new release

a beacon of emotion (sza’s sos)

Five years after the release of the monumental album Ctrl, critically-acclaimed artist SZA comes back with a brand new album for her patient and eager fans. Building on the themes laid out in her debut album, SZA’s SOS is an album overflowing with cutting, raw emotion that takes the listeners on an emotional rollercoaster as the singer-songwriter works through intensely-felt emotions in song. From a desolating, vast sadness to a wave of fiery anger, SZA’s sophomore album showcases her growth as a singer and as a songwriter as she captures the rawness of these emotions perfectly, transporting listeners to the vivid landscape of SZA’s mind, soul, and heart. It has just reached 6 weeks at Number 1 on the Billboard Top 200, and it is incredibly well-deserved (4).

Released on December 9th, 2022, SOS sees the singer-songwriter dive into the vast depths of the human condition while also exploring various genres and sounds. With a 23-song tracklist and a run-time that’s over an hour long, the album is a whirlwind journey braving the hurricane of emotion. This album is a major departure from her debut album: it’s less cohesive, it’s more experimental with various different sounds, and yet, it demonstrates SZA’s tremendous growth as an artist. In the five years between Ctrl and SOS, SZA did not slow down at all. From penning over a hundred songs for this album to singles, collaborations (musical and more), and videos, she has kept incredibly busy during this time (4). Some highlights include the award-winning collaboration with Kendrick Lamar “All the Stars” for the first Black Panther movie, the Grammy award-winning collaboration with Doja Cat “Kiss Me More” which was the song of the Summer of 2021, and the release of the captivating singles “Hit Different”, “Good Days”, “I Hate U”, and “Shirt”. Her continued success during the five years is a testament to her irresistible talent as well as the insatiable hunger of her fans for her art.

The album itself is an amalgamation of experiences and feelings scrapbooked together to create a sonically stunning final product. She described the sound of the album in People Magazine as “a little bit of literally everything. It’s a little angry as an overview, but some of it is really beautiful and soft and heartfelt. It’s about heartbreak, it’s about being lost, it’s about being pissed” (2). With contributions from “Don Toliver, Phoebe Bridgers, Travis Scott, [Lizzo,] and The Wu-Tang Clan’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard”, SOS exists as a labyrinth with something new around every corner (1).

There was a lot to love about the album: its fresh, yet familiar sound, the ability of each song to encapsulate a story and emotion perfectly, the unexpected collaborations (hi Phoebe Bridgers), and so on. Going deeper though, I loved the parallel between the difference in sounds throughout the album and the different, visceral emotions one experiences when battling through a warzone of self-doubt toward peace. SZA’s pen while writing this album was unbelievable yet completely on-brand. She has this uncanny ability to evocate an experience most potently and vividly as possible while imbuing brevity and humor throughout. She knows exactly what her voice is and how to use it effectively. It’s incredibly unique and calls upon the abilities of the legends of the R&B past. SZA’s creativity is boundless. From referencing herself in “Love Language” by repurposing the chorus of her previous single “Hit Different” to her incredibly poignant and beautifully strung-together lyrics in each of her songs, she continues to transform as an artist.

