REVIEW: MILEY CYRUS - SOMETHING BEAUTIFUL

4/5

Beauty Behind The Madness

Tabloids may have tweaked on all that Thicke twerking, but over the last decade, Miley Cyrus has done so much more. How about a big-three? And we aren't even talking about the 'Charlie's Angels' theme tune with fellow generational greats Ariana Grande and Lana Del Rey, so don't call her "angel", no matter how amazing that was. The 'Wrecking Ball' singer came through with a beautiful rendition of 'Silent Night' for the festive feeling of Sofia Coppola and Bill Murray's 'Lost In Translation' reunion, 'A Very Murray Christmas'. She also played the perfect pop star on an episode of 'Black Mirror', right when her fame was going nuclear. But the best thing might have been her collabo with Godmother Dolly Parton on her country album ('Younger Now') for the all-encompassing love of 'Rainbowland'. Since that reconciliation album, she gave us 'Plastic Hearts' during COVID, for one of 2020s best, and then, only two years ago, on an 'Endless Summer Vacation', and vein of form for the still only 32, former Disney star, she gave herself her own 'Flowers' after her split with actor Liam Hemsworth.

Now, on a ninth wonder of an album, she gives us 'Something Beautiful'. Something even more beautiful. Not to mention the freshest and best pop album of the year since Selena Gomez and engaged producing partner Benny Blanco told each other 'I Said I Love You First'. Gaudy and glorious, like the diamond portrait of the album artwork, this is cinematic and classic. With inspired interludes across the board, big collaborations with Brittany Howard (the Hollywood 'Walk Of Fame') and supermodel Naomi Campbell (for 'Every Girl You've Ever Loved'), not to mention a showstopping single in the 'End Of The World'.  If Miley wasn't as big as contemporaries like Lady Gaga and such, you'd be crazy to think she wasn't now. From a perfect 'Prelude' to these ends after the title-track, and a 'Give Me Love' demand in devotion to curtain counter, this beautiful body of work really is something. Why 'Pretend To Be God' when she is HER?

Fresh neon soundscapes accompany this Tennessee kid to the LA studios of Bandrika and Subtle McNugget (any fries with that?) on an album released this New Music Friday, on May 30th (Happy Birthday, Sis!). With a musical film of the same name to come, June 6th, this visual, existential album, scores as the perfect soundtrack like a 'Purple Rain'. As long as the movie isn't meant to make you suffer (and that's a Lake Minnetonka reference, not diss). Healing from trauma and finding beauty in all the darkness, Miley is 'Reborn', sampling Davidson's 'Work It' and giving us music videos for 'More To Lose' and 'Easy Lover'. This classic Colombia record even features Kid Harpoon, The War On Drugs and Danielle Haim on electric guitar, after her Bon Iver duet, and before she says 'I Quit' with her sisters next month for the new Haim album. Just like when they both came out in 2020, these women in music are giving it to the wimps again, as I put my hand up.

Epic escapism in psychedelia is bright like a 'Golden Burning Sun'. Inspiring through the impermanence of life with 'More To Lose'. On the title track of this Shawn Everett produced engrossing work Cyrus sings, "Oh, flash, bang, spark/Send home the guards and lay down your arms/And da-da-da-da-da-da/The great golden bomb, bomb, bomb/Boy, I'm losing my breath, yes/Boy, you're marking up my necklace/Boy, I'm losing my breath/I'm undressing, I'm confessing that I'm so obsessed, yes." Just like on the closer, when she writes, "I imagine a place at the dawn of creation/A cityscape we paint in the dark/There's a castle between this obscene blue horizon/Where golden apples hang in the trees and a bare lady sings/Behind the curtain, heaven awaits." The words of these lasting, legacy making lyrics carry so much weight, but the intonation carries even more influence. This sweet style of experimental, homage music is the boldest and best since Halsey's last great pretender. Pop is still in that pure place with this popera. At her most beautiful. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'End Of The World', 'Walk Of Fame (Feat. Brittany Howard)', 'Every Girl You've Ever Loved (Feat Naomi Campbell)'.

Spin This: Miley Cyrus - 'Endless Summer Vacation'.

