Metal Storm's outlet for nonmetal album reviews
The place where we'll talk about music without growls or blast beats
unless they still have those but still aren't metal
unless they still have those but still aren't metal
We here at Metal Storm pride ourselves on our thousands of metal reviews and interviews and article; metal is our collective soul and passion, which is why we bother with this junk. That being said, we'd be lying if we stuck to our trve-kvlt guns and claimed that metal is the only thing we ever listen to. Whether we want to admit it or not, we do check out some other stuff from time to time; some of us are more poptimistic than others, but there's a whole world out there aside from Satan-worshiping black metal and dragon-slaying power metal. We do already feature some nonmetal artists on our website and have a few reviews to back them up, but we prefer to limit that aspect of the site to those artists who have been a strong influence on the metal scene or who are in some way connected to it. This article series is the place for those artists who don't matter to metal in the slightest but still warrant some conversation - after all, good music, is good music, and we all know metal isn't the only thing on this planet for any of us.
Down below, you might find some obscure Bandcamp bedroom projects or some Billboard-topping superstar; as long as it ain't metal and the album itself isn't a best-of compilation, it fits. Obviously, we're certain that not everything will be for everybody (you guys can be viciously territorial even when metal is the only thing on the menu, and we're all supposed to like the same things), but we do hope you find at least one thing that you can enjoy, instead of just pointing and screaming in horror "Not metal!" as if that would be an insult.
Here are our previous features:
March 2026
February 2026
January 2026
And now to the music...
musclassia's pick
As an ardent attendee of ArcTanGent festival in the UK since 2019, you’d think I’d be well acquainted with a band that refer to themselves as mainstays of the festival. However, while my ‘bands I’ve seen’ tracker does show me seeing Poly-Math once, at my first visit to the festival in 2015, my memory of this is non-existent, so Something Deeply Hidden is my proper introduction to the group. Pressing play on the album makes it immediately clear why they would have appeared frequently at ArcTanGent, as a flurry of heavy math rock rhythms and erratic guitar/keyboard lines erupt out the speakers. “The Universe As An Engine” is not wholly math rock; the quirkiness of its compositions and the prog rock influences on its synths take it in almost a zeuhl direction, or perhaps a keyboard-laden spin-off from “YYZ” by Rush.
Something Deeply Hidden does not hide itself at all, with a brashness to its sonic assault from moment one of many of the songs in its tracklist, but it does have a depth to it. “One/Two/Three/Four Body Problem” is rampant, unleashing a torrent of drums, but it has time for more understated keyboard-driven prog exploration within its brief runtime. There are also longer songs, such as “No Such Thing As Now” and “Terror Management Theory”, that afford more time for calmer prog/jazz instrumentation, the former offering soulful guitar work and mellow synth soundscapes while the latter shows off Poly-Math’s full dynamic range, at different times exploding with force or dwelling in retro-prog ambience. Poly-Math don’t seem to have been on an ArcTanGent line-up for a couple of years now, but based on this record, I will be keen to more properly experience them in the live setting the next time our paths cross.
Bandcamp
by musclassia
Bird Without A Song - Written Memories
[Post-Rock]
Instrumental post-rock bands have been a dime a dozen for a long time, but that doesn’t mean that a new entrant to the scene can’t make a meaningful impression on weary ears. Hailing from Limoges in France, Bird Without A Song are supposedly releasing their second EP, although since both 2023’s A Dance With Cranes and new output Written Memories are both around the 35-minute mark, the distinction between EP and full album feels somewhat arbitrary. What may distinguish Written Memories from a regular album is that it was recorded live at Treignac Projet, with the intention of capturing unique renditions of these songs at a particular moment in time (hence the record’s title).
