By Nicholas Palmer

Going into this album review, I didn’t have much experience with Lana Del Rey, and I will be frank in saying that I never actually listened to a single song of hers before. Recognition by name, despite not knowing of her sonically, I’d heard her name come up quite often as one of the most unique and interesting artists that currently resided in the music industry. As a result, when I heard that she would be coming out with her new album in the early part of 2021, I knew that I would have to give it a try.

To my surprise, I found an album that exceeded any expectations that I had before. With a sound so unlike anything that I had listened to throughout the whole semester, and themes that felt so personal to both the industry and the artist herself, it was a piece that left me thoughtful and reflective. With these points laid out, I think it is important to talk a little about the background of the album.

Chemtrails Over the Country Club is Lana Del Rey’s seventh studio album, as well as her seventh top-ten album in the country. Receiving critical acclaim from upon release, the album deals with topics such as escapism and love — with a tinge of retrospective nostalgia that seems to carry between songs.

Originally set to be released in 2020 but due to manufacturing delays, the release was pushed back to 2021 and released on March 19^th. Del Rey states that much of the album is pertained to her “stunning girlfriends” and “beautiful siblings,” revealing a much more emotional, innocent side of her than was previously explored.

In particular, among the high points of the album, I found myself attached to three of her B-sides, along with the title track “Chemtrails Over the Country Club.”

The first song I’ll talk about, “Wild at Heart,” is a song that explores ideas of freedom and love, connecting back to the genuineness of her prior album. The song is often praised for its use of recycling elements from several tracks found in her previous album, creating a bridge from her past self to her current. The slow piano opening features a melody so pure and open that you can hear the strings on the guitar in the recording. The song doesn’t keep itself limited, however, with the end of the pre-chorus creating a small swell into a jazz/folk inspired chorus that is jarring from the verse but intriguing. Another element that is explored on the album that is showcased in success here is her use of dueling vocals, one typically in a higher range, that play off each another. This album had many moments to show off Del Rey’s amazing vocal, with her airy, echoey tone feeling almost spiritual. In its truest essence, this song has a bombastic nature with the varying vocals at the end providing the perfect completion to a song of exploration and experimentation.

The next track after “Wild at Heart” is another of my favorite songs off the album, “Dark But Just A Game.” Beginning with a quote from the song’s producer, Jack Antonoff, the song explores the tragedy many stars face where artists must create a façade of themselves to achieve the fame they desire. As fame tends to be the album’s main antagonistic force, Del Rey refuses to change who she is, being happy and open as the person she is. This theme of identity and truth is played throughout the song and creates a great juxtaposition. For example, in the opening verses, there’s a vocal effect placed on her voice that creates a compressed, almost heavy feeling that is then stripped away for the chorus where her voice is carried and clear.

The song is at its best when it moves between parts. There’s key changes, differences in percussion between tambourines and a deep bass that gives variety and uniqueness from point to point. Finally, as the song begins to fade out, there is this one bit of repetition that provides this almost futile feeling. A song that gets better the more you explore the interesting background elements and the lyrics in attachment to the instrumentation, “Dark But Just A Game” has a strong message that could speak for the music industry as a whole.

The next song I want to turn attention to is the 8^th track on the album, “Yosemite.” The song describes a changing relationship and says a great relationship can “stand the test of time” just like anything in nature. Del Rey once described that even if people in the relationship change, it doesn’t necessarily have to be a change that would cause the relationship to come to an end. To Del Rey, she states that this song truly captures the essence of what a relationship ought to be, and its lyrical elements truly carry that message throughout. The beginning carries this atmosphere that’s reflective of a western, with the guitar’s repeated melodic line giving it a haunting feel. As well, the tapping of the soft bongos give the song a fun, fluttery tone as her vocals carry over the instrumentation. As well, the cymbals and synths that kick in just melt into one another and feels like one large sound.

