REVIEW: MARIAH CAREY - HERE FOR IT ALL

3.5/5

Carey On 

Seven years have sealed since absolute pop superstar Mariah Carey's last album (2018's 'Caution' didn't know what was coming a year later), but now, here she is, 'Here For It All' with her sweet sixteenth affair. The classics kept coming, year after year, in the, and her, golden era of the 90s. The self-titled debut, the open 'Music Box', a 'Daydream', the bold and beautiful 'Butterfly', and of course the 'Merry Christmas' album that is all everybody wants, coming soon. In the new millennium of 'Glitter' the R&B icon hit Usher 'Confessions' figures with 'The Emancipation Of Mimi', also produced by Jermaine Dupri, who brought out his own 'Magic City' (first album in more than a minute) a fortnight ago. And after 'E=MC2' it all multiplied from there. But the 'Emancipation' was an unbelievable twenty years ago, and Mimi has just wrapped up a tour about it, here in Yokohama. Yet she still has time to give us another amazing album.

The beautiful black and white artwork of 'Here' evokes a time when a 'Hero' came along and Mariah is still on fire with the talent and strength to carry on. You can hear it in the big brand dropping flossing of the 'Mi' opener, because after all, when it comes to this diva, all that matters is Mi-mi, and that iconic voice and glass shattering falsetto. Or the cinematic single 'Type Dangerous' with its big budget, blockbuster bluster, and host of rap remixes. Sweet singles come in thick and fast like the best in years 'Sugar Sweet', featuring Shenseea and Kehlani, and the latest 'Play This Song' (which you really should) with the amazing Anderson .Paak (who also gets 'In Your Feelings'), with a music video that's literally just premiered after the album, this New Music Friday. Yet for all this LP gives us, dialled up to eleven tracks, a week after the Spinal Tap sequel, it's when Mariah praises God through her gospel with The Clark Sisters ('Jesus I Do'), that things get the most beautiful.

Eric B. should still be President, and that track with Rakim is dangerously sampled. It's a grand return that leaves the fans that have never left, paid in full, whilst critics that want to complain with their hands in pockets, are just coming up with lint. All the way to the album title curtain, this album has something to give with soul, disco and funk. But when this butterfly takes Wing(s) on a Paul McCartney cover, co-written by Linda McCartney, that's when 'My Love' (hers) does it good. A timeless classic that sounds as good as their first time you heard it, the very moment the first chord comes into play. It may just be Mariah Carey's best take since her and Sisqo of Dru Hill actually honoured Prince properly with 'The Beautiful Ones' (on some Ginuwine 'When Doves Cry' proportions...if you know that story). That would be a tough one to beat if this diva didn't believe that 'Nothing Is Impossible' with her own latest beautiful ballad in a deluxe discography of them. Although the R&B genre blends so many genres on this one, this is her lane, taking her back home to the foundations she built.

'Confetti and Champagne' reigns on this celebration, as all things are popped, proposing a toast to a G.O.A.T. For years she's being giving the likes of Busta Rhymes and Jadakiss hits. Holding her own next to everybody from Whitney Houston to Ol' Dirty Bastard. But to have her back, like she never left, or aged a day, is the sweetest fantasy. The fine wine continues on 'I Won't Allow It', where this MC sings, "Whatcha gonna do when your mind is blown/And your heart explodes and your body's cold/Whatcha gonna do, whatcha gonna do/Whatcha gonna do when we go our separate ways/And you see me outside with my billion dollar bae/Please enjoy your Chick-fil-A". Oof! Now that's a roast for you chickens, like the time a certain rapper was 'Obsessed'. Ending beefs with paltry competition via poultry? That's MC. The best put down since Shakira talked about trading in a Rolex for a CASIO. Yet, I rock a Casio every day, and yes, I am actually talking about the watches. But forget all that. We're here for Mariah. The fire is never going out. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Type Dangerous', 'Sugar Sweet (Feat. Shenseea & Kehlani)', 'My Love'.

Spin This: Mariah Carey - 'Butterfly'.