One of the songs is the title track from A Dance With Cranes, but the remainder are otherwise unreleased, so these takes of them are the first that most will have ever heard. What those new listeners will hear is a take on post-rock that exhibits many of the classic hallmarks (dynamic contrasts, delicate instrumental tones, airy tremolos), but also a heaviness on “Eaux Troubles” and the climax of “Maestral” that teeters on the periphery of post-metal, as well as some minor surprises. The rocking drive earlier in “Eaux Troubles” sounds more reminiscent of some psychedelic rock acts (or perhaps the Norwegian prog rock of Airbag and their ilk), while “Les Derniers Mots De Cassandra” has calming guitar noodling in the spirit of Midwest emo contrasted with Porcupine Tree-esque melancholic prog rock later on. These touches do a good job of making these songs rise above the baseline of Explosions In The Sky-style crescendocore.
Bandcamp
by musclassia
Love Rarely - Pain Travels
[Math Rock | Post-Hardcore]
Love Rarely came onto my radar last summer supporting Hail The Sun in London, and a cursory glance at debut album Pain Travels will make it abundantly clear how they ended up on such a line-up. While the noodlier math rock guitar runs closer to the work of acts such as Covet, the mixture of post-hardcore aggression, angular chords and frantic, complex yet melodic rhythms is right out of the Swancore scene. Opening song “Will” sets their stool out very clearly, with outbursts of jittering aggression amongst constantly morphing melodic math rock guitar work, as vocalist Courtney Levitt serves up screams contrasted with hooks reminiscent of Andrew Wells’ work in Eidola (she finds herself in a duet with a seemingly uncredited male voice towards the end of this track during a soulful passage that rams the Eidola similarities home further).
With song lengths ranging from 1 to 5 minutes, there are briefer djent-tinged onslaughts such a “Repulse” peppered amongst more melodic and emotionally charged cuts like “Severed”, with a good dynamic balance reached. The quieter moments, for example across much of “I’ll Try” and “What You Did”, aren’t quite as convincing in their execution, but the scintillating guitar work that pops up frequently (such as in “Haunted” and “Severed”) takes the already impressive instrumental virtuosity exhibited on the likes of “Whiplash” to another level, while Levitt’s clean vocals are as evocative as they are skilfully delivered. On the whole, Love Rarely’s own brand of math-heavy post-hardcore stands up very favourably to much of what has been produced by the scene popularized across the Atlantic by the Blue Swan Records roster.
Bandcamp
by musclassia
Angine De Poitrine - Vol.II
[Math Rock | Avant-Prog]
The internet’s specialty is to make the most random artists blow up, and in 2026, it was the Canadian microtonal math-rockers of Angine De Poitrine’s turn in the spotlight. This isn’t the kind of project you would usually see garner mass appeal, playing mostly for a niche of online music nerd, and yet I’ve seen their music reach an extremely wide audience, to the point of even being played in a classroom. Their extravagant visual identity and unique sound make them instantly recognizable, and it’s all in all not that surprising that they would one day catch the eye of a more mainstream public.
Additionally, while Vol.II is by all means an unusual record, it’s also super catchy and a perfect entry point to ease someone into more unconventional music. There are melodies, the songs aren’t too long, and it overall remains a very approachable album in spite of all its oddities. The use of microtonal instruments allows for some pretty unique melodies, but it never devolves into chaos or dissonance. And while it doesn’t do anything super ambitious or original, what it does it does really well, and it’s hard not to have a lot of fun listening to “Fabienk” or “Sarniezz”. It’s not a sound that’s meant to be sustained for very long, and by the end of the album you’ll have had your fill, but it knows when to stop and it does its odd math-rock sound really well. Definitely a recommended listen if you have 35 minutes for yourself.
Bandcamp
by doez
Teodioteodio - Echaremos El Cielo Abajo A Patadas
[Post-Rock | Post-Hardcore | Experimental Rock]
Ah, what a coincidence. The name of the band (I hate you I hate you) is basically what I told Radu when he thought it would be funny to throw me yet another Chilean album to review just before our trip to Roadburn festival. Teodioteodio kickstarts their career with the debut album Echaremos El Cielo Abajo A Patadas. It roughly means “We’ll kick the sky down” and that level of intense decisiveness really matches this passionate record.