One thing that really captured my interest in this song is how it makes use of some repetitive elements. The guitar never really explores any different melodic lines, but it works in conjunction with the various instrumentation changes and tonal shifts that grounds the song in a bit of commonality. Truly, this song has a lot of interesting things going on that one review cannot truly explore. There’s the bridge where she adds an echo vocal effect on her voice, the screeching in the background at points, and more that leaves the listener encapsulated in a song that seems to end far too quickly, despite its lengthy run time.

Finally, there is the title track for the album “Chemtrails over the Country Club.” In this quieter piece, Del Rey contrasts the imagery of chemtrails, often the focus of many conspiracy theories, with the serenity of suburban life. A ballad that speaks right to the artist’s strength, she creates a landscape that speaks to the true essence of life, commenting on the lavishness and happiness often created in suburban ignorance. There’s a supernatural quality to her vocals that caught me the first time I heard this song; something that would be reinforced throughout the rest of the album. There’s a slight reverb in her voice that slightly dissuades itself from purity. It adds a layer of insecurity just like the suburbia that she comments on. One interesting element of the song is how Del Rey plays with the weight in her voice. At times it can feel so light as if it would float from word to word, and other times it feels so dense that it could be felt within the listener themselves. Into the final verses of the song, the build up with the percussion and synth in the background creates this anticipation for one final exploration. As the song fades away, there is this repetition of the drum that leaves the song unsettling, as if there’s more to be explored; a quality that I find to be intriguing, and leaves the listener anticipated for the other tracks to come.

For myself, there were a lot of high points on the album. I found the tone to be quite unique and starkly different from what many of the top artists in the industry are doing, which creates a style and message that is quite Del Rey’s own. As well, while there were not any large tonal shifts throughout the album, the variations and experimentations that take place are quite interesting. The more you listen, the more appreciation they’ll get. While I would have preferred a couple songs that maybe broke the form a little, perhaps one with a third verse or one that had a fast opening, I have to say no song on the album left me disappointed and it was difficult to pick favorites to analyze in more detail. While I have no basis of which to rate this album in comparison to Del Rey’s past works, it left me wanting more and genuinely interested in her work. While this style of music is not one that I typically listen to, her stellar vocals and her careful instrumentation, along with deep lyrical themes that carry from song to song, really make this an album that stands out in the year so far.

With the Grammy’s in hindsight, now comes the time for reflection and opinions. Maybe you thought a different artist should have won, or you felt that the Academy was unfair and overlooked a certain song for contention. This year, I believe there was no greater disappointment by the Grammy’s than their ignorance of the Weeknd’s album After Hours. Released in March of 2020, it received generally positive reviews, with many critics claiming it to be Abel Tesfaye’s (The Weeknd’s) greatest work to date. With After Hours breaking multiple chart records, achieving immense popularity amongst fans of Tesfaye’s and charting on Billboard for weeks, the lack of any nominations came as a shock to many. Being dubbed “album of the year” by critics without even making the nomination list, it left me curious what the piece would be like. As such, I began my listening of the After Hours to see just how good this Grammy oversight of an album really is.

After Hours is the Weeknd’s fourth studio album, representing a reinvention and renewal for the artist. With themes of loneliness, heartbreak and recklessness, the often shining instrumentals create a stark juxtaposition with the lyrics and message of each track on the album. With introductions of new wave and dream pop influences, those familiar with his Starboy era are sure to be surprised in listening to this new style. Vulnerable, innovative and downright angelic, this album’s place in a shattered 2020 was bold and touching. For myself, I find this album works best in when listening in order. Many of the themes and narratives, of love lost and change can be felt from track to track. As well, the similar instrumentation and aesthetics give the audience a journey from start to finish that feels incomplete without hearing every single element that The Weeknd has to offer. From “Hardest to Love,” to “Faith” to the singles “After Hours” and “Blinding Lights,” this fourteen track album offers the listener many variations of which to enjoy; fitting a style and atmosphere for everyone to latch on to.

