Going from psych-rock revival to a god of the one-man synth band movement, Kevin Parker has become an industry wizard who moved beyond his roots to create a world all his own. But as he continues his shift from rock to pop to electronic dance music, he creates a very divisive album where he spends a lot of time highlighting pieces rather than making sure the core of a song is spotless. The album starts on a slow foot with “My Old Ways,” as Kevin Parker slowly drips in the instrumentals, which ironically sound very sharp individually but don’t quite come together quite as strong as a unit. Calling back to his single with Gorillaz, “Dracula” feels like the best marriage of Parker’s pop knack and his explorative tones, though it feels a little passionless for how well it’s constructed otherwise. Weirdly, “See You on Monday (You’re Lost)” plays to a lot of Parker’s old strengths, with psychedelic roots in the voicings and tones, and many of the small but bright melodies feel closer to his early material. By losing himself to the club energy fully on “Afterthought,” Parker makes a brisk and daring dance track that frees itself of the sparseness of other tracks here, and finally goes off the deep end.
Bringing back the golden era of boogie-woogie, Mike Van Eyes brings us a shuffling throwback worthy of Ray Charles. Balancing the darkness of the lonely times with the jubilation of every reunion, the track makes a glorious back and forth. While the drums and piano hold it all together, it’s the swell Van Eyes gets out of those harmonies that really make the song explode and grow into something bigger, let alone the fiery passion of that ripping sax break. The ecstasy builds so much that by the end people are howling and calling to the moon in a final flight of joy.
Never one to pull punches in her lyrics, Lily Allen is an open book on her latest record, giving you all her life drama and gossip in full. While the arrangements here can feel simple from a textural standpoint, it’s the way Allen weaves sections together and keeps her melodies unpredictable that keeps the music almost as spicy as her lyrics. Allen uses a lounge crooner pastiche to take you through a tumultuous relationship disintegration on “West End Girl,” turning a bright and hopeful track into a minor tragedy, and one that gets brutally honest by its finale. While the pop sections of “Tennis” feel quite familiar, Allen weaves them together with cheeky aplomb to make it all work within the narrative, as each shift enhances her lyrics rather than fitting the broader musical themes. The moves between Latin guitars and dark strings leaves “Madeline” a magically transformative track, as you fall in through the brutally honest recounting of a cheating discovery as Allen is clearly not pulling ideas from thin air in a track that lays her life painfully out for you to read. This all explodes in the synth-heavy and enveloping sound of “Pussy Palace,” as you’re pulling back the layers of a betrayal and another human’s life, to decipher if you ever really knew someone.
Brimming with warmth and bright tones, the latest single by Lucky Honey echoes notes of the Waterboys and Coldplay’s “Lovers in Japan,” with some indie bounce. Pushing with an optimistic charge in its lyrics and searing guitars, the track begs you to keep your head up and look for something better. Blending focused and distinct tones in the highs for a brilliant studio mix with stadium-ready drums and a chant-ready chorus, the track is a powerhouse of production. But it’s that Superman-like looking up and upbeat nature that makes this song such a standout.
Just like before, The Last Dinner Party uses their over-the-top sound to craft songs where the mood swings big between sections, for better or for worse. With this album’s larger rock focus, this approach leads to an album that soars when it blends the right moods, and brings a lot of missed opportunities when it can’t match correctly. The band eschews some of their overly serious tones on “Count the Ways” for a more stomping rocker that brings swagger but not a lot of range to back up their theatrical moves. There’s a more grandiose sense of fun on “Second Best,” with the band charging out, and only dropping pace to let the flames fly in their wake before another charge with their cinematic momentum. “This Is the Killer Speaking” is honestly a split on what works and doesn’t, with the bashful and kicking choruses feeling like a wondrous bounce around a saloon with pyro, but the plodding verses being left as something that only works with the added movement of a live show. The brooding slow-burn to build the wave on “The Scythe” works more coherently here, as that sweeping chorus is a satisfying and chantable joy, and one that they’re able to ride through the rest, and crest into a truly beautiful solo that makes something singular out of the track’s already brilliant sounds.
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