The Weekly Coos

15. Norah Jones – Visions

Visions is an album that picks up momentum from beginning to end as if she’s painting the picture carefully and adding to the cast of colors as it goes along; in doing so, you’re in this shimmering cloud of soulful vocal bliss. It shines via Jones’ range that can hit those tender notes, sometimes surprising you as they play with instrumentations to change the approach of the vocals. Link to Review

14. SERPENTWITHFEET – GRIP

Grip is like Serpentwithfeet gripping to the everlasting without forgetting who he is, and he’s relishing in that moment. With the establishing sounds that engulf the world of the production palette of the album with “Damn Glove,” its lavish directness amongst the modest and bombastic production showcases something great. As the album progresses, he sprinkles a solid consistency between the sensual and smooth gospel-influenced R&B/Soul tenderness that made Deacon a memorable beauty. – Link To Review

13. Rapsody – Please Don’t Cry

What carries the album, more so than the lyrics, is the production, which I noted, and the melodic constructions of the choruses, as Rapsody blends different sounds into the production and gives it an individualized sense of being, like with the dancehall rhythms in “Never Enough,” or the free-flowing and fun “Black Popstar.” There are no recurring producers from the last album, aside from Eric G, but Rapsody opts for producers to push the limits of her style and in that, she assimilates, like the trap stylings of “Back In My Bag” or incorporates some synths and electronica coatings on “Diary of a Mad Bitch.”  Link to Review

12. Young Miko – att

Young Miko can rap, sing, and importantly, do so under different styles, like her more 2000s-centric hip-hop blend in “arcoíris” or the electric-crunk blend in “Princess Peach,” continuing to reflect some of that 2000s aesthetic. Though the aesthetic is focused and offers a refreshing insight into what is deemed retro for these new artists—since it’s becoming evident with this new generation, nostalgia has superseded the 80s and 90s—we’re seeing more of 2000s Eurodance, pop, and hip-hop/R&B, becoming more of an impactful influence.  Link to Review

11. Nia Archives – Silence Is Louder

Co-produced with Ethan P. Flynn, a frequent collaborator, they deliver an album with a throughline, never displacing itself for a systematic interpersonal anthem. Though that isn’t a total dig at artists who do because I tend to be a fan of many, though that’s more dependent on the expected direction the artist takes with the album, of course, but Archives choosing to be more of herself gives it more latching power as an identity piece. It makes tracks like “Killjoy!” and “So Tell Me…” such powerhouses, especially the latter where its pop tinges are inadvertent, giving weight to the atmospheric textures over the enigmatic production. Link to Review

10. Schoolboy Q – Blue Lips

Blue Lips is a return to form, as Q focuses more on the cadence and flow of what he sets up to deliver, a tour de force, giving way to re-establishing his prose and flows. Ab-Soul did so with his album last year, Herbert, bringing back a sense of familiarity as a means to sidestep away from what wasn’t fully working—the experimentations within Crash Talk didn’t feel all-natural, trying to push through sounds that didn’t all ruminate. Blue Lips is a triumphant upgrade that sees Q feeling at home as he reminds us who he is, and that’s the artist we got with Blank Face while also letting us hear him heal. Link to Review

09. Chief Keef – Almighty So 2

After opening with a riotous intro, Chief Keef brings an eclectic array of music bolstered by different themes, self-awareness, and a mostly consistent production. Though it can be mostly that, the switches into self-reflection becomes an everchanging grasp that showcases maturity. It isn’t anything new, as Keef hasn’t been shy from showing emotion; however, this feels different as the other music surrounding it turns on its head with Keef being heard as having a grasp of it all now, like how positively he can find it in him to focus on himself, as expressed in “Treat Myself,” a contrast of “Believe” where the latter sees Keef at his most vulnerable. Link To Review

08. Vince Staples – Dark Times

Vince Staples is a constant force that elevates the playing field when delivering his bars, especially as he keeps himself balanced between the complex and direct. Unfortunately, the production isn’t all that interesting from beginning to end, and much of that can be attributed to more of its gloomy production that doesn’t sway too far into being any different and becoming minimally tiring at times. As solid the quality of its beats, it’s more that the sounds aren’t trying to have any flair as we heard on previous albums, it’s more nuanced to the current stasis of boom-bap and sobering West Coast mixes, feeling more humbling to a core, like as Staples has matured from being flashy and relishing in his career throughout the years by humbling his mind.  Link To Review

07. Beyoncé – Cowboy Carter

Cowboy Carter does not feel confined by the parameters set up by country music, blending notes from varying genres to envelop a larger picture that is getting painted as you listen without detracting from the album’s flow. One example comes from “Daughter,” this emotionally violent but slightly melodramatic ballad where Beyoncé notices how many parallels she has with her father; it transitions into “Spaghetti,” where Linda Martell notes, “Genres are a funny little concept, aren’t they?… In theory, they have a simple definition that’s easy to understand, But in practice, well, some may feel confined,” showcasing a mentality in artists that aim to create unique constructs that sway from the norm, which helps keep one’s attention despite the length. Link To Review