LIVE REVIEW: NORAH JONES @ Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan (24/09/25)

4/5

Visions Of Norah

Back in the Budokan, exactly one week after the 'Rock Invasion' of alternative rockers, the Smashing Pumpkins, we returned to see Norah Jones in Tokyo for the first time in almost three years, coming out of COVID. The perfect pianist played this beautiful and traditional Tokyo 1964 Olympics gymnasium the last time she was here, and we still have a Jones for Norah, like many of the tour tees from then that popped up amongst the lime green seats under the Japanese flag in the auditorium's rafters. A little different from the 'Mellon Collie' that came last week, Norah came out draped in midori and colour schemes from her last Grammy winning album (the 'Visions' of last March with El Michels Affair). But using light like Japan's own Sakanaction, at Yokohama's K-Arena last month, we really felt the warm glow on stage for her signature 'Sunrise', or the rich red wine drenching the hearts yearning for the epic encore of her classic closer, 'Don't Know Why'.

This weekend, Norah Jones will headline the 2025 Blue Note jazz festival in Tokyo's Ariake Arena. Bringing back memories of ordering her 'Day Breaks' (what an album) mocktail whilst seeing OutKast Andre 3000 play with a flute at Tokyo's beautiful Blue Note jazz club. Ne-Yo, Take6, Tower Of Power, Daichi Miura and many more will take part in this fond festival, but Miss Jones is the main attraction. And this may have been the first leg of her trip, which will afford Jones the opportunity to see many of the sights and sounds of Japan, but this was anything but a warm-up set. In a year of Jack White taking the Toyosu Pit and Haim headlining Fuji Rock with Vampire Weekend, The Hives and more, Norah brought the calm to the stage as we headed to the fall, like her classic album. Or tracks from 'Little Broken Hearts', like a new version of 'Happy Pills', 'Before The Fall'. Opening the show, with all eyes getting butterflies, she performed her 'What Am I To You' single off her sophomore set 'Feels Like Home', Jones was backed by a beautiful band, including her Puss N Boots supergroup member Sasha Dobson. 

This had us wanting sounds off of their 'Sister' set, like we wanted the 'Jolly Jones' "la-la-la-la's" of her 'I Dream Of Christmas' album. Hey, this may be the fall, but September is even earlier than last time's October. Besides, wanting for tracks you may not hear in a deluxe discography is like complaining about not everyone showing up for your birthday party. We should have been more than happy with what we got. Hearing new cuts for the first time in Japan was 'Paradise', like the 'Running' single, or 'I Just Wanna Dance' sweet song that sounds even better live (check the VevoStudio take, like her new 'Summertime Blue(s)' with John Legend). 'Rosie's Lullaby' had me in 'Not Too Late' memories from my 20s of an old love with the same name. And the absolute diamond classic 'Come Away With Me' and one of the most beautiful lyrics of all-time ("come away with me, and I'll never stop loving you") truly moved the crowd with her signature live piano arrangement of this that has become Jones lore. Norah even broke out some compelling covers of Minnie Ripperton's iconic 'Les Fleurs' and Tom Waits' wonderful 'Long Way Home' after the encore turned us back on. The former not even being part of her prepared set list. Now, that's visionary. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Set-List Picks: 'I Just Wanna Dance', 'Rosie's Lullaby', 'Don't Know Why'

REVIEW: LABRINTH - PRELUDE E.P.

4/5

Past Is Prelude

Enter the labyrinth, like Bowie, of Timothy Lee McKenzie's world of sound and vision, and you'll see more than a man who set off an 'Earthquake' up in here on the 'Electronic Earth' of his debut album, after backing the best U.K. rapper at the time, Tinie Tempah's 'Frisky' and 'Pass Out'. Labrinth went on to score more collaborative classics ('Beneath Your Beautiful' with Emeli Sandé). All before his career went nuclear and was sealed seven years after his dynamite debut. In 2019, not only did he release his stunning sophomore set 'Imagination & The Misfit Kid', on his way to being the day and night Cudi of the U.K., he also formed an LSD supergroup with sensational singer Sia and prolific producer Diplo. And if that wasn't enough, he also scored the soundtrack to the epic 'Euphora' series on HBO, starring fellow first-name terms, Zendaya, crashing Coachella last year to perform songs off the second season soundtrack. Labrinth also got back in the lab for that, all before giving us the 'Ends & Begins' of his last album.

