Album Reviews - Consequence of Sound

On SOS, SZA Once Again Blows Expectations Out of the Water

Cady Siregar — Fri, 09 Dec 2022 15:30:57 +0000

SZA is back to save us all. Her debut album, Ctrl, remains an exquisite artifact of a snapshot into the ugliness of your 20s. SZA’s personal style of lyricism has always read like an endless diary entry, and the transcendent nature of her genre-shifting abilities helped revolutionize modern R&B and…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

On SOS, SZA Once Again Blows Expectations Out of the Water
Cady Siregar

With Indigo, RM Makes Fleeting Moments Feel Permanent

Mary Siroky — Fri, 02 Dec 2022 05:02:57 +0000

The album cover of RM’s Indigo includes artwork by Korean artist Yun Hyong-keun, a painter known for meditative, contemplative pieces characterized by splashes of umber and ultramarine. While the contemporary paintings are relatively minimalist, they’re technically complex, and all the more layered considering the artist was a bold, persistent figure…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

With Indigo, RM Makes Fleeting Moments Feel Permanent
Mary Siroky

BROCKHAMPTON’s The Family Is a Curiously Tense, One-Sided “Final” Act

Paolo Ragusa — Thu, 17 Nov 2022 15:00:05 +0000

If you were doubting that The Family is indeed the end of the road for BROCKHAMPTON, there’s a rather shocking detail about the hip-hop collective’s final album: It’s just Kevin Abstract. There are no slick verses from Dom McLennon, no ecstatic hooks from Merlyn Wood, no introspective choruses from Joba.…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

BROCKHAMPTON’s The Family Is a Curiously Tense, One-Sided “Final” Act
Paolo Ragusa

Nas’ King’s Disease III Saves the Best for Last

Marcus Shorter — Fri, 11 Nov 2022 18:06:33 +0000

Let’s start with the most obvious thing for hip-hop fans or casual observers: Nas dropping his fourth album in two years is pure insanity. This is the guy who famously dropped “four albums in 10 years” during the ’90s, six albums (including a double LP) during the 21st century’s first…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Nas’ King’s Disease III Saves the Best for Last
Marcus Shorter

Christine and the Queens Presents Redcar Contains a Fantastical, Mythical, and Ever-Evolving World

Cady Siregar — Tue, 08 Nov 2022 15:00:12 +0000

“I wish you would have chosen my so so soft face/ And halt the time, stop pretending/ I’m made of water and earth and my heart shines within a cage/ And I search for the meaning in order to feel alive,” sings Héloïse Letissier, aka Christine and the Queens, aka…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Christine and the Queens Presents Redcar Contains a Fantastical, Mythical, and Ever-Evolving World
Cady Siregar

Her Loss Delivers on the Musical Promise of Drake and 21 Savage’s Personal Relationship

Marcus Shorter — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 16:00:26 +0000

If there’s one takeaway from Her Loss, Drake and 21 Savage’s album that finally arrived on Friday, November 4th, it’s that everything that glitters isn’t gold. Inspired by the Honestly, Nevermind standout “Jimmy Cooks,” Her Loss is a collection of well-produced joints touching on their favorite topics. Jealous rappers? Check.…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Her Loss Delivers on the Musical Promise of Drake and 21 Savage’s Personal Relationship
Marcus Shorter

With Midnights, Taylor Swift Finds Grandeur in the Small Hours

Mary Siroky — Fri, 21 Oct 2022 14:00:26 +0000

“I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser,” Taylor Swift posits on the third track of Midnights, her tenth studio album. On the surface, it feels like another classically relatable statement from Swift; upon deeper reflection, it’s a thought that doesn’t feel entirely true, does it?…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