Some of the spoken word featured here is similar to the one used by Hesse Kassel, same goes for the mad tone of the vocals. But while Hesse Kassel goes for noise rock and Swans-core, Teodioteodio prefers to attain an intense sound through the world of post-rock, post-hardcore and even screamo. There are some surprisingly rough screams and anguished shrieks which are nicely complemented by the raw guitar leads.
Admittedly, the spoken word can be a bit too much in the long run but Teodioteodio knows how to keep you interested with intriguing interludes and sections where I’m convinced the band is improvising to great effect. I definitely did not expect something like the jazzy section and seductive female vocals on “Amar” mixing so nicely with desperate screams. That song, as well as the dark instability of “Multitudes”, is something I could hear from a seasoned avantgarde act like Mamaleek for example. I can’t stress enough how much Chile is absolutely killing it in the alternative music scene. Teodioteodio is a brave music act that seems fully committed to their unpredictable sound and I can’t wait to hear what they will do next. Also: For one dollar on bandcamp Echaremos El Cielo Abajo A Patadas is a STEAL!
Bandcamp
by X-Ray Rod
Poison Ruïn - Hymns From The Hills
[Punk Rock | Post-Punk]
How can someone not get behind Poison Ruïn’s sheer energy and their fresh and innovative approach to well-established sounds? This is a metal-adjacent band, being signed to Relapse Records, appearing at Roadburn Festival, and having their latest album mastered by Arthur Rizk. This time, and because of the production choices, Hymns From The Hills sounds clearer, crisper, and better than previous releases, without ever walking on -god forbid- polished territory. It is their most mature collection of songs to date, since the band’s vision has grown both musically and lyrically. If the word ‘mature’ gives you ebola, do not worry; all the fun is still there.
It’s quite hard to not fall for Poison Ruïn’s medieval-sounding, folk-tinged, concoction of punk rock/post-punk. Tracks like “Lily Of The Valley”, “Hymn From The Hills”, “Guts (Lay Your Self Aside)”, and “Serpent’s Curse” are catchy as hell and sure to make your body move. “Eidolon” is in a league of its own with a guitar melody that gets imprinted in your brain. Metalheads will connect with the doomy interlude “Sleeping Giant” and with the heavy “Crescent Sun”, and they will maybe headbang a little with the blastbeats of “The Standoff”. In any case, whatever your musical taste is, if you like your tunes to be raw, rebellious, and primitive, Hymns From The Hills is the album for you.
Bandcamp
by nikarg
Rome Is Not A Town - Echoes Of Love
[Indie Rock | Noise Rock | Post-Punk]
X-Ray Rod's pick
Gothenburg-based Rome Is Not A Town and I go all the way back to the end of 2019. Which is quite a striking thing to think about as it turned out to be one of the last concerts I saw before the covid lockdowns. They were opening for Umeå hardcore legends Refused, a band who always seeked out to promote promising acts and I could definitely hear why. Rome Is Not A Town sits in a very comfortable and catchy place between indie rock, noise rock, shoegaze and even some post-punk during the more morose moments. Their debut, It’s A Dare, came almost a decade ago and not much has been released since apart from a couple of singles and a compilation of EPs and digital-only singles.
But all this time this group has been cooking up something fierce. Echoes Of Love not only shows remarkable maturity compared to the playful naivety (although still very angsty style) of their debut album. It also feels much, much darker too. The rhythm section is absolutely stacked with moody bass grooves and insanely catchy beats that will easily get you hooked on and make you bang your head back and forth the whole time. The noisy aspect of the guitar has also attained another vibe. It is less rebellious but more intense as a whole, which makes for a very interesting shoegaze sound. And of course, the vocals are absolutely perfect for the style, feeling like they come from a chronically detached person. For a band that basically writes love letters to the alternative scene of the 90s, Rome Is Not A Town sound very fresh and Echoes Of Love is the kind of album that has a vibe that sticks with you for much longer after you heard it.
