Album Reviews: Laufey, Wolf Alice, Sabrina Carpenter

Laufey – A Matter of Time
Reykjavík, Iceland

With a clear vocal mastery already under her belt, Laufey’s great challenge remains how to keep her music fresh, and she mostly succeeds on her latest album. Lyrically intimate, exciting in its shifting genre play, and massive in its arrangements, it’s perhaps only missing a little extra single power and reigning in the album’s size for more cohesive album structure. And otherwise, she’s found the perfect way to weave her pop-jazz tones through more modern genres in a way that continues to blur the exact place at which genres start and stop. Leaning a lot on punchy pop hooks into her bossa nova-tinged sound, “Lover Girl” is Laufey at her most bouncy, vibrant and accessible, filling out all the colours and playing to the most explosive production she can. Quieter but no less lush, “Snow White” is a lament for the person you think is better than you or perhaps the impossible “perfect” version of yourself that isn’t reality, but which becomes a complete obsession that can cause doubt to tear you apart. After a soft jazz intro, “Silver Lining” shifts from simple romance to a surreal trip through forever, with the expansive string section exploding with Laufey’s singing to create a wondrous fever dream about love. And the back-end of the record offers the sonic two-punch of “Tough Luck”’s indie-pop-meets-mega-orchestral sweeps, while “Mr. Eclectic” gives us a more angular and darkly-tinged version of Laufey’s sharp pop song style that subverts the all-too-rare single kick that she only really doles out a few times an album, and wisely so.

Lia Pappas-Kemps – Reservations (Single)
Toronto

Just as you settle into the soothing twang-folk charms of “Reservations,”  Lia Pappas-Kemps starts hitting you with delightful fluttering vocals and instrumental drops that feel like gusts to sweep you off your feet from the start. So much of this track toils in either zigging where you’d expect a zag or going way bigger than anticipated, which gives a huge sense of magic to Pappas-Kemps’ writing. And the control in her vocals is a constant treat, as she never overplays her talents, instead letting each little flourish be its own tiny explosion of life in a powerfully surreal song. This mounting pile of impressive moments cascades into a finale that holds nothing back for once, and lets the song finally let it all out.

Wolf Alice – The Clearing
London, England

Slotted somewhere between rock and flexible indie pop, Wolf Alice avoid pigeonholing, and bless us with so much dense writing that their album often transcends needing more cohesion. Dynamic on every front, this is a record that is always hiding another great riff, fill or flaming vocal around the next curve to make each moment a soaring celebration of the form and collaboration. “Thorns” booms past the normal slow, moody opener thanks to the band’s knack for explosive and climbing details that evolve throughout their songs, with the wailing background vocals and thrashing percussion turning simple verses into showstopping moments, particularly with the way the lyrics cut in on some of their juiciest syllables. It’s impossible to ignore the kinetic power of “Bloom Baby Bloom” however, as it shifts from an already intoxicating piano riff to a barn-burning pre-chorus, and the song just gives so much room for Ellie Rowsell and the band as a whole to throw out explosive ideas all over the place. It’s just a true sonic delight that never ceases to spark creativity. There’s a more reserved jazzy tone to “Just Two Girls” that lets Rowsell go disco at times, and breathe more longing into the record, into something that drifts between dancing and powerfully sad. “The Sofa” takes a more airy direction, with the glistening piano and Rowsell’s ability to morph her voice a half-dozen ways throughout the song to create a dazzling, sad-rock track that feels spiritually inspired by Fleetwood Mac without ever being actually derivative of them.

Satellite Birdhouse – My Favourite Part (Single)
Ottawa

Celebrating the music partners instil in each other’s lives, Satellite Birdhouse bring out the harp for a romantic croon on “My Favourite Part.” Truly a song to just sit back and enjoy the cheesy power behind it, the track lets the strings, harps and subtle guitars collide for a warm and loving sound. Though the slow movement of the choruses and melodies can craft an almost lulling effect, the track soon swoons into making those bigger emotional moments the magnificent core that carries the rest. And the beautiful, rich details they paint across the song’s whole story show a deep love that only years and painful tests can forge.

Sabrina Carpenter – Man’s Best Friend
Quakertown, PA

Despite how many singles we got on Sabrina Carpenter’s last outing, the musical juices seem to be leaving more room for the sexually refreshing and comedic lyrics to shine. While it might be musically simpler and lacking compared to her last album, this might very well be the funniest pop record to drop this year lyrically, and one that’s not scared to be as silly as it is horny. Through the production can feel like a weird response to Charli XCX’s “Apple” at times, “Manchild” quickly escapes into a much weirder country-tinged world, as she appears to make a self-parodying take on all the band men she’s dated, for a song that sounds bizarre and is way funnier than you’d expect. “Tears” has a rapidly infectious disco drive that never quite evolves into much more musically, but lyrically is a hilarious, bleak comedy about how low the bar has been set that a man doing anything around the bare minimum could be a near holy experience. The production meets Carpenter more on “Nobody’s Son” with a fuller arrangement and more cartoonish punches in the sound, for a track that feels at pace with the overall lyrical tone of the record. “Go Go Juice” is a great round-out to this idea, really getting into a country swing that can be as sloppy as Carpenter’s character or as sharp as a knife when the chorus demands it.

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