Table of Contents:
- American Football – American Football (LP4)
- Charli xcx – Wuthering Heights
- Charli xcx – Music, Fashion, Film
- Foo Fighters – Your Favorite Toy
- Jack White – Frozen Charlotte
- JPEGMAFIA – EXPERIMENTAL RAP
- Kim Gordon – PLAY ME
- Muse – The Wow! Signal
- My New Band Believe – My New Band Believe
- Nine Inch Nails & Boys Noize – Nine Inch Noize
- The Strokes – Reality Awaits
- Sublime – Until the Sun Explodes
- U2 – Days of Ash
- U2 – Easter Lily
- Ye – BULLY
- Ye – BULLY – DELUXE
- YHWH Nailgun – Magazine
American Football – American Football (LP4)
American Football releases their fourth self-titled album.
On American Football (LP4), the band continues to experiment with dream pop, while also refining the post-rock/math rock/midwest emo sound that they defined with their seminal 1999 debut and like their previous albums, vocalist Mike Kinsella’s lyrics are depressing as hell, with time only resulting in more pain and emotional turmoil for the tortured singer.
Man Overboard opens the album with Mike Kinsella singing of hopelessness over top of some impressive math rock drumming from Steve Lamos — it’s a devastating opener, setting a depressing tone, but that’s nothing new for American Football. Turnstiles’ Brandon Yates appears on the bleak, The Cure-like, No Feeling. The One With the Piano pays homage to the closing track from their debut and is as appropriately-named as that one was (despite there being prominent trumpet throughout as well). The 8 minute lead single, Bad Moons, is the centrepiece of the album, where Mike Kinsella laments of the darkness that encapsulated him in the fallout of a failing marriage, with cousin Nate Kinsella’s melancholic bass providing the pulse to a man who seems otherwise ready to embrace the eternal light. The album ends with No Soul to Save, which feels like Mike Kinsella addressing his fans, confessing that he is too far gone to be healed, like he’s accepted the pain of heartbreak and has found some sort of solace in his sorrows.
Some may argue that Mike Kinsella’s vocals and lyrics are a little too indulgent in melodramatic self-pity and despair, but this is midwest emo after all, so it’s like asking why water is wet; one thing is for certain though: American Football makes some of the most gut-wrenching music I’ve ever heard and this further exploration of post-rock was nothing short of captivating.
Where LP2 failed to differ too much from their debut (despite it’s merits), LP4 feels like more of a progression from (LP3), with the band moving further away from their guitar-centric sound, towards something more atmospheric and ethereal.
8/10
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 controversial novel, Wuthering Heights sees Charli xcx experimenting with orchestral instruments and noise on this compelling album.
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 a bold choice for a single, let alone the first single since Charli’s critically and commercially successful BRAT era — this song sees a surreal combination between two musicians from completely opposing ends of the musical spectrum, whom are separated by half a century of age and by various generations, but Charli thinks outside the box of pop confines by having sought out a such collaboration in the first place, seeking a sound that was both elegant and brutal (as John Cale had once 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 and this is no exception.
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 dramatic closer with some intense industrial flourishes.
There are still flavours of 1980s revivalism throughout Wuthering Heights, but the music is mostly rustic and antiquated, and while no other song gets quite as dark and strange as House, 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. Wuthering Heights is one of the greatest film soundtracks I’ve ever heard.
10/10
Charli xcx – Music, Fashion, Film
Charli xcx crafts a candid, experimental, art rock masterpiece.
Charli wasn’t lying when she said that her next album was going to be the anti-BRAT, as Music, Fashion, Film is an art rock album first and foremost, one that features three men on the cover instead of her, one that ditches the synthesizers that filled the clubs for distorted guitars, one that takes the introspective lyrics of BRAT to a new level, one that will divide fans who weren’t ready for such an album — it’s a brutally honest and naked record, filled with experimental and raw production, but that doesn’t mean it’s not catchy or something you can’t dance to either.
After conquering the world with BRAT two years ago, Charli announces that the dancefloor is dead on the opening track, Rock Music, a song that will make you want to headbang as much as dance, and which was guaranteed to alienate/piss off a large segment of her fanbase who were hoping for more of the same. In the laidback SS26 and the grungy Card Declined, Charli uses fashion and shopping as metaphors for masks in which she hides behind. Charli confesses to her disillusionment with fame on Camera, as well as the criticisms she’s had aimed at her for trying to transition into film, with the somewhat mixed reception of The Moment, a film in which she starred — there’s also a duality at play, where she feels like herself when she’s in the spotlight, but is simultaneously vulnerable, with every move she makes being judged by her fans and critics alike.
On 2007, Charli looks back at a simpler time, when she still had her entire music career ahead of her and was yet to become the pop star she would inevitably become, back when she was only a star in her own mind. On I’m Afraid, Charli admits to the her own anxious insecurities with her marriage, that despite how much she loves her husband, she’s scared she will find a way to screw it up. A cheekiness permeates Wink Wink, as evident by the title, where Charli claims she has grown up and changed, but still has a devilish/childish side inside of her.
On Persona, it initially seems like Charli is accusing somebody else of hiding behind a façade, but perhaps it is herself that she is trying to keep grounded. Charli’s producer A.G. Cook is at the center of Magic Metal Montana, where she offers her gratitude to everything he’s done for her as her secret weapon, admitting that sometimes she wishes she was the one behind the curtain, able to hide from the public eye. Canadian film director David Cronenberg offers a spoken word dialogue at the end of Nothing Lasts Forever, where he argues that art is about capturing a moment in time rather than leaving behind a legacy, as what’s the point of being remembered if you’re not there to experience it? It’s an ego death of a song.
