Owen Maxwell

Pearl Charles — Magic Mirror (Los Angeles, CA) The retro wave of modern L.A. artists find a lot power in the lush vintage aesthetics and hooks that feel timeless. While it does find trouble always avoiding pastiche, Pearl Charles' latest release is often so fun it sinks in before you start [...]

The Dirty Nil — F*ck Art (Hamilton, ON) To kick off 2021 with a thrash and a yell, The Dirty Nil are having a ton of fun on their new record. Fast, riff-heavy and personal, this record straddles indulgence and catchy energy for music that will be great to dance to when that's possible again. [...]

10. U.S. Girls — Heavy Light (Toronto/Chicago) To evolve the ideas she crafted on In a Poem Unlimited, Meg Remy has found a lot more groove than grow in her new record. This doesn't shake out the same level of pressing art-pop she got before but it merges narrative, abstract, and theatrical [...]

Paul McCartney — McCartney III (Liverpool, U.K.) As a long-time McCartney fan, it's been a minute since one of his recent releases dazzled me like self-titled and RAM releases. Once again returning to playing everything himself, there's a sense of fun and simplicity that makes this stick [...]

Rina Sawayama — Sawayama (Niigata, Japan/U.K.) By going completely out in both the wild, experimental theatrics and overt pop core that we get in art-pop music now, Rina Sawayama lets loose a record that is constantly satisfying and testing your limits. This two-pronged approach means everything [...]

Joan of Arc — Tim Melina Theo Bobby (Chicago, Illinois) As a chosen final note for a band, Joan of Arc lays out a lush and often heavy record to endure. It's this emotional intensity for their last bow that really stands to make the album feel more satisfying on repeat listens, and leave [...]

Miley Cyrus — Plastic Hearts (Franklin, TN) In her post-TV career, Miley Cyrus has constantly rotated between variations on pop, country and rock with ease. Though this leaves a lot of solo pop and rock tracks feeling a little too simple, every guest appearance track delivers and then some. [...]

Kali Uchis — Sin Miedo (Alexandria, Virginia/Colombia) While we've only been able to get a taste of Kali Uchis' Spanish in past years, her latest release dives right into it. Part-evolution, and partly a new flavour on what we know from Kali, this record bridges a lot of pop ideas from [...]

Ariana Grande - Positions (Boca Raton, Florida) Over the years Ariana Grande's flawless vocals and gradually more complex arrangements have earned her more respect from those outside the world of Top 40. With a lyrically blunt and effortlessly fun listen, Grande lets her maturity out in her [...]

Marie Davidson & L'Oeil Nu — Renegade Breakdown (Montreal) Finding a wonderful middleground between aggressive disco and experimental music, Marie Davidson continues to chart into waters all her own with L'Oeil Nu. Cinematic, dark, but often dance-ready, this record is a trip to [...]