REVIEW: SELENA GOMEZ & BENNY BLANCO - I SAID I LOVE YOU FIRST

4/5

Only Lovers In The Building 

Love wins. Even in the face of the shameful, shaming, cruel comments Benny Blanco has received for his relationship with fiancée Selena Gomez. The super-producer has frankly faced disgusting comments about his looks and life with the billionaire musician and star of 'Only Murders In The Building' TV series with Steve Martin and Martin Short and the Oscar nominated musical 'Emelia Perez'. But then again, even Michael B. Jordan would be punching above his weight when it comes to Selena. Never mind all that b######s, because with a sex pistol of an album through the keyhole, the pop princess and producing prince of a power couple, Selena Gomez and benny blanco (that's not shade, it's how he writes his artist name) give us 'I Said I Love You First'. 

Pop is in a perfect place, right now, and with this polished production of a home album, this is the new Ross and Rachel for the "no, no, you sign out first" generation, friends. Another half-hour, all power album in a New Music Friday that sees the Japanese Breakfast of Michelle Zauner and co keep company 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)'. Coming a few weeks after the BLACKPINK artists (LISA and JENNIE) she had 'Ice Cream' with went head-to-head with the 'Sour Candy' of Lady Gaga, and each other, haters will say this is just a new Selena Gomez album, with her husband-to-be riding her coattails. But no. This best of both world's affair has Benny Blanco manning the boards and sharing the spotlight, like John Leguizamo (AKA "Benny Blanco from The Bronx") did with Al Pacino in 'Carlito's Way'. Especially in the cinematic sounding, music video matching 'Younger And Hotter Than Me' song of solidarity to all those starlets in Hollywood, that are actually anything but that, and instead, are the substance and everlasting beauty of real women.

Whether it be the "big, BIG heart" tongue in cheek of the City of Angeles perfect 'Sunset Blvd', or that Billie Eilish like sound of Marina del Rey, like that Grammy robbed (expect a nomination here, though) artist, Gomez may owe a debt of gratitude to her inspiration from Lana Del Rey. Yet this album is still all hers...and Benny's for better, and no worse. Collaborating with Gracie Abrams on the grace of the leading single 'Call Me When You Break Up' on this album that is as LA as John Mulaney's 'Everybody's Live' (but why the STAPLES Center like name change?). Tainy and J Balvin also feature on 'I Can't Get Enough', but aside from that, it's all Benny and Selena. From the titular opener to the 'Scared Of Loving You', Finneas O'Connell co-wrote closer and 'Stained' bonus. "You want me to act like the bad girls/Put you on your knees/Kiss me like we're meant for each other/Say you'll never leave", Selena empowers on the 'Cowboy' ride that's all sexual and explicit, with tongue in cheek of the one you love. Riding off into the sunset together...forever. With cans on string following the "Just Married" licence plate.

This English and Spanish album following Selena's 'Revelación' extended play and Blanco's own 'Friends Keep Secrets 2' sequel, both released in 2021, deserves its own follow-up too. An inspired Interscope album that features its own share of heartbreak ('Don't Wanna Cry', 'How Does It Feel To Be Forgotten' and 'You Said You Were Sorry') for the young lovers keeping it real. But 'Don't Take It Personally'. Amongst highlights like that, 'Ojos Tristes' (featuring The Marías) and 'Do You Wanna Be Perfect', it's the 'Bluest Flame' that burns the brightest as Selena sings, "Hey there/When I lay in your arms, am I there?/When I'm lost in the garden of air/You know how it feels/Body on body, it's you and me and it's real". All to a love making hook ("Ah, I just wanna go all night/I just wanna go insane/Touchin' in the summer rain/Hotter than the bluest flame, hotter than the bluest flame") you'll really f### with over and over. Young and in love, who are we to judge? Engaged in wedding planning and a matrimony of joy, the happy couple atop the cake have just found their reception playlist. Now how about the first dance? TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Younger And Hotter Than Me', Sunset Blvd', 'Cowboy'.