Based on the reception of the singles and the immersion into a less accessible art-punk sound (much like The Velvet Underground), a lot of Charli’s fans are likely going to hate Music, Fashion, Film, but it wasn’t made for them. Unlike most artists who would play it safe by whoring themselves out for the approval of their fans, Charli does what an artist like Lou Reed would do, which is stick to her guns and not do what’s instinctual, even if it means losing fans in the process. While nothing lasts forever and Charli may someday be forgotten, she is without a doubt the most important woman in music today.
Trivia: the album artwork features musician, John Cale of The Velvet Underground (music), fashion designer, Marc Jacobs (fashion) and film director, Martin Scorsese (film).
10/10
Foo Fighters – Your Favorite Toy
Foo Fighters are back with some carefree garage rock.
Three years after the pain and loss of But Here We Are (a late career triumph) and a highly publicized marital affair, Dave Grohl & friends are back, but the emotion, sincerity and experimentation of its predecessor are nowhere to be found here. Instead, Your Favorite Toy is a more carefree album that harkens back to the Foo’s early days, sounding far less polished and more raw than most of the band’s input from the past ten years.
Caught in the Echo is a energized, punkish opener, though its chorus sounds a bit too similar to their 2014 track, The Feast and the Famine — still, it’s a reliable enough Foo banger. Of All People continues with the garage rock/punk sound of early Foo Fighters. The title track feels a bit like a rawer take on the dance rock sound of a Medicine at Midnight track like Making a Fire and also incorporates backing vocals from one of Grohl’s daughters (though it’s Harper this time, not Violet). Unconditional is somewhat reminiscent of early R.E.M. Child Actor‘s refrain of “turn the cameras off” is a bit too repetitive. The heavy and metallic lead single, Asking for a Friend, closes off the album and is the closest to this album’s definitive Foo Fighters song.
Considering that Your Favorite Toy is the band’s 12th studio album and is more than 30 years into the band’s career, it’s a fairly safe album, largely absent of the emotional impact or heartfelt songwriting of But Here We Are. It would have been nice to see Dave Grohl address his affair, crafting another inspired album from the remorse and regret, but a raw and concise batch of garage rock is far from the worst thing the Foos have ever done either.
6.5/10
Jack White – Frozen Charlotte
Jack White returns with another serving of no frills blues rock.
Following Jack White’s triumphant 2024 surprise album No Name, which saw a return to the raw garage/blues rock of The White Stripes, Frozen Charlotte gives fans another batch of hard-rocking blues, with no ballads or acoustic tracks to slow it down — Frozen Charlotte is probably also Jack White’s bluesiest album since The White Stripe’s 2000 album, De Stijl.
G.O.D. and the Broken Ribs and Derecho Demonico were released as singles and are the first two tracks on the album, informing listeners of exactly what they’re in store for, with plenty of bluesy riffing and guitar acrobatics from one of the century’s greatest guitar heroes — it feels like being transported back to the early 2000s, when garage rock reigned supreme, though nothing here sounds stale or phoned-in. Instead, Jack White has mastered his craft and feels like he’s just letting loose and having fun. There’s Nobody There has a slinky riff that will keep you on your toes, never letting go of your attention. The echoing slide guitars of Raising the Grain are just killer. Songs like You’ll Never Fix Me, All Alone Again and She’s in a Frenzy seem to address Jack White’s recent divorce from fellow musician Olivia Jean (his third divorce yet), taking the pain and frustrations of falling out of love and crafting something great out of it. Dollar Bill indulges in slide guitars and very much feels like it could have come from De Stijl. The frantic I Can’t Believe What I’m Hearing is a whole lotta fun. Thick as Thieves has a kinetic riff. Making Contact seems to criticize the modern music industry and the shameless commodifying of art. The closer, Neighbor Blues, is an explosive finale with some fiery soloing.
The songs on Frozen Charlotte may not be as immediately memorable as the songs on No Name, but they are definitely as enjoyable and maybe even tighter than those songs were — the addition of plenty of hammond organ also gives the songs some extra pizzazz; Jack White is also in peak form here, with some of the best guitar playing of his career. Frozen Charlotte may be cold, but this album is red hot.
10/10
JPEGMAFIA – EXPERIMENTAL RAP
JPEGMAFIA gets experimental.
Named after JPEGMAFIA’s self-proclaimed claim to the experimental rap throne, EXPERIMENTAL RAP takes the rap metal of I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU and adds in some new sounds, like gospel and dubstep.
Lead single babygirl uses a sample in a similar way to Run the Jewel’s Close Your Eyes (And Count to Fuck), but cranks up the overall heaviness. Burning Hammer, TSAR BOMBA and The Ghost of Emmett Till are some of the heaviest songs on the album, with the former being one of the album’s most experimental tracks and the latter containing a drum sample from The Jimi Hendrix Experience’s Little Miss Lover. Mask On is a banger, with a section that sounds like you’re inside of a wind tunnel. No Strippers in Heaven and Bridges on Fire are soulful R&B slow jams, the latter of which features previous collaborator, Buzzy Lee (Steven Spielberg’s daughter — yes, that Steven Spielberg).
Meet the Dealers, $ (Money), head and The First Amendment all incorporate dubstep and even though it’s not my preferred EDM subgenre, it’s a minor enough influence on the greater album and is mostly well-executed where it is used. The twisted instrumental of head sounds like Death Grips circa Niggas on the Moon. The 1st amendment shows Peggy flexing his freedom of speech over some dubstep, with lyrics alluding to Charlie Kirk’s assassination, but then again, when did rappers ever care about being politically correct? Regardless, it might just be the nadir of EXPERIMENTAL RAP, and is definitely a skip. You will always lose money chasing women, but you will never lose women chasing money is a gentle guitar outro.