Now, fresh out of 'The Kitchen' soundtrack for Netflix, one of the hardest working and most in-demand artists around has even more heat with his new 'Prelude' EP that promises more this New Music Friday. On the same day that Nine-Inch Nails hammer down their new 'Daft Punk' replacing soundtrack for 'Tron: Ares', Labrinth gets cinematic too, even more compellingly so. Eight wonders of sonic tracks that track the mind and all the dark depths and new paths forged ahead. After a distorted 'Sophisticated People' into that doesn't let you in, Tim 'Pull(s) Me In' with exactly that track. This pink Cosmic Opera House record in Roman Numerals then gives us the ultimate 'Pick Me Up', singing "oh no" over operatic grand gestures of sound. It's a 'Joy' to behold, like the next number you'll be singing until the heavens open up with snow this Christmas over stirring stings. That inspired interlude is then followed by 'Can't Cure This' where Labrinth warns us, "stupid motherf#####/money can't solve this/people talking s###/money can't cure this". Repeating what sounds like the halfway house of "bank" and "pain." Like it's one and the same. It is.

It's a 'Wonder' we can go on, until another instrumental is exactly that in lifting us up to a better place. It feels like it's taking you to another dimension in this sonic space. All the way to a 'House On The Hill', like a Springsteen mansion. This dance number feels euphoric, and we intended to say exactly that. You can find this record spinning under the lonely nights of a 'Euphoria' nightclub, neon exposing all the darkness. "Take me where the sun don't grind/ I'm gonna set your night on fire/I'm gonna bring you all to life/Oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah". This is the 'Moment Of Peace' you all need in release and closing. "Hey, how you doing? This is Labrinth. I wrote this piece of music to help calm you down. So take a deep breath, close your eyes if you feel too, and allow yourself to drift into the moment. Breathe." What more can we say than that? He's doing it for us. The electronic earth still rotates around his beat. Is he a singer? Is he still a rapper? Nah, he's an artist. Watch him paint the perfect picture, because this is just a prelude, but a powerful one at that. Now go on and enjoy the rest of your day. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'The Joy', 'Can't Cure This', 'Moment Of Peace'

Spin This: Labrinth - 'Euphoria (Original Score From The HBO Series)' 

REVIEW: NINE INCH NAILS - TRON: ARES (ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK)

4/5

Legacy

Disney really did it in 2010. Feeling before its time, of its time and ahead of it, the Mickey Mouse company released the digital delight of 'Tron: Legacy', the IMAX ready sequel to the 1982 cult hit that looked like a board game in relation to this videographers dream. The massive movie brought Jeff Bridges back (duuuude), de-aged him in classic CG, turned Olivia Wilde into an instant star, and character actor Michael Sheen into Ziggy Stardust. The iconic Lightcycle bikes in baby blue and their neon streams have now even inspired their own Disney World ride in Magic Kingdom's Tomorrowland. Like Garrett Hedlund, this legend making 'Legacy' looked great, and it sounded the part too. Thanks to an absolutely amazing, award nominated soundtrack from French electronic duo Daft Punk, mixing orchestra with their signature sound.

No matter how much you stay up all night for good fun, you can't get that lucky again, as the iconic Sia identity sparing chrome domes of these punks have been hung up. Now, the much-delayed and long-awaited, 'Legacy' sequel is almost here as October's very own, it seems like the Lightcycles have been knocked off the grid like Peter Griffin. Fifteen years later, 'Tron: Ares' has managed to bring Bridges back again, not to mention, the classic look of the '82 original. But that blue washing dark red hides some devil in their details. Leading man and star of the show Jared Leto ('Blade Runner 2049'), who also moonlights as the lead singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars, is clouded in a controversy and allegations of abuse and even more brutal behaviour. More than the movie, we hope these things aren't true, because no one should have to go through this. Buzz has picked up for this movie ever since the teaser trailer saw cop cars chopped in two and 'Past Lives' breakout star Greta Lee run away from a Tron battleship...on earth. The game has changed, as the music that won't stop has too.

Sounding familiar, but not Daft, right at the end of the trailer for this film that also stars Quicksilver Evan Peters and 'The X-Files' legend Gillian Anderson, we see a familiar logo in 'Ares' red. NIN. Yeah, those 'Fragile' industrial rockers are back in the new industry they've broken into. Nine-Inch Nails are heavy metal legends, but Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross got even more iconic when they started making music for movies. Breaking through with a clear and crisp sound that scored soundtracks for the likes of David Fincher and his 'Gone Girl' and 'The Social Network'. Now, the pair are everywhere and in everything in a formidable filmography that even rivals their definitive discography. And fresh off of the 'Ghosts' of 2020, the Nails are back to hammer down more legacy making music that honours both Daft Punk and the movie's signature style, all whilst finding their own lane. The 'Init' introduction gives way to a 'Forked Reality' fork in the road where this Nine-Inch takes its own instrumental direction. You can hear it in the 'Echoes' of what's to come. 'This Changes Everything'. Literally and figurately in song.

