REVIEW: TAYLOR SWIFT - 1989 (TAYLOR'S VERSION)

4/5

80's Baby.

Going through the 'Eras' year-by-year, Taylor Swift is taking back her career. It's a master move as she repaints her masterpieces and becomes to women in music (like fond friends Haim) what Dylan is to the great American songbook. Raging against the Big Machine in this big-wig forsaken music industry and re-recording her first six albums ('Speak Now' and 'Red' remain highlights in the re-telling of her story so far) and making them her 'Taylor's Version' own. Swiftonomics indeed. But it goes deeper than all that. Taking ownership of her own work and career doesn't just make a Swift stand for herself (as well as she should), it also inspires and influences countless other artists who have already given and lost so much in the name of creative control. Especially young, not to mention female, artists who have and are at a great risk of being exploited and manipulated by a male dominated industry that needs more Taylor made leaders.

'The Eras Tour' and concert movie may be raking in so many gate receipts and so much box office that 'Eras' in a doubled-up culmination may be single-handedly be saving both the music industry and the American economy, Swiftly. The biggest tour of the year (and how about all-time?), coupled with the biggest movie of the year outside of 'Barbie', expect an Oscar to grace the trophy cabinet of the Grammy laden artist who appeared in David O. Russell's 'Amsterdam' last year alongside Margot Robbie, Christian Bale and John David Washington. As for now, '1989' may seem like yesterday away (it was actually almost a decade ago in 2014, not to mention 33 years ago), but it's bought back to the boil here before the fifth and final 'Reputation' rewrite and the hey 'Lover' victory lap for the 'Evermore', 'Midnights' singer of modern-day 'Folklore'. One that has put in so much work since the pandemic and only come out of studio quarantine to tour the whole wide world. Announced at her LA show, this Republic synth-pop record is one to savour. The summer love of the '89' sound comes back in with the tide right before the fall. 'Welcome Back To New York'. It's been waiting for you still.

'From The Vault' like Prince, who posthumously releases the super deluxe 75-track edition of his 'Diamonds and Pearls' (originally released two years after Taylor's birth in 1991) this week, Swift's sweet 16 songs are joined by five for the bonus road. Making this Queen and Prince the married biggest releases of a New Music Friday that sees new albums from the supergroup The Kills playing 'God Games', and the returning Gaslight Anthem for the 'History Books' co-signed by the Boss Springsteen. In an outstanding October that sees new records from The Rolling Stones ('Hackney Diamonds') and The Beatles (Ringo Starr's  'Rewind Forward' EP and the last Fab Four song). And the extension of 'The Record' of the year from 'The Rest' of Boygenius. Leaving Drake's dogs sleeping. Here, there's also that classic Kendrick Lamar remix of her 'Bad Blood' with that star-studded music video (the new 'DC League Of Super Pets' gives the dog the bone too) and the previously re-recorded soundtrack style of 'Sweeter Than Fiction' for 'One Chance'. The classics 'Wildest Dreams' re-woken and 'This Love' back together were released in anticipation for what has Swiftly become the most streamed album of the year in just a weekend. Crashing Apple and Spotify servers, Taylor's popularity won't wane. And if you wonder what's to come after this epic era...it's this. 

One of the most important artists in history and certainly the pinnacle of our generation in her prime like Parton from the Nashville country to the AmeriCAN dream, rewriting the rule book to her own 'Blank Space'. Complete with a new ballpoint pen sound that clicks. Singing and signing her name across your heart like D'Arby. A classic of a classic and the most vivid 'Version' yet. The late eighties gave us 'New Romantics', 'Out Of The Woods' and so much more before the forest of 'Folklore', all re-'Style'd here, or kept as perfect as they always were. Exactly is. The huge hit 'Shake It Off' shaking off Scooter and reminding all of you who rocked with it at Backdrop, the classic Americana Universal Studios (what's up USJ, Osaka, Japan, and all those beautiful memories with you?), the rollercoaster that takes you backwards like a Taylor Swift version. Reclaiming an album that was so popular, talented but troubled (and career and reputation compromised) Ryan Adams (who we must hold accountable, no matter how much we like his music) re-recorded it himself mere months after its release with another iconic '1989'. "Stand there like a ghost shaking from the rain, rain/She'll open up the door and say, "Are you insane"/Say it's been a long six months/And you were too afraid to tell her what you want, want/And that's how it works", 'That's How You Get The Girl'. 