This album’s aesthetic seems quite influenced by Ye, particularly his VULTURES era (JPEGMAFIA had 4 production credits on VULTURES 1) and there’s even a song called Since I Met Ye, two singles, ¥ (Yen) and $ (Money) (¥$ was the name that Ye and Ty Dolla $ign used for their collaboration) and Lights, which interpolates Ye’s All of the Lights. There’s also Ye-like gospel interludes His Will and One Day It Will Be Over, as well as the theatrical War Over Land, Degenerate’s Prayer and Pop this Heat, which all implement gospel choirs into their compositions. And like with VULTURES 1 and 2, EXPERIMENTAL RAP is getting hated-on by most of the internet.
The only real criticism I can think of with EXPERIMENTAL RAP is to do with the rapping itself. JPEGMAFIA is more renown as a producer than a rapper, but he has shown impressive vocal range and ability over the years, even dating back to the Devon Hendryx days, but here, he barely sings and all his rap flows feel like repeated triplets, with little to no variation, just speed. It’s not bad, but it’s not something I ever noticed on his previous albums.
A grand album that lives up to its name, only hindered by the high benchmarks set by JPEGMAFIA’s previous works and a relatively weak rap game, but make no mistake, this is still a fantastic album with Peggy’s usual magic touch.
8.5/10
Kim Gordon – PLAY ME
Kim Gordon continues to be the hippest septuagenarian in music.
After fully immersing herself in the trap instrumentals of The Collective, Kim Gordon and returning producer Justin Raisen are back with perhaps her best sounding batch of songs yet. Much like its predecessor, PLAY ME revolves around criticisms of technology, particularly the recent A.I. push (DIRTY TECH, BLACK OUT) and though detractors of The Collective may write the lyricism off as curmudgeonly, the hysteria and anxieties surrounding technology (and the resulting human redundancy) are more valid than ever.
The title track starts the album off feeling like some sort of dystopian, sci-fi blaxploitation film, making for a riveting opener. The Sonic Youth reminiscent lead single, NOT TODAY, is a blend of post-punk, dream pop and krautrock; GIRL WITH A LOOK has a similar dreamy instrumental. Dave Grohl provides the beats on the bizarre BUSY BEE. The ire of SUBCON seems to be directed towards a certain tech-obsessed billionaire, criticizing his short-sighted ambitions to have the elite abandon Earth for the substantially less-inhabitable Mars (“You wanna go to Mars and then what?”); then there’s POST EMPIRE which seems to target a particular western world leader. NAIL BITER is full of fuzzed-out, bass.
My one criticism with PLAY ME is BYEBYE25!, a 2025 remake of the opener from 2024’s The Collective, which changes the lyrics to reflect major and controversial topics of that year. It would make more sense to have left it as a non-album single, but seeing as I liked it the first time around (and it still bangs here), then its inclusion isn’t too big of an issue.
Although I preferred The Collective‘s more experimental and overall psychedelic production, PLAY ME refines the admittedly rough edges and abandons the density of that album’s dark sound, making for what’s probably her most rounded (and relatively accessible) solo album yet.
This album is short at just under 30 minutes and although I preferred The Collective‘s more experimental and overall psychedelic production, PLAY ME refines the admittedly rough edges of its predecessor and abandons the density of that album’s dark sound, making for what’s probably her most rounded (and relatively accessible) solo album yet — it isn’t as bold or challenging as The Collective was, but this is still an excellent work from the veteran alternative rocker. I was a fan of Kim Gordon long before she went solo, but I still never expected the bassist of Sonic Youth to be one of my favourite major artists of the 2020s and yet, here we are.
8.5/10
Muse – The Wow! Signal
Muse releases their best album in 20 years.
Despite maintaining their reputation as one of the greatest modern live acts in rock, it’s an understatement to say that Muse has been on a critical decline for the past two decades in terms of entire album experiences. The recent divorce of frontman Matt Bellamy seems to have inspired and awakened something creative within him, as The Wow! Signal is without a doubt the band’s most exciting and consistent work since 2006’s Black Holes and Revelations.
From the first few seconds of the opener, The Dark Forest, fans are greeted with a welcome return of the epic and grandiose sound of classic Muse, with a galloping spaghetti western rhythm (reminiscent of Knights of Cydonia) and a Latin choir. Nightshift Superstar is a nu-disco song, not unlike something Dua Lipa or Tame Impala might have made in recent years, with Matt Bellamy singing in a falsetto – the song is the perfect blend of the pop-leaning tendencies of 2010s Muse with the heavier sounds of their earlier material. Shimmering Scars is an emotionally-packed song, where Matt Bellamy faces the music and accepts his half of the blame for his failed marriage. Cryogen’s riff feels like a spiritual successor to Plug In Baby and is one of the most satisfying things Muse has made in years. Be With You is a pop ballad that starts with church organs, before going to the more familiar synthpop territory of their past couple of albums.
Hexagons is a mini-epic, with a cascade of arpeggiators and progressive virtuosity. Unravelling sees Muse venture into djent and as it was the album’s first single, it signalled a return to the heavier sound that 2000s many Muse fans have been begging for. The Sickness in You & I is another metal-coded rocker and sees a return of Matt Bellamy’s falsetto from earlier on the record. It took ten albums, but Hush sees Muse’s first feature, with Ellie Goulding providing vocals alongside Bellamy on yet another track with a killer guitar riff and memorable chorus. Space Debris sees the trio end the album with some breathing room, following the intensity of the rest of the album; the song is also notable for sampling the actual Wow! Signal, which was an anomaly detected in space in 1977.
The Wow! Signal is the closest thing we’ve had to a classic Muse album in two decades, but without feeling regressive either. This is without a doubt the strongest, most consistent and thoroughly enjoyable album that Muse has released since the mid 2000s and is devoid of any filler. Muse is back, baby!