REVIEW: ESTELLE - STAY ALTA

3.5/5

British Woman

Nostalgia has got me in my fond feelings. Somewhere in the 2000s, and my twenties, watching every hip-hop gig I could change a shift to get to, from Manchester to London. All the Apollo Theatres. All the stars. Ja Rule, Nelly, Nas, Jay-Z. The Wu-Tang Clan. Most, if not all, opened by British singer/songwriter and rapper Estelle, fresh off of her dynamic debut, 'The 18th Day' (2004), behind singles like '1980', 'Free' and 'Go Gone'. I could have sworn she winked at me one time...but that's just me, getting to gigs early so I could stand at the front. From Beverley Knight to Amy Winehouse, London's own Estelle Fanta Swaray was a part of the British urban soul revolution. Giver her a MOBO Lifetime Achievement. Because she's forever a legend like Eternal. Even before the 'Shine' of her sophomore set and the Kanye West produced megahit 'American Boy'. Working with the likes of will.i.am, Akon, Tyler, The Creator, and the cast of 'Empire'. Since then, she's given us 'All Of Me', like a 'True Romance', and she doesn't care that everyone wants the next 'American Boy', as she takes it back to the musical roots she calls home. That may be her greatest hit, but we need another 'American Boy' about as much as we need another Kanye tweet. No matter how great a song, or genius artist that and he is.

Leaving them Hollywood types for the hills, yet still with that number one champion sound. Instead, Estelle tells us to 'Stay Alta' on her sixth LP and first album in seven years, following the 'Lovers Rock' of 2018. The 'Alta' artist in gold letters on an epic emerald green album artwork, with the hands of a free flowing dress to match, returns to form and an album that makes her as compelling and cohesive as luminaries like the great Brits Lianne La Havas and Corrine Bailey Rae. The album, coming just in time for another beautiful British summer, features the moving singles 'Fire' and 'Oh I', complete with their own dance videos to step to. Not to mention the 'New Direction' featuring new big names on the block LaRussell and Kevon Harrold. Check the slowed down live version of this single and the 'Love On Love' dedication for more heart to this soul. The tenacious talent inspired by everyone from Ella Fitzgerald to Mary J. Blige also features collaborations with some real movers and shakers for a record that doesn't stop dancing.

She's 'Grateful' to them, too, like this track with Teedra Moses and Russell Taylor. Whereas the studio version of 'Love On Love' features D-Nice. Another legend, in an explicit Joi brings 'Fire'. Whilst Channel Tres tunes into the title-track. As we 'Let It Drop' with Durand Bernarr. All before the sweet "Honey Honey" you'll move and sing along slowly too is 'On Time' with Aida Rodriguez and Nonchalant Savant. Yet from the 'Outside' opening, to the outro to 'Start Over' to, it's the lyric video of 'Roses (Now's The Time)' that finally gives this somewhat underrated superstar her flowers. "I had to let go of the pain/Had to let go of the things/That I was born with when I came/I was given with my name/And only I could do the chore/I leveled up the score/Breathed life into my core." If that isn't resolve that could never be sold, I don't know what to buy into any more. Just 'Like He Is'. The Lord or love. Or perhaps both. "I think I'll keep it like it is/I don't know which way that the sun's gon' shine/But, oh, I'll keep it like it is." Like 'Alta', until the altar, stay, Estelle, stay. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'New Direction (Feat. LaRussell & Keyon Harrold)', 'Oh I', 'Roses (Now's The Time').

Spin This: Estelle - 'Shine'

REVIEW: BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN & THE E STREET BAND - LAND OF HOPE & DREAMS EP

4/5

Manchester United.

Only yesterday, with what looked like complicity, I talked about how we shouldn't judge Snoop Dogg's new album on the fact that he performed at Trump's inauguration. Part of me felt like a dirty dog doing it, but I can still like Snoop and not how he performs. Besides, reviews are supposed to be fair, balanced and without bias. With that being said, when you come against my Boss, that's another matter altogether. Springsteen said this, "In my home, the America I love, the America I’ve written about, and has been a beacon of hope and liberty for 250 years, is currently in the hands of a corrupt, incompetent and treasonous administration", at a recent concert (May 16th) in Manchester, England. To which Trump replied, "I see that Highly Overrated Bruce Springsteen goes to a Foreign Country to speak badly about the President of the United States. Never liked him, never liked his music, or his Radical Left Politics and, importantly, he's not a talented guy - Just a pushy, obnoxious JERK, who fervently supported Crooked Joe Biden, a mentally incompetent FOOL, and our WORST EVER President, who came close to destroying our Country."

Erm. First things first, Trump seems to have forgotten he used to play Springsteen's 'Born In The U.S.A.' at his rallies, before he was told to stop, like he never knew what the song was really about. Secondly, let's leave President Biden out of this, who we wish a healthy recovery. And don't get me started on the overrated nonsense. As Springsteen urged us to "rise with us, raise your voices against authoritarianism and let freedom ring." Whereas all Trump had to say was, "This dried out ‘prune’ of a rocker (his skin is all atrophied!) ought to KEEP HIS MOUTH SHUT until he gets back into the Country, that’s just ‘standard fare. Then we’ll all see how it goes for him!" THAT sounds like a threat. Not just to Bruce's civil rights, but the same freedom and democracy the great America we once knew and still do was built upon. And that comment about the skin, I said I wouldn't do this after my review of 'The Apprentice', but has he looked in the mirror? I know I have...and DAMN! He's just jealous, like I am in Japan, watching my best friend see this show in the city I did some summers ago. Bringing Santa Claus out for an early Christmas coming to town.

