After the legendary pop-rock and emo project’s biggest breakthrough into the mainstream yet with Pray For The Wicked – Taylor Swift collabs and politicians dancing to the inescapable “High Hopes” included – the third release as a Brendon Urie solo act, now verging on a 20-year career carrying on the Panic! moniker, arrives after a … Continue reading Panic! At The Disco – Viva Las Vengeance
Baroque Pop
Florence + The Machine – Dance Fever
“Choreomania,” the title of the third track on UK baroque pop institution Florence + The Machine’s latest project comes from a kind of medieval mass hysteria known as the “dancing plague,” in which people would sometimes literally dance themselves to death. Over a decade into a storied career, and frontwoman Florence Welch’s latest set of … Continue reading Florence + The Machine – Dance Fever
St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home
Three and a half years after teaming up with perennial producer of the moment Jack Antonoff for the excellent Masseduction, alt-rock and indie-pop superstar St. Vincent is back with something completely different – business as usual for the multi-instrumental experimentalist. Her sixth album Daddy’s Home is loosely based off of a moment of reckoning with … Continue reading St. Vincent – Daddy’s Home
Lana Del Rey – Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Lana Del Rey has been a polarizing figure, and one of the most consistently compelling and thought-provoking songwriters working today, for close to a decade now. But after dropping the borderline worship of all things classic Americana and releasing a raw and honest masterpiece responding to the troubling times we’re living through, what could possibly … Continue reading Lana Del Rey – Chemtrails Over The Country Club
Weezer – OK Human
Much like my discovery of The Strokes’ excellent The New Abnormal album last year, an extremely quiet week in terms of sales numbers likely catapults another album I typically would have avoided a formal review of onto my end of year list. I’ll admit to not following legendary rock outfit Weezer’s entire career as closely … Continue reading Weezer – OK Human
Panic! at the Disco – Pray For The Wicked
Veteran pop-rock “band” Panic! at the Disco, down to its final member in multi-instrumentalist and vocalist Brendon Urie, releases its second studio album as a solo act which greatly improves on predecessor “Death of a Bachelor”. Fresh from a stint on Broadway, Urie elevates his usual flair for the dramatic here and delivers some impressively … Continue reading Panic! at the Disco – Pray For The Wicked
Ben's Beat - Music Reviews 