Additionally, I loved the arrangement of the album. Bookending the album with the tracks “SOS” and “Forgiveless” feels like an intentional choice as both songs serve to remind listeners, and herself, that though she suffered through droughts of self-love and periods of self-doubt, ultimately, she knows her worth. Beginning the album, in “SOS”, she, first and foremost, lets her haters know that she is back and that she’s done playing around; simply put, “No more fuck-shit, I’m done” (5). But she also affirms herself and her worth as she sings “Damn right, I’m the one” (5). It prefaces the album perfectly and sets the tone: though the next hour of listening will be overpouring with devastating and terrifying emotions, she has survived and grown to become the person today that can write, record, and perform these songs. She is the one, and we, as listeners, should not forget that. Then to close off her heartfelt album, she reminds listeners again of her growth and that she’s “not in the dark anymore” (6). Through it all, she has found the ease she has been seeking, and now, she’s choosing to “center peace” (6). And though these are SZA’s personal lessons she has learned and is sharing, there is something here in this story for everyone to take a page out of and keep: you have to learn to trust in yourself and all of your capabilities. This is a persistent thread throughout the album. SZA professes to her faithful listeners that, sometimes, it is incredibly necessary to put yourself first. From “Low”’s “I’m moving selfish” to “Conceited”’s “‘Cause I’m bettin’ on me”, learning to trust and rely on yourself amid the feelings of self-doubt, self-loathing, and self-pity is a subtle yet major theme of the album that I couldn’t have needed more (7, 8). Overall though, this album feels like a cathartic shedding of the baggage she’s been holding onto, and it’s really moving to see someone be able to work through their issues so candidly. SZA’s SOS may be titled after a cry for help, but it is far from a sign of defeat. Conversely, it demonstrates the incredible growth she had to endure and persevere through in order to perfectly explicate these complex emotions. It showcases the strength and courage she has forged through her endeavors. Most of all though, it perfectly encaptures her ever-expanding talent and artistry. SOS reminds listeners that though they have survived some incredibly testing times, peace is on the horizon.

This album came at a perfect time for me; I remember it vividly. It was the Thursday before finals week, and I had just gotten through another long and stressful week, but at midnight, SZA was going to make her official comeback. Despite my exhaustion, I stayed up until the clock struck midnight (envious of fans around the world where midnight had already come and gone) to listen to the whole album as others did so at the same time. That full hour and eight minutes, I was rattled and shaken to my core. With each song, I knew that this album would quickly become one of my favorites– and I was right. I was also reminded of why I love music; it builds a community with people you’ve never met– and likely never will– and links you all through the shared experience of the song. From that night on and through the next week, I listened to the album nonstop, and I mean that literally. I had it on repeat as I studied for and got through finals week and then some. It was such a calming experience to let all of the powerful emotions wash over me as the lessons of trusting yourself stayed and found a home in my heart. It quickly became my most-streamed album of the year (quite difficult considering I had listened to over 100,000 minutes of music) despite being released in the twilight of 2023. Some of my favorites from it as of right now are “Blind”, “Low”, “Ghost in the Machine”, and “Forgiveless”. It’s a very special album to me, and I am sure it will continue to find and hold meaning as I carry it with me through the years. As I continue to find my way through this life, I will hold SZA’s message close to my heart and always keep “good days on my mind” (9).

love and longing (joji’s smithereens)

Earlier this month, Japanese singer-songwriter George Kusunoki Miller– known mononymously as Joji– released his third studio album. In this new album Smithereens, Miller explores the themes of love and longing in a deeply intimate, 24-minute session. He takes a look at what it means to be so thoroughly invested in someone that even after they have left you for someone else, their presence stays rooted deep in your heart. With love clouding his mind, with pain clutching his heart, Miller infuses these potent emotions into this album. Preceded by the singles “Glimpse of Us”, which found viral fame on TikTok, and “YUKON (INTERLUDE)”, the album was highly anticipated and surely delivered what it promised.

Released on November 4th, 2022, Smithereens follows the success of his previous two albums Ballads 1 and Nectar with a maturation of his signature dark, somber sound in this new project. The relatively short album has a total of nine songs: “Glimpse of Us”; “Feeling Like the End”; “Die for You”; “Before the Day is Over”; “Dissolve”; “NIGHT RIDER”; “BLAHBLAHBLAH DEMO”; “YUKON (INTERLUDE)”; and “1AM FREESTYLE”. Running at under 30 minutes, this album’s brevity helps Miller make the most impact with his words and production. The lead single and first track of the album “Glimpse of Us” set expectations high for the album after its TikTok fame. While merely trending on TikTok is not a good indicator of a song’s quality, there was good reason for the virality of Miller’s lead single. Featuring a simple, sparse piano backing and strong vocals, this deeply vulnerable ballad is one of the clearest indicators of Miller’s maturity since his sophomore album Nectar. His incredibly personal and candid account of his emotions struck a chord with fans and exemplifies how Miller has grown as an artist. Additionally, this song helps set the tone for the rest of the album which delves into the same ocean of raw emotional vulnerability that has become characteristic of Miller’s discography as Joji.