Jealous, like Donald's comments about Taylor Swift's "hotness" after he said he hated her. Here's an example of a man taking pride in making comments of hatred about a woman decades his junior. Even if she is much more competent. Neither Springsteen, nor Trump, is backing down in this battle for America's soul. Yesterday, a mere month before he's set to release his unreleased back catalogue for the mega 'Tracks II: The Lost Albums', Springsteen surprisingly released his 'Land Of Hope & Dreams EP' in black and white. Taking that song and his 'City Of Ruins' with some inspired interludes introducing the songs against Trump's influence. They're on the record now. All as Trump hits back with a stupid meme as they both double-down. Hitting him with a golf ball? Now, watch this drive. Just like Springsteen sings on 'Land Of Hope & Dreams', "I will provide for you/And I'll stand by your side/You'll need a good companion for/This part of the ride/Leave behind your sorrows/Let this day be the last/Tomorrow there'll be sunshine/And all this darkness past." That's what the real boss of all bosses and the working class hero has been doing for decades. Can the President really say that?

Springsteen even repurposes his 'Long Walk Home' ode to match the tone of his country, right now. A lot like when pop's perfect Pink made a real exclamation with her political 'What About Us', disguised as a song about broken hearts. Which it still was, in all earnest. The same could be said for 'My City Of Ruins', a song written for all of those who lost their lives in 9/11 as Bruce Springsteen & The E Street band rallied everyone in New York and the watching world to "RISE UP", like they do for their country again now. With these hands, Springsteen writes lines like, "Now the sweet bells of mercy drift through the evening trees/Young men on the corner, like scattered leaves/The boarded up windows, the empty streets/While my brother's down on his knees." Always speaking for the poor and downtrodden under the sneakers that Republicans buy too. Springsteen even brings his cover of Bob Dylan's 'Chimes Of Freedom' back, like the 90s EP of the same name, to finish this extended play, ringing the klaxon again. "Striking for the gentle, striking for the kind/Striking for the guardians and protectors of the mind/And the poet and the painter far behind his rightful time/And we gazed upon the chimes of freedom flashin'", Bob, Bruce, and we all should sing. This land can dream of hope again. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Set-list Picks: 'Land Of Hope & Dreams', 'Long Walk Home', 'Chimes Of Freedom'.

Spin This: Bruce Springsteen - 'Chimes Of Freedom EP'.

REVIEW: CHUCK D PRESENTS ENEMY RADIO - RADIO ARMAGEDDON

4/5

Deep Impact

Like a Led Zeppelin Hindenburg, on his black and white album artwork, Chuck D is a Public Enemy once again. All in the same week that Snoop Dogg asks 'Iz It A Crime', giving evidence for this to be a great New Music Friday in hip-hop, especially out west with the 'Kingmaker' Xzibit giving us a comeback album to highlight the onslaught. Flavour Flav's P.E. brother's first solo set since 2023's 'We Wreck Stadium' (the last Enemy album was 2020's aptly titled, 'What You Gonna Do When The Grid Goes Down'), feels more like a group project. As Chuck D Presents 'Enemy Radio' and the album 'Radio Armageddon', feeling like a 'Radio Nowhere' call to arms for rap's Springsteen.

"All things must die so they can live", the artwork of this Def Jam Recording tells us. And right out the gates, after the album self-titled intro, D rocks "Philosophy, politics, rebellion, recovery/Gimmicks, magic, inspiration, music/Fans, the road, drums, sexy/Racism/Rock and roll is the white version of rhythm and blues, okay?/No, I mean, this not no prejudice thing, so don't do that, alright?/I'm just tellin' you the real truth/Religion, industry, doom", over telling us 'What Rock Is'. All as this hall of famer and pure poet still has game like another Denzel and Spike Lee movie. 'Highest 2 Lowest', you can't touch him too. And even though there is no A$AP Rocky, or Rihanna, there is a cast collection of unique artists making their mark on this 808 canvas. All mattering as we proclaim 'Black Don't Dead', like DJ Too Tuff. These 'New Gens' ready for their moment with hip-hop's forefather in the forefront.

