This is legitimately shocking for me? Akasaka Sad was my immediate standout from its parent album and still top 5 from it. Insane to see it go so soon.
This is legitimately shocking for me? Akasaka Sad was my immediate standout from its parent album and still top 5 from it. Insane to see it go so soon.
Same here! It was an easy 10 for me, one of my favorite songs in the whole rate. I'm happy to have the rate back anyway, but I would love Rina to get a break.
Charli says that the title and lyrics of the song stemmed from a conversation over Zoom that she had with Dua, JLo, and the hosts of Apple Music's «At Home With» series. At one point, Jennifer recalls the time when Barbra Streisand asked to see her pink diamond engagement ring, circa 2002, product of her highly publicized relationship with Ben Affleck. Then she talked with her about how she handled being famous at a young age, and her modestly answering that being in the public eye is what she's known most, basically. So, Charli wrote that down as a song title.
The sound came a little later, when Dijon sent her the aggressive, loud, screechy beat that would come to characterize the track. The story seems fitting for the self-hyping up lyrics that Charli half-delivers over the chaos, and doing her party for one in her room and her camera only. The incessant repetition of "I just wanna go real hard, pink diamond in the dark" is not lost on @godspeed (7), who nods: "It does go real hard".
However, for others the song overstays its welcome despite barely making the 2-minute mark, as @R27 (4) states: "I remember being so turned off by this when I first listened to the album. I have no doubt that by this point in the pandemic a lot of people did 'just wanna go really hard', but this almost sounds like someone doing a Charli XCX parody; from the obnoxious production to the laughably basic lyrics". Shake It, I Got It, Unlock It... the list of Charli repeats goes on and on but, to your credit, pink diamond does fall on the least essential end of them.
Finally, @Trouble in Paradise (7) explains his journey with the genre at large: "I’ve come a long way in my love for hyper-pop and my grief over SOPHIE (who I did not vibe with even when hosting my rate but I’ve come to adore) and my more open ears have come around to some of Ms XCX’s bleep bloops". Well as a bleep bloop music fan, this is not a direction I really want or need from it nor Charli - I'm glad it's the outlier from how i'm feeling now.
A sad day for the fancy girls, and it's not about Iggy or Charli either! In this case it's for Amaarae, an Accra-born, Atlanta-based musician that is perhaps most recognized for Sad Girlz Luv Money, viral hit from 2021 which was remixed with a Kali Uchis feature. She introduces this bounce-inspired number with her recognizable airy vocal style and proclaims the things that make her a FANCY, it, alt-girl. It's not hard to see how Amaarae mentions Kelis as her icon, when her artistic vision has influenced her own. As for instance, other tracks from her debut album The Angel You Don't Know veer right into Afropop plus Southern hip hop for the mix of roots she wants to create for herself.
The light trap elements pair well with the doozy guitar and the temporary high feel of the short track. So high that after the second verse we get almost a whole minute of an instrumental break with distorted vocals serving I don't know what the hell she saying at this part.jpg and the title repeated for a bit more, so this spaciness in a track that's merely 2:30 might've not bod that well with the audience in here, as shown in the placement.
Of the track, Amaarae writes in the music video's description: "Accentuated drum patterns that swing hard with a trap twist reveal the other side to Amaarae: A boundless love for Southern bounce. Fancy hangs on a loose string; it meanders between sing-songy rap, shoegazing emo, and straight ahead trap – if these three forms hung out at a high-end fashion joint uptown they'd be the gnarliest kids in the building."
Okay, you can't say she isn't her own biggest hype woman! The video is rich in aesthetics with an amazing call center set with her friends appearing as backups/extras wearing neon wigs, a glow in the dark closet with high fashion robber looks and of course the look that inspired the graphic for the elimination: that dominatrix, conch studded leather gimp suit with black lipstick. @Trouble in Paradise (8.5) indirectly makes note of it, saying: "God what a BOP! I debated giving this a 9 for that music video alone!".
Life happens, and I had seriously lost all motivation to even participate in rates, but now I'm kicking back into things! At #79, coming up shortly, expect one of the longest songs in the rate.
Talk about a stir of controversy, as Miss Anthropocene's fourth elimination, making it the second most next only to SAWAYAMA, receives nearly the full range of scores, and indeed did at first when it was the 11 I had originally picked.