The atmospheric 'In The Image Of' takes you higher in Tron tones to a world above our reality. Whereas 'I Know You Can Feel It' could equally find itself on a regular NIN studio album. Singing, "Just like that, it began, appetite emotion/All alone, all in time, appetite emotion". Besides, this is a band whose, 'We're In This Together', hits made 'Avengers: Age Of Ulton' trailers. 'Permanence' feels exactly like that, before it's interrupted by the next infiltrating track. You can imagine '100% Expendable' playing as Ares shatters into pixels again and again. The 'Still Remains' lifting you up above the piano notes that strike a chord. They're 'Building Better Worlds' here and nothing sounds better, like nothing looks better than the amazing 'Ares' on screen, continuing 'Tron's' legacy. 'Target Identified' sounds like Nine-Inch Punk, just like 'What Have You Done?' sounds like Tron Inch Nails. There's more to come for this 'Ghost In The Machine', 'Out In The World'. Yet the real headliners come in the form of the hits. There's a big single ('As Alive As You Need Me To Be') and a beautiful collaboration with Judeline ('Who Wants To Live Forever'), but it's the influential instrumentals that are the most inspired. Even if the 'Shadows Over Me' fading this 24-track album to black tell us more. "(God) I've got a shadow over me/I am not what I appear to be/And I know that you believe in me/And it feels so real, and it feels so re-." This one fights for the users. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'As Alive As You Need Me To Be', 'Who Wants To Live Forever (Feat. Judeline)', 'Building Better Worlds'.

Spin This: Daft Punk - 'Tron: Legacy (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)'. 

LIVE REVIEW: SMASHING PUMPKINS @ Nippon Budokan, Tokyo, Japan (17/09/25)

4/5

Smashing Invasion

Halloween has come early, as the Rock Invasion of Smashing Pumpkins comes to Japan, like Godzilla's roaring blue flame, this week. All for the American, alternative heavy rock God's first tour of the land of the rising sun in a dozen years. Tonight, tonight, they'll play my new home of Yokohama's KT Zepp, all before concluding their run of concerts in Hiroshima next week. But last night, the big-three of Billy Corgan, James Iha and Jimmy Chamberlin (we still miss D'arcy) took Tokyo by storm. Playing in the formidable former Tokyo 1964 judo arena of the Nippon Budokan. One week before Norah Jones will be back there for her first time since 2022. A little different, I know, but we will be there too, just like we were three years ago.

It's been a great year of rock in Japan. From the summer circuit of the Fuji Rock festival (headlined by the likes of Vampire Weekend, Haim and The Hives), to Japan's very own rock leaders Sakanaction giving us their 'SAKANAQUARIUM'. And today (yesterday) was one of the greatest days we've ever known, too. Tomorrow could wait, as the 'Machina' machines of God came out to their amp shattering theme of glass, all before breaking into classics from their twin towering albums of 'Siamese Dream' and the magnum opus, double disc of 'Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness'. The latter, celebrating its 30th anniversary, this year. That's why an onslaught of outstanding numbers peppered the sensational set-list of power. As soon as the Japanese faithful sang "despite of my rage, I am still just a rat in a cage" in unominous unison of "we've been there", you knew it was on. Billy, telling the crowd how much he loved them, and how it hurt for it to have been so long, wished he could express just how much in Japanese. Classics like 'Muzzle', '1979', 'Bodies', 'Jellybaby', and of course 'Zero', more than painted a picture to prove that point.

