You have to imagine that one of the most common questions The Weeknd gets is about why he dies so much – often graphically – throughout his music videos and album concepts. On the Toronto R&B/pop icon’s fifth full-length album, he takes his morbid curiosity to an entirely new level – but as it turns out, … Continue reading The Weeknd – Dawn FM
Pop Reviews
Adele – 30
After a gap a single day shy of exactly six years away from the spotlight, the reigning queen of album sales has finally returned to reclaim her throne. There’s truly no other artist that casts a net of appeal as wide as Adele does – her soaring pop-soul ballads are capable of getting just about … Continue reading Adele – 30
TWICE – Formula of Love: O+T=<3
While everyone this side of the Atlantic held off on their release to avoid competition with Taylor Swift and Bruno Mars, nine-member K-pop girl group TWICE continued widely outpacing many of their peers when it comes to the sheer volume of music released and dropped their third album in just over a year. While I’ve … Continue reading TWICE – Formula of Love: O+T=<3
Ed Sheeran – =
Having come a long way from the early days of rapping with a guitar and a loop pedal, Ed Sheeran has racked up some of history’s most impressive touring numbers over the past couple years and has seen his appeal get further and further watered down into industry trend-hopping. Originally a massive breath of fresh … Continue reading Ed Sheeran – =
Lana Del Rey – Blue Banisters
After her last project was renamed a couple times, delayed a couple times, and briefly abandoned in favour of promoting a joint poetry collection and spoken-word album, the glamorous folk-pop singer-songwriter that is Lana Del Rey has been uncharacteristically following through on her lengthy list of promises and announcements as of late. Releasing her second … Continue reading Lana Del Rey – Blue Banisters
Coldplay – Music of the Spheres
It was the best of Martins; it was the worst of Martins. After reaching new levels of lyrical banality with Everyday Life, their worst-selling album to date that somehow picked up an Album of the Year nomination at the Grammys, UK pop-rock titans Coldplay saw fit to recruit pop’s most successful producer – and a … Continue reading Coldplay – Music of the Spheres
James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart
One of the music industry’s most sought-after collaborators, both James Blake’s touching and heartfelt folksy ballads and his tendency for experimentation and daringly jumping across genre lines to blend his malleable style with some of today’s biggest innovators have been drawing in more and more fans as his career progresses. Now on his fifth studio … Continue reading James Blake – Friends That Break Your Heart
ITZY – Crazy In Love
For the second straight week, a K-pop group outside the leading two of BTS and BLACKPINK with unspeakably massive fanbases has cracked the week’s most popular albums – this time it’s female five-piece ITZY with their official full-length debut, Crazy in Love. While only nine official tracks in length, with instrumental versions of some of … Continue reading ITZY – Crazy In Love
NCT 127 – Sticker – The 3rd Album
One of the many subsets of the 23-member K-pop collective NCT, NCT 127’s profile has been growing worldwide as they latch onto the seemingly nonstop rising wave of the genre’s influence and fandom. Led by wildly popular Canadian K-pop idol Mark Lee, also a member of supergroup SuperM, and blending together aspects of pop, hip-hop … Continue reading NCT 127 – Sticker – The 3rd Album
Lil Nas X – MONTERO
It’s been a long and winding road to singer, rapper, marketing genius and controversy magnet Lil Nas X’s debut album since he rode into the game on horseback. Lil Nas stirred up interest as only he truly can with a series of provocative videos, performances and even some legal issues stemming from his “Satan shoes” … Continue reading Lil Nas X – MONTERO
Ben's Beat - Music Reviews 