What Have I Been Listening to?
Charli xcx is back with more fun, edgy, synthed the hell out pop music. “Music, Fashion, Film” is a quick little album that packs a punch, with some very cool synth sounds and some great introspective writing. “SS26” is a highlight on both fronts.
“brat” is kind of an impossible act to follow, though. It was one of the landmark pop records of the decade so far, and it ate all of pop culture for a little while there. Just about any follow up was bound to look a little light in comparison, and, well, “Music, Fashion, Film” kinda does. But I think it leans into that, to its benefit. It isn’t trying to be brat 2, opting instead for a more lean structure and stripped back sound. It’s kind of a perfect follow up, a back to earth moment after conquering the world for a summer.
I want to call it a light, breezy listen, because structurally and sonically it really is, but lyrically this thing is pretty heavy. It sees Charli grappling with the fraught state of the world and the stagnation of culture, as well as some familiar wrestling with ego and fame. All of this builds up to a big release in the last two songs. “Magic Metal Montana” is a sweet ode to Charli xcx’s producer and creative partner AJ Cook, and “No One Lasts Forever” presents death and oblivion as a state of liberation. These two songs together suggest that art and existential perspective are the answer for day to day woes. Which is all to say that Charli xcx has done it again, making a little philosophical treatise that sounds very convincingly like a fun times party album.
Still, though, I found “Music, Fashion, Film” to be just a little bit insubstantial. The hooks here aren’t the strongest Charli has ever written, and the minimalist (relative to her previous work) production doesn’t give me a ton to chew on otherwise. This is not to say “Music, Fashion, Film” is a bad album whatsoever. It’s a fun, quick listen, and it’s worth thinking about and dissecting. It just has not given us the song of the summer.
Rating: ☆
Jack White is more important to me than any other living artist. I don’t think anybody else outside of my family and close friends has had a bigger impact on me. I picked up a guitar because I wanted to learn how to play “Hotel Yorba” and “Fell In Love With a Girl,” and the rest of my life has unfolded from that decision. So, every new Jack White release is sort of comfort food for me. I can’t pretend to any kind of critical detachment here: “Frozen Charlotte” is a Jack White album, so I like it by default.
I can compare it to the rest of White’s oeuvre, though, and I do think it falters there. Nothing in White’s solo career has had the same interesting texture as every White Stripes album. Most people when they think of the White Stripes think of “Seven Nation Army,” or “Fell In Love With a Girl,” or maybe “Icky Thump.” The big riff bangers. Other people might think of “Hotel Yorba” or “We’re Going to Be Friends,” the softer folksier stuff. These two modes have survived intact into White’s solo career. But most White Stripes songs weren’t actually either of those things. “Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground” is, to me, the prototypical White Stripes song. It’s lyrical and bluesy, more of a rock song than the acoustic tracks, not as heavy as the bangers. If you look at the tracklist of any White Stripes album, this kind of song is what dominates. This is the secret to White Stripes album pacing: these middle of the road numbers are a medium for the standouts, the Icky Thumps and Hotels Yorba, to swim in.
Lately, Jack White has been leaning hard into the big loud riff rock for which he is principally famous. In “Frozen Charlotte” we’ve got an album much like “No Name,” which feels stripped down to the essentials. And again, this is comfort food to me. However, I can’t help but feel like White isn’t playing with his full range these days.
There’s nothing wrong with that. I can always go back and listen to the White Stripes, I can even go back and listen to the much maligned but genuinely brilliant “Boarding House Reach.” And “Frozen Charlotte” is still a solid, fun album. But it feels like 100% dessert, which hurts the pacing a bit. It’s just all big riff rock, all the time. It needs a “Now Mary,” desperately.
Rating: ☆
“Role Model Hermit” is the debut album by British rock outfit (Windmill scene, arguably?) mary in the junkyard. It’s dense, lyrical rock music with beautiful, elaborate guitar parts. I’ve listened to it probably five or six times at this point and don’t really feel like I’ve untangled it at all. But I can say that I really like it a whole lot.
“Blood” and “New Muscles” were the songs that stood out strongest at first, and are the ones that most fit the brief description of the album I just gave. That guitar part on “Blood” is just great. But every time I listen I come away focused on a new track. On my most recent listen “Peter The Dog” got me, with that line about the narrator feeding pieces of herself into the dog’s mouth sticking with me.
The lyrical voice is maybe the strongest part of this album, other than the excellent guitar work and dense song structures. “Thou Shalt Sprout” is a real standout in this way, as it weaves this beautiful, sort of Greek myth type story over a hypnotic groove. It’s all verse and no chorus, so the story it's telling has a lot of weight to carry, but it really works.
It’s an excellently paced album, too. “Mantra III” is a great opener, slow and moody with the line “It is yours babe, you deserve it” repeating over and over. It’s perfect as a preceding track to “Blood,” as it makes the arrival of that excellent guitar part all the more forceful. The first half of the album mostly follows suit from “Blood,” and then the second half slows things down with the supremely mellow “Crash Landing,” the sparse and intimate “Candelabra,” and the aforementioned narrative number “Thou Shalt Sprout.” The contrast between the two halves makes for a nice, engaging listening experience.
As I said up front, I don’t feel like I’ve really untangled this album yet. These are dense songs with lots of nooks and crannies. I’ll be throwing it on and picking up on new cool things it does for a while yet.
Rating: ☆☆