Recently, there have been numerous artists big and small releasing new projects, whether EPs, LPs, or singles. Many great records have been coming out of this wave including some from the biggest artists in the world like Coldplay. And honestly, much of it’s been really good, so here are my thoughts on some of the new albums that have been released.
Tyler, the Creator - Chromakopia
If you’ve not heard about this album, you’ve probably been living under a rock. As soon as Tyler dropped the snippet and video for the opening track “St. Chroma,” the music world erupted with hype, and he’d go on to release the full single “Noid” and another snippet, “Thought I Was Dead.”
The hype for the album was building at an incredible pace, all up to its release October 28. I, along with my brother and a friend, woke up at 5:30 a.m. to listen to the album upon its 6 a.m. release.
Upon first listen, it’s a solid album, but nothing really that special. But after more listens, it has become my favorite rap album of the year with some amazing performances all around from Tyler, his features, and his backing vocalists and instrumentalists.
Tracks like “Rah Tah Tah” and “Thought I Was Dead” provide some punchy raps partnered with great beats, but Tyler also takes it in a couple directions, branching out on some different themes and styles, with some awesome vocals from Daniel Caesar on “St. Chroma,” and interesting storytelling throughout the album, most notably on “Take Your Mask Off” and “I Killed You.”
Overall it’s an incredible album front to back, and you might say that it’s the hype bias, but I really, really enjoyed it.
9/10
Bastille - & (Ampersand)
If I’m being completely honest, I kind of forgot this album was coming out until the day it did, and honestly, it was a pleasant surprise. I haven’t listened to much of Bastille’s newer work, but I enjoy their old records, like Wild World and All This Bad Blood.
This one definitely sounds different, but I was expecting a different sound, so not too much of a shock. It was more on the down-low and less loud guitar with yearning vocals, and more focused on the stories told by every song. And honestly, I like it.
“Emily & Her Penthouse in the Sky” and “Blue Sky & The Painter” are my two favorites, and they each paint such a cool story. The album is packed front to back with these, and while I am not the hugest fan of all of the album’s instrumentals or even all of the songs, as I feel some get a little boring, overall I like it.
7/10
Freddie Gibbs - You Only Die 1nce
This is, admittedly, the first Freddie Gibbs album that I’ve listened to, but from what I’ve heard, this album just continues on a discography with no misses—and judging by this album, I wouldn’t really be surprised.
Unfortunately, this album was released on the Friday after Chromakopia, so in terms of hype it got pretty overshadowed. Fortunately, Spotify recommended it to me, reminding me that it was released that day, and I gave it a listen during my AP Computer Science class while doing my work.
I was pleasantly surprised having not heard Freddie much before if at all, and despite it being a shorter album, the tracks make up for it. Favorite tracks on the album probably come down to “Brick Fees” and “30 Girlfriends (Yeah Yeah),” both fun, punchy tracks that are the highlights of the album for me.
However, the rest of the album is super solid too, “On The Set” definitely gets an honorable mention.
7/10
Coldplay - Moon Music
If you haven’t heard of Coldplay, you’re the same person who hadn’t heard about Tyler the Creator’s new album. Coldplay have been the most popular band in the world (and my favorite) for some time, and have been on a tour supporting their previous album for a while spanning over 150 shows.
While Coldplay’s best work clearly dates back to all of their 2000s music and some of their early 2010s work, they’ve consistently been putting out solid records for a long time . . . that is, up until 2021. “Music of the Spheres” was not a hit, and although it featured collaborations with some other talented artists like BTS and Jacob Collier, for many people, it failed to hit the mark.
Unfortunately, the follow-up album, Moon Music, doesn’t improve too greatly upon it. It’s probably a better album, and has some fun tracks like “iAAM” and “MOON MUSiC,” but it fails to hit the bullseye as a project as it feels too saturated and too pop compared to what Coldplay does best.
The Full Moon edition of the record, or the deluxe, definitely improves on the original with some great bonus tracks/B-sides. However, I’m really hoping with the remaining albums that Coldplay will put out that they’ll backtrack sound-wise, as I just can’t get on board with the new stuff.
6/10
half•alive - Persona
half•alive’s new emotionally charged album, Persona, was teased with some of my favorite half•alive songs, notably “Automatic” and “Sophie’s House,” and rightly so, I was pretty excited for this new album. It didn’t exactly blow my expectations out of the water, but it’s pretty great.
The songs are just as beautiful as past albums, and this album feels like a fun revamp of the band’s style, bringing in some more unique instruments and focusing more on the electric and bass guitars.
The stronger tracks on this record are probably “Lie, Lie,” “Automatic,” and “The Point,” all of which I enjoyed and the tracks set themselves apart upon first listen. While there are only two features, half•alive has more than proved that features aren’t needed for an incredible album, with only one on Conditions of a Punk, their previous record.
This album expands half•alive’s impressive discography to three full-length records, and no bad albums yet. They’ve cemented their status as one of my favorite bands with this strong follow up album (while I still like Conditions of a Punk the most from their LPs), and I’m really excited to see what they can do in the future.
8/10
Any that I missed or any you would recommend? Feel free to send me an email at sjgst03@basd.k12.pa.us with recommendations!