An interesting feature of this album is its split nature. The first half (first five songs) of the album consists of heartbreaking, balladic songs that explore Miller’s yearning and the depth of the cracks in his heart while the second half (last four songs) of the album is more reminiscent of his earlier lo-fi/trap-oriented alternative pop songs. In this second half of the album, Miller continues his vulnerability while pairing it with more synth and beat-oriented production that livens up the album a little. The tracks “Glimpse of Us” and “Die for You” exemplify the style of the first half of the album while the sound of the second half is shown well in tracks like the second-released single “YUKON (INTERLUDE)” and “1AM FREESTYLE”. Along with a clear sonic change, there is also a style change of the song’s titles switching to all capitals while still keeping the same overall mood and messages throughout.

For this album, the critic opinion seemed to vary a little. While some, like Alex Nguyen of The Line of Best Fit, argued that the project lacks cohesiveness, most critics– Nguyen included– agree that there was a noticeable growth in Miller’s songwriting and vocal capabilities as well a stronger production on some of the songs (1).

Personally, I loved the raw emotion that Joji infused into these songs. On my initial listen, the first few songs stood out to me, especially “Die for You” and “Before the Day is Over”. In the former, I enjoyed how he was able to depict the painstaking emotions of continuing to love someone even after a breakup. The yearning portrayed in his lyrics and the backing production is incredibly saddening, and it is a testament to Miller’s emotional and lyrical maturity. I have enjoyed his songs for a long time now, and I think that Smithereens is a good microcosm of Miller as a musical artist. It has the same raw emotion, dark mood, and varied production that is a signature of Miller’s discography as Joji thus far, but Smithereens seems to polish all of the aspects a little. While I do love the album a lot already, I think that what is more exciting is the potential in Miller’s music at which this album hints. There are certainly big things coming from an ever-growing artist like Joji, and I can’t wait to hear what he does next.

met her at midnight (taylor swift’s midnights)

Swifties around the world rejoiced on October 21st, 2022 with the release of the tenth studio album Midnights from the ever-talented singer-songwriter Taylor Swift. The first album since her quarantine projects Folklore and Evermore, which marked a creative peak for Swift at the time, Midnights serves as an index of Swift’s many eras throughout her life. Conceptually, Swift said that the album tells the “stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout [her] life” (1). It allows her adoring fans and herself to reflect on the highly decorated and bejeweled career of Swift and see how she has grown in her musical prowess. As a recurring theme in her vast discography, “midnights” and “middle of the nights” has perforated various albums of hers, and so this album is a sort of culmination of this motif that she has carried with her throughout her career. It is, as Caroline Sliver of The Daily Collegian put it “a legacy-building album” (2).

While all of the songs had their own charms, there were a couple of songs that stood out to me for various reasons. The first song of the album “Lavender Haze” was a terrific introduction to the sound and atmosphere of the rest album. I specifically noted the departure from the alternative folk sound of her Folklore and Evermore era. With the use of synthesizers and other production quirks, Swift was able to create a sound more in the synth and dream pop genre reflecting the concept of restless writing in the middle of the night.

Additionally, I liked how you can hear the writing style of Swift from her different eras, especially how that lyricism has grown and changed as you listen to the other songs. For example, “Maroon’s” sensual and somber mood was deeply enjoyable as a mature homage to her album Red and the song of the same name. The next song “Anti-Hero” grew on me. While I initially thought the lyrics and the emphasized rhymes were a little cheesy, I loved the subject matter of the song. As an honest portrayal of her own self-criticism and insecurities, I really enjoyed the candid conversation she was willing to have with her listeners. The first time I heard the song, I thought that it felt like an epiphany moment you have during a mental spiral down a rabbit hole. It was like the one sober moment when you look at yourself in the mirror and think “Yes, it’s all my fault”.