REVIEW: JAPANESE BREAKFAST - FOR MELANCHOLY BRUNETTES (& SAD WOMEN)

4/5

Breakfast Can't Wait

Good morning from Japan. Your breakfast is ready. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, indie pop act Japanese Breakfast (fronted by Korean-American Michelle Zauner of 'Crying In H Mart' bestseller fame) are back. And they're about to set foot in the land of the rising sun for some set-lists as part of their world tour, visiting Tokyo (Zepp Shinjuku) and Osaka (Club Quattro). All for 'The Melancholy Tour' supporting their brand-new album 'For Melancholy Brunettes (& Sad Women)', which came out this big New Music Friday just gone, alongside the likes of Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco ('I Said I Loved You First'). But there's no infinite sadness to this melancholia like the smashing pumpkins, because this Dead Oceans album is the first Japanese one since they smashed yellow tomatoes in the 'Jubilee', coming out of corona of 2021. Save the sensational 'Sable' video game soundtrack released in the same year. 

Breakfast is served via Peter Bradley's guitar, Deven Craige's bass, and the drums, keyboard and backing vocals of Craig Hendrix. Setting off singles like 'Orlando In Love' and 'Mega Circuit' on this top ten track album and their respective nostalgic, throwback videos, chasing cinematic pirates and camcorder recorded dirt bikes lost in the woods. But for all the American love to the cities, seasons and attractions (whether it's the highlight 'Winter In LA', or the closing 'Magic Mountain' peak for all you Floridians), the real big-hitter for the former Little Big League singer is the big collaboration with 'The Big Lebowski' and 'Tron' star actor Jeff Bridges, remaking his own musical legacy once again, like he did with a 'Crazy Heart'. On 'Men In Bars', the 'Sleeping Tapes' singer sings "Got back in the ring, I took a spill/I spent a while just tumbling down/Found my head again and took to a new town." All as Michelle muses to her Hollywood one, "Got lost on the way, I took a route/I didn't mean to follow down/And I was tempted, sure/But I have come home now."

From the 'Here Is Someone' declaring outset, these 'Melancholy Brunettes', are ones that could garner another Grammy nomination like 'Jubilee'. Produced by Blake Mills, who's cut his teeth with Bob Dylan and Fiona Apple, this real record takes inspiration from both. Going from a complete unknown to what they say in 'South Park' about not giving a rat's a## if you're not Fiona Apple. Buried on a pirate's treasure of a feast of food and skulls on this album artwork, this 'Sad Woman' is a reflective album that's as real as it gets for the lonely world we see to be living in now, politically and personally, when people are voting and swiping for the wrong kinds. But whether it be the sweet 'Honey Water', or the ode to 'Leda' ("Talking to you/It's nearly morning where you are/While my afternoons move so slow/Pacing the room/Awaiting a moment gone too far/And your special way of ruining the mood"), this 'Little Girl' is grown on this gothic album of a poet on the verge of inspiration under the gloom of darkness. Open the 'Picture Window' and you can see it in all its glory from Sound City Studios, LA. Inspired, in title, by John Cheever's 'The World Of Apples', this is the best bite yet. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Orlando In Love', 'Men In Bars (Feat. Jeff Bridges)', 'Winter In LA'.

LIVE REVIEW: JACK WHITE @ Toyosu Pit, Tokyo, Japan (17/03/25)

4/5

No Name, No Gimmicks.

Ears still ringing, that may have more to do with the fact that I'm rounding 40 like Shohei Ohtani is bases this week (heading home for the Tokyo World Series), I'm still transfixed. As much as I rocked out, I could listen to a genius like this play all night (shout out to the guy I met just taking it all in after). He could put the phone book through a guitar, and I'd still be in awe. I may have whiffed on tickets for the baseball this weekend, as the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs were in town to take on the Tokyo Giants and Hanshin Tigers (no champion Yokohama BayStars?), but who else has rent for a thing like that? Well, you know, Jack. Randomly getting a seat next to Bill Murray apparently for a full circle 'Lost In Translation' moment. The White Stripe, Raconteur and Dead Weather member, and sensational solo artist in his own right Jack White, on his 'No Name' tour, could have rocked and knocked the Tokyo Dome out of the park himself. But after touring Japan, from Hiroshima (Blue Live) and Osaka (Gorilla Hall) to Nagoya (Diamond Hall), the Third Man returned to the terrific Toyosu Pit for two nights (three if you count the surprise show at Shibuya shop Hysteric Glamour). For the record, and all you tourists, it's near TeamLab.