9/10
My New Band Believe – My New Band Believe
The ex-black midi bassist/vocalist/multi-instrumentalist’s new band.
After his ex-bandmate Geordie Greep had released one of the best albums of 2024 with The New Sound, the bar was set high for any new musical endeavours from the band’s other members. Morgan Simpson went on to join Invariance, releasing Wish You Well in 2025 and Cameron Picton formed My New Band Believe, whose debut album is full of orchestral whimsy and top-tier acoustic guitar playing.
Target Practice is a pleasant chamber folk opener that abruptly leads into In the Blink of an Eye, which recalls the psychedelic folk of a song like Led Zeppelin’s Friends. Heart of Darkness is an 8 minute epic with twisting rhythms and an atmospheric outro that wouldn’t feel out of place on a King Crimson record. Love Story‘s sweet and romantic balladry contrasts with the perverted lust of Geordie Greep’s The New Sound — different sides of the same coin, both driven by desire. Actress is another epic that never loses momentum or suspense over it’s 8 and a half minute runtime. One Night is similar to the opener, loosely bookending the album.
My New Band Believe is yet another fantastic off-shoot from the short-lived black midi, with Cameron Picton giving Geordie Greep a run for his money. This album shows just how crucial Cameron Picton was to his previous band’s sound and that there was obviously too much songwriting talent in that band for them to last.
8/10
Nine Inch Nails & Boys Noize – Nine Inch Noize
Nine Inch Nails x Boys Noize
Having recently worked with electronic artist Boys Noize on Tron Ares and its remix album, Tron Ares: Divergence, as well as touring with him on their powerhouse Peel It Back tour (I was lucky to have seen them twice on said tour), a full collaboration between both parties seemed inevitable at this point.
Nine Inch Noize is unconventional, as it isn’t quite a remix album, nor is it a live album or even a studio album, but a bit of all three, consisting of no original songs, but rather techno-heavy/rave-friendly remixes of various Nine Inch Nails songs from across the band’s career, as well as a couple covers. The tracklist includes some of the more obvious choices for an album like this, with Closer, Heresy, Copy of a and Came Back Haunted. There are a few deeper cuts like Vessel, The Warning and Me, I’m Not (all from Year Zero), She’s Gone Away (from Not the Actual Events) and the band’s recent Tron: Ares soundtrack hit, As Alive as You Need Me to Be. There is also Parasite from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’ side project How to Destroy Angels and a Soft Cell cover, Memorabilia. There are no songs from Pretty Hate Machine, but that album was already more dance-oriented and electronic than the band’s later work, so it would have been a fairly pointless exercise to include any of those tracks.
I wouldn’t say any of the songs here are superior to their original counterparts, but they still do them justice by bringing out new dimensions in them by swapping out the headbanging for dancing. I’m not typically fond of remix albums, but this was a cohesive and consistent project.
7.5/10
The Strokes – Reality Awaits
Julian Casablancas brings the autotune and weirdness of The Voidz into the Strokes.
Since featuring on the Daft Punk single Instant Crush back in 2013, vocalist Julian Casablancas has seemed enamoured with autotune. Where that song was a hit with critics and fans alike, more recent endeavours with autotune, such as on his other band, The Voidz’ 2024 album, Like All Before You, and its follow-up EP, Męğż Øf Råm, were met with overwhelmingly negative receptions, particularly from the fans. Instead of backing down, The Strokes’ first single in six years, Going Shopping, saw Casablancas refusing to back down from his controversial vox modulations. A segment of fans were vocal about their disdain for the continuation of Casablanca’s obsession, with many of them already making up their minds about the soon-to-be released seventh album from the New York City band before it even released. To be fair, the last Voidz album was pretty bad (though it had its moments), but Reality Awaits is vastly superior to Like All Before You and should not be compared to that album.
Blending together their usual post-punk revival/new wave sensibilities with the weirdness and autotune of The Voidz into something that feels both retro and futuristic, and simultaneously colourful and dark, Reality Awaits feels like the band’s most conceptual album yet, with every song alluding to the frustrations of having critics and a fanbase that judge your experimentation and artistic vision — that some people would rather you keep remaking/recycling the same ideas and playing it safe, than trying something new.
Psycho Shit is The Strokes’ darkest and most mysterious opener yet, with some vaguely western-sounding notes playing over top of its moody arpeggios. Here, Casablancas could be criticizing both politicians and music critics (“You kill your prey from your nest, from behind a desk, psycho shit, you have no honor or no balls”), which may be referring to politicians who wage war from their secure fortresses, while sending others out to die in their name, as well as those who have criticized his music from inside their rooms (Anthony Fantano gave the last Voidz album a “Not Good”, which is basically a 0/10 — more on that later). Lyrics like, “Only my beloved songs will define me” could refer to both how history may only remember certain accomplishments of politicians/governments, but ignore the destruction they caused in the process, as well as how Casablancas feels like he may only be remembered for critically-acclaimed albums like The Strokes’ Is This It more than his more experimental and adventurous later work. Perhaps Reality Awaits is a political album, perhaps it’s about the advancements and effects of technology, or perhaps it’s Julian Casablancas telling his fairweather fans and critics “fuck you”, but for the sake of this review, I’m going to stick to the latter.
Some other lyrics that support the “critics” angle are, “we’re all dead, what’s your prize? To harass, just to be a pet. To be kept around keeps you so proud. A teacher’s pet, the way of death” — what do critics get out of criticizing others’ music/art? Does it make them feel better about themselves? Does it bring them a sort of satisfaction? Is it a way to piggyback off of the success of others, by having something to talk about that keeps themselves relevant? And those whom the critics influence will follow their word like the gospel, like a teacher’s pet would. Why think for yourself when somebody can for you, like an army who follows every command, whether they truly agree or not.
