Author Archives: zoekat99

Review: Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee

Jubilee, the latest release by Japanese Breakfast, the project of American musician Michelle Zauner, could well be called an emotional rollercoaster – if rollercoasters only went downhill, that is. The album takes us from the infectious openheartedness of the buoyant lead single ‘Be Sweet’, to the devastating loneliness of final track ‘Posing for Cars’, whichContinue reading “Review: Japanese Breakfast – Jubilee”

Joni Mitchell’s Blue: 50 years of a perfect album

On the title track, a deep, melancholy abyss at the heart of the album, Mitchell compares songs to tattoos: permanent, personal, close. ‘Hey, Blue’, she sings, ‘there is a song for you, ink on a pin / underneath the skin / an empty space to fill in.’ Within Blue, every space is filled in withContinue reading “Joni Mitchell’s Blue: 50 years of a perfect album”

Review: Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend

Four years after the release of their Mercury Prize-winning album Visions of a Life, London-based band Wolf Alice return with another LP, brimming with their signature blend of fuzzy shoegaze and extravagant alt-rock. Blue Weekend sees the band aim for a grander, more lavish sound than they have produced thus far, resulting in a recordContinue reading “Review: Wolf Alice – Blue Weekend”

Review: Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR

‘It’s brutal out here’ asserts Olivia Rodrigo on the opening track of her debut album SOUR, singing of the pressures and the exploitation that come with teenage stardom. It’s a bold statement putting this noisy, punk-flavoured song at the top of the track list but it announces Rodrigo’s commitment to singing honestly and unashamedly fromContinue reading “Review: Olivia Rodrigo – SOUR”

Review: St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home

Four years after the release of her acclaimed electropop album Masseduction, Annie Clark takes us in a new musical direction on Daddy’s Home, reflecting on her father’s release from prison, as well as her experience as a woman in the music industry, over a series of ferocious funk grooves and sultry, soulful jams. Daddy’s HomeContinue reading “Review: St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home”

Review: Fleet Foxes – Shore

For Robin Pecknold, Fleet Foxes’ lead singer and song-writer, songs are ‘perfect angels in the snow’. Delicate and flawless, they are impressions left behind by the legends who write them. On ‘Sunblind’, a stand-out track from his latest project, Shore, he pays homage to his musical heroes, namechecking Elliot Smith, John Prine, Judee Sill andContinue reading “Review: Fleet Foxes – Shore”

Review: Taylor Swift – Folklore

Taylor Swift’s surprise album emerges from lockdown with minimal bombast but rich in detail and storytelling. Aptly titled, Folklore traipses through forgotten childhood haunts, meanders along timeless love stories, delves deep into the musical and poetical mythos, and trips lightly through memory and the imagination. Stripped of its pop sheen, Swift’s song-writing alongside producer JackContinue reading “Review: Taylor Swift – Folklore”

The Best of 2020

From apocalyptic cacophonies of sound to intimate chamber pop, musical responses to the chaos of 2020 were diverse – and unpredictable, with Taylor Swift going indie, disco resurging with a vengeance on some of the biggest pop albums, cutting political commentary coming from ex-Disney star Demi Lovato, and late-career triumphs from Bob Dylan, Bruce SpringsteenContinue reading “The Best of 2020”