"You can hear it in the silence (silence), silence (silence), you/You can feel it on the way home (way home), way home (way home), you/You can see it with the lights out (lights out), lights out (lights out)" and 'You Are In Love'. True love. 'All You Had To Do Was Stay'...and treat her right. 'I Wish You Would'. Because for all the 'Places' she knows, like 'Wonderland'. It's 'Slut!' the new exclamation highlight on this version that puts all those to shame who try to do the same to her. "But if I'm all dressed up (If I’m all dressed up) /They might as well be lookin' at us (Lookin' at us)/And if they call me a slut (If they call me a slut)/You know it might be worth it for once (Worth it for once)/And if I'm gonna be drunk Might as well be drunk in love." The best of these new sonic synth 'Suburban Legends' that 'Say Don't Go' like an anthem, ask 'Is It Over Now' in confessional, 'Now We Don't Talk' ("I call my mom, she said that it was for the best/Remind myself, the morе I gave, you'd want me less/I cannot bе your friend, so I pay the price of what I lost/And what it cost, now that we don't talk"). Never that, the eras just continue for the American songwriter. 1989 will always be her year. But this is her forever more time. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Out Of The Woods', 'Slut!', 'Suburban Legends'

REVIEW: THE KILLS - GOD GAMES

4/5

Game Of Horns.

God is in the details, and by the grace of Him we have new albums on this music Friday from two returning rock acts. The first is The Gaslight Anthem's first album in nine years for your 'History Books' featuring a lead single with 'The Boss', Bruce Springsteen. Just after you thought they had said their last goodbye, my friend. The second is the first album from the English/American iconic modern age rock duo of The Kills (US singer Alison "VV" Mosshart of The Dead Weather fame, and UK guitarist Jamie "Hotel" Hince of Blythe Power) since 2016's 'Ash and Ice'. A 'Midnight Boom' that ups the ante like the raised 'Blood Pressures' of 'Satellite' and 'Baby Says'. Their sixth set, like Gaslight's, grabs you by the horns. From the amazing artwork of matador and bull, to the music videos that take you from a boxing ring, to a golf course. Culminating in an epic 3D glasses visualizer that could even go toe-to-toe with friend Jack's White's 'Seven Nation Army' with The Stripes of Meg. The Domino is falling the right way for this label's indie rock outfit.

"Yeah, you taste just like New York/Before a storm takes hold", VV sings like she once did about "double sixing it". "Night after night, after night," (you know it's the only way). Taking hits when she hasn't even got any gloves on to the canvas of, "Down here on the Bowery/The city's got me feelin' high/Got me where you want me/In your midnight eve/Always remember, honey/When you need a ride/You got me, got me, got me going'/Got me runnin' wild". Hotel was squirrelled away in one, hollowing out records "that didn't sound like The Kills" for a side-project. Until Hince realized, "they sounded exactly like The Kills". And henceforth that's why we have records like 'LA Hex' taking off. Hitting the tarmac flying, announcing, "I was day-dreaming of a hundred/Caught up in all of the drama and all of the fuss/Caught by the LA hex hanging above us/Like a drone, like a God/Magicking she into something I don't know what/I don’t know what/But I know that once I was fresh blood/And now I know that I'm not." Sweet dreams for your Los Angeles times. 

Try a little 'Love and Tenderness' like Otis Redding and you will be "Kicking at the stars again/I fight the moon/Walk up to the wolves/In a steak necklace/All love and tenderness" as you shoot the moon. These stars are 'Going To Heaven' with the sent 'scribes of "Slow dancing with a bottle of lightning/Breaking down your thunder striking/Moving like my body double/You flash your bread and butter/I’ll stay and meet them after", meeting God in this game. The '103' takes you even further on this dream of a Murakami reality like highway, before Alison gives it up for 'My Girls, My Girls' with the real anthem this week. "How far I’ve come/Still miles behind you/We’re all headed down that road/At some point, I’ll try to find you/And grow a soul for when my time comes close/But for now/I’m on those middle of the night vibes/Those singing ’til I die vibes/Reminiscing while I cry vibes/Twitching, I’m so high/Like put me in a ride/Like those vibes/Clinging on for dear life/Like I know I should/I picked a bad time/To feel this good." Let it play as you sing along. 

