The Weekly Coos

25. 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

24. Danny Ocean – Reflexa

Though we’ve had some quality releases from acts like Young Miko, Jay Wheeler, Residente, Álvaro Díaz, Nathy Peluso, and RaiNao, I haven’t been able to get Reflexa, Venezuelan Singer Danny Ocean’s new album, out of my mind. I question whether it’s the vibes or the infectious melodies and production that are ever-changing beneath the sun while retaining a consistent edge to have its listeners grooving to the music nonstop that kept the hook in. Reflexa feels like an album for a hot spring and summer but without trying to replicate trending sounds without clutching at topicality. It’s an album, as he puts it on the final track “Involucrarnos,” was made as a thank you to fans, which in essence, is him creating a reflection of what made us gravitate towards his music more. Link To Review.

23. Kendrick Lamar – gnx

GNX is thematically rich with ideas that elevate a sense of being, especially as Kendrick finds his yen without losing track of his focus. That sentiment became clear when the co-founder of Audiomack and industry veteran Brian Zisook noted that Kendrick’s labels were only made aware of the drop the morning of; it further made the impact of “Hey Now” more powerful. Kendrick Lamar controls his narrative and happiness, whether introspective or relishing in the highs with  “wacced out murals” in “Squabble Up,” respectively. Kendrick is living his high and anyone who gets in his face has to prepare to fight, or as they say in Los Angeles, Squabble Up. It’s a collection of varying ideas that centralize themselves into who Kendrick Lamar is and what he feels, like the lavish and stunning construction of “Luther,” where Kendrick and SZA focus on love, and a better tomorrow. Link To Review.

22. Logic1000 – Mother

Mother is a relaxing surprise that makes your mind work, as it isn’t your daily intake of some SG Lewis dance hits, instead finding a tempered medium where the instruments create more of a presence and tell a story over being just vibes. It makes subtle moments like “Saint Rex” feel fresh through its minimalistic approach to the connecting sounds and chanting vocals that are empowering. It’s one track that follows a thinly paved path for the percussion, allowing the synths to work through it and create sensible overlays that bolster the effects it, unlike “Can’t Let Go,” which comes with pauses and tempo flips, weaving fast and slow percussion to emphasis moments in the lyrics. Link To Review.

21. 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

20. 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.

19. Pom Pom Squad – Mirror Starts Moving Without Me

Since Pom Pom Squad’s debut album, Death of a Cheerleader, I’ve fallen through the roof into its musical arms with gusto. Evoking the musical spirit of the Riotgrrl era of music brings a modern twist as the music evolves and takes form to be bigger than life with a grounded feminist punk vibe. However, their follow-up feels like a mild parting, in that we hear a more tender side to Mia Berrin, instead of the angsty. Berrin’s vocals are heavily focused on Mirror Starts Moving Without Me, like the duality in certain feelings that are personable to one. It has a steady throughline that makes you feel similarly through what gets heard, but it, unfortunately, cuts the run short as the music keeps going. It’s a slight disappointment that doesn’t translate heavily since I am very positive after the many listens I gave the album.   Link to Review

18. 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

17. 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

16. 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

15. 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

14. 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.

13. Westside Gunn – Still Praying

However, what makes Still Praying different is its conceptual turn through the pro-wrestling sampled vocals that orchestrate a wrestling stage for us to see from hearing as he personifies himself as a wrestler in some regard. It’s potently poignant, despite the content being more of the same; however, with an elevated pen game, it remains interesting from start to finish. It’s laced with boom bap and gritty East-influenced beats, and the two connect to create a significant stamp on who he is, and the prowess Westside Gunn has to command your ears makes it addictingly repeatable. I wasn’t crazy about his last album, And Then You Pray for Me, feeling too much of a mish-mosh of someone being who they aren’t, but Still Praying feels more like a return to form. Link to Review.

12. Boldy James & Conductor Williams – Across the Tracks

After a solid tape with Nicholas Craven in early 2024, Boldy James returns with a collab tape alongside Conductor Williams, and that alone is enough to hit play quickly on Across the Tracks. Conductor has shown his formidable range producing for distinct artists, like “11am in Malibu” for Kodak Black or “8am in Charlotte” for Drake, whose sound is opposite that of Griselda’s, the collective he produces for. For Boldy James, the two come together and deliver a crisp boom-bap hip-hop vibe while keeping its Detroit roots sonically forward through some of the Gangster rap-like bars and more. It’s Boldy James’ best since Bo Jackson if not better, all thanks to the fantastic energy and synergy emanating from both. Link to Review.