Dine N’Dash has that classic Strokes post-punk rhythm, but with an eerie darkness to it. The chorus could be suggesting that the band’s fans will listen to this album once and not allow for a proper analysis before making their judgement. They will scarf down something that took years to make in a matter of minutes and then abandon it without even “paying”. Maybe Casablancas is telling people to stop listening to his music if they hate his new artistic direction so much, but he knows that they would rather stick around to have something to complain about (“Leave if you want, but I bet that you won’t”); he also sarcastically asks his fans for permission to try anything new, as The Strokes’ and The Voidz’ new musical directions always polarize their respective fanbases (“Permission to speak? Permission to launch? Permission to sit? Permission to die?”), as well as his own defiance towards the negative reception of his art in the name of his own artistic integrity (“I will not surrender, something in my brain”).
On Lonely in the Future, the targets of Casablanca’s scorn are on the modern music industry and its lack of originality, and those who imitate the style and music he influenced over two decades ago, trying to pass it off as novel. However, he doesn’t want to be a hypocrite and seems to acknowledge that “we all steal, baby”, as songs like Last Nite copied parts of Tom Petty & the Heartbreakers’ American Girl, and the chorus of Razorblade is very similar to Barry Manilow’s Mandy. He then shifts his wrath towards music critics again, such as the aforementioned Anthony Fantano who “would not recognize art in any age” and those who hate what they cannot understand (“You don’t get it, it’s a pity, maybe you’ll catch up sooner than later”). When Casablancas sings the chorus, he’s proclaiming that he’s so ahead of the curve, that he’s lonely waiting for others to catch up to where he is (both contemporary artists and listeners) — many classic albums have been reappraised years or decades later, as sometimes the best art takes time to be understood. Remember, Lou Reed’s Berlin was initially seen as a failure, David Bowie’s Low perplexed critics and even Radiohead’s Kid A was polarizing when it released. And speaking of Lou Reed, he infamously got into a feud with music critic Robert Christgau on the 1978 live album, Take No Prisoners — what Julian Casablancas is doing here is not new.
Falling Out of Love is a slowed-down ballad, which may initially seem like it’s about the planned obsolescence of the future (“some things are flawed by design”), but perhaps Casablanca is admitting that the criticized flaws of his recent music (his use of autotune) has been deliberate and part of his vision, not some crutch for his vocal abilities, as he is still a more than capable singer. He laments about his fans that feel betrayed by his musical direction and that have been turned-off by his music, telling them to stop acting like children and to be adults (many of the critiques of his recent work has admittedly been quite childish and lacking in proper analysis; they react emotionally and not rationally).
Going to Babble On continues with Casablanca’s views on his fanbase’s negative reception of his post The New Abnormal music, with the pre-chorus detailling how they want him to obey the words that they say (e.g. to stop using autotune) and about the mob mentality where people jump on bandwagons of hate, and that “Maybe it’s time that you see for yourself for once” — he sees their critiques as just nonsensical babbling lacking in any actual substance, much like what a baby would do.
The lead single Going Shopping starts with lyrics about how “like a tiger, they will chase you down with words instead of claws”, which might just be a reference to music critics, online forums (like reddit) and music review sites (e.g. rate your music, album of the year), where they use words to attack Casablancas’ music. As for the chorus, it feels like he’s singing from the point of view of casual fans using a consumerist mindset, where they seem like they want the type of generic muzak that you would hear in a mall, but he’s not interested in being that anymore — he’s already proved himself in the past and now he just wants to make the music he wants, whether it’s commercially-viable or not. Kanye West was ridiculed for using autotune on 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak, and that album has gone on to become one of the most influential and beloved albums of his career, despite initial criticisms that deemed it a failure.
In The Fruits of Conquest, Casablancas sings a refrain of “They don’t obey, so we won’t obey, I won’t obey, no, we won’t obey”, which at face value might seem like it’s about rebelling against the powers that be and the technology pushed upon us (particularly A.I.), but it could also be about the fans and their relation to Julian Casablancas and the band; they won’t trust or agree with what he is doing with his music, so why should he obey their demands of not using autotune and changing his music to fit their expectations?
The closing track Tyrants of the Mellow Moon (which has a guitar passage that sounds similar to Radiohead’s Faust Arp) can either play like a finale to the album or to the band itself (“So we go for one more ride”). Julian Casablancas has recently been more active with his side project The Voidz over the past several years, and seems like he wants to do away with The Strokes, but fans keep begging for more from the band. He sings that “people with the ego to share their weird ideas with you” can be seen as him scoffing at the fact that fans seem to think that they know the band and music better than Casablancas does, even though he’s a renown musician with a 25+ year career, several acclaimed albums and a Grammy. Maybe he knew that autotuned vocals would be enough to allow the band to die, but being the dignified musicians that they are, they still made a great album album that most of the public just isn’t ready to enjoy yet, but it will buy the band enough time to disappear for another 5-10 years, if not longer, as the fans may need time to appreciate what they don’t know they already have.
As for the sound of the album, you never know what you’re going to get with Rick Rubin’s production, as it can elevate a project (Slayer’s Reign in Blood, Beastie Boys’ License to Ill, Kanye West’s Yeezus) or can be truly awful and detrimental to the songs (Metallica’s Death Magnetic, Red Hot Chili Pepper’s Californication), but his production here is some of his best yet, which comes as no surprise, as his first collaboration with The Strokes on The New Abnormal made for one of their best-sounding albums in their career. The band is also tight as ever, with some more fantastic guitar interplay between Albert Hammond Jr. and Nick Valensi, groovy bass from Nikolai Fraiture and some of Fabrizio Moretti’s most impressive drumming yet. And sure, Julian’s autotune vocals may be the weakest link here, with some cheesy lyrics now and then, but it gives it character and a distinction from the rest of the band’s work.