Bandcamp
by X-Ray Rod
Astraya - Atropine
[Dark Rock | Alternative Rock]
Atropine, the second album from German quintet Astraya, is one that belongs on Metal Storm in spirit, and at times arguably in style too, although overall it is not quite a metal album. Some of that is admittedly due to the mixing; Melina Abele’s tender, haunting vocals are rightfully given pride of place across the album, and as a result the guitars have a tendency to lurk somewhat buried in the mix, even when doomy or blackened hints slide in. Overall, however, the album has more in common with the metal-adjacent work of acts such as Chelsea Wolfe, or perhaps the delicate atmospheres of Nighttime Birds by The Gathering.
Abele is clearly the star of the show from the beginning; as the instrumentation shifts from darker doom to luscious post-rock tremolos, her evocative presence cements the atmosphere of opener “A Spark Within”. Those Nighttime Birds vibes become more apparent on the bleakly atmospheric shoegazing alternative rock of “Lighthouse”, and her beautiful harmonizing in the chorus serves as a beacon in the darkness akin to that in the song’s title. The instrumentation tends to be more subdued, but in addition to heavier or more ominous moments in “Descendant Of A Dead Man” and “Arrival”, there’s also remarkable shredding soloing in the otherwise subdued and delicate “A Theory Of Time”. There is a faint gothic tinge to Atropine, which really comes to the fore during the two-part “Valley Of The Damned” in a way that may appeal to fans of Draconian. In general, Atropine does a great job of being an album that should appeal to metal fans without ever truly spilling over into the genre itself.
Bandcamp
by musclassia
The Twilight Sad - It's The Long Goodbye
[Post-Punk | Gothic Rock]
In many ways, It’s The Long Goodbye marks a very pivotal period for The Twilight Sad. It is their first album in 7 years. It is the longest gap in between any of their 6 albums. Also, last October as the band dropped their first single, “Waiting For The Phone Call”, it was also revealed that The Twilight Sad was now just a duo consisting of singer James Alexander Graham and guitarist Andy MacFarlane. Sure, they were the remaining two founding members but losing three members still has to count as a dramatic change for the band. They got some valuable help from a couple of session musicians though; with Robert Smith from The Cure being the biggest name.
I must admit I was somewhat afraid about the quality and identity of the band and their latest output but my fears were clearly unfounded. It’s The Long Goodbye carries all the elements I’ve come to know and love from The Twilight Sad: From the groovy post-punk inspired rhythm section to those dreamy, heavily distorted guitar riffs and leads, and of course the unapologetically Scottish voice of Graham. Many of these tracks not only are catchy enough to dance to (in the gloomy, goth kind of way that is) but they also sound BIG. Like, arena big. Probably a trick they learned from all the times they have opened for The Cure. But make no mistake: The slow, introspective tones are still there. And it is heavy and personal. It’s The Long Goodbye deals greatly with themes of loss, with Graham losing his mother to dementia. The bittersweet melancholia is harrowing but also very, very addictive. All the angst and the longing. It’s like I’m "back at fourteen" again, all right.
Bandcamp
by X-Ray Rod
Einar Solberg - Vox Occulta
[Symphonic Rock | Art Rock]
musclassia's pick
When I covered 16, the debut solo album from Einar Solberg, I noted that, in spite of recruiting metal(-adjacent) musicians such as Ihsahn, Ben Levin (Bent Knee) and Þórarinn Guðnason (Agent Fresco), the album remained firmly planted outside of metal, offering a blend of art pop and art work. Since then, Leprous have turned slightly back towards metal on Melodies Of Atonement; now, Solberg adds a couple of extra degrees of heaviness to Vox Occulta, recruiting the likes of John Browne (Monuments) and Pierre Danel Novelists into the backing band alongside a returning Levin. However, Vox Occulta is shaped far more by the contributions of the Norwegian Radio Orchestra, as this album’s art rock has an even more decidedly symphonic slant to it than its predecessor.