This 'Wasterpiece' is a masterpiece as The Kills paint theirs. On their way to the throne like 'Kingdom Come' or the great grace of the titan of a title track. Firing no 'Blank(s)' you can draw even better lyrics from the reservoirs of "A daffodil/Hangs its head/It don’t care/For love/If love is gone/You walk away/No harm, no foul/Ow, ow, ow/Whoever you are/Who was I to love you?/Turn the place upside down/No sign of you/Now, now, now/Nothing on the wall/It’s like I dreamt it all." Your memory banks know this type of heartbreaking hurt, for all it's worth. It clicks like that 'Bullet Sound' before Mosshart's heart sings for 'Better Days' much like 2Pac did with a Z for your IPA...and we ain't talking about the beer. "When that whimper dies/And a wild river rises/No man can dam the tide/Or hold it back/For God to take His time/Those big black open skies/All the while/Are calling out for/Better days/Baby, don’t go looking/Better days/Baby, don’t go looking/For better days/Fate is in our way/But I know we’ll be good/God willing." Lord knows they're here. And we ain't playing. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'New York', 'LA Hex', 'Better Days'. 

REVIEW: THE GASLIGHT ANTHEM - HISTORY BOOKS

4/5

Rewriting History. 

After a hiatus, some bands become history. Others go back to hitting the great American songbooks. Now, after nine years and some stunning solo work from singer Brian Fallon ('Painkillers', 'Sleepwalkers', 'Local Honey' and the 'Night Divine'), The Gaslight Anthem reunite for their sixth sense of a new album for the 'History Books'. Bringing that '59 sound back like Gayle finally called. And you can thank the New Jersey angel's for the album's self-tilted single featuring the God Boss himself, Bruce Springsteen. Singing, "I'm keeping time, one day goes by/I try to live 'til the next one/But these history books, full of haunted looks/From people I don't want to see again", over a vivid video of this is America traditional testimonial. All as Brian broods' "You just remind me of the nights of smoke and dirty jokes/Darkened rooms with lonely ghosts/And they were beautiful some time ago/But time keeps rollin' us on." Rolling on and reminding us of a 2009 time Hard Rock Calling headliner Springsteen joined Fallon on stage by gaslight for an anthem before his own London set in Hyde Park. Sharing the mic like a last cigarette. 

The fall of this 'Autumn' that came all too soon crackles over your record player like fallen leaves at your feet. Singing "No more spring into summertime/Ѕo can I hold you underneath October?/Black jeans in autumn leaves falling down/I hatе the way that time gоes/Crashing over like a steamroller/I wish I could do my life over", as that summer love just feels like yesterday, and time, last year's calendar that will soon line the wastebasket of new year with that party hat. On the Marshall like music video they raise the amps. After marching on to a reunion early last year, Gaslight recorded this album of Rich Mahogany like a Burgundy leather-bound book in Windmill Lane, Dublin. Bold in beautiful Branagh 'Belfast' like black and white for the musing album artwork. It's a 'Positive Charge' like the lightning bolt of a lead single that tells you this band with a vintage and still fresh sound like no other is back, together again. Forever. "I wanna live, I wanna love you a little longer/I was invincible many years ago when I was so much stronger/I wanna smile like a letter from an old friend/My arms are wide as oceans/How I've missed you, and feelin' good to be alive." 

