Album Reviews: Jessica Winter, Jade Bird, & Tyler, The Creator

Tyler, The Creator – Don’t Tap the Glass
Hawthorne, CA

It’s been such a small amount of time since Tyler, The Creator dropped Chromakopia that this new album dropped the day before his first Canadian tour date for the tour cycle. Yet somehow, unlike some of his other release-heavy compatriots, Tyler’s latest switches to a goofy, but high-energy speedball of a release that shifts to making you move, while still bringing all the finessed production. “Big Poe” sets things off on a fiery dance cut, with every aggressive vocal amping you up to be the biggest force on the floor possible. The sappy drive of “Sucka Free” could feel weird at first, but it’s so smooth and separate from much of Tyler’s work that it sets its own tempo to let him play around. The album flows satisfyingly right into “Stop Playing with Me,” giving Tyler a vicious and blown-out battleground to barrage listeners with noise while still begging to sing along with some of his whackiest vocal deliveries in ages. Meanwhile, “I’ll Take Care of You” mixes the dance energy with bits of Tyler’s piano, unusual features, booming bass and kaleidoscopic production to drop a rainbow of ideas that somehow never falls apart.

Confidence Man – Gossip (Single)
Brisbane, Australia/London, England

Mixing their more recent club tones with their evergreen knack for satirical sass, Confidence Man are firing on all cylinders on “Gossip.” The beat and mix are on point, as Janet Planet trades lines with Jade, inflating their egos and firing off barbs in the dark. But in true ConMan fashion, for every laugh you’re having at the lyrics, you’re also lost in about twice as many hooks, and it’s all produced to the nth degree as if it were the most serious song in the world. The sound is peak 2000s pop, playing to a lot of Pharrell and Timbaland of the time, as well as Britney Spears and Scissor Sisters, mixing it all into a frenetic banger. And the showstopping hard T drop of Tina’s savage words is the perfect cherry on top, as the karma reaches its peak and stops the song as a result.

Jade Bird – Who Wants to Talk About Love?
Hexham, England

Across her career, Jade Bird’s changes have been more about refining and expanding her sound than simply making a big jump. And while that’s certainly true of her latest album, the melodies are sharper than ever, and her production has reached a new benchmark, broadening just how far her songs can go. This is powerfully evident on the soaring “Nobody” that grows from her classic folk pop to a sprawling stadium cry that pleads with audiences to find meaning in the impossible. There’s a more sombre approach to “Who Wants” as it laments those final smouldering moments of a dead relationship and how easy it can be to just keep it on life support than deal with the pain of talking and ending things. “Dreams” nails the blueprint for the next phase of Jade Bird; however, as we go beyond massive sound into these dense and emotionally deep productions that let her voice explode and fly at any moment. The album brings its narrative to an inspiring conclusion with “Save Your Tears,” as stripped down arrangements boom into fiery rockers as the vocals gain power, speaking to a newfound sense of self, worth and desire in life, while still being able to say that you could bring someone back into your life because you’re now a different person.

Rachel Bobbitt – Hands Hands Hands (Single)
Toronto/Annapolis Valley, Nova Scotia

More than even her last singles, “Hands Hands Hands” sees Rachel Bobbitt so sure of her sound and songwriting that it’s impossible to know just quite how expansive the sound will be. While the song initially punches out with a burly guitar crunch already more chunky than her usual fare, the choruses explode us into intercosmic delights. Her vocals feel honed in on the longing of that last love, with the coldness of defeat and yet a constant pain and urge to claw it back. It’s in the meeting of that fire and galactic sorcery that the song becomes its own thing, and finds a fascinating duality as Bobbitt seems to have two parts of herself conversing and reassuring each other. It overpowers the whole song, creating something new through devastation to erase what was and chart new growth, a growth Bobbitt has clearly been working on between albums that is paying dividends now.

Jessica Winter – My First Album
London, England

While her vocal timbre can feel jarringly sweet at first, the rest of Jessica Winter’s sound brings the depth to keep your attention. Though the overall genre swings have their ups and downs, when she finds a good groove, she rides it to epic highs. “L.O.V.E.” goes from slinking string lines to a boisterous pop fiesta in its choruses, making it feel like a micro-symphony is dancing around her voice throughout the mix. Though it’s less rich, there’s an intoxicating quality to the disco drive of “Aftersun” that recalls Kylie Minogue. Meanwhile, the quirky piano bounce of “Bit Star” feels like a great marriage of sensibilities from Scissor Sisters and Marina, in one theatrical bow. With a little more grime and electronica surging on “All I Ever Really Wanted,” Winter finds a musical pocket where her vocals sit perfectly, and flesh out the sound.

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