I like this a lot on first listen. Had to do a double take on the chorus of I've Got a Friend though lmao
I enjoyed this on first listen, but I've Got a Friend has got to go lol. After that I think Want Want is my next least favorite.
i like this more than her first. i think honey and want want are my favorites on first listen. i agree with a few others here, the ballads don't work for me.
i think the way she describes this album - as embodying feral joy and communal spirituality (a la her master's thesis) really comes out in the music. is the album perfect? absolutely not. but it does what it says on the box, and i applaud her for sticking to her intentions when making it. i do like it better than HIIAPL though. it's definitely in my top 10 for the year. Honey is one of her best songs, and i will die on that hill.
Her friend that she wrote that song about was at the release show last night, and Maggie clarified before debuting it that she had gotten full permission to put it on the album and play it.
I can’t tell if I don’t like the songwriting or if it’s the new trajectory genre-wise that isn’t for me. The melodies aren’t hitting for me
The chorus to Honey sounds like something Billy Corgan would've written in the 90s. This album grew on me a lot over the past week.
This debuted at #15 with 24k album equivalents. That's a pretty rough fall from her last album debuting at number 2.
She stocked her last album with songs that were already successful. Pretty different starting point, plus it was nearly 4 years between projects. I don’t think she’s oriented towards being a big pop star. Her fans fucking love her and her live show is amazing; she’ll have a long career.
She got top 10 in the UK which is pretty impressive. Surprised she seems to have done better here. I only just got round to listening today and I love it. She’s just got a vibe that I find really pleasant and relaxing.
First listen today and this is the best produced-album I’ve heard all year. Absolutely fucking thrilling. And it’s a major contender for AotY thusfar, too. What a huge step forward from the debut in every regard.
Insane to me to wanna drop “I’ve Got a Friend” or “Want Want”. Weird little tracks are what make a great album more than just a vibes playlist.
Chills every time on "You tell me you want everything, you want it fast/But all I've ever wanted is to MAKE SOMETHING FUCKING LAST."
Absolutely one of my favorites on here. Honestly thank fucking god for pop songs where the singer’s voice isn’t scrubbed and polished to death. There’s grit in there. And not just that but the minuscule imperfections of pitch that are basically undetectable to the ear but you FEEL as an electrify and rawness. There’s precious goddamn little of that lately and this has it in spades.
I am so in love with the vocal delivery on this record, and they are so much more powerful for exactly the reasons you listed. You can hear her singing herself hoarse here, or almost running out of breath there, and it adds up to such a powerful, passionate batch of performances. You definitely don't hear many vocal performances like that on records these days.
Same with the bits of real guitar and drums mixed into the modern pop elements. There’s something about those real elements that grounds productions in a way you just can’t otherwise
I'm a sucker for records that do a good job of balancing the organic stuff with electronic or modern pop flourishes. "Begging for Rain" is really elevated by even some simple mixing of those pieces.