06. Katy Kirby – Blue Raspberry

Modestly shifting from her last album, Kirby is bridging into more singer/songwriter territory while evoking the influence of 70s Folk Rock within the production and elevating herself further as an artist with an inherent identity and a tender soul, and making Blue Raspberry an immediate surprise that I didn’t want to end. It excels in giving us a further look at an artist with an extraordinary sense of consistency with the story behind the other factions getting delivered individually to mold it together. Much of the album speaks to Kirby’s internal strife with figuring out who she is and feeling comfortable through the ups and downs. As it goes from start to finish, some of the production’s whimsy can dry, though minimally, but Kirby’s vocals and writing give it an extended life you’ll want to get to the end. Link To Review

05. The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstassy

Prelude to Ecstasy delivers something different than linear stories pertinent to core emotions and instead works around more personable ideas that range and give new perspectives on life. As the band would note in an interview with RockSpot, “Ecstasy is a pendulum which swings between the extremes of human emotion, from the ecstasy of passion to the sublimity of pain, and it is this concept which binds our album together,” which helps exhume the readings and emotional density of the lyrics without placating them—though it does go by swiftly, comparatively, it isn’t end all be all as many songs get room to breathe and get the light on them as they get delivered. Because of this approach, songs never feel like a complete retread, more of a refreshing memory. It carries momentous synergy and leaves you enthralled by the journey you took with them. It hit me more the closer I listened to the writing as the production colored the background with its darker, atmospheric textures, giving it more potency, like the dark “My Lady of Mercy.” Its incorporation of the piano and organ allows its larger-than-life realization of what the song speaks of— empowerment and identity. Link To Review

04. Maggie Rogers – Don’t Forget Me

Don’t Forget Me is unlike previous records. Rogers and co-producer Ian Fitchuk (Kacey Musgraves’s main producer), weave together something more intimate with structurally fluid instrumentations that radiate through a sonic motif that starts and ends with a lack of synths. It’s playing less to the tinges of danceable pop, with something more nuanced in Folk and Soft-Pop Rock, an honest detachment I’ve seen coming, especially as Rogers’ 2023 was full of memorable moments and sharing stages with legendary performers/singers. Still, she channels artists like Carly Simon, Emmylou Harris, Joni Mitchell, and Rita Coolidge. Don’t Forget Me caught me by surprise, and in a majorly positive way; the tracks have lavish fluidity and tender depth, making it Rogers’s best work to date.  Link To Review

03. Hurray For The Riff Raff – The Past Is Still Alive

2024’s The Past Is Still Alive sees Alynda Segarra return to their roots in folk country and exemplifies growth within the genre they got their start in. That growth comes from exuberant production that floods the ears with raw realism and larger-than-life constructions that help color the canvas. It adds something that an album like My Dearest Darkest Neighbor didn’t think to do, especially with it being a modest cover album. However, it stands firm as an antithesis to growth, like the country-laced Young Blood Blues, which, in turn, makes The Past Is Still Alive this ethereal experience that takes all their best qualities forward.  Link To Review

02. Mannequin Pussy – I Got Heaven

Mannequin Pussy has an ear for sound, but how they deliver themes and the scope of what the music conveys has always been something that I’ve readily sought when digging through bands. Their new album, I Got Heaven, explores similar phonetic and sonic choices through new content that eschews the focus love songs of 2019’s Patience for a look at complicated personal relationships and emotions attributed to the notion of aging/maturity—it has the density that never clashes with the production, especially as it maneuvers through elements that interchanges influence of shoegaze and sheer punk veracity. What you get pounding in your ears is this fait accomple of synergy ruminating amongst the band members, where, at a point, you notice how a shift within production can seamlessly happen while furthering the thesis of which it’s creating. Link To Review

01. ELKKA – PRISM OF PLEASURE

Elkka’s music weaves sounds that can command dancefloors, and though her vocals have been part of that commanding flow, it was only an accompaniment, like the tracks in her mixes. With Prism of Pleasure, Elkka’s debut LP, it’s become a big part that helps the music build an emotional thematic core, pushing away from more thinly veiled tracks that elevate varying moods and rhythms. As an editorial for the New Yorker would write, “In a sense, the album marks the rebirth of Kirby’s singing career, only now her voice is not an accompaniment to the music but part of it,” and that’s its shining light, the vocals, as she uses to compose a statement about vulnerability. The avenues taken with each production, from club bangers to ambient techno to euphoric house anthems, add depth to the encompassing sounds that envelop them. In many ways, the album is personal to the artistry of Elkka; in being so, she never forgets what the music is supposed to represent by not placating the message with the output—whether ambient or euphoric or purely elevated synths, the dancefloor doesn’t get forgotten, even when one wishes it didn’t end. Link To Review