11. The Last Dinner Party – Prelude To Ecstasy

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

10. Sara Landry – Spiritual Driveby

Sara Landry has risen in notoriety over the last few years, like getting the first headlining spot for a hardcore techno DJ at Tomorrowland in Belgium and a fantastic Boiler Room performance in 2024, she continues that stride on her debut album, Spiritual Driveby. It invigorates the dance floor with hypnotic intangibles; before you know it, you get lost in the trance of pulse-pounding percussion and unique use of synths, alongside collaborations with techno/electronic DJs/Producers, molding a fantastic debut. Sara Landry starts the process by opening the album with hypnotism, using haunting vocals to engage you in raw techno staccato, where the layers become more pronounced as you go along. Link to Review.

09. JPEGMAFIA – I Lay Down My Life For You

Like All My Heroes Are Corballs, JPEGMAFIA continues his stride with his experimental nature and implements more Punk Rap flavors for your ear with his latest album, I LAY DOWN MY LIFE FOR YOU. It’s more than just reeling in the fantastic production through your ears, it’s hearing JPEGMAFIA lower his defenses, his way, and showing a different side of himself, even if it’s through some more braggadocio raps—the one real hit-or-miss component considering how terminally online he is, making some of these feel less hard. It’s an album that fills you with a bit of everything, but Peggy is audaciously enigmatic, making his vocals clash with the production with captivating intensity, it becomes harder to put down, especially when the equilibrium is high between the beats and flows. Link to Review.

08. 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

07. Lupe Fiasco – Samurai

Lupe Fiasco has painted portraits as homages for years, a favorite being “Hip-Hop Saved My Life,” which was an homage to Slim Thug, one of the greatest to come out of Texas. But his work spoke more than just mesmerizing visuals painted through his words; he embodies these people without distortions, offering more emotional depth to what is getting said, and with his new album, Samurai, it’s Amy Winehouse. As Lupe would tweet before its release, “Samurai in 5…A loving & living portrait to and of one of my favorite artists, Amy Winehouse…This one took on a life of its own and became an album. Looking forward to sharing it.” As he finally shares it, we see why he was looking forward to it, considering Lupe comes with an immediate impact on the title track, making sense of the direction taken with this portrait—emanating from the chorus, Lupe becomes Amy Winehouse, post writing rap bars and talking about it to Salaam Remi, as seen in Asif Kapadia’s documentary Amy (2015); from there, he doesn’t turn back, keeping the momentum high with the connections and delivering one of his bests to date. Link to Review.

06. Leon Bridges – Leon

Leon Bridges’ latest album Leon is a self-reflective moment that takes us back to his roots in Texas. He’s doing so via lyrics and production, with the latter using sounds that resonate more with the South, specifically Country music, becoming more of a touchstone of who he has been since the beginning. From Coming Home to Gold Digger Sounds, Leon Bridges has constituted this identity that’s tied to his musical roots in conjunction with the culture he was raised in, though he does fight against it on Good Thing by pushing away the iconography established with his debut, aka the “retro-soul guy,” as Leon Bridges would put it. From listening to Leon, I felt this was closer to the heart from a lyrical standpoint, as we are taken back to his home like a more poignant Coming Home. There is an institutional foundation where the music comes with a clear direction, sounding like a mix between some of the eccentricities found in Paul Simon’s Graceland with tender soulful vocals by Leon Bridges, though slightly stunted by some typicality in the performances; however, that doesn’t shift it away from being his best work to date. Link to Review.

05. Nathaly Peluso – Grasa

Grasa by Nathy Peluso has cemented itself as a cornerstone for her burgeoning career as a rapper and singer/songwriter; more importantly, it cements what will be a staple of her craft, equating the significant highs and more, from her last album, Calambre. As much as she sings radiantly, her rapping is on another tier, and it continues to surprise me, specifically with the ferocity she inhabits in her flows. Grasa matures her rap essence with a more seamless throughline; it’s gripping when she maneuvers from a Latin Funk and Electronic influenced Hip-Hop beat in “Mennia” to some R&B-laced vocals, accompanied by these audaciously hard drums on “Idea Radicales;” however, what makes it standout amongst the many Latin-Pop/Urbano albums released this year. It’s original and doesn’t confine itself to trends, feeling more apropos to who Peluso is instead of melting into the Pop pot. That is immediately apparent with the opening track, “Corleone,” this bolero number that displays a picture of Peluso as an artist and person. Link to Review.

04. 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

03. Cassandra Jenkins – My Light, My Destroyer

My Light, My Destroyer strolls strong with momentous consistency. It’s an album that I couldn’t help but leave on repeat for hours. Cassandra Jenkins isn’t one to deliver a dud, making much of the world and allowing us to inhabit what she sees and feels without relying on complacent parameters with its topics. She uses metaphors without ever extending into the complicated and never lets the motor wind down, even when she gives us these beautiful interludes, solo instrumentals, and the one track where it’s sung in French. These instances continue to bring life to the party, and in doing so we’re left with a lot to digest, which reflects a fantastic presence in music creation that can be found below the fold of standard pop. 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