“Hardest to Love” is the third track on the album. The Weeknd paints a relationship that has gone sour; where the singer knows their partner wants to break up, even if they are together at the time the song is written. Here, the singer wants a real and meaningful relationship, with the absence of others and the emptiness it brings being represented and touched upon. The main melodic rift is light and fleeting, reflecting this sort of whispery remorse that echoes throughout the song. The deep bass that kicks in during the verses gives a darkened vibe, with the outro having a mixture of droning and distortion. Here, the main melody plays ever so faintly to carry the listener forward. While repetition is an element that I find to be a little bit stagnant in the album on the whole, I think The Weeknd does it best in this piece. It doesn’t feel forced, and by the end of the song, you find yourself singing the main choral lines. It was an easily memorable and catchy piece.

One of my favorite B-sides on the album, “Faith” is a song that offers a reflection between religion and partying/drug usage. Personable and honest, it has those moments of humanity that makes this song standout. Comparing getting high to losing one’s religion, the mix of synths and sirens, along with The Weeknd’s angelic vocals really gave this song its ethereal sounding quality. This is most prominent at the ending, where the religious imagery painted throughout the song is reflected in the sound. It is this outro, however, where the distortion and pacing shift to make the melody deeper and somber as it leads towards its conclusion. What this song does best is its moment of attention grabbing, such as at the line “But if I OD” where instrumental changes occur during a counter-melody introduction in the synth that creates an intriguing tonal shift. A song that gets better with each listen, this is definitely one I do not recommend skipping.

Next comes the album’s titular track, “After Hours.” The album’s penultimate record, it describes an ex-relationship, with the singer apologizing for his past failures and wishing to make up for them. Clocking in at just over 6 minutes, some may not appreciate its extended runtime. However, its varied sections really give the album some time to experiment and shine. Poignant and refined, the song never feels as if it is dragging and I was shocked at how quickly it felt. The song gives it moments to breathe, being an experience from start to finish. There’s a dark atmosphere to the piece, with some dissonance and electronic sounds, but Tesfaye’s falsetto shines brightly, being a light in this rather darker tone. I will admit that between verse 2 and 3, it can feel a bit repetitive or as if the song may be dragging on. But overall, I think this song just goes to show the balance that the Weeknd does in this pop and creative fusion, creating a piece that is both impactful and different from minute to minute.

Finally of the tracks that I will discuss in depth, there is arguably the most popular and well recognized song from this era of the Weeknd, “Blinding Lights.” This piece finds The Weeknd distracted, with the presence of his significant other making up for his state. An 80s synthpop sound, mixed with electropop and EDM drums, this song both harkens back to this pervious eras, while also explosively pushing into an era all brand new. Certified platinum and breaking the record for most weeks in the Top 10 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart — this song was a hit amongst fans and its very evident why. One thing Tesfaye stands out for most are his vocals, which carry smoothly through the chorus here. This is backed accordingly with high-pitched electronic sounds in the melodic frame that creates differentiation in the song. As well, the lower bass works well here, indicating tonal shifts as the song moves from section to section. In fact, it works so well that by the time you reach the end, you only wish that it went on just a tad bit longer.

As someone who has never listened to a Weeknd album in full, or his style of music prior, I went in with very little expectations other than the opinions I’d heard from others. And, while I have mostly enjoyed this album and added a few songs to my playlists, there were some elements that I found to disrupt my listening pleasure. One of the biggest being the abundance of similarities, in my own opinion, from song to song on the album. I’m not someone that necessarily feels that each song on an album has to delve into different genres of music. However, with the instrumentation being similar in a rather large album such as After Hours, along with core themes that carry from song to song, it can start to feel a tad repetitive when you listen to it all in one go. Moreover, on a personal level, I had wished The Weeknd had gone a little deeper in his lyrical approach. Overall, I am sure many of these songs touch upon topics that must be difficult for him to address, so it is not a strong critique. But, with some very moving moments in many of these songs, I only wish that it carried into every corner of this album.

