Cage the Elephant- Neon Pill (RCA)
At the onset of 2020, Cage the Elephant was in firm control of the alternative rock landscape, buoyed by the worldwide success and acclaim of fifth album, Social Cues, which brought with it a bevy of hits and generous industry accolades. The half-decade gap between records unfortunately proved to look much different, with momentum crippled by a global pandemic, the passing of multiple band loved ones (including lead vocalist Matt Schultz and guitarist Brad Schultz’s father), and a troubling spell of both legal and medical trouble for Matt. On the electrifying Neon Pill, the band reemerges sounding musically and creatively revitalized, and all the more confident and convicted in their band’s vision, thanks very much in part to the trials and challenges of the past several years. Never an act to shy away from dark or introspective overtones, they tackle both their demons and lessons they produced through cuts like the title track, and do so with both an honest vulnerability and a ferocious sense of triumph and resilience. They also sound prepared for whatever the world throws at them next, having learned long-ago that life doesn’t suddenly or neatly shift into perfection after one rough spell. As before, they remain more melodically and sonically infectious that you’d ever expect any serious alternative band to be, without ever sacrificing the authenticity of their appeal or vision. One can’t help but picture Imagine Dragons cowering in the bowels of a sold-out arena somewhere, foaming at the mouth and wishing that this was what they could sound like, if not for their infatuation with pop stardom. Between their ever-personal narratives (especially “Out Loud” and “Over Your Shoulder”, the strikingly sad tunes written for the Schultz’s father), increasingly singular takes on trippy alt-sounds, and their rapturous live energy whether in studio or on stage, this feels like the era where CTE indisputably reestablish themselves as leaders in the rock sphere. An intoxicating comeback that was well-worth the wait, and promises to be as durably addictive as the side-effects of its titular origin.
Willie Nelson- The Border (Legacy)
Willie Nelson could have long-ago ridden his horse off into the Texas sunset, and he would still have forever redefined the possibilities for an aging music legend. Luckily for us, the creative belly of a Red Headed Stranger is an insatiable beast, and at 91-years old, Nelson continues to provide us with beautiful music that more than lives up to his staggering standards for quality, beauty, and prolificacy. The Border stands as his seventy-fifth studio release, and you can safely bet your money that it won’t be the last we hear of Nelson, even this year. It’s also his first customary set of songs since the 2022 Grammy-winning A Beautiful Time, after another run of his signature indulgences in artist tributes and genre exercises. It opens in stunning fashion with a haunting read of Rodney Crowell and Alan Shamblin’s “The Border”, a masterful and impressively partisan piece of songwriting that follows the existence of a border patrolman. Nelson’s ever-potent vocal touch and the forever-graceful sound of “Trigger” unveil even new layers of haunted beauty to a song that was already done fabulous justice by Crowell himself back in 2019. Credit that accomplishment first and foremost of course to Nelson’s own insane gifts as an artist and musician, but also to the tremendous decades-long chemistry and mutual vision for greatness that he has forged with producer Buddy Cannon. As he’s done on an endless trove of gems at this point, Cannon continues to give esteemed showcase to the unrelenting character, spry playfulness, and ragged soul of Willie’s timeless voice. Its unavoidable signs of age have done nothing to rob it of its undeniably soul-stirring quality, whether he’s reminiscing about his musical glory days on tracks like “Once Upon A Yesterday” or another Crowell cover of the 1989 hit “Many A Long and Lonesome Highway”, or endlessly battling the side-effects of heartache with quirky cuts like “What If I’m Out of My Mind” and “How Much Does It Cost”. It’d be so incredibly easy and shamefully criminal to take for granted that Willie Nelson still walks among us, not to mention the fact that he continues to gift us with music of such high regard in the twilight of his twilight years. We must hold ourselves to properly cherish these releases for the musical riches and truly special moments in time that they are. Thank you, Willie for continuing to inspire, and for continuing to be inspired to create.