The album's penultimate track signals a complete left turn on the doom-and-gloom that runs through basically everything that precedes it in the tracklist. A car honking-esque flute and bird sounds greet us in this lullaby-esque song, in which Grimes amps the fairy vocals, sweet melodies and a DIY feel. As far as I know, she did all the track, up to mastering and engineering, by herself, perhaps best epitomizing the quarantine feel of these albums (though it had been recorded and done since early to mid 2019 - I digress).
IDORU has been said to be about the unfortunate pick of manchild that Grimes chose to have children with, or about her first child himself, as @sfmartin (8), points out: "Quite an odd beast! The song breathes in new life and growth, both sounding organic and technological with a kinetic romantic energy catapulting the album to it's close. A poetic ode to the new life growing inside her at the time". On the album page, it states that IDORU embodies the Goddess of Digital Lust, and I have no clue what she's on about here teebs. Maybe if lust was disguised as tender loving...?
To me, it's a song that conciles Grimes as her music persona and as her own person who really overshares in interviews and makes cringe, dumb or worrying statements. And though she'll always seem to me to be at odds with the misfame that surrounds her, this is a very commendable attempt! I love the line "Because you made my all time favorite music" because despite the antics and billionaire dick chasing, I do have a place in my heart for the great music that she has made throughout the years. And in general this track was a highlight of my 2020 as I listened to it many times while in the backseat driving through the early morning fog. Its sound is very Björk Utopia-esque (where's Forresa by the way?).
The video is a collection of images that play one after the other. And for seven minutes? Ma'am... At least the cues it takes from are excellent, as Ana Raquel (10) mentions: "This one is an automatic 10 because UTENA what an anime, where is @berserkboi to praise it with me".
@godspeed (2) says Delete Forever: " It could be sort of cute but it goes on forever". And @Trouble in Paradise (6) was probably checking on the clock every thirty seconds: "The intro had me excited for something new but then it devolved back into this sweeping droney sound that dominates the whole album. Is it Grimes brain fog in audio form?". Excuse you! It's a fae medieval android droney serve thank you. At least I can now bid my fave farewell and reveal that the rest of Miss Anthropocene is keeping safe... for now. And we have a tie coming up next!
There it is again--the lesson that I should pretty much always bump a 9.5 up to a 10 (even if it probably wouldn't have done much of anything overall).
At least my Grimes 11 remains! Let me go knock furiously on wood.
One of the British pop girls who's been beloved and sometimes hated in this forum is up next, with this cut from her fourth album of the same name. For any other artist, I might've been swayed to pick a single or pre-release track, but in this case, Brightest Blue is notable for having its singles shoehorned into the final tracks of the album in a separate "EG0" disc. Why? Because they consist of some of the male features Ellie had from 2018-2020, and which were received with a resounding "meh" from the public and members discussing her droplets era. For instance, @R27 (8) indirectly references these songs: "I like when Ellie Goulding makes music I like. I just wish it happened more often these days".
However, when the album came in that summer, it was not a featurefest but an affair less extensive than Delirium's 40 tracks, featuring mostly Ellie's lyrics and billed as more "artistic" since the musician also played guitar, bass and piano in them. All wrapped up in a blue/gold/black/white aesthetic. For instance, the closer of the 13-track CD1 we have rated here, comes with orchestral hints and themes of hope and purpose portrayed by the titular color. Some of it is definitely cheesy to me, but @godspeed (9.5) for instance has taken a loving for its concept: "An epic closer to a very underrated album".
There's also the fact that the track becomes very airy, and is already not super uptempo to begin with, but what @Trouble in Paradise (7) is most bugged about is the lack of a proper chorus and memorable melodies: "The way this album surprised me when it finally came out (not counting EG0 which I have never listened to) but I promptly never listened to anything beyond Start since the first week it came out. I honestly think for all her desperate hit chasing and side eye worthy stylings, the biggest surprise from this albums attempt at returning to the artist who made her first two albums is her lack of melodic hooks. I mean Lights is stuffed with hooks and you’d think someone who has spent the second half of their career begging to be a capital p Pop Star would have strengthened that muscle. Like where is the chorus mama?". Hearing it nowadays I feel the track does drag a bit, and that pitched vocal "chorus" becomes repetitive quick. Still, the soundscape and that choir is amazing, and its main strength. Taking us right to church! She sounds very good in the performance below, too.
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