After setting up shop in Tokyo's Fender flagship store in Harajuku, gifting his new favourite axe-murderer from first night support act Otoboke Beaver with a guitar, this jack of all rock trades had more surprises. Treating all the fans (hey, Fox. Hope you enjoyed the gig) from his weekend show with a very special guest in the form of Pearl Jam's Eddie Vedder, who was taking photographs in Osaka of White in uniform, looking like he worked for the city. Monday's concert was still fair of face before the grace of Tuesday, however. As decked out in a cool lime green jacket for St. Patrick's Day, with spiders like the Maman sculpture from the late Louise Bourgeois in Roppongi Hills, and armed with beautiful blue and tuxedo looking guitars, White could have opened his own guitar store like his record one in Nashville, Tennessee. The motor of Detroit and the best thing to happen musically to the city since Motown, charged out of the gates abruptly to lights out fanfare as he beckoned the crowd to get involved with his opening jam, before ripping into those 'Old Scratch Blues' and anthemic 'Icky Thump'. Adding even more punch to the prose, "White Americans, what? Nothing better to do/Why don't you kick yourself out? You're an immigrant too" over growling guitar.

"AY, AY, AY!" The fans chanted in unison like the terraces of football fields on match day. Hoping 'Seven Nation Army' would make the program like it has those same stadiums in song. Doing what the late, great Quincy Jones did with 'The Italian Job'. They were in for an epic encore treat, too, like the Glastonbury gig (YouTube it, folks!). As Jack introduced his brilliant band of brothers, calling them out after the Holy Trinity of convenience stores (7-Eleven, Lawson and Family Mart) they have lived in this week. White broke out the Stripes ('Fell In Love With A Girl', 'The Hardest Button To Button' making me think of that bit from 'The Simpsons') as well as songs from The Raconteurs ('Broken Boy Soldier', 'Steady As She Goes') and The Dead Weather ('I Cut Like A Buffalo'). Yet, amongst classic covers, like Loretta Lynn's 'Whispering Sea' and 'Baby Blue' by Gene Vincent & His Blue Caps, it was his own work on this solo set that hit harder. Whether it be classics like 'Love Interruption' and the snippet of 'Three Women'. Or new tracks off the same crossed out name album (that came out of nowhere, by the way), he's touring right now, like 'Underground' or 'Archbishop Harold Holmes' in closing. All to the tune of a man dressed like he just left Alaska, bum-rushing the crowd he was set to surf.

Flowers must also be given up for this night's support act, Japan's very own TsushiMaMiRe. Wowing their hometown crowd with the bassist giving off an Este from Haim vibe (can't wait to see my favourite group play with Vampire Weekend and The Hives this summer at Fuji Rock). But once Jack gave us everything from 'Little Bird' to 'High Ball Stepper' it was on. The next time he's in town, I suggest you be, too. Because this is amongst the best of American acts in Tokyo over the last couple of calendars in smaller venues like Beck and Phoebe Bridgers. I can't believe I left this one until a game-time decision (hey, in my defence, I pull down an English teacher's salary). Using the fact that I'd seen him before as an excuse, like the time I wouldn't go to his gig after watching 'Sinister'. Albeit with the incredible Alison Mosshart led Dead Weather, where he only stepped from behind the skins to dedicate 'You Just Can't Win' to a Gallagher brother (they'll be here soon, too). The fact is, you could watch White play for the rest of your life, all the way to the Queen of England and the hounds of hell and still not get enough, like his great Motor City songbook. Again and again, even if 'Over and Over' was a milk carton (and I didn't catch hell, like Glen). Wherever he goes next, I'm there, like Wichita. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Set-List Picks: 'Whispering Sea', 'Archbishop Harold Holmes', 'Seven Nation Army'.

