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Nourished By Time - The Passionate Ones
Like Marcus Brown's previous output, The Passionate Ones is self-produced, and consists of artful outpourings that combine highly spirited post-disco R&B, surging new wave, and an assaultive type of dream pop. The R&B element emits strong echoes of the decade-plus period from the immediate aftermath of disco to the flame-out of new jack swing. From his stentorian voice, often stacked and frequently high in the mix, to synthesizers that glower and glisten, rhythm guitars that ring, deep and sparing basslines, and rudimentary machine rhythms, Brown sounds like no one else. The lyrics run the gamut -- love, addiction, mental health, capitalism, overstimulated 2020s living in general -- and rarely fail to leave a strong impression. He's unafraid of mixing high-alert reportage and tongue-in-cheek humor, as in the caroming "Baby Baby," where he cracks wise about quasi-fame ("The sex ain't even fun yet/Sick of the blood tests") and later observes "If you can bomb Palestine, you can bomb Mondawmin," referencing a shopping mall in his native Baltimore. Brown inserts himself into "Crazy People," one moment recalling a moment on school grounds with a police offer's gun at his head, then off-handedly dropping a concise summation of where he's at as an artist: "Wrote my story every night/Learned the power of the mind/There's beauty in the world/It made me tongue-tied/It took me ten years, but I'm on time." He has certainly harnessed the zeitgeist. ~Andy Kellman, all music.com
Sudan Archives - The BPM
On “The BPM” Brittney Parks as Sudan Archives brings “Everything from drum'n'bass and juke to trap and hyperpop in the mix, and Parks somehow remembered to bring her violin. She applies her main instrument primarily as a layer, most effectively in scratching/tickling fashion on "Come and Find You," a part-Afropop fusion of styles in which Parks playfully commands in her uppermost register. In "A Bug's Life," Dickey whips up an organic house groove with enough space for Parks to make like a member of the MFSB string section, deepening its disco foundation as she also breathily sing/raps about her infatuation. She experiments more with her voice, mostly through all manner of processing, though it's as significant that she nimbly raps throughout the verses of "My Type," a charging electro-house track that captures the rush of new love through another character sketch. Virtually every element, whether played or programmed, is in service to Parks' sybaritic visions, and they all stimulate movement free from restraint. ~Andy Kellman, allmusic.com
Turnstile - Never Enough
Turnstile's third album, Glow On, broke them out of the hardcore scene and into the mainstream, earning near-universal acclaim, a Grammy nomination, and prominent chart placements around the world. Arriving four years after Glow On and weighted with expectations is Never Enough, the group's fourth full-length. Produced by frontman Brendan Yates with assistance from hardcore specialist Will Yip, this is the sound of a band in their creative prime, undaunted -- and quite possibly ignited -- by the spotlight now trained on them. It's their first release without founding guitarist Brady Ebert, who is replaced by new member Meg Mills, and even if the change is subtle, Turnstile have turned a corner here. Without abandoning their hardcore roots, they embrace a definitively more melodic sound that visits all sorts of locales, from lush dream pop and electronica to pristine, funky alt-rock and thrashy nu metal, all of it played with confidence and finesse. satisfaction. ~Timothy Monger allmusic.com
Oneohtrix Point Never — Tranquilizer
Tranquilizer is something of a hard reset of Oneohtrix Point Never's music. Compared to his albums since Garden of Delete, it does feel back to basics. The link to Replica's reimaginings of forgotten commercials is obvious, but the lush-yet-fragmented sonics of pieces such as "For Residue" -- which finds beauty in the digital detritus of anodyne synth pads, chirping birds, and crying babies -- also hark back to R Plus Seven. And while Lopatin described Tranquilizer as more process-oriented than most of his work since the mid-2010s, it still touches on universal themes. Above all, nothing is perfect, and nothing is permanent. The breathing room Lopatin leaves on the album affords more space for his melodies, which are among his loveliest in some time. "Cherry Blue" is one such moment, a rhapsodic ambient/dream pop hybrid where the wavering guitar sounds like the product of digital decay rather than a whammy bar. There's also more room to reflect on Tranquilizer. The album's melancholy depths rival those of its soulmate Replica, particularly on the shadowy textures and sweeping contours of "Fear of Symmetry" and "Vestigel." But before moving from this territory to the brittle tones of late-'90s electronica on "Rodl Glide," Lopatin detours into what can only be called sexy Weather Channel music, reminding listeners once again that in Oneohtrix Point Never's world, there are no guilty pleasures. He sounds freer than he has in years on Tranquilizer, and within its infinity mirror of transience and permanence, he uncovers the lasting soul within the digital abyss. ~Heather Phares, allmusic.com
The Last Dinner Party arrived at the soiree fully formed, having appeared seemingly out of nowhere with 2023's bawdy and assured festival fave "Nothing Matters." The group's theatrical, bold-faced indie rock -- evoking the spirit of Oscar Wilde, Florence + the Machine, Charlotte Brontë, and Hedwig and the Angry Inch -- struck a chord with audiences and sent their debut album, Prelude to Ecstasy, to number one in the U.K. From the Pyre follows in its predecessor's bedazzled footsteps, delivering lusty thespian rock to the masses with wit, warmth, and remarkable pop craftsmanship. Lee Hazlewood is mentioned just a few bars into the opulent opener, "Agnus Dei" -- a dazzling showcase of the band's impeccable vocal arrangements -- and his "cowboy psychedelia" looms large on the brooding "This Is the Killer Speaking" and the spare barroom weeper "Sail Away." The group's greatest strength lies in their unified front, where each member's contribution not only supports the whole but fortifies its very foundation -- this aesthetic applies as much to arena-ready anthems like "Second Best" and "Inferno" as it does to an immersive art-rock gem like "Woman Is a Tree." TLDP puts all of these predilections into motion on the penultimate "Scythe," a powerful rumination on grief and mortality that manages to feel both superfluous ("Open me up, butcher my heart, please let me die on the street where you live") and life-affirming ("Don't cry, we're bound together, each life runs its course"). It's a neat trick, and one that the Last Dinner Party are more than capable of pulling off. These are all big-hearted songs dreamed up in small rooms, and painted in bold Broadway strokes. ~James Christopher Monger, allmusic.com
The Last Dinner Party - From The Pyre
Makaya McCraven — Off The Record
Off the Record is Makaya McCraven's first album since 2022's In These Times. This double-length album compiles four EPs, all with different lineups. The core recordings were cut between 2015 and 2025, then subjected to McCraven's trademark "beat science" mix treatment, combining jazz, hip-hop, electronics, funk, and psychedelia. The three Eps consist of The People’s Mixtape – original recordings from a 2025 Brooklyn concert; followed by Hidden Out – from his Chicago 2017 residency sessions at Hideout; and finally Pop Up Shop from a 2015 debut performance in LA. “While each of these EPs stand on their own in quality, they create a rhythm orgy that is wildly musical and presented as a near symbiotic whole when combined.” Thom Jurek, allmusic.com