'Tonight, Tonight' was the epic evening to pay tribute to one of the greatest albums of all-time, and especially my youth. And the only one to come close to it (with the 'Dream' of 'Disarm', 'Cherub Rock' and 'Mayonnaise'). Nuanced in nostalgia, the Pumpkins mean so much to my teenage years (and I wasn't even that angsty...honest), this gig had me tearing up as the tore up the stage. Ditto to the Japanese crowd of all ages, all around me, some rocking 'Rock Invasion' tees from the 90s. This 'Heavy Metal Machine' used to be all I listened to before the days of Spotify streams, or a decent wage. I used to have 'Mellon Collie' on a cassette (yep, that's how old I am) back in high-school, recorded by a friend (thanks, Mike). It all coming to an abrupt end when the magnificent 'Porcelina Of The Vast Oceans' started skipping more than a boxer in training, just as it was about to build. No chance of that tonight, as we got to hear the nine-minute wonder in all its extended glory. Billy and the boys gave the fans exactly what they wanted. Even more in the form of a beautiful version of the 'Top Gun' famous 'Take My Breath Away' by Berlin. He even kept playing with James and the fans as he broke into licks from Lenny Kravitz's 'Are You Gonna Go My Way' and Black Sabbath's 'Paranoid' (rest peacefully, Ozzy). All before 'Ava Adore' gave us everything we love, and the notion that we shall never be apart. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Set-List Picks: 'Today', 'Bullet With Butterfly Wings', 'Take My Breath Away (Berlin Cover)'.

REVIEW: JERMAINE DUPRI - MAGIC CITY

3.5/5

The Magic Hour

Y'all know what it is. Super producer and hip-hop mogul Jermaine Dupri may have given us the 'Young, Fly & Flashy Vol. 1' (still waiting on that next one), So So Def label compilation, back in 2005, featuring his hit single 'Gotta Getcha' and the mega 'I Think They Like Me' remix. But it's actually been a Kobe (24 years) since he released an actual album, with the incredible 'Instructions' to his game. A stone-cold, 'Welcome To Atlanta' classic for the south, featuring the likes of Ludacris, Usher, Jagged Edge and them, of course. Even his "little homie" Bow Wow, as the man who discovered more music in the ATL than Club 112 showed you how to rock with him. It's not like he's been lazy since then. 'The Emancipation Of Mimi' and Mariah, still on fire, will tell you. Letting the studio 'Burn' like the 'Confessions' of Usher that did a million and change in its first week of release. A producer's paradise.

Now, Jermaine gives us the 'Magic City' soundtrack, dedicated to the strip clubs in the A, dropping more than ones. And the Dame Dash of the South offers up so many leading men and women on the all-star studded affair of a showcase. Harking back to his definitive debut 'Life In 1472' that felt like a movie all in itself, as he and Jay-Z told us 'Money Ain't A Thang', racing horses and horsepower. This city is so magic, scored by the skyline in the background of some alluring artwork on the pole, that it even looks like those new CD jewel cases that came in during the new millennium before Spotify and streaming abruptly took adolescents away from the stores. Still towering for the record, Dupri brings them out, like T.I. That King of the South is here too (with Akeem Ali and Young Dro on 'P###y Got Me' and Dro and 2 Chainz on 'Turn Around'). From the 'Tryna Beat The Thrill' opening act (with Skooly), to the 'We Da S###' outro with Pastor Troy, Princess and the "YEAAAHS" of Lil Jon, these are the ad-lib tricks of JD's trade.

'Atlanaa' is the new anthem for the city, starring the great CeeLo Green and those vivid vocals  ("There isn't anywhere else that makes me feel the way you do/I promise I'll always be true/It's not a secret we're in love/That goes for every one of us/I will love you for life"). Whereas 'Magic City Money' (featuring Bankroll Ni, BunnaB, J-Money and Sean Paul (of YoungBloodZ, not 'Gimmie The Light') banks on another single for your Billboards from Atlanta to New York and Hollywood, like a coast-to-coast remix. 'Rich Homie Quan' lights up 'This Or That', Travis Porter and a full-grown Bow Wow tells us 'She's A Freak'. Yet, it's the 'A## Shake' of Quavo and Ludacris (not actually them...that would be weird) that will truly get you on the dance floor. The clubs and bottles that are all on Jermaine Dupri, who not only owns the city, but now the rap game as others previously in position have fallen from grace. DJ X-Rated and Rocko 'Get It' over a beat that Timbaland would be proud of. All before K CAMP and YFN Lucci tell us 'I Wanna' on a track that's as glitzy as Gucci decked out on the street.