"Arms as wide as oceans" is pure poetry. Followed by the second single and the 'Little Fires' before 'Autumn'. Burning and yearning like, "The wind iѕ howling lіkе the wоlves that wait outside the door/I’ve gotten usеd tо them but уou’re suppoѕed to be my bloоd/And when you comе to crash we never seеm to see the wаve/Вut we fеel it coming", just like fire would. There's no more reason to 'Get Hurt' like this after their last classic of the same name. The COVID pandemic and the Foo Fighters losing their beloved Taylor Hawkins told Brian and the band one thing, "all of this is temporary, and you've got to enjoy it while you can." Amen. Thanks to a talk with the Boss, who made his own way back to E Street, through a divorce and a 'Tunnel Of Love', it was suggested they make music together. And a song to stir the project from page to jumbotron screen. With those history making moments and the chapters of Fallon's life of therapy and medication, this book turned into one of a brutal, but beautiful life ready to breathe again. The 'Spider Bites', but sometimes you come out swinging and singing. 

This next phase dubbed by Fallon of the band is one to celebrate in crowds touring around the world they reached a decade before. 'Michigan, 1975' feels so alive, like that time, Detroit spinning. Whereas 'The Weatherman' reports, "I didn’t keep a lot of souvenirs after the war/And I put aside my strongest desires that ruled me before/And I took all the pain I could find ’till I exploded in electric light/Now I wonder the open skies waiting on a storm." Legacy making lyrics from legends to be, co-signer by an icon who is already in the rock and roll Hall of Fame like a rolling stone. One week after 'Hackney Diamonds' and one before The Beatles' last ever song. 'Have Mercy' on the way this band finishes albums like their epic 'Empires'. 'I Live In The Room Above Her' is a storybook one that even Dylan and Tom Waits would be proud of. Springsteen on Bob's 'I Want You' or Japanese/British author Kazuo Ishiguro were right. For as great as the lyrics are to go, it's the way someone sings them that really brings the emotion and expression. The hurt and the art. It's worth 'A Lifetime Of Preludes' as the 'Handwritten', 'American Slang' concludes, "But in my dreams I was in your arms/And the lives we’ve lived they seemed so far/And I can feel your heartbeat mix with mine/And I slipped a different lifetime." Killing it in the same weekend as the 'God Games' of The Kills. There's no gaslighting here. The anthems are back by the book. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'History Books (Feat. Bruce Springsteen)', 'Autumn', 'Michigan, 1975'.

REVIEW: THE ROLLING STONES - HACKNEY DIAMONDS

4/5

Hackney's Finest.

Diamonds, like Stones, are forever. 'Hackney Diamonds' is London slang for the shattered glass left in the wake of an estate burglary. Hackney, in particular, being an inner-city target that makes you want to holler like Marvin to the rock and roll, soulful sounds that are coming out of this jewel case. All the way to the originator Muddy Waters finale for those 'Rolling Stone Blues'. As soon as you saw that iconic tongue, between red lips of the pages of the Hackney Gazette, you knew it was on. The 24th album and first of original songs (since 2005's 'A Bigger Bang') in 18 years. Also, sadly, the first album without the skin styles of late, legendary drummer Charlie Watts. Although he'll always be good tonight. He's even posthumously here to 'Mess It Up' and 'Live By The Sword', which he recorded before he died. Living on in an iconic drumroll that will gather more legend than moss. 

The Stones are so legendary, the world's most famous rock magazine was named after them. Like they're the first thing you think about when the name of one of the most famous Bob Dylan songs comes up. Simply put, they're right there with another fab four in a debate of the greats like Michael Jackson or Prince (the purple one). No other comparison comes close. But Mick, Keith and Ronnie bring out the big guns and names for these 'Diamonds' like a Bond girl's best friend. And we ain't just talking about the 'Angry' single in all its fabulous fury starring actress of the moment Sydney Sweeney lighting up the screen. The epic Excalibur 'By The Sword' also features former Stone Bill Wyman in a wonderful reunion. Not to mention the great retirement tour glasses on top of the piano of big ballpark hitter Elton John. Also offering his ivory to 'Get Close'. "Listen, I walk the city at midnight with the past strapped to my back/Lately I can't get no sleep, I'm a real insomniac/I was chatting with a ghost, wants a hundred and a match/Says, "I know you got the money, where's the man behind the mask?"" How's that for some Jagger/Richards (and producer Andrew Watt) songwriting? Legendary like Lennon and McCartney. 