In collecting my thoughts on After Hours I think my overall first impression from it was: shocked. I was shocked that this album, which had so many great tracks and really touched upon a lot of the emotions that many felt in this 2020 was just ignored by the recording academy. That this album that had broken so many records and became an instant classic would not be remembered for winning anything that year. I do not know the intimate process that goes into the nomination of a piece of music for the Grammy Awards, so I do not know the ultimate decision process that was behind the voting panel. However, to me this album was rather solid and gave me an interest in future The Weeknd material in the future. While it had some elements that I disliked, I overall found it to be sonically cohesive and an enjoyable experience. While the Grammy’s may not have a seen it as award winning, if you’ve yet to listen to it yourself, I say listen to the fans and you’ll be in for a treat.

By: Nicholas Palmer

If you’ve ever considered yourself a lover of all types of musical genres, then you’ve probably heard of the Foo Fighters before. And, if you consider yourself a rock music enthusiast, chances are you’ve heard one of their singles, even if you haven’t dabbled in the band’s records. As such, with the band only continuing their legendary success with a nomination into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, the question someone would ask themselves is: where does a band with a 25-year legacy go from here? How does a group so imprinted in the rock and roll genre possibly reimagine itself?

Therein lies their 10^th album, Medicine at Midnight. A party-pop, dance album that takes both elements that the group has worked on before and also completely walks away from that. Going for the more sing-along pop-rock kind of songs, this album definitely feels constructed under the idea of sing-along concert venue songs. And, with those being on hiatus indefinitely, this album for fans is the next best thing to attending a live performance. With writing beginning after a brief hiatus in 2018, and with some ghostly stints in the recording process at a 1940s house (I personally would look up the story to hear some of the testimonies from the bandmates) the album was finished rather quick, but delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The band would then later decide to release the album to lift sprits regardless, with it releasing February 5^th, 2021.

Songs that really grabbed my attention and represented much of the high points on this album were: “Cloudspotter,” “Holding Poison,” and, one of the singles, “Waiting on a War.” “Cloudspotter,” the third track on the album, is so unique to me in part due to its percussion and vocals. The harmonization between Dave Grohl and the female voice is beautiful, and the deep voice mumbling ‘cloudspotter’ was almost chilling. As well, the buildup into the final chorus, along with the yelling and explosive vocals, help give this album its first real jolt of energy and provides a great experience.

“Holding Poison,” the 7^th track on the album, does a lot of word painting around its lyrics that adds a fun layer to the song on the whole. When the word ‘down’ gets sung, the melody goes down and when the lead singer sings ‘around and around’ the harmonic progression continues to get higher and higher as if the listener is being spun around and around. As well, during the guitar solo section, which on its own is a very nice addition to the song to help break up any sort of monotony, there’s a sort of choral vocal element in the background which just adds that extra layer of interest to the song. In essence, this song builds upon the percussive and melodic elements before it, but takes a lot of interesting turns that create unexpected and uplifting moments throughout.

Finally, there’s the single “Waiting on a War.” It was by far my favorite song on the album. A definite concert song, Dave Grohl stated that he wrote the song in relation to his past growing up in the Cold War era, where the threat of war was always possible. This is reflected in the line “everyday waiting for the sky to fall” with the threat of nuclear destruction always leering over the head of past generations. Besides its strong message, the whisking voice carries this almost ghostly present of the past, with acoustic guitar definitely giving it a reflective feeling. The ending, however, is a must listen to. As different instruments were added throughout the song, they come together for an explosive finale with typical rock elements as the tone turns from bleak to hopeful. Climatic and tumultuous; maybe society can keep waiting on a war just a little more.

While I mostly enjoyed the album, there were some critiques I had with the album on the whole. While I had no issues with the performance, nor the instrumentation on the album altogether, there were elements that ,when taken with the rest of the album, created a less than perfect listening experience. One of those being that a lot of the instrumentals were similar throughout the whole album. That is not necessarily a bad thing, but by the time you reach the ninth and final song on the album “Love Dies Young,” you start to feel like you have already heard the beginning section somewhere else in a different song. Moreover, while every chorus felt unique and different, that was only true if you examined each individually. A lot of the time, many songs by the final chorus felt repetitive. And with many having a four plus minute runtime, this felt like it didn’t need to be so.