Maybe I’m wrong, but I feel like The Voidz’ Like All Before You and Męğż Øf Råm were tests to see how much Casablanca’s fans would tolerate his autotune vocals, and that no matter how good the music and songs were, they would hate the music nonetheless – he had probably anticipated that Reality Awaits would face equal criticism to those projects and despite how intersting and unique Reality Awaits actually is, the fans are bitching and complaining right on cue. As for the title, perhaps the band is suggesting that this is their reality, that you can’t always get what you want and that this version of the band that awaits you — you can enjoy it and embrace the future, or you can look to the past and be stuck there. Maybe my lyrical assessment isn’t the right one, or maybe it’s just one of many interpretations that exist, but such is the beauty of music, that a song can mean many different things to different people or have multiple meanings at once.
I might be alone in thinking this, but Reality Awaits is one of The Strokes’ best and most dynamic albums yet, and a major improvement over Julian Casablancas’ recent work with The Voidz. Add this to the list of underrated LPs that will be reappraised in years, like many misunderstood albums before it.
10/10
Sublime – Until the Sun Explodes
Jakob Nowell’s tribute to his father’s legacy.
Arriving 30 years after the death of Bradley Nowell and the release of Sublime’s self-titled final album, Until the Sun Explodes features Jakob Nowell filling-in for his father on this heartfelt tribute and thank you to man to him. Accompanying Jakob Nowell are the two surviving members of Sublime, Bud Gaugh (drums) and Eric Wilson (bass), making this the closest thing possible to having the original Sublime lineup.
The opening track Ensada was released as a single last year and did away with any doubt that Jakob would be unworthy of standing in his dad’s shoes — in fact, it’s almost uncanny how similar he sounds to his father — you have to remind yourself that it’s 2026 and not 1996. Trey’s Song features H.R. of the legendary hardcore punk band, Bad Brains. Casino Toarmina is a delicate acoustic folk detour. 247-369 is a punky number similar to 40oz. to Freedom‘s We’re Only Gonna Die for Our Arrogance, with Come Again being reminiscent of that album’s opener, Waiting for My Ruca. The three Maybe Partying Will Help songs are musique concrète-style interludes that unfortunately don’t amount to much. Thanx Again is the spiritual successor to Sublime’s debut’s grateful closing track, Thanx.
From the artwork, which references the iconic cover of 40oz. to Freedom, to the influential blend of ska punk and reggae, the Sublime of Until the Sun Explodes feels no less genuine than the version that Bradley Nowell had left behind in ’96. It may not contain a hit like What I Got or something as classic as Date Rape or Smoke Two Joints, but I’m certain that this album would have made Bradley proud. Until the Sun Explodes is a poetic epilogue to one of the greatest musical losses of the 1990s and a beautiful example of the connection between a son and his father.
7.5/10
U2 – Days of Ash
U2 sounds (somewhat) inspired again.
The Days of Ash EP is the first collection of new music from U2 since 2017’s Songs of Experience (2023’s Songs of Surrender was just 40 pointless acoustic remakes of several of the band’s songs) and is 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 here, with Days of Ash sounding like U2 trying to recapture the protest-powered proto-punk of 1983’s War.
American Obituary is a decent, politically-charged opener (if not a little cheesy), with the following two tracks also being fairly good songs (The Tears of Things, Song of the Future). Wildpiece is a 1+ minute long interlude with spoken word vocals and feels pointless on such a short project. Yours Eternally features the eternally milquetoast Ed Sheeran, though it’s not as bad as you’d expect it to be.
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.
6/10
U2 – Easter Lily
U2 releases their second EP of the year.
Following February’s Days of Ash, U2 is back again with an improved collection of songs and their best work in a long time, recalling the post-punk sound of their first few records.
Tracks like, Song for Hal, In a Life and Scars have that classic post-punk guitar tone from The Edge, which made their 1980s work so seminal. Resurrection Song and Easter Parade give the album’s title (and release date) some credence and comes as no surprise, as U2 has always been a Christian rock band after all. The only skip on the EP is COEXIST (I Will Bless the Lord at All Times?), which drones on far too long and is a bit dull compared to the previous tracks, though the experimentation is commendable.
While it won’t rival anything from Boy, War or even the fairly underrated October, this return to their post-punk roots makes for one of the more enjoyable U2 projects that they’ve released in a long time, despite how regressive that may sound. The cover artwork is also an improvement over the one from the Days of Ash.
6.5/10
Ye – BULLY
Haw-haw!
After a year of his worst controversies yet, including the releases of the now unavailable and extremely controversial singles WW3, COUSINS and HEIL HITLER (all from the unreleased WW3 / CUCK / IN A PERFECT WORLD album), and his use of A.I. to finish his vocals on recent projects like VULTURES 2 and DONDA 2, BULLY is finally here, following several work-in-progress iterations and half a dozen delays from March 2025 to March 2026.
A couple days prior to the final release date of March 27, some vinyl and CD copies of BULLY were sold early, leading to near-instant fan outrage on social media due to the preservation of the A.I. vocals that fans have been complaining about since the previous year, leading to a wave of order cancellations. This led to Ye responding on X with an updated tracklist and the reassurance of no A.I. vocals on an updated album soon to be released. Why would Ye hide the fact that the physical albums sold in shops would still have outdated versions of the songs and A.I. vocals, when listeners are inevitably going to find out and make a fuss about it? Or was the physical release the album that Ye wanted, with the digital release being closer to the one that the fans wanted? Was this some sort of performance art to release two different versions of the same album on different mediums? Is Ye just trying to maximize the album’s sales by having people buy multiple versions of the album? Is this just the result of Ye making last minute changes to an album that was already manufactured? Or is it all of or none of the above? God only knows.