With Midnights, Taylor Swift Finds Grandeur in the Small Hours
Mary Siroky

Arctic Monkeys Return with Melancholy and Showbiz Meditations on The Car

Paolo Ragusa — Mon, 17 Oct 2022 14:00:56 +0000

Arctic Monkeys have been adamant about crafting their catalog on their own terms — how many bands would follow up one of their most accessible and commercially successful LPs (2013’s AM) with a bizarre, wonky concept album about a luxury resort on the moon? 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Arctic Monkeys Return with Melancholy and Showbiz Meditations on The Car
Paolo Ragusa

Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me Is Mired in Mediocrity

Marcus Shorter — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 16:45:27 +0000

Following up the biggest album of your career is tough sledding for any artist. But for rappers? It’s something only Houdini might pull off with ease. Hip-hop is always about what you’re doing now, not what you did yesterday. Just one false move takes you from relevant to irrelevant at…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Lil Baby’s It’s Only Me Is Mired in Mediocrity
Marcus Shorter

Red Hot Chili Peppers Prove The Love Is Truly Unlimited on Return of the Dream Canteen

Jonah Krueger — Fri, 14 Oct 2022 14:45:43 +0000

Red Hot Chili Peppers’ Return of the Dream Canteen arrives at a wild time for the California foursome. The punk-funk, alt-rock legends reunited with John Frusciante in 2019, recorded and released Unlimited Love (their first album since 2016), and subsequently went on to conquer the world with their larger-than-life stadium tour.…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Red Hot Chili Peppers Prove The Love Is Truly Unlimited on Return of the Dream Canteen
Jonah Krueger

The Mature and Renewed Spirit of The 1975’s Being Funny in a Foreign Language

Paolo Ragusa — Mon, 10 Oct 2022 14:00:16 +0000

Matty Healy is done with kidding himself. He lets us know from track one of The 1975‘s fifth album Being Funny in a Foreign Language (out Friday, October 14th), titled — wait for it: “The 1975.” “We’re experiencing life through the postmodern lens,” sings Healy, before immediately invalidating his own…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

The Mature and Renewed Spirit of The 1975’s Being Funny in a Foreign Language
Paolo Ragusa

Lamb of God Call Out Present Perils on Omens: Review

Cervanté Pope — Fri, 07 Oct 2022 15:13:03 +0000

Lamb of God have been … well, Lamb of God for decades now. Their aggression, their lyricism, the harmony of their riffs — it’s all part of their signature sauce, in a sense. While their excellent 2020 self-titled album offered a sense of hope amid the world’s tribulations, their newest…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Lamb of God Call Out Present Perils on Omens: Review
Cervanté Pope

On the Spectacular COPINGMECHANISM, WILLOW Saves Herself

Cady Siregar — Thu, 06 Oct 2022 15:00:58 +0000

WILLOW never intended to write a record about heartbreak, but who ever does? It was just a year ago that WILLOW unleashed her album Lately I Feel Everything, a love letter to pop-punk. It featured the angsty, melodic breakout hit “t r a n s p a r e n…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

On the Spectacular COPINGMECHANISM, WILLOW Saves Herself
Cady Siregar

Slipknot’s THE END, SO FAR Is One for the Maggots and Beyond: Review

Cervanté Pope — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 13:26:00 +0000

It takes a lot of moxie to be around for over two decades. That may not be the word Slipknot would use to describe themselves, but it doesn’t make it any less true — they have, in their own ways, pushed the aesthetic and sonic boundaries of heavy and nu-metal…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Slipknot’s THE END, SO FAR Is One for the Maggots and Beyond: Review
Cervanté Pope

Björk Is as Vibrant as Ever on the Moving, Earthy Fossora

Sam Rosenberg — Fri, 30 Sep 2022 13:00:20 +0000

Aside from her unmatched ability to constantly and successfully reinvent herself, one of Björk’s greatest qualities is her deft, poignant interrogations on the complex ties between humanity and nature. On her previous album, 2017’s lovely Utopia, the Icelandic experimental pop singer envisioned a world beyond ours, contrasting ethereal imagery and…

Please click the link below to read the full article.

Björk Is as Vibrant as Ever on the Moving, Earthy Fossora
Sam Rosenberg