Opening song “Stella Mortua” is purely symphonic for its first half, but some of Solberg’s vocal lines are unmistakably Leprous; this is even more clearly the case when the rock instrumentation comes in for the two repeats of the chorus, the latter of which features screams. These are an infrequent but recurring feature of the album, and add to the dramatic weight of this track. The album’s first half is more oriented towards the heavy instrumentation and rock-rooted songwriting, particularly the likes of “Medulla” and “Liberatio”. Solberg’s wider ambitions come more to the fore as the album progresses, such as on the mostly quiet and angelic “Serenitas”, but particularly the 12-minute “Grex”, which is effectively a shorter Leprous song (check out the passage from 10 minutes onwards for evidence) punctuated by a prolonged orchestral-only detour. The combination of Solberg’s ever-astounding vocals with the nuanced orchestrations and effective moments of rock/metal intensity works really nicely across Vox Occulta, which is a very fine next step in his solo journey.
Bandcamp
by musclassia
Ten East / SoftSun - Turned To Stone: Chapter 10
[Psychedelic Rock | Stoner Rock]
SoftSun have appeared twice already in this article series with their first two albums, each of which exhibited in fine style the band’s shoegazing, languid spin on psychedelic rock. For their third appearance within 18 months, they share the latest Turned To Stone split from Ripple Music with Ten East, the longrunning jam rock band formed by Gary Arce (SoftSun, Yawning Man, and more), and also featuring SoftSun’s Pia Isaksen in the current line-up. With only the drummers differing between the two line-ups (albeit with Isaiah Mitchell of Earthless making guest features on guitar for the two Ten East tracks on the split), one might expect a more sonically cohesive experience across this split than some others, and one would have their expectations fully met.
In addition to being the only side of the split featuring vocals (courtesy of Isaksen), SoftSun’s songs are dreamy, languid, but perhaps more psychedelic jam rock-oriented than most of what featured on 2025’s Eternal Sunshine, with plenty of hazy guitar noodling during “Nowhere Else” and a warbling soundscape crafted for “Emotional Overdrive”. Ten East’s contributions are closer to the spacious jams that have characterized recent Yawning Man releases, but “First Light” is so languid that some crooning vocals from Isaksen and a bit more guitar haze would make it slot seamlessly into a SoftSun record. “Slow Motion War” has marginally more percussive drive, but as fitting its title, it is a gentle slow burn that never threatens to raise one’s heart beat. This latest edition of Turned To Stone is high on chill factor and warm, pleasant vibes.
Bandcamp
by musclassia
Leila Abdul-Rauf - Andros Insidium
[Dark Ambient | Ritual Folk]
musclassia's pick
Last time we covered Leila Abdul-Rauf’s solo work in these articles was in 2024 with Calls From A Seething Edge, an album that used a sparse ambient foundation to venture into ritual folk and industrial sounds. Not much has changed in the fundamental approach since then for the Vastum guitarist/vocalist, but Andros Insidium is darker, angrier and more harrowing, raging against patriarchal society depicted in demonic form. Ominous drones and marching snares drag listeners below to the sound of haunting choirs in opener “Descent Into Kur”.
Abdul-Rauf uses a few different vocal styles across the album; in addition to those initial choirs, there are more conventionally sung/spoken lyrics, and also harrowing screams and gargles in the album’s closing tracks. Prior to this sinister escalation, the record builds upon its droning foundations with creepy harpsichord sounds (“Stripped Before The Eye Of Death”), as well as more fully fleshed arrangements like the processional drums and trumpet blasts in “Eros Anima”. The brass warps from triumphant (“Senex Rule”) to intimidating (“Fractured Body”), resurrecting the horror movie sensibilities of parts of Calls From A Seething Edge. The climax of this ominous journey, however, is “Return To Anu”, which has malevolent violins and engulfing swells in volume and distortion alongside more shrieks, yet also retains a touch of beauty when Abdul-Rauf writes delicate vocal harmonies as a glimpse of light amidst a dread-laden soundscape.
