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I listen to a new-to-me album everyday. I then try to write about the ones that inspire me to write about them.
The Lion and the Cobra
Sinéad O'Connor
O'Connor has been a massive blindspot in my musical knowledge for quite sometime. I don't know why it took my so long to dive into her incredible albums. As the self-professed Enya "stan" that I am, one would think I would eventually click enough Wikipedia links or engage with enough Irish music history to really give her a listen. In fact, Enya's voice is on this very album.
Yet another example of the "Kate Bush effect" - an absolutely incredible debut-album that I should have listened to so much earlier in my life. I realize that I think I have heard "Mandinka" before, which paired with "Jackie" are an incredible introduction to this work. But, it isn't until "Jerusalem" that it really gets going. In fact, it is hard to listen to that song without feeling like you are physically being knocked down. My jaw sincerely dropped. What a spectacular album.
Fancy That
PinkPantheress
Count Baldor is out to get me, I swear; every single thing he touches becomes incredible. There are also some more heavy-hitting pop-of-the-moment producers on this album. I'm excited to retract any and all statements I have made about PinkPantheress being a one hit wonder or an example of the TikTokification of the music industry. Well, I'll retract some of those statements...
This album is incredible well-informed and harkens back to certain eras of British pop music on the fringes of techno, electronic music, and good old fashioned britpop. All of this is packaged in the internet-era plastic that PinkPantheress has been bringing since her debut. "Romeo" stands out as the best track, in my opinion, and as the perfect summation of the album: hyperpop that is stepping out of a time machine in front of an internet cafe in 1998.
Aja
Steely Dan
For the longest time, I've avoided Steely Dan and all things "Yacht Rock," save for the occasional foray into some Toto albums as a force of habit or due to a resurgence of pivotal original Dune movie nostalgia (for which they wrote the score, sorry Chalamet). I think a lot of my distrust of these artists was due to a perceived anti-queerness. I don't mean to say that I thought "Yacht Rock" artists were anti-LGBTQ, but just that I couldn't glean anything artistically from the straightness and heternormative-ness of bands like Steely Dan.
Yikes - how wrong I was! I really love proving myself wrong and hearing an incredible piece of music. Aja is an stellar album. Every single song is masterfully composed, performed, and recorded. I'm not much of an audiophile, but this could certainly turn me into one. The lyrics on the album are so fresh and so original, as well. I don't think I have any other artists I can readily compare Steely Dan to lyrically. All-in-all, proud to be wrong about this and happy to be embarking on a "Yacht Rock" journey.