SONG FOR THE MOMENT: HAIM - RELATIONSHIPS

4/5

Relationship Goals

Haimally! It's been a long seven years. And I'm not talking about the time it took these 'Women In Music' to work on this new single and follow-up to their classic that helped us through COVID-19 to be the best album of 2020. Besides, did we forget about the gem of a 'Lost Track' three years ago? No, instead, I'm talking about this Haim super-fan, I have the Spotify Wrapped receipts to prove it, finally getting to see his favourite band live. Years after trying to see them in London with my bestie like Este (thank you for the signed vinyl), only to be locked down here in the Far East. Instagram story jokes about "not Tokyo" when Haim came out of corona with a 'WIMPIII' world tour announcement. This year, they'll finally find themselves in the Land of the Rising (and scorching...you been here in July?) Sun. Playing the last day of Japan's Fuji Rock Festival headlined by Vampire Weekend alongside the likes of The Hives and English Teacher (me?!). I couldn't be happier.

The Summer girls are back. And this is the best thing to happen to Los Angeles since Luka Dončić (I know these fans will love that). Fresh off the lot with a new music video, co-starring Drew Starkey ('Queer'), that feels like a PTA, the season after spring has come early with this one in your step. The music video is gorgeous, girls and the 'Relationships' track itself?! Exactly what we need in the malaise of this modern day dating age where we really need to apply ourselves more. Haim playing up the photo of Nicole Kidman leaving divorce court, like the weight of the world was lifted, perfectly (sorry, Tom, please don't unfollow me). All whilst Instagramming their own announcements. "I'm single", says Danielle Haim's, who also features on the new Bon Iver single 'If Only I Could Wait', t-shirt. "I'm ???", says Alana's who recently got the attention of The Academy, starring in Paul Thomas Anderson's 'Licorice Pizza'. "I'm taken" beams Este's as she also boasts some beautiful bling on her finger. I promise I'm happy for you (sniff).

The trio's first record in three years truly is one of their best. Feeling like the energy that 'Something To Tell You' came out of the gates with on 'Want You Back' on a deserted Californian street. The Valley girls give us something that sounds so them, yet so fresh, all at the same time. Can I say, it's the best song since the Backstreet Boys' 'All I Have To Give' (what?!). "Baby, how can I explain/When an innocent mistake/Turns into seventeen days?/F#####' relationships/Don't they end up all the same/When there's no one left to blame?/I think I'm in love, but I can't stand f#####' relationships." After touring with Taylor, the sisters give us a hook we can really feel, as everybody is caught up in it these days. Even dropping a link to hook-up culture's Bumble in the comments, Haim are playing this relationship record hand for all their worth. But, wait! If they're in Japan and on the apps this summer, does this mean I could maybe match? Yeah, right! But you can't blame a guy for shooting his shot. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

REVIEW: LADY GAGA - MAYHEM

4/5

Beauty Behind The Mayhem

A star is reborn...back the way she used to be. Like 'Abracadabra'. Lady Gaga is back for one of the biggest albums and New Music Fridays of the year...and we've only just marched. Releasing the 'Mayhem' of her new album that takes us back to the good old 'Fame' days of her pop art like Warhol. Going head-to-head, but also in togetherness, with 'Sour Candy' BLACKPINK collaborator JENNIE and her new 'Ruby' album. And, no doubt, there's little between Stefani and K Pop sensation, coming one week after her bandmate LISA. Both albums are just that brilliant. Like these women in music, word to the new Haim material coming soon, back a half decade ago in 2020. That candy, like Pink's 'Ice Cream' with superstar Selena Gomez, came off Gaga's 'Chromatica'. An album that shower the Oscar winning star of Bradley Cooper's 'A Star Is Born' could still make music as good as her movies, like the recent Grammy, going out of this world with a smile, showed.