“Snow on the Beach” featuring Lana Del Ray was very beautiful and had a sort of melancholic note throughout that I love. The next song, “You’re on Your Own, Kid”, I loved for its buildup and climax. It reminded me of Rina Sawayama’s concept and sound in her new album Hold the Girl, especially the songs “Hurricanes” and “Catch Me in the Air”. For “Midnight Rain”, I thought that it perfected and epitomized the sound of midnight and late-night delirium. I also noted that it sounded like a sobered-up Reputation, which is the beauty and terror of having a public diary of your life. People are free to see how you have grown and how you have sparkled and dimmed; this album facilitates that reflection as Swift pushes her sound as her lyricism grows. While I like the subject of “Question…?”, it wasn’t my favorite. The lyrics definitely reminded me of Swift in the earlier days of her career. Though it has since grown on me as most of Swift’s songs do, I still don’t love some of the lyrics. “Vigilante Shit” though was one hundred percent a Reputation era song. It touched on similar themes of revenge and facing yourself that encapsulated the older album. Next, “Bejeweled” has a special place in my heart for its lyrics and message. It reminded me of an inverse of “Mirrorball” from Folklore and the overall feeling of Reputation of reconciling with all that you embody. It’s also just a fun song that makes me want to dance, which I always love from artists. The next song is my favorite of the album. From its soft lyricism and somber feeling, I love everything about “Labyrinth”. I can tell that I will be listening to this song for a long while.

The next song “Karma” is a fun return to a more pop-oriented sound that makes you want to dance. It’s a much-needed breather after the previous song and the next song “Sweet Nothing”. This next song sits as my second favorite for a similar soft lyricism to “Labyrinth”, but it’s coupled with a softer sound instead of a more late-night sound. It is also heart-wrenching and reminds me of staying inside under a blanket on snow days with the fireplace on and candles scattered around the room. It has a sort of comforting energy coupled with a sense of irrevocable exhaustion and exasperation. It’s beautiful. Lastly, the 13th track of the album “Mastermind” details Swift’s efforts in getting her boyfriend, Joe Alwyn, to fall in love with her. While I love the continued candidness of her lyrics, this track also wasn’t my favorite, but I have a feeling it may grow on me.

Later on the night of October 21st, Swift released a “3am Edition” of the album. The seven additional tracks (“The Great War, “Bigger Than the Whole Sky”, “Paris”, “High Infidelity”, “Glitch”. “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve”, and “Dear Reader”) serve as an excellent addition to the regular album. With sweeping lyrics and a similar capture of the nighttime sound, these seven are exquisite, and I think they are some of the best songs on the album.

Overall though, this tenth studio album from Swift is a touching catalog of the different moments throughout her life. When Swift announced this concept album, she said that “This is a collection of music written in the middle of the night, a journey through terrors and sweet dreams. The floors we pace and the demons we face. For all of us who have tossed and turned and decided to keep the lanterns lit and go searching — hoping that just maybe, when the clock strikes twelve … we’ll meet ourselves.” (3). With such a vivid concept, she truly delivered just that. While it must have been cathartic to get these residual feelings out, the album is also a treasure chest of jewels for her devoted fans as they reflect on Swift’s growth as an artist and as a person alongside her. Midnights is a truly special album that is a testament to the length and success of Swift’s career. At this point, she is free to experiment with new sounds, release music for her own enjoyment, and celebrate her fandom all as she pleases. I highly suggest everyone give Midnights a listen, and for further review and analysis of the album I suggest reading Pitchfork’s review (https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/taylor-swift-midnights/).