Even with the great of our generation, born star, Lady Gaga singing soulful backing on the 'Sweet Sounds Of Heaven' that soar in closing like a gunning maverick of the skies. Co-piloted with another timeless legend in the keys of Stevie Wonder's life. There's one collaboration you crave that you never saw coming. Yep, former rival and forever friend Macca himself, Paul McCartney is here. One week after 'Feeling The Sunlight' for Ringo Starr's new 'Rewind Forward' EP. And as the two biggest British bands of all-time, who made the whole world their stage are really taking it back, Paul gives 'Bite My Head Off' real bass. All whilst Mick licks, "Yeah, if I was a dog/Yeah, you would kick me down/I'd be spendin' the night/Howlin' 'round your house/But I ain't on a leash, yeah/Well, I ain't on a chain/You think I'm your b####/I'm f#####' with your brain, yeah." Pardon the French that is being kissed off those famous lips, but the Jagger swagger is back, baby! 

For all the dogs, this generation may have been waiting all year for the latest Drake, but what a time to be absolutely alive when a new Rolling Stones album comes out on the same day as a new Scorsese film ('Killers Of The Flower Moon' starring Mary's boys Leo DiCaprio and Bobby De Niro, and a revelatory Lily Gladstone). With a dagger to the Gaga like diamond heart on the album's amazing artwork set to tour stadiums of the world, this Polydor record was cut everywhere from Bob's Greenwich, to Electric Lady. Not to mention The Bahamas and London Metropolis in-between. The Hit Factory has churned out another blues rock classic like the alive live act's last studio album, the beautiful brood of 'Blue & Lonesome' standards for your London evenings. This brown sugar for your Sunday morning coffee was enough to make a grown man cry, but by 'Ruby Tuesday', the party is still going on in 'Hackney' with this one. No need to hail a black cab. This band's going nowhere. The stones are still rolling. 

Jimmy Fallon livestreams. Paul Smith fashion designs in London and Tokyo high-street shops. The promotion was palpable, because you feel this tongue lashing as the band sings in your ear. Major League Baseball and FC Barcelona uniforms. They still swing big...and score! The 'Whole Wide World' can feel it like, "The streets I used to walk on/Are full of broken glass/And everywhere I'm looking/There's memories of my past." Like the 'Uptown Funk' of Bruno Mars you can count on them like they are 'Depending On You' as fans. Don't believe me? Just watch Jagger sing, "Your fingerprints in the dark/Your past and present tangle up in my arms/Our secrets sealed in our scars/Sharing a smoke on the steps of a bar/I was convinced I had your heart in my hands/I was making love into our different plans." Beautiful. These 'Dreamy Skies' made a sunset reality like flags flying above a Glastonbury set in salute. 

Harry Styles may have the swag, look and act ('Dunkirk', 'Don't Worry Darling') to play Mick in a biopic one day for his next direction. But even that terrific talent will never have it as it was. "Look what you've done to me/You've emptied my eyes/I twisted my sanity/And all you had to do was cry", Jagger sings with a jagged edge on the heartbreaking highlight 'Driving Me Too Hard' as he continues that anything but slow roll with no steady decline in sight. Time is still on his side. Yes it is. Only bested by the chaser of Keith Richards' 'Tell Me Straight' for all those who need that solidarity in closure, "Ooh, you're runnin' too fast/Tell me straight/I need an answer, how long can this last?/Just tell me straight, don't make me wait/Is my future all in the past?/Yeah/Tell me straight, tell me straight." Reminding us of the times the life of Jack Sparrow's dad ("sea turtles mate". And how about that for an iconic Rolling Stone cover?) had the 'Illusion' of a 'Crosseyed Heart' with the likes of a smoky and smouldering Norah Jones. As the sweet seven minute 'Sounds Of Heaven' segue into the Muddy Waters of how this band got their name, The Rolling Stones have not forgotten where they came from. Somewhere in Hackney, you can mine diamonds that will shine brighter than the glass ceiling this raw and raucous record has just shattered. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Bite My Head Off (Feat. Paul McCartney)', 'Tell Me Straight', 'Sweet Sounds Of Heaven (Feat. Lady Gaga)'.