Going Gaga on 'The Chromatica Ball' world tour, this Lady couldn't be stopped. Even coming here to Tokyo, Japan, coming out of corona. Just like Tom Cruise's massive 'Maverick' megahit sequel to 'Top Gun', spearheaded by Gaga's single from it, 'Hold My Hand'. I'm not ashamed to say, I shed tears when I saw this live in concert...it had been a rough time, and it just sounds so epic. Germanotta was such a sure thing when it came to movies ('House Of Gucci'), she was cast as legendary Batman villain, The Joker's love interest Harley Quinn in Todd Phillips' sequel to the Joaquin Phoenix Oscar win, 'Joker: Folie à Deux'. With big pink stilettos to fill after 'Barbie' blockbuster superstar Margot Robbie made it her own, putting the hammer down. It was a great bit, but critics didn't get the gag. Still, amongst all this mayhem and madness, daddy's little fame monster still didn't stop. Scoring a Grammy with Bruno Mars for their definitive 'Die With A Smile' duet, whilst the pop prince was making 'Apt.' anthems with other members of Blackpink (Rosé).

Then 'LG7' was announced. Lady Gaga's seventh studio album, following the huge successor of its predecessor and the more personal 'Joanne' before that. Crazy when the 'Five Foot Two' singer had just released her own personal songbook for her Joker character in the 'Harlequin' album, that went next to the 'Folie à Deux' soundtrack, which felt like another actual album in itself akin to her 'A Star Is Born' duet big-score with 'Maestro' Bradley. Heading for 40, and still the Queen of 'Artpop' like LeBron James is the King of Basketball. Recorded at Rick Rubin's Shangri-La studios in Malibu, California, and armed with Hollywood hits and music videos (the delightful 'Disease' and amazing 'Abracadabra') in all their classic chorography that breaks a whole new hallowed ground, 'Mayhem' also features the Bruno bonus, when originally this Grammy winning best original song was not going to feature on either artist's album. You best believe both have the hits to leave it on the cutting room, but Mars should make it on his own one too. The inspired inclusion to all this 'Mayhem' here seals Lady Gaga's seventh heaven of an album as an actual classic as the rest of the world catches on.

Yet, even without it, this sensational slice of synth-pop and beautiful genre blend still hits. Like the boundless bloom of the next one in the 'Garden Of Eden' for all you Adam and Eve's in the Big Apple. "I could be your girlfriend for the weekend/You could be my boyfriend for the night/My excuse to make a bad decision/Bodies gettin' close under the lights", she sings to chorus conclude this big-three grand opening. From the black and white, back to the basics cracked reflection of a classic cover, to the epic experimentation of these beautiful blends of album artwork, Gaga goes back to how she always used to do it...pushing the envelope like no one before. Whether it be the 'Perfect Celebrity', or the 'Shadow Of A Man'. Even the lavishing lyric videos to these songs actually feel like music ones. Especially 'Zombieboy' or 'The Beast' for all you beautiful monsters. French DJ Gesaffelstein assists a 'Killah' track like Ghostface on the ones and twos, but it's 'Vanish Into You' where we see and hear Stefani Germanotta at her most beautiful and personal.

Prince. Bowie. Electronic and industrial music. They all help inspire one of pop's best, greatest albums to date. All the way to bonus tracks like 'Can't Stop The High' (Japan etc) and 'Kill For Love' (Target, HMV and them). From a magic, 'Spellbound' sampling opening, Gaga takes the mic again like this was 'The Hunger Games', and we show our allegiance like two kissed fingers high to the sky. Like a 'LoveDrug', how bad do we want her? Well, how about "She's on your mind, like, all the time/But I got a tattoo for us last week/Even good boys bleed." Still, the 'Telephone' singer hold her own and the phone, telling us 'Don't Call Tonight'. The pop icon like Beyoncé returns to her roots and grows even more from these fresh cuts like a 'Blade Of Grass', inspired by a heartfelt moment with her fiancée Michael Polansky. "Lovers kiss in a garden made of thorns/Traces of lonely words, illusions torn/You said, "How does a man like me love a woman like you?/ I said, "Hold me until I die and I'll make you brand new"." Even far from the shallow now, Lady Gaga shows she's still a pure pop songwriter first and foremost. And a force of nature amongst all this mayhem. Dying and smiling, now how's that for some magic made together? TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Disease', 'Garden Of Eden', 'Die With A Smile (Feat. Bruno Mars)'.