CM AKA Creative gives us a 'Station Break'. All as Phill Most Chill goes 'Rogue Runnin'' like an 'Andor' season. 1/2 Pint and Miranda Writes asks 'Is God She?' as Chuck attests, "My brother, my sister, my father, my mother Go deep past the sleep where God pulled back the cover/Let's get within inside the skin, blood runneth under/The ways of man ain't so kind, the blind stands to suffer/No compassion, crashin', testosterone sin/Exile, classified, we can't think again/Check a hero, don't confuse her with his masculine fix/Swear to God, she could never be no son of a b####." Now, what did we just tell you about that poetry? It's in motion still for the 'Station Identification'. Then The Impossebulls come charging in like Chicago for 'Here We Are Heard'. Lend your ears to the 'Superbagg' of Black Madeen, or what ULTRAMAG7 has here as 'Carry On', and you'll see that nothing is fumbled. Especially when D meets another one in Donald D and Jazzy J for the sweet 'Slight Story Style Sound'.

Yet before the Def Comedy Jam like 'Signing Off' with Schoolly D, Chuck D asks 'What Are We To You?' on a fresh and raw choice cut. "All over the place, I may not got no friends/I'm burnin' a damn candle at three ends/But I know myself, you might not know who I am/You probably pack right up, go home and say, "Damn" (Yeah)/If your mental got a problem with this rap instrumental/What's the color of time got to do with these rhymes?/Say the darker the berry, say the thicker the juice/New generation's hatin', that same old truth/Why the same shit be happenin' 'til we long in the tooth?/Pеople, people bе people, the red blood is the truth/The red pill will be taken in case you feel ill/You know the time to run, it's time to get ill." Real rhymes to go with the track's title question, over and over again in chorus, asking "who are we?" Chuck D and the rest of Public Enemy gave rap, black music and lives a voice when no one else did. And to this day, the microphone is not getting chucked, as D fights the power to his last. And man, oh, man is he lasting in this waged war. Turn on your radio, away from the bulls### that Dead Prez told you about. In this hip-hop world that's only getting bigger, the Armageddon is almost over. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'What Rock Is', 'Black Don't Dead (Feat. DJ Too Tuff)', 'What Are We To You?'

Spin This: Public Enemy - 'Fear Of A Black Planet'.

REVIEW: XZIBIT - KINGMAKER

4/5

Kingsman

King back. In the same weekend that Snoop Dogg releases 'Iz It A Crime' to the court of public opinion on Death Row, and we get an album from another Public Enemy (Chuck D for your 'Radio Armageddon'), Xzibit is back too. Riding and pimping his discography with his first solo set since 2012's 'Napalm'. Although he did release a record with B-Real of Cypress Hill, along with Demrick and Serial Killers in 2020's 'Summer Of Sam'. It really does feel like you're playing 'Def Jam Vendetta' on your Gamecube or PSP right now with this 'Kingmaker' and that title-track will do more than take you back as this talent pays it forward on his ninth wonder of an album. Reuniting with Dr. Dre, like Snoop did on 'Missionary', with the Ty Dollar $ign assisted 'Leave Me Alone'. Bringing more of the west to the party with the Ice Cube and Lorine Chia highlight 'For The Love'.

Forget what he did to cars. This is an MTV generation, unsung legend who had bars. And here he records with fellow luminaries, rewriting their own legacies with comeback trails. Whether it be Busta Rhymes ('The Moment' with JasonMartin), or Redman (getting 'Higher', as if he could, with B-Real of Cypress "I'm staring in your direction, like 'The Simpsons'" Hill). On the blue, California sky of the Hollywood sign 'Kingmaker', Xzibit also has a supporting cast headlined by Dem Jointz ('Everywhere I Go'), Jenn Em (for the sequel 'Been A Long Time Pt. 2'), JasonMartin again on 'Belly Of The Beast', Stalone (not that one) for a 'Perfect Alibi', USA's Symba as 'American Idols', a 'Crash' of K.A.A.N. and Royce Da 5'9", Butch Cassidy and Compton Av telling you to 'Shut Yo Mouth', a 'Notified' Cold 187um and King T, Daygo Fatts and Guapdad 400 asking 'What U Like', and the 'End Of Day' with Ade Bekoe, Domo Genesis and Tre Capital.

On 2001's 'Man vs. Machine' with an operatic Dr. Dre of 'Symphony In X Major ("we the s###"), Xzibit released one of his deepest cuts. His 'Missin' U' dedication to his dear mama, featuring Andre Wilson. Now, he regards his own mortality in a music video for a single where he's wearing a black suit with matching shades, like the Man in Black, Johnny Cash. You remember in that Joaquin Phoenix 'Walk The Line' biopic, directed by James Mangold of Dylan's 'A Complete Unknown' (