the contrast between Damon Albarn’s slow, lethargic voice and everyone else. However, you can feel the sincerity in his voice, and so it works here better than it may have in the past.
The Mountain works fairly well conceptually, with lyrics about life, death and the afterlife and a cohesive use of Indian instruments and vocals. A lot of your enjoyment of The Mountain will also depend on your enjoyment of Indian music. George Harrison’s use of sitar and Indian influence was just a part of The Beatles DNA in the late 60s — here, Damon Albarn fully immerses Gorillaz in an Indian flavour; it’s not my thing, but it is bold and adventurous.
The Mountain doesn’t top the band’s first three albums, but it’s easily their most engrossing work in 15 years. I can’t see myself returning to this often and there were several songs I wasn’t fond of, but it’s still a work of art and passion nonetheless.
80 / 100
Megadeth – Megadeth
Megadeth releases their final album.
The final album from Dave Mustaine’s Metallica-spite machine, simply titled Megadeth, finds the metal pioneers giving one last hurrah before bowing out after four decades of ass-kicking thrash metal
Tipping Point was a strong lead single that has Megadeth still sounding fierce and fiery. Let There Be Shred shows that age hasn’t slowed down Dave Mustaine’s ability to shred. The album ends with a re-recording of the 1984 Metallica song Ride The Lightning, which Dave Mustaine had co-written while still in the band. It obviously sounds inferior to Metallica’s version, but it’s still nice to see Dave returning to one of his songs that preceded Megadeth.
Yes, Mustaine’s lyrics can be cheesy and his vocals aren’t what they once were, but this is Dave Mustaine, a man who was always known more for his shredding than his lyrics or singing. Even then, considering both the throat cancer that he battled at the start of the decade and his age (64 as of writing), Mustaine’s voice could have sounded much worse.
Megadeth may not be the grand and epic finale that many fans may have envisioned or wanted, but it’s Dave Mustaine doing what he does best and going out on his own terms and it’s still a respectable ending to one of metal’s most legendary bands.
70 / 100
U2 – Days Of Ash
U2 sounds (somewhat) inspired again.
Days Of Ash is the first collection of new music from U2 since 2017’s Songs Of Experience (2023’s Songs Of Surrender was just remakes of several of the band’s greatest songs). Inspired by increasingly worsening geo-political tensions, wars and unpredictable world leaders, Bono feels the most inspired that he’s sounded in over two decades.
Days Of Ash sounds like U2 trying to recapture the protest-powered proto-punk of 1983’s War, but it comes off as U2 trying to recapture War as sexagenarians; regardless the effort is noble.
American Obituary is a decent, politically-charged opener (if not a little cheesy), with the following two tracks also being fairly decent songs. Wildpiece is a 1+ minute long interlude with spoken word vocals and feels random on such a short project. Yours Eternally features Ed Sheeran, but is better than you’d expect.
U2 will never relive the artistic or commercial glories of their nearly perfect body of work between 1980-1993, but they don’t have to; all people want is a half-decent new U2 album and while this is only an EP, it feels like a step in the right direction.
That cover artwork is just awful though.
60 / 100
War Child Records – HELP(2)
The long-awaited spiritual successor to 1995’s The Help Album.
Produced by James Ford (who has previously worked with several artists here), HELP(2) is the spiritual successor to 1995’s legendary The Help Album, which was released to raise funds for war-stricken areas in the world. Unfortunately, three decades later, the world is still rife with war and geo-political tensions, so it seemed appropriate for a sequel.
Like the first Help album, HELP(2) compiles a dream team roster of some of the biggest acts in music today, including older acts like Arctic Monkeys, Beth Gibbons, Damon Albarn, Graham Coxon, Beck, Depeche Mode and Pulp, as well as newer artists like Black Country, New Road, The Last Dinner Party, Fontaines D.C. and Olivia Rodrigo.
The lead single (and appropriately-titled) Opening Night finds Arctic Monkeys revisiting an old unfinished AM era song, but blends in the more recent sensibilities from their latest LP, The Car — and it’s easily the best and most memorable song here. Flags with Damon Albarn is pretty boring, especially following such a good Monkeys song. Let’s Do It Again! by The Last Dinner Party sounds like it’s going for a glam rock, 1973 era Bowie cabaret vibe. Strangers by Black Country, New Road is a pleasant enough song with electronic piano, but is more of that twee stuff they’ve been doing since last year’s Forever Howlong.
The ever lovely Beth Gibbons performs a warm, sparse and understated cover of The Velvet Underground’s classic 1967 track, Sunday Morning. King Krule’s The 343 Loop is just a brief little instrumental that feels more like an interlude. Depeche Mode does a synthesized cover of (disgraced) Canadian singer Buffy Sainte-Marie’s Universal Soldier. Helicopters changes things up with some dub music. Beabadoobee covers Elliott Smith’s Say Yes, but strips it of its torment.
Fontaines D.C. covers Sinéad O’Connor’s Black Boys On Mopeds. Warning by Geese’s Cameron Winter is initially one of the more interesting and experimental songs here, but the music is ruined by his awful, deadpan vocal delivery. Pulp’s Begging For Change is a decent rocker from the recently reunited Britpoppers, but the spelt-out lyrics are a little bit cheesy. Wet Leg sounds less obnoxious than usual here on Obvious.
While I commend HELP(2) for its noble intentions and its charitable nature, there just weren’t enough songs here that interested me when all was said and done, though it does have some good variety. Despite the shortcomings of this album, I hope it performs well and I’d love to see more charitable efforts like this from the music industry.
70 / 100
FIN
Britain Chambers