As for the bully concept, maybe it’s about how the media bullied Ye into becoming the villain that they’ve been saying he was since the president Trump handshake/M.A.G.A. hat/”slavery is a choice” controversies in 2018. Despite going non-secular and cleaning up his image, he was continuously ridiculed and mocked by the media, which was only exacerbated by his divorce and failed presidential run, so perhaps he was just giving the people what they wanted him to be. Instead of the profanity-free, Jesus-loving husband and father he was trying to be, he regressed to being profane and making “sinful” music, while also typing the most controversial things he could conjure up on Twitter. Perhaps he was showing that much of the world would continue to hate him, regardless of what kind of man he was. And yet, for all the surrounding hysteria, BULLY is a rather tame album, devoid of almost anything remotely controversial, instead playing like a career retrospective, exploring the sounds that have spanned his impressive body of work — BULLY sounds like it was made for the fans, but that doesn’t mean it’s half-assed and uninteresting.
Compared to the 13 song tracklist found on physical copies, the digital version of BULLY has 18 tracks, with the new songs comprising of the first 8 songs (other than ALL THE LOVE), with the original BULLY album taking up the rest of the runtime, excluding MISSION CONTROL and the Can cover/reinterpretation LOSING YOUR MIND.
The new songs added to the front of the digital version of BULLY are all killer: Ye adds some harder, more industrial style Yeezus era bangers (KING, THIS A MUST), a Travis Scott feature with a James Brown sample from possibly the funniest interview of all time (FATHER), some chipmunk soul (PUNCH DRUNK, WHATEVER WORKS), a song with a Donda West voice sample (MAMA’S FAVORITE), a dark, Donda era-sounding track (SISTERS AND BROTHERS) and a handful of features absent from the physical album (Travis Scott, CeeLo Green, Peso Pluma, talkbox player André Troutman and Don Toliver, though the latter has since been removed).
PREACHER MAN is a drumless track, with a sped-up soul sample like that in Bound 2, but the lyrics are more boastful than horny here; BEAUTY AND THE BEAST is a similar style song, with seemingly last-minute, re-recorded Ye vocals on the digital album. I CAN’T WAIT interpolates You Can’t Hurry Love by The Supremes, before segueing into WHITE LINES, with an André Troutman recreation of a Stevie Wonder talkbox performance of The Carpenter’s Close to You, where Ye admits that he feels like a clone of himself, maybe referencing the fan theory that Ye was replaced with a clone in the early 2020s, or perhaps its introspective and earnest.
The title track starts with Nelson Muntz’ (The Simpsons) iconic haw-haw laugh, a tasty sample from a Bollywood track and a CeeLo Green hook on the chorus (digital version). Also on digital, Peso Pluma sings on the extended half Spanish/half English LAST BREATH, along with Ye, who re-recorded his vocals. ALL THE LOVE has an almost Graduation-like stadium grandiosity to it (an intro is added in the digital release) and while it’s missing the intro from the CUCK version of the song (GAS CHAMBERS), it’s still one of the best tracks on the album. There was originally a sample of French singer Pomme’s Soleil Soleil on HIGHS AND LOWS, though the sample wasn’t cleared, so Ye (apparently) recreated it with A.I. (not sure how that works, legally-speaking).
CIRCLES samples Huit Octobre 1971 by Cortex, which was sampled in 2004 on MF Doom’s track One Beer and originally featured Don Toliver, who has since been replaced by Ye. Fans seem up in arms over the changes from the version of CIRCLES previewed in 2025, though I actually like this new version, as there’s a greater difference from MF Doom’s use of the sample. DAMN no longer starts with the Nina Simone sample that was in the 2025 single version, though it’s better off without it; the version here is also more produced than the minimalistic version on the physical release.
The closing song on the physical edition of the CD, LOSING YOUR MIND, is practically identical to Can’s classic 1972 song Vitamin C (Ye had previously sampled Can’s Sing Swan Song on Graduation‘s Drunk and Hot Girls, so he’s clearly a fan), with Ye’s voice replacing the late Damo Suzuki, added modern production, and changing the chorus from “You’re losing your vitamin c” to “You’re losing your mind”. I initially wanted to hate LOSING YOUR MIND, as it comes off as lazy plagiarism, but perhaps there was a reason Ye chose this a the original closer — after all, he has been losing his mind for years, according to everybody around him. Or was this some sort of misplaced tribute to the late Suzuki? Despite the song’s bizarre nature, as someone who loves early Can, the sound of the instruments in LOSING YOUR MIND do sound great, far more vibrant than the most recent remaster I’ve heard of Vitamin C.
Comparing the two versions of BULLY, the physical release feels skeletal and barren compared to the digital edition, which makes it all the more baffling that it was even distributed to stores in this state. Maybe Ye was going for a cold and isolated sound like what he achieved on 808s & Heartbreak, and while I do understand if that was his original vision, the kitchen sink approach of the digital edition ultimately sounds far more fulfilling and suitably fragmented (even though it only ends up being 10 minutes longer).
Another of the most important changes that Ye made on the digital version was the inclusion of real vocals (re-recorded on songs like, BULLY, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST and LAST BREATH), though the A.I. vocals have remained in some songs. Did Ye always plan to make BULLY with A.I.? Are the metal grills that have been adorned to his visage for the past couple of years (and part of the album’s marketing) simply an excuse for not rapping/singing, or are they a red herring, with Ye seeing the artistic potential of A.I. in music, not so different from his influential (but initially controversial) use of autotune on 2008’s 808s & Heartbreak? Seeing as the re-recorded real Ye vocals on the digital edition sound better (though they sound like they were done last minute and barely mixed or mastered), we know that Ye is still capable, so why else would he focus so much on A.I., especially when he knows how much people are resistant to it? Did Ye think that he can be an early adopter once again, being the first to release a major album (and a possibly acclaimed one at that, though unlikely) made with A.I.? Why not?