Conversations with Big Meech (the real Big Meech). Belly Gang Kushington and SWAVAY showing 'More Than Me'. The whole album feels like real rap, thrown on the floor and working the pole. Yet, just like when CeeLo gets his Gnarles Barkley on, the Dungeons of the South have something to say when they sing. That's when the legendary gutter R&B kings Jagged Edge and the great Killer Mike run the jewels on 'Married To The Game' ("Now the first time I see her I fell in love/She was bad as f###, ambitious and coming up/She was married to the game, and I was too/I just knew, she was perfect for me."). Let's get married again like a ReMarqable remix. So meet me in the altar in your white dress. Peachy, like the city of Trae Young, the Atlanta Hawks and Dream, and the one of MLK. It's enough to show 'The Kids From The Neighborhood' like a posse track, cut by a sweet sample and the likes of Hollywood YC, Lil Scrappy and Skooly. Just how many rap stars for the city can Jermaine Dupri pull out of the hat, at it like rabbits in the club? True magic, like Earvin Johnson. These Atlanta braves are knocking it out of the park and off the dance floor. Magic for the city. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Atlanaa (Feat. CeeLo Green)', 'A## Shake (Feat Quavo & Ludacris)', 'Married To The Game (Feat. Killer Mike & Jagged Edge)'.

Spin This: Jermaine Dupri - 'Life In 1472'

REVIEW: KING PRINCESS - GIRL VIOLENCE

4/5

Ultraviolence

Love lies bleeding, this New Music Friday, as the striking single 'RIP KP' spearheads the 'Girl Violence' of the third album from Mikaela Mullaney Straus, AKA, King Princess, one of the best pop stars and artists in the game right now. Recent controversial comments aside and an album title that couldn't have come at a worse time this week, we should all still hail the King and the Princess. Besides, 'Girl Violence', like it's outstanding, opening title-track, is no play on words. "I'm tired of crying and tired of trying/Why does nobody mention that girls can be violent?" It's a problem we should all pay attention too. Straus follows her expensive, dominant debut ('Cheap Queen') and sensational sophomore set ('Hold On Baby') that came out three years ago (WHAT?!), with a more straight-forward and personal project that makes her Holy Trinity a big-three.

Acting in 'Nine Perfect Strangers'. Stirring up dating rumours with the forever young Christine Baranski, almost 50 years her senior (hey, nothing wrong with that, I would). King Princess is ready for her throne of stardom, even if the single plays up on those in cancel culture who want to say rest in peace to the career of KP. Nuts. Not when you have a lucky for us, thirteen new tracks. Ones that share title names with Cyndi Lauper ('Girls'), Johnny Cash ('Cry Cry Cry'), and even 'West Side Story' ('I Feel Pretty'), but are their own individual gems from the Brooklyn, New Yorker, who is still only 26 years old. Although that's the sweet spot, prime of one's young life. 'Say What You Will' about a great duet with Joe Talbot, this album is stacked with big names, even though it only has one more guest feature than a J.Cole LP. The great 'Thalia', the moment we made our bed and fell in love with this Princess, even has some competition in the standout 'Jaime' and the sweet serve of 'Serena' as this album meets its match point.

"It's really nice to meet you, it’s been a little rough for a minute/I've had to face fire, fight fear, and spend a lot of time in the mirror/And I'm cool, I'm weirder, yeah, I'm hot, I'm deeper/I'm starting to feel myself again/Now I'm a f###### sleeper", the King sings on her 'Origin' story. But it's 'Get Your Heart Broken' that will really take yours ("Oh, so baby let the shame rub off/Death by a thousand cuts, ah-ah/Scared that you're one of us/That would be the best of luck, ah-ah") in the blurred ruby red of the album artwork. Pulling back the 'Covers' on a brief, but beautiful track, the singer-songwriter with a career catalogue of inspired interludes sings "I suppose that I'm only a ghost/And you never want to see me in your room/I'll see you in your room/And at the most, you'll hear scratching at your post/And you'll wonder if it's me who's haunting you" before the dawn. Meanwhile, 'Slow Down and Shut Up' may be life advice I need to heed right now (it's saved on my Spotify, every time I see the app on my drop-down menu, but 'Alone Again' strikes the deepest chord. "Crying on the floor, begging through the door/Now I'm alone again/Screaming through the phone, I should have probably known/Now I'm alone again." And together in another crowning year of women in music (see, Haim), we know she won't quit. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Jaime', 'Get Your Heart Broke', 'RIP KP'.

Spin This: Haim - 'I Quit'