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Shaboozey- Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going (Republic)
The lead-up to the arrival of Shaboozey’s third studio album has been highlighted with a vast fortune of increased media attention and anticipation, first due to his participation on Beyonce’s Cowboy Carter earlier in the spring, and then thanks to the explosive chart success of smash single, “A Bar Song (Tipsy)”. That buzzy, cross-genre hit finds the rapper further weaving rootsy elements of country, folk, and Americana into his standard trap sound, an evolution that serves as the constant thread throughout the aptly-titled Where I’ve Been, Isn’t Where I’m Going. Haunting steel guitar riffs, jangly banjo, piercing fiddle and warm dobro all add homespun color to these sulking, dark tales of the heartbreak and disappointment that accompany the experience of an outlaw spirit, a theme as prevalent in the urban landscape of Hip Hop as it is in the rustic annals of country music. Like his fellow cross-pollinating peer, Post Malone, Shaboozey is first and foremost a rapper rather than a technically varied or even gifted vocalist. However, like Malone’s own adventures outside of the Hip-Hop and rap scenes, Shaboozey’s sonic experimentation succeeds thanks to the sheer character of his presentation, the emotively gutsy details of his lyrical storytelling, and the fresh way in which he mashes up disparate sounds and themes. Tracks like “Annabelle” and “Let It Burn” smack similarly to the aforementioned “Tipsy”, all while riding above a current of ragged despair, which fully bubbles to the surface on cuts like “East of the Massanutten” and “Highway”. ‘Boozey also uses his hat-trick of collaborations effectively throughout the record, with each guest adding a distinct tone and style that pares well with his, while nicely adding layer of variety to a performance style that while engaging, can occasionally feel monotonous. Alt-country enigma Paul Cauthen and his singularly ghostly quality elevates “Last of My Kind” to new heights of haunt, while the increasingly in-demand Noah Cyrus transforms “My Fault” into the lovely and tender heartbeat of the album. Meanwhile, BigXthaPlug provides the album’s most unabashedly Hip Hop moment–and one of its most fiery–with his contributions to “Drink Don’t Need No Mix”, which feels like an instant hit within that realm of the musical ‘verse. Lastly with the album’s finale, Shaboozey offers a beam of light in through the darkness with the optimistic “Finally Over”, a resolute moment of acceptance that glows within its inspired, 2010s-esque folk-stomp. It proves to be a satisfying final curtain on the fusion of sounds that Shaboozey explores throughout this record, while providing a glimpse of additional stylistic lanes he may more prominently traverse down in the future. He feels like a creative force who is just beginning to dabble in his artistic curiosities, which should leave listeners hungry and eager to see where his inspiration next takes him, and them.
Twenty One Pilots- Clancy (Fueled By Ramen)
It takes but one glimpse of the apocalyptic-leaning cover art of Twenty One Pilots’ seventh studio album, or a mere few seconds of listening to lead single and album opener, “Overcompensate”, to realize that this record marks a return to the dense, heady alternative vision that defined the band’s most definitive successes to date, 2015’s Blurryface and 2018’s Trench. If you still had any remaining doubts, the band explicitly mutters “Welcome back to Trench“, as the record takes flight. This marks a deliberate circle-back after the breezier, pop-leaning touchtones of 2021’s Scaled and Icy. That release divided many 21P followers into two distinct camps: those that loved it for the appropriate pandemic-era detour that it was, and those that loathed it for softening the group’s intensity too dramatically. For what it’s worth, I personally fell into the former camp. However, I completely understand why this is already being regarded as a very welcomed reset for the group. This record stands to quench your thirst for classic 21P, whether you’re among the hardcore loyalists who will dig deep into the lyrical easter-eggs and narrative connections tying back to prior albums, or if you’re just a general appreciator of the satisfying role that the Pilots deliver in both the modern alternative scene, and in the pop music spectrum in general. Similar to the earlier mentioned Cage the Elephant, and on their own unique level, Twenty One Pilots has effectively and stylishly filled the need for rock intensity, alt complexity, and pop contagion. Angsty moments of self-destruction, naked moments of self-reflection, chaotic moments of fury rebellion, and infectious moments of liberating release abound throughout Clancy, often-times within the same sequence. Sonically, Tyler Joseph and Josh Dun remain unafraid to dive into any stylistic inclination that comes to them, with threads of everything from grunge, rap, blues, folk, and classic rock making appearances. With that said, it should never be doubted how much precision and purpose is exercised as they craft this dizzying amalgamation. Every lyrical, sonic, and emotional left-turn has its place. It will take perhaps an endless multitude of listens to fully absorb and appreciate each of them. And that’s the ultimate beauty of a great Twenty One Pilots record, and great records in general. They provide an endless bounty of entertainment, inspiration, and discovery. Clancy proves to be no exception.
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