REGULAR ED RANKING

Labyrinth
Sweet Nothing
Maroon
Karma
Bejeweled
Lavender Haze
Snow on the Beach
Vigilante Shit
Anti-Hero
Midnight Rain
You’re on Your Own, Kid
Question…?
Mastermind

3 AM ED RANKING

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve
Paris
The Great War
Bigger Than the Whole Sky
High Infidelity
Glitch
Dear Reader

healing through music (rina sawayama’s hold the girl)

Two years after the release of her critically-acclaimed debut studio album SAWAYAMA, Japanese-British pop rebel Rina Sawayama returns with her sophomore album Hold the Girl. Released on September 16, 2022, this album sees Sawayama exploring the depths of her creativity while constructing a cohesive narrative based on the idea of healing. Hold the Girl meshes together bits and pieces of various genres such as country, stadium rock, garage, pop, indie rock, along with various other sounds. It is definitely an incredible depiction of Sawayama’s artistic genius.

The album’s central idea of healing is broken up into three different parts: healing her inner child, healing from her past, and healing for others. Through these songs, Sawayama catalogs her own emotional growth over the past few years (1). The songs touch on themes of mending her relationship with her mother, reconciling with who she has grown up to become, remembering and holding onto who she was when she was a child, moving on from the hardships of her past, and helping others heal from their trauma, especially for the queer community. As a pandemic project, Hold the Girl was a way for Sawayama to work through the intense anxiety that she experienced during the quarantine (1). It is a personal diary of sorts as she reflects on her past trauma, how she has grown from it, and how she is still growing past it. The album is a pure creative force of nature that takes inspiration from another pandemic project: Taylor Swift’s Folklore. In an interview with Rolling Stone UK, Sawayama said that Swift was “writing about fake stories and she just wrote a whole album. If she can do it, I need to do it” (1). This helped open up the floodgates for her artistry to run wild as she constructed strong narratives within each song as well as across the whole album.

Though I loved the fresh sound and uplifting messages of SAWAYAMA, I have a soft spot for incredibly emotional albums that have a strong narrative, and this album definitely hits the mark. After hearing the first single– ‘This Hell’– when it was released on May 18, 2022, I was hooked and extremely excited to explore the rest of the album’s sound. As the other singles dropped one-by-one, I enjoyed the various, individual stories that they told, but it wasn’t until I listened to full of the album in order that I truly grasped the totality of Sawayama’s composition. The songs all tell their own stories, but they also seem to interact with each other and combine to form the transformative idea of healing.

I also love how Sawayama takes risks to subvert commonly-held expectations. In her first lead single ‘This Hell’, she takes a spin on the country sound to create a club hit that focuses on subverting the common idea– among certain people– that members of the LGBTQ+ community will end up in hell. Instead, she constructs a song based on the idea of love, community, and freedom. Though it speaks on a very serious topic, the song is pure escapist fun. Sawayama seems to tell us that it is okay to let go of all the pain and just be present in your identity; she gives a sense of levity to the acidic belief and flippantly tells her audience “God hates us?/ Alright then” (2). It’s certainly a gratifying song that incites healing by tackling a, unfortunately, widely-held belief that holds a lot of trauma for many, including Sawayama herself. She speaks on this with Rolling Stone UK and declares, “I just want to have fun” (1).

My favorite lyrics of the song have to be in the chorus when she sings “This Hell is better with you/ We’re burning up together/ Baby, that makes two” (2). She reminds her LGBTQ+ fans that they will always have this community of people to fall back on and give them strength when they need it. Even if so many others sling hateful rhetoric at them, this community will create their own happiness.

Every time I listen to the album, I seem to find new parts of different songs to love. Those are my favorite kinds of albums– the ones that feel like Russian nesting dolls that you can explore the intricacies of and unearth all the different layers with each new listen. Some of my favorites on the album, though, are definitely ‘Minor Feelings’, ‘Imagining’, ‘Frankenstein’, and ‘Send My Love To John’. I actually cried to ‘Send My Love To John’ while I was walking to class one day– it was embarrassing.