REVIEW: RINGO STARR - REWIND FORWARD

3.5/5

Starrboy.

This weekend you may think you can't rock out when your New Music Friday consists of two EPs. But between this and the Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus supergroup of Boygenius' 'The Rest' to complete 'The Record', these plays really are extended. Getting by with a little help from your friends and one member of the Fab Four drumming up his fourth EP, all you need is to 'Rewind Forward' in your tape deck, to shuffle on to the future without forgetting where you came from. "I've loved EPs since they first came out in the '60s. And I head the kids are making EPs and thought, "that's good". Boy, the genius is right. You can almost hear him say this in his accent like replying to everyone who sent him fan mail in' The Simpsons', no matter how many years it takes him. 

The Japanese word for apple, like the green one, may not "even be the best drummer in The Beatles" (Happy Birthday, dear John. We miss and love you. Peace), but this is one album you can put up on your wall like the 'Shadows'. "Somewhere that I know/Down on the road/Where the roses grow so tall/High and low/We come and go/Like shadows on the wall." Simple. Subtle. Bountiful. Beautiful. Just like all the most meaningful messages in life given to us by four lads who crossed Abbey Road to make legend. People always talk about the Lennon and McCartney one/two songwriting punch. Not to mention 'Something' in the soul of the dearly departed George Harrison whose son Dhani seems to be the most successful singers of The Beatles' brood, as pops records have been covered by more soul stars than a train taking you back to Motown. Yet people still forget, even with 'Photograph(ic)' evidence, that this Starr wrote some of the best too. 

Paul gets his in though 'Feeling The Sunlight' on a reunion we've been waiting for ever since this band was on the run ('Get Back!'). "Hey, you, come out of the rain/Dry yourself off, and remember, don't complain/'Cause everything's good, and everything's right/Sharing the love," Starr sings over McCartney muses. Holding up two fingers on two hands for all the peace and love the world needs like those friends that get you until the by and by. Hey, Jude, there's even another iconic character to add to Beatlemania legend in 'Miss Jean' like the man Macca told 'The Girl Was Mine' too. Say, say, say, this tracks feels like the classics of times gone by. Just like rolling the stones of 'Hackney Diamonds' as Liverpool's finest sings, "I can do the shimmy/I can do the shake/I can do the peppermint twist/If that's what it takes". All for a girl "with that nothing but trouble grin." One that in the garden of Eden you, "saw you in the backyard/With a glass of wine/Talking on the telephone/On a private line." 

But 'Rewind Forward' once again, and you'll never walk alone with one of the founding members of rock and roll. It's a beautiful message in sweet sentiment that we need in troubled times like these. "What's your name?/Where are you going to?/What's your game?/Shadows are going through/How can I try to convince you/That love and peace and kindness can change your world?" Ringo sings. Forgetting for most of us he already did, and it already has. Time for the rest to catch on. As peace keeps prevailing like the kaleidoscope of this orange album artwork with Starr's signature sign. EP4 is so much more for your hard day's night. Remember, "Every day there's a new sun rising/Rising up into the night/And every day there's a new horizon." Let it be and come together, because here comes the sun. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Shadows On The Wall', 'Feeling The Sunlight', 'Miss Jean'. 

REVIEW: BOYGENIUS - THE REST EP

4/5

Genius Loves Company. 

Boy, 'The Rest' of 'The Record' of the year is here. Supergroup Boygenius (Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus) delivered on one of the most anticipated albums of the year, featuring the singles '$20', 'Emily I'm Sorry' and 'Not Strong Enough'. So much, so they now have some leftovers for you to be thankful with the holiday season on the horizon. Following their self-titled EP with another four-track. Here's 'The Rest' for a band that doesn't seem to take a break. Haunting our headphones like the by the sea, beach life album artwork without the flash. Inspiring iconic status once more. 