As far as I know, Ye is often canonized as the first major rapper to break away from the confines of the genre’s gangster roots, the pioneering producer of chipmunk soul, the first rapper to use autotune the way he did, and the first major artist to make post-release changes to an album in real time (The Life of Pablo), so why is it so hard to fathom that he could use A.I. in an innovative way, rather than as a cheat? Again, I’m not a proponent of A.I., and perhaps I’m just playing the devil’s advocate, but did Ye have his reasons to experiment (with VULTURES 2 and DONDA 2 being tests), or was this simply due to a perceived laziness and avoidance from rapping?
Despite how you may feel about Ye’s use of A.I. on the physical version of BULLY, it doesn’t suggest that this album is simply the result of somebody typing in “create a Ye album” as a prompt for their A.I. model — the physical edition of BULLY is actually fairly interesting for what it is, with none of the A.I. vocals actually sounding that bad (and I’ve heard some awful A.I. voice recreations). Perhaps I’m biased towards Ye, though I try not to be; it’s not like I was always a fan, as his music still had to win me over once upon a time, which led me to be willing to tolerate his abrasive persona in the first place. Even if you strip away the man and the infamy, his albums each paint different sonic worlds, with no one album ever imitating the last — some of his works even border on challenging at times, which is extremely rare from such a mainstream artist, and he never refuses to explore the entire emotional spectrum from boasting and cussing to grieving and pleading. How is using A.I. any different from what he’s done with autotune? Or am I giving too much credit to someone who might not even have a method to their madness? However, none of that matters too much, as the digital version of BULLY is mostly devoid of the A.I. vocals that inhabits the entire physical edition of the album anyway.
Aside from all the associated drama and focusing on the thing that matters most (the music), BULLY is another great, varied, masterpiece from modern rap’s most exciting, infamous and unpredictable figure, though I wouldn’t call it a comeback, as Ye was never really gone (at least not in the music zeitgeist). You can say that the album is scattershot, fragmented and sounds unfinished, with many songs barely reaching 2 minutes, and yet, like every previous Ye album before it, it’s a sonic mosaic with endless replayabilty and a ton of diversity. Sure, I’m rating this higher than most people are, but I’m impartial and not judging the album based on Ye’s public controversies (which exist outside of the album) and instead basing it on it’s enjoyability, staying power and variety — it’s an album I keep returning to, despite its flaws.
Even though I think that WW3 / CUCK / IN A PERFECT WORLD was never intended to be released (it’s mostly Dave Blunts’ voice and songs) and was probably just some joke that went over everybody’s heads, I do still hope that 2025 was the peak of Ye’s infamy, so he can focus on music (and family) and have a My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy-level critical and public comeback, but it’s going to require him to stay on his meds, surround himself with the right people, take his time before releasing an unfinished album and delete X/Twitter.
9.5/10
Ye – BULLY – DELUXE
Ye finally updates BULLY and adds a couple new songs.
Shortly after the release of BULLY, there was promotion for a deluxe version of the album, but months past by with nothing — that was until the non-album single GEMINI SEASON released on Ye’s birthday with an announcement for BULLY – DELUXE and a release date of June 19. Better late than never, I suppose!
When BULLY first released back in March, the digital album was already an enjoyable project, though it was still held back by some flaws (SISTERS AND BROTHERS was mixed too low, BEAUTY AND THE BEAST‘s vocals sounded recorded last minute with an iPhone, some A.I. was left on the album), but fortunately, BULLY – DELUXE fixes these issues. Outside of most songs having updated mixes and the aforementioned changes, the sample in PUNCH DRUNK sounds quieter too. Some of the songs that have re-recorded Ye vocals include ALL THE LOVE and THIS ONE HERE, there is a new album cover, a feature from Lauryn Hill on I CAN’T WAIT, a brand new track that features Don Toliver called OK and the return of MISSION CONTROL, which was previously a physical version exclusive.
Overall, all of the changes on BULLY – DELUXE help to realize most of BULLY‘s potential and makes for the definitive version of this album. It may have taken about four versions of the album to release, but BULLY finally sounds finished.
10/10
YHWH Nailgun – Magazine
The experimental post-industrial band releases an 11 minute album.
Following YHWH Nailgun’s debut, 45 Pounds, which was already taking liberties with the LP format with its breezy 20 minute runtime, the band has managed to cut down their sophomore album’s runtime in half to a paltry 11 minutes, making people question whether or not you can even consider this a proper LP. Regardless of the semantics of what format Magazine is, it’s still one of the most interesting listening experiences I’ve had this year, even if you can finish it before your coffee cools down enough to drink.
Most of the songs on Magazine are barely a minute long, with the title track only being 35 seconds in length. Despite the fact that these songs tend to end before they even begin. they do still admittedly pack a lot of punch into them. There are no choruses, there are no verses, there isn’t really any structure at all, but there are so very interesting timbres and textures on display and some truly out-there time signatures. In terms of sound, I’d describe Magazine as Aztec music with industrial, math rock and post-rock flavours, with songs like Ghost of Love sounding like something from some psychedelic carnival.
Had Magazine been released as an EP, I’m sure it would receive a warmer reception from those who are hung up on its ridiculously short length, and while the songs do resemble sketches more than traditional songs, there was still a lot to unfold in it’s 11 minute runtime. It’s not quite as realized or fleshed-out as 45 Pounds was, but it was still a gripping experience all the same.
8/10
FIN
Brett Nippard