Spin This: Lady Gaga - 'Harlequin'.

REVIEW: JENNIE - RUBY

4/5

love JENNIE

Ruby Rose. One week after LISA gave us her 'Alter Ego', BLACKPINK are back on that solo thing once more with the release of JENNIE's 'Ruby'. Now, after 'Number One Girl' Rosé's 'Rosie' album, we're just waiting on my favourite, Jisoo. 'The Idol' to Lisa's 'White Lotus', Jennie from the Seongnam block (with the best name. Oh hey, sis!) gives us banger after banger, like her Blackpink sister. Keeping the charts ablaze like when the BTS brothers did their solo stuff. Even if Rosé's album, armed with its own 'Apt.' anthem with pure pop hit maker Bruno Mars, hits even harder with its deeper cuts. The alter-ego of 'Ruby' is the best album since 'Rosie' and brings out the big guns, too, for your new number one girl. Recorded in the same 'Seoul City' studio (the inspired Ingrid) and Paradise Sound Recordings in LA as Lisa's set, probably dropping in and supporting each other's sessions, 'Ruby' is as Hollywood as it's massive music videos, or Rose namesake.

Alongside strong singles, like the new empowerment 'Mantra', and the 'like JENNIE' anthem you'll instantly love and recognize as iconic, Jennie has some monster collaborations on the rest of the radio ready, big-budget singles. Flossing in grills over teeth as white as her suit, lent back with the Grammy winning Doechii for an 'ExtraL' song that doesn't take a single one. Riding 'Handlebars' with megastar Dua Lipa and waking up from a 'Love Hangover' with Dominic Fike. Not to mention a hilarious Godzilla drive-in movie video with more bad first dates than Bumble. Just watch her bowl. Jen is bringing the music video back to this post MTV generation more concerned with a TikTok. She knows nostalgia, even referencing the sing along to Mariah Carey's 'Sweet Fantasy' during 'Rush Hour'. Like Jennie? Nah! You're going to love her.

From the anything but plain 'JANE' intro with FKJ, to the Ruby 'Twin' that inspired this stage setting red on black album artwork of finding yourself, Jennie is in a world and concept of her own. Coming into a spaceship at zero gravity with the coolest ruby red astronaut suit that could have been made by Maybelline. Or maybe she was born wi...never mind. I don't want to 'start a war'. For all the big hits that are here, 'with the IE (way up)' (speaking of 'Jenny From The Block') and no 'Filter', it's 'Atlanta's' very own Donald Glover AKA, Childish Gambino playing Mr. Smith to a song featuring Kali Uchis that really hits. Your 'Damn Right' with lines like, "Candy-cane blue sticks bump in the Range (You make me feel so good)/Gettin' top notch means the simpler things/Playin' hopscotch but she landed a square (You make me feel so good)/He never even tried to put her legs in the air (Ooh-ooh)/He never even tried to put a baby in that." This is Jennie's moment, mind you. And on the same New Music Friday that Lady Gaga returns to the 'Mayhem' of her dance floor, Jennie bests even that pop art icon. Let alone her K Pop sister's own landmark album, last week. Feeling like the nostalgia of coming through corona with the 'Sour Candy' of a BLACKPINK collaboration off of Gaga's 'Chromatica' ball. 

A dynamic, dynamite debut, Jennie's 'Ruby' shines like Tuesday for this rolling stone. Or by 'Starlight' with lines like, "You say you see the starlight in me/Shining so bright and pristine/What about the moments in between?/You said you see the starlight in me/What about the black mystery?/What about the moments you don't see?/It's way deeper than what you think" after the neon gleam of 'Seoul City' like a souvenir tee. Achieving a state of midnite hour 'ZEN' with a moment of truth and "On that energy, yes/I am what you think about me/Cross me, please/I'ma keep it Z, Zen/Presence, bless/Money can't buy sixth sense." More mantras making their way through every hook. Line and sinker. 'F.T.S.' ("whatever happened to freedom and honesty") and all the rest. With so many genre alter-ego's like Lisa and Rosé, Jennie shows she is a straight solo artist in her own right. Just like the 'Ruby' name she took when the Korean was growing up in New Zealand. From a Kiwi, to a blood burgundy gemstone of real durability, Jennie is showing us the real her. Before we go back to black, red runs even deeper than pink. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'like JENNIE', 'Damn Right (Feat. Childish Gambino & Kali Uchis)', 'Seoul City'.