A dozen, delightful minutes will take you the rest of the way with Dacus remarking that this fantastic four from the big-three "all have this spacey, eerie quality about them". Much like the powerful portrait photographed for the original album artwork that will now serve as another classic cover for the record as you take the sunflower yellow vinyl out of its dust jacket. The perfect album accompaniment takes your midnight oil burning hour away with the slow fade of a big 'Black Hole'. All as Baker laments, "In a rainstorm/Suckin' down a dart on the back porch/Out here, it gets so dark/You can see the stars, the ones/The headlines said this morning/We're bein' spat out by what we thought/Was just destroyin' everything for good." With her sisters singing along in beautiful, brooding backing. 

'Afraid Of Heights', Dacus isn't scared to take the lead on the next track for an extended play that shows us all the group's individual talents as well as their collective harmony. "I never rode a motorcycle/I've never smoked a cigarette/I wanna live a vibrant life/But I wanna die a boring death/I know I was a disappointment/Know you wanted me to take a risk/Not everybody gets the chance to live/A life that isn't dangerous", she sings like someone who has failed a 'Sons Of Anarchy' audition. Sure, her protagonist in this song is no daredevil, but even a blind superhero can see and feel that she dares to love for real. Absolutely one of the most courageous things you can do in this life. 

Forming like Voltron on the Jenny Lewis like 'Voyager' is when the real genius sets sail. All as you remember that New Music '23 started with a big, subtle and beautiful, acoustic and atmospheric bang. "It's a hundred and three in the Valley/Blacktop is meltin' on our shoes (Mmm)/And I don't mean to make it all about me (Mmm)/But I used to believe no one could love you like I do (Mmm)/And I'm startin' to think that it might be impossible not to (Mmm)." Mmm, Mmm these harmonies are tight (*chef's kiss*) as you walk alone in your Californian city feeling like R.E.M., Jim Carrey, or Andrew Kaufman himself in a wrestling match. Phoebe's punishing 'powers' take us home as Boy forms all for one again. "How did it start? Did I fall into a nuclear reactor?/Crawl out with acid skin or somethin' worse/A hostile alien ambassador?/Or am I simply another of the universe's failed experiments?/Either way, I have been wonderin' just how it is (How it is)/I have never heard (Never heard) the tale of how I got my powers", the origin story for you superheroes in a track that is cinema like Scorsese, killing your flower moon. As you take rest, this EP is the perfect set to let you fall adrift on memory bliss. Nuanced and profound, "the tail of the comet" of this year, "may have burned up in an instant", but this is another record that you can be proud of like smart students of music that have mastered their signature sound. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: 'Black Hole', 'Afraid Of Heights', 'Voyager'. 

REVIEW: DRAKE - FOR ALL THE DOGS

4/5

Dog Day Afternoon.

It's a dog's life. 9AM in Dallas, or anywhere else in the United States for that matter, people were waking to the new Drake. One of the biggest albums of the year in the new music calendar. Partly because it was delayed and anticipated for a release before it dropped unexpectedly to a notorious reception this weekend. All as Drizzy confirms himself as OVO once again with October's very own 6th release from the artist of the city of that number. Two hours later, everyone from Canada to Japan was rocking the '8AM In Charlotte' single that buzzed like a hornet to conclude these MJ 23 tracks that truly go hard like the recent rap trend in its 50-year anniversary. Just like the 'Magic' of Nas three-praying twice like a Bull with a 'King's Disease'. You just know Aubrey Graham is way more than top 50, and a half century of his tracks from his Wu-Tang Chamber would go into the vaults of the great American book of rhymes. Turning millennial relationship woes from a punchline to an art form. Stunting for those who still claim he's soft, "I got these cats tuckin' tails on fourth-quarter sales/I'm used to seein' tears drop over enormous meals/The restaurant clears out, faint echoes of Lauryn Hill/I say, "We gotta talk about us," I feel like Jordan Peele/Could tell I'm gettin' under your skin like an orange peel/'Cause your words don't match your actions like a foreign film/And now it's silence in the Lamb' like the horror film/Things get quiet after me statin' the obvious/Things get kinky after fifteen years of dominance/That October sky is lookin' ominous." This is for all the dogs. WOOF! 