After the first few initial listens, I can definitely tell that this will be a cathartic album for many people that may have been struggling with the same emotions Sawayama had been toiling over the past few years. I know that I personally found some solace in her words and some energy in her dynamic composition. It’s truly a unique album that hit all the right notes and is a fitting follow-up to her electric debut album. She has outdone herself once again.

the album of the year (beyonce’s renaissance)

After six long, arduous years without a solo studio album release from Beyonce, the world-renowned artist dropped her seventh studio album RENAISSANCE on July 29th, 2022 (1). While she released projects in recent years such as HOMECOMING: THE LIVE ALBUM, The Lion King: The Gift (along with its visual accompaniment “Black Is King”), and her collaboration album EVERYTHING IS LOVE with her husband Jay-Z under the duo name “The Carters”, RENAISSANCE marks her first official solo studio album since Lemonade. Similar to how her previous album focused on her husband’s infidelity while celebrating Black culture, RENAISSANCE pays a more specific tribute to the Black and queer communities that make up a majority of her fanbase. The album does so by taking inspiration from genres that originated in these communities such as house, ballroom, and bounce while interpolating it within a pop and R&B setting (1).

Part of this album’s significance and why it resonates with fans lies in the history it carries. While invoking elements of the house and ballroom genres, Beyoncé aims to create a space of celebration, joy, and rebirth that these genres provided for the Black and queer communities that found a home in these spaces. She mentioned this intent in her 2020 interview with British Vogue where she stated, “I’ve spent a lot of time focusing on building my legacy and representing my culture the best way I know how. Now, I’ve decided to give myself permission to focus on my joy” (2). Seemingly in response to the horror and captivity of the past few years, this mentioned joy shines through in this album, which includes contributions from Black and queer icons such as Grace Jones and Big Freedia, among many other contributors.

Moreover, this album seems to convey the message of liberation through joy and celebration, which first manifested in the album’s lead single ‘Break My Soul’. An electrifying, upbeat song that touts anti-capitalist ideals and features Black, queer icon Big Freedia (known for her dance music in the bounce genre). This lead single sets the tone for the rest of the album by giving the listeners a lively, club song intensified by Beyonce’s flawless vocals. While the album dances across genres to create a seamless sound, the lead single lets the listeners in on Beyonce’s wish: to create an escape from the problems, worries, and fears that have plagued society since the dawn of the pandemic. “Release the stress”, Big Freedia tells us in the song (4).

The rest of the album carries this fun-loving energy while touching on themes of self-love, Black joy, and liberation. In doing so, Beyonce has built a community through her music that transcends space and time. Her extraordinary ability to do so lies in what she states as her strength of “understanding how storytelling, music, lighting, angles, fashion, art direction, history, dance, and editing work together” (2). While some may expect an explicit political commentary in response to injustices highlighted in the past few years, the seemingly most political song on the album (‘America Has a Problem’) only conveys messages of loving your partner and having a good time (1). The dynamic artist seems to tell us that one way to fight against the injustices in the world lies simply in protecting one’s peace and saving room for celebration. By creating an environment where Black and queer joy shines brilliantly in and of itself provides a powerful act of rebellion against the systems of oppression. This desire first presented itself in a 2021 interview Beyonce did with Harper’s Bazaar where she said to the world: “With all the isolation and injustice over the past year, I think we are all ready to escape, travel, love and laugh again. I feel a renaissance emerging, and I want to be part of nurturing that escape in any way possible” (3).

All in all, this album had just a very fun, freeing, and fresh sound to it that I loved. The day it dropped, I remember staying up until midnight to listen to it with all of my friends and just letting the music wash over me like the comfort I didn’t know I needed. As I listened to it more and more, the album shaped the end of my summer by setting it against a backdrop of freedom and joy that helped immensely as I began my transition to college. Even in my first week, I relied on the power residing in the album to give me strength as I navigated my way through this new environment filled with intimidating people and a far-reaching, seemingly insurmountable campus. Additionally, the album’s fast pace motivated me to walk quicker, which I definitely needed.

This album overall serves as a manifestation of Beyonce’s power and influence. Her comforting presence presents itself alongside the album as if telling the listeners, “Just listen to my voice, and everything will work out just fine.” To put it in the Queen’s own words: “Bey is back and I’m sleeping’ real good at night” (4).

kevin tian

new release