Benjamin Clementine Behind/Virgin EMI Score: B+ After winning the 2015 Mercury Prize for best album of the year, Benjamin Clementine is back with his album, I Tell a Fly. Compared to his acclaimed debut,...
Alvvays Polyvinyl Records Score: A- Antisocialites is a short burst of beautifully crafted pop rock that captures the spirit of the genre with authentic ease. Winding picked guitars and dancing bass lines create layers...
Partner You’ve Changed Records Score: B+ Partner’s debut full length album In Search of Lost Time combines everything the band does best. It’s a fun classic dad rock sound combined with proudly queer and...
Zola Jesus Sacred Bones Records Score: A- It’s not often that genre-bending is utilized to such grand effect, but Nicole Hummel (aka Zola Jesus) meshes elements of goth-pop, industrial, and quasi-Gregorian chants to such...
Gorillaz Humanz Parlophone Records / Warner Bros. Distance may have been the best thing to happen to the much-hyped early summer release of Damon Albarn’s fifth studio Gorillaz release, Humanz. Initially met with mixed...
Aminé Good for You CLBN / Republic Records Easily the most promising artist of XXL’s 2017 Freshman Class, 23-year-old Aminé made a grand entrance this summer with Good for You, a bombastic fifteen-track LP...
The War on Drugs A Deeper Understanding Atlantic Records While Ryan Adams seemed to lay claim to the “Americana” crown earlier this year with Prisoner, it’s The War on Drugs who are poised to...
Lorde’s 2013 debut album Pure Heroine was one of my favorite albums when it was released. Now, four years later Melodrama is finally out and I can’t help but feel disappointed. The singles Greenlight and Liability stayed the standouts of the...
Girlpool’s self-titled 2014 album garnered them some life long fans. Then, their 2015 album Before the World Was Big, was a wonderful stepping stone, but, Powerplant is where they have come into their own. Powerplant combines their vocal harmonies with...
One Direction’s Harry Styles has gone solo and while his new album showcases what his vocal range can do when he’s on his own, it doesn’t offer much personality. The standout of the album...