With Snoop Dogg as your Samuel L. Jackson 'Do The Right Thing' disc jokey like Jim Carrey for fellow Canadian come-up, The Weekend, this eighth wonder of an album like Kobe follows 'Her Loss' and 'Honestly, Never Mind' for a savage run like 21 for the 6 God. The OVO Sound features that partner in rhyme like a Hit-Boy on 'Calling For You', whilst Teezo Touchdown lets us pray on 'Amen'. 'IDGAF' says Yeats on this modern poetry, before there's a PartyNextDoor for 'Members Only'. Inviting you to more for 'All The Parties' with Chief Keef and 'Another Late Night' with Little Yatchy setting sail. It's rapper of the moment Bad Bunny who comes in hard like a 'Bullet Train' fighting Brad Pitt on a Shinkansen 'Gently'. But for all the classic collabs, it's one of the is generation's greats SZA who gets in twice. Once with Sexyy Red and a 'Rich Baby Daddy'. And the other on the crazy concept of a Kids Choice like 'Slime You Out' single for all your Nickelodeon nostalgia that knows what girls (don't) like, going back and forth like Aaliyah. "I met the n### you thought could replace/How were there even comparisons made?/B####, next time, I swear on my grandmother grave/I'm slimin' you for them kid choices you made." Yet for all the features on this album, like the formidable fortress of a 'First-Person Shooter' with contemporary peer J. Cole, Drizzy like a Cole world still has enough tracks in this tank to show he can do it all with no guest appearances. 

Scrawling in his book of rhymes with some serious scribes like the amazing album artwork that on the service looks like another confused choice for the 'Certified Lover Boy' Drake is going in with tracks (facts) like he used to do with mentor Lil'Wayne. Watch him (hear and heed) 'Drew A Picasso' (draw), from a 'Virginia Beach' inspired intro the new Louis Vuitton don Pharrell Williams would be proud of, all the way to the 'Polar Opposites' bookending conclusion. Christmas really has come early for the '7969 Santa' with a snow blaster. Even the interludes ('Screw The World' and 'BBL Love') have influence like Diddy's Love album. This is a promise like the 'Bahamas' to say "I know that you're not for me, Hailey/You're livin' in my mind for free/And for someone you don't miss, I sure feel like somebody you need." This album to go with the 'Titles Ruin Everything' Lana Del Rey like poetry book takes a page out of everything, from Frank Ocean's work to Azimuth now these 'Dog Days Are Over' (twice over). Not to mention those 'West End Girls' of the Pet Shop Boys for the rapper who was 'Way 2 Sexy' for his shirt like he was Right Said Fred. Now give him back his bread. 

Releasing albums yearly with red eyes like your mailman delivers the post daily, this Raptor can't be stopped, clawing away at the game he owns and is in like EA. Sporting signature styles with a twist, even with a 'Feat Of Heights'. By 'Daylight' his tunnel vision makes 90s blockbusters like Stallone his own, rapping, "I'm geekin' hard, I know how it look/Don't know what to take, don't know what I took," with 'Scarface' samples. Y'all a bunch of (what Al said) if you don't see how bad this guy is. 'Tried Our Best'? Nah, he raises that bar with his. Asking 'What Would Pluto Do' like Mickey to the tune of, "Yeah, thought they knew my body, guess they don't/Thought they knew my body, guess they don't, ayy/Thought they knew my body, guess they/Ayy, guess they don't", referencing his body of work. Just don't Airdrop it. Because by the time we get 'Away From Home', Toronto's very own tells us, "This don't feel like home anymore/It's just wall, doors, and floors/That only I can afford/Remember when it used to mean more, mean more/I got money in the top drawer/That ain't much, but we not poor/You're mine and I'm yours/Like a broke couple, we don't wanna court, for sure." Remember the old saying about not knowing where you're going without knowing where you came from? Never forget. Because when it comes to this owl rapping until another 6AM comes, he wears Toronto across his pounding chest like the NBA. My dog. TIM DAVID HARVEY. 

Playlist Picks: '8AM In Charlotte', 'Slime You Out (Feat. SZA)', 'First Person Shooter (Feat. J. Cole)'.