Spin This: Lisa - 'ALTER EGO'.

REVIEW: ALOE BLACC - STAND TOGETHER

4/5

Stronger Together

Back to Blacc, Egbert Nathaniel Dawkins III, AKA, Aloe Bacc, returns to the mainstream after a half decade out of the game (2020's 'All Love Everything' following his 'Christmas Funk' album). The 'I Need A Dollar' (off of his sophomore set 'Good Things') megahit singer has already proven that he is 'The Man' (from his 2013 'Lift Your Spirit') when it comes to harnessing huge hits from his hooks. No one hit wonder. Remember the late, great Avicii's 'Wake Me Up'? But now, he may have just given us his best album since his 'Shine Through' debut. Spearheaded by the soldiering solidarity single 'Don't Go Alone', 'Stand Together' is a call to arms that embrace in the face of all that is going on in the world right now. It's something we all need this New Music Friday, especially after what happened in The White House last week. This American singer and rapper from the boundless beauty of Laguna Hills, California, even tells the President to go to hell on a protest anthem in the face of all this disgrace. The not so United States of America may look like The Statue of Liberty in the Adrien Brody Oscar winning movie 'The Brutalist' right now, but Aloe it telling us, 'Not On My Watch'.

Watch this, and witness a pure and important poet of our generation telling us like it really is, in a time when we all need the word of God, or something just as spiritual. Blacc even covers a beautiful rendition of Marvin Gaye's ultimate protest song 'What's Going On', just like he did reworking The White Stripes' legendary 'Seven Nation Army', all to his own. From the single opening, to the titular close, 'Stand Together' is full of anthems of affirmation, painted like the worked denim carried on his shoulders, like the album artwork. 'Grow Together'. 'Daddy Told Me So'. Not to mention, love in the face of all this hate, like 'Love In Control', or the vision of 'My World'. Like his Emanon act with producer Exile, Aloe knows how to escape through the music, and this genre bender is truly special in its spiritual soul. Each of the dozen tracks come with a cause of philanthropy. With all this unifying sympathy, striving for more, name an album more important right now?

"What does it take to move a mountain/That no one wants to climb?/When they tell you there's no answer/How do you change the heart and mind?" Aloe asks, searching for 'One Good Thing'. Whereas the beat of 'Breakthrough' will inspire you towards your own one, as he adds, "Everyday is another chance for redemption/I paid my debts for the dirty deeds that no one needs to mention/For all the pain l've caused I apologize/With deep regret please forgive but don't forget/l've opened up my eyes/I'm not the same that I was way back/But now I'm getting my life on track/When it feels like everything's breaking down." Admitting his own flaws, that have made their way into the home that is his life, Blacc does not shy away from the shadows and the dark corners of his past. If he can make change like Obama, then surely we all can, like POTUS should.

On an album cover that looks like a clothing commercial, collaborated with the typography of a cosmetics company, Blacc is back in fashion, coming up like roses. Watch him 'Shine' like 'Aurora's Anthem' as the biggest soul star with chart crossover potential since Anthony Hamilton. Blacc's boldest and most beautiful work, marches forward when some of us are still forlorn about what happened in February. Alas, all broken hearts will be healed after this. Aloe Blacc vows to 'Never Let You Down' like Ye, before he went the other way. "Everyone deserves a little happiness/It's hard to find in these modern times/Where our minds are filled with all kinds of stress/But when therе's someone who's by your side/It makеs you feel like you can heal/And everything will be alright/There is somethin' about love/That you need to know/The more and more you choose to give/The more it grows." Wiser words have barely been sung. Now if we can only sing along...together. It's time to make a stand. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Don't Go Alone', 'Not On My Watch', 'What's Going On'.

Spin This: Anthony Hamilton - 'Ain't Nobody Worryin''.