Bandcamp
by musclassia
Squarepusher - Kammerkonzert
[Modern Jazz]
Across more than 3 decades, Thomas Jenkinson has been mashing up jazz with electronic music such as jungle or braindance under the moniker Squarepusher. Latest effort Kammerkonzert, which translates to ‘chamber concert’, takes things a step further by infusing an orchestral, cinematic sensibility into his progressive electronica. The work of one man, this features a wild variety of instruments, from glockenspiel/xylophone and various other keyboard-based instruments through to woodwind such as saxophone, and these instruments collide in cacophonic fashion on chaotic opening track “K1 Advance”, but Kammerkonzert is more than an exercise in madness.
The slick beats and bassline kicking off “K2 Central” offer a jazzy take on IDM that is lent a gentle grandeur by mellow wind arrangements, while “K3 Diligence” has a quirky Frank Zappa-esque oddness to its rhythms and melodies that is nonetheless warm and inviting. Later on, harpsichord, marimba and drums craft a dizzying twister in “K7 Museum”, while woodwind flutter and soar in discordance during “K9 Reliance”. Kammerkonzert is a stark departure from the electronic focus of much of Squarepusher’s past, including 2024’s brash, pulsating “Dostrotime”, instead approaching the nu jazz of acts such as The Cinematic Orchestra, but it’s a transition that is pulled off seamlessly.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Dälek - Brilliance Of A Falling Moon
[Industrial Hip-Hop | Conscious Hip-Hop]
I don't want to give Dälek too much credit, but they are one of the most important hip-hop groups in taking the experimental side of hip-hop further and bridging the gap between turn-of-the-millennium hip-hop and the experimental/industrial/abstract hip-hop acts that appeared in the 2010s. Now that we're close to being thirty years removed from their debut album, I do have to admit that I did think that the band's material in the past decade hasn't quite been up to the standard set by their prime, but it was still really good alternative hip-hop.
Having heard these songs live at Roadburn during a set that was almost exclusively songs from this new album without me knowing at the time, I did have some instant familiarity with the songs when I did hear the album proper (while also being a bit dissatisfied with the lack of older songs in their setlist), and the very politically-charged lyricism somehow works even better now with the dark and industrial tinged soundscape of the production, and while I feel a bit too much of it is built on repetition, it's immersive in a way I haven't felt with Dälek for the past fifteen years, so it might just be a new upwards trajectory for them.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Mike, Earl Sweatshirt & Surf Gang - Pompeii / Utility
[Abstract Hip-Hop]
I am cheating since this is practically two albums, but they're released everywhere as a single album, so I'm counting it as a double album split kinda thing. Or rather sibling records, if you will. Mike and Earl Sweatshirt, who are the names most likely to be familiar out of the three since I've covered them before and they're one of the biggest names in the abstract hip-hop scene, are mostly each relegated to one of the two sides of the double album, though each of them do appear on the other side as a feature.
Structure aside, the running connecting thread through this entire thing is Surf Gang, who are handling the production and thus completely embody the function of a connective tissue, and it's their production that feels different from the usual jazz/soul sample heavy production that abstract hip-hop and, by extension, Mike and Earl's work is usually known for, instead focusing on more synth-heavy, almost cloud rap leaning, some of it having a lo-fi trap tone. It's not entirely my kind of abstract hip-hop, but it does make for a neat contrasting sound to what I usually expect from the genre.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Kim Gordon - Play Me
[Experimental Hip-Hop]
One of the weirdest musical experiences of the past few years was hearing Kim Gordon, a veteran in her 70s, suddenly delve into hip-hop on her new album, The Collective, which did lead me to ask which one of y'all had "a 70 year old woman drops the sickest industrial hip-hop album of the year" on your bingo cards. It was obviously very different from what you'd expect from a hip-hop album, with a lot of Kim's experimental noisy rock past, whether from her Sonic Youth days or her solo work, coming into play. Now, there's a follow-up hammering down on that style.
Play Me does sit in a weird place. On one hand, it is stylistically similar to The Collective, and being barely over half an hour and having one of its songs be a reworked version of the most famous song of its predecessor makes it feel like leftovers, but on the other hands it does feel like it is more determined into making it sound unquestionably hip-hop, not letting the "industrial" side of the album be the overwhelming nuance of the hip-hop, with some trap and jazz-tinged abstract hip-hop getting a greater share. I don't think it overtakes its predecessor, but it's a neat second serving.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Jessie Ware - Superbloom
[Disco | Pop Soul]
I didn't expect for Jessie Ware to release a new album and for it to not be the best pop record of its respective edition. That's very weird considering how much I loved What's Your Pleasure?, one of my most listened to albums of all time, with its follow-up That! Feels Good! having its fair share giving me continued enjoyment of that disco sound that she switched to. So I think me not being immediately blown by Superbloom has to do both with diminishing returns from this disco sound that makes it less exciting in prospect, and with the competition just happening to be more exciting for me currently.
Now of course that still means that Superbloom is a good disco pop soul album, just that it's less surprising of a change and the songs on it need to do more to impress me. There's a stronger leaning towards soul, which does give the album its own nuance, with "16 Summers" being the perfect example of "saccharine mom soul music" but done in a way I do enjoy. Thus, my most surprising moment of the entire record is the awesome interpolation of Ennio Morricone's "The Good, The Bad & The Ugly" theme in "Ride". I do wonder if the next album will find a different nuance for its pastiche, since what is certain is that Jessie will make some great songs out of that regardless.
by RaduP
Underscores - U
[Electropop]
RaduP's pick
I needed to remember that Underscores started out as a hyperpop and, by extension, pop-adjacent project, since I got to know them through Wallsockets, which I covered here, and which was a more rock leaning album, one I loved because of the worldbuilding and balance between being zany and controlled. Now, the follow-up takes those expectations but completely does away with the rock side to offer what it basically a pop album.
I thought it was gonna be more hyperpop leaning and feel a bit too obnoxious, and that was the initial impression that the album leaves when the first notes hit, but over the course of the record it shows restraint in toning that down and make a really catchy electropop record that knows when to let things be mellow. There's something really joyful about its tone, one that makes it feel even more infectious, and for an album that's barely over half an hour in runtime, it really feels like it flows like a breeze. I'm reminded a lot of the exact same things I like about some more mainstream pop like Jessie Ware or Carly Rae Jepsen but with a more experimental edge in the production.
Bandcamp
by RaduP
Slayyyter - Wor$t Girl In America
[Electropop]
RaduP's pick
Slayyyter is a name I've heard mentioned around the hyperpop movement, around the last years of the 2010s when that movement was at its peak. Her self titled debut was a pretty neat bubblegum bass version of electropop, and even if it didn't hit me as hard as other stuff from that scene, it was enough to burn the name in my memory. The two albums that followed were ones I liked enough but didn't leave much of an impact, so I expected Wor$t Girl In America to follow suit and be just good.
Every once in a while I come across a pop album that gives me instant favorites that get stuck in my head. I can't place my finger exactly what was in the water for this album, but it strikes a chord of making edgy and bombastic pop that has a punky indie edge to it. A lot of it comes down to how pumping the beats are, a noticeable retro touch to the synths but with a more aggressive punch to their tone, some making me realize one can already be nostalgic about the 00s, and some reminding me how it felt like to listen to Gost's think synth tone for the first time. There are songs I like less than others, but I feel like more than half of these I'll return to after I'm done writing about it, which isn't the norm for pop music for me.
by RaduP
And that was it. You've made it through still alive. Congrats. See ya next month. Here's a YouTube playlist we compiled out of stuff featured here:
Many thanks