Overall, as someone who has never fully explored Foo Fighters discography before and as someone not that familiar with their music, I would say that I was pleasantly surprised by this album. With this being their 10^th studio album, it seems to me and general listening audiences that this album did not drastically change or reshape anyone’s perceptions of Foo Fighters. In this point in their career, however, maybe that’s okay. Being inducted into the hall of fame and having countless charted singles and awards, it seems at this point all the members need do is write music that pleases them and their fans. Hopefully, fans of Foo Fighters can hear these pieces, especially the real treasurable ones in concert soon. Until then, give this album a concert-like listen in your own house — your own personal medicine at midnight.

By: Nicholas Palmer

Moving away from his sophomore album, Zayn Malik has never felt both further away from his time in One Direction and closer to a style all his own. In his third studio album, Nobody is Listening, Zayn brings together some of the closest personal elements of his life into a construction of artistry that he’s not done before. Being described as such, Zayn had total creative liberty throughout the entire album, from lyrics all the way to the album artwork. The album has its ups and its downs, but what it does best throughout it is share the soul of Zayn in the way that an artist could not have done any better.

In his album, Zayn gives a personal touch to his music that gives a real connection between the message and the melody. In Nobody is Listening, he plays upon the perception of fans who never listen to celebrities’ real voices in which they talk about their grief and pain beyond the façade of the mysticism of fame. Throughout the album, Zayn deals with topics such as his anxiety, past eating disorder, his use of cannabis as a calming agent and his relationship with Gigi Hadid. For fans, this album speaks as a reflection of the artist himself and a true connection between Zayn and his audience. And, just as with the single “Vibez,” sometimes you have to just not be afraid to be yourself. Because in the end, nobody is even truly listening.

Personal highlights of the album come from the single “Better,” along with the tracks “When Love’s Around” and “Sweat.” “Better,” the first of the two singles, gives the first taste of the album’s main musical stylistic elements of R&B, pop, and maybe even a little soul. Harkening to almost an emotional ballad of sorts, with underlying lyrics hinting to his relationship with Gigi Hadid, this serves as a representation of the type of artistry present throughout.

“When Love’s Around” includes one of the two feature artists included on this album, Syd, with Devlin providing great moments as well in “Windowsill.” WLA is a song that has some of the most interesting instrumental moments of the whole album with keyboards, synths, drums and guitars all combining beautifully. As well, Syd’s vocals in harmonization with Zayn’s creates some of the most powerfully emotional melodies you will hear from Zayn yet.

For “Sweat,” its message of physical love is consistent with other parts of the album, however, the vocals and harmony are perhaps Zayn at his best. The elongated vowels that split up the chorus bring the passion reflected in the lyrics, creating a piece that is as powerful in text as it is sonically.

That is not to say that there are not some elements that do not detract from the album on the whole. One thing that I have seen criticism of Zayn over is his lack of proper enunciation, with mumbling often being described in his singing style. As well, this album does not do him any favors in combating that criticism, although it does have its charm at times. While the lack of big instrumentation may be reflective of the message and title of the album itself, it is unfortunate a couple more larger production pieces could not have been included. This would have helped to break some of the repetition and similarity that took place from time to time.

Ultimately, I find this album to be almost transitional in nature for Zayn. A piece that feels so distant from his past performance nature but also gives just a taste of his best qualities, Zayn feels right at the moment to create a truly sensational piece of music in the coming years. While it is likely that this album will not perform as great as many fans may hope for, the talent and direction of Nobody is Listening is interesting for Zayn. With this album being so closely personal for him, he makes it evident that he’ll keep on singing even if there’s nobody left to listen.