Now over a decade removed from his first major breakthrough – and the subsequent EDM and dubstep boom in the pop sphere that faded away just as quickly as it began – DJ and producer Skrillex has been hard at work proving that he’s a lot more than another gimmicky moment in the annals of … Continue reading Skrillex – Quest For Fire / Don’t Get Too Close
Electropop
Taylor Swift – Midnights
16 years after the arrival of her debut and returning with her fifth major release in just over two years, it’s truly impressive that Taylor Swift is still shattering records. It seemed like it was out of reach that any album would ever sell over a million in its first week ever again, but this … Continue reading Taylor Swift – Midnights
Lauv – All 4 Nothing
California alt-pop singer Lauv is just about one of the last bastions of the bland and bro-approved world of self-pitying sadboi pop who hasn’t yet migrated over to the burgeoning pop-punk scene. Racking up collaborations with globe-spanning acts like Anne-Marie and BTS and writing songs for acts as diverse as Charli XCX and Celine Dion, … Continue reading Lauv – All 4 Nothing
Lights – PEP
Releasing on a relatively quiet week, Canadian indie and electropop icon Lights – though not incredibly well-known outside of her home country – has been getting some extra attention lately with her fifth studio album, PEP. Known for genre-bending (her recent output has included a side project representing somewhat of a dubstep revival and a … Continue reading Lights – PEP
Charli XCX – CRASH
Even when Charli XCX, an artist typically regarded as one of the most forward-thinking pop stars on the planet, half-jokingly refers to her latest album as her “sellout era,” you can still expect a couple subversive twists alongside the catchy, stadium-ready hooks that she’s so experienced at crafting. While the British alt-pop sensation’s latest certainly … Continue reading Charli XCX – CRASH
Diplo – Diplo
It seems that highly prolific DJ and electronic musician Diplo’s mind is in the right place when it comes to his approach to crafting an album while working in his genre – he’s made quite a few comments lately about the futility of crafting a truly engaging electronic album from front to back, opting instead … Continue reading Diplo – Diplo
The Weeknd – Dawn FM
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
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
Imagine Dragons – Mercury – Act 1
For a while, it seemed like Imagine Dragons was the only truly commercially viable “rock” act left around. As we see a resurgence of guitar-based music in the mainstream, you’d think that a band that has been so misguided for so many album cycles might be feeling a little inspired and make some of their … Continue reading Imagine Dragons – Mercury – Act 1
Ben's Beat - Music Reviews 