Album Reviews

For nine years, BTS have never stopped running. It began in 2013, when the South Korean septet, repped by a small, virtually unknown label, burst onto the scene with the brazen and critical “No More Dream,” and were constantly told they didn’t have what it takes to succeed. Still, they …

Shamir starts subverting expectations from the very first crackles of “Gay Agenda,” the opener from his new album Heterosexuality. Despite the declarative, banner-like brightness the title suggests, “Gay Agenda” smolders with mounting intensity as Shamir battles layers of industrial fuzz and reverb. The production is a threat, constantly on the …

When Juice WRLD passed away in 2019 at 21, it seemed like the entire music industry was shaken up. Everyone from Hot 97 host Peter Rosenberg to Vince Staples to Drake shared their fond memories and condolences. Chance the Rapper posted on his Instagram, shortly after the Chicago native’s death, …

Is there anybody out there who isn’t riding with Lil Nas X? No, Tucker Carlson does not count. Just a couple of years ago, Montero Lamar Hill was a 19-year-old college dropout from Atlanta, and even after his banjo-trap landmark “Old Town Road” became the longest-running Number One song ever, …

“Remember that patience is no sin,” sings Bruce Dickinson a whole three minutes into Senjutsu’s “The Parchment” — and he’s not kidding, since the song, which is one of the album’s standouts, stretches on for another 10 minutes. Luckily, Iron Maiden are typically not ones to waste listeners’ time. In …

Earlier this month, Halsey released a video that followed them walking barefoot through the immaculate halls of the Metropolitan Museum in New York City, eyeing historic paintings of the Madonna and Child before revealing the baroque, sacrosanct cover art for their fourth album, If I Can’t Have Love I Want …

In 2019, Claire Cottrill followed up her viral debut, “Pretty Girl,” withImmunity, a moving collection of adolescent uncertainty, anxiety, and revelation that introduced heras a commanding pop storyteller. Two years later, Cottrill, who performs as Clairo, raises the stakes onSling, her compelling, sharply focused, and musically adventurous second album. Cottrill …

The emotions that stampede through the 23 tracks onStop the War should be familiar to anyone who’s heard songs objecting to the Vietnam fiasco of the Sixties and Seventies. Soldiers yearn to see their lovers or families again or beg those partners to stay faithful; protesting voices call out for …

Valerie June has spent the past decade on her own meandering path towards artistic self-definition. Her 2013 album, Pushin’ Against a Stone was her breakthrough, establishing the singer’s distinctive country-blues whine as a vital voice in contemporary roots music. But the album, co-produced by Dan Auerbach and Kevin Augunas (Edward …

By 1987, Prince was as much an authority on love and sex as the era’s foremost expert, Dr. Ruth, so it’s curious that he composed two songs titled “Love and Sex” around that time and never officially released either. The first, a horny, synthy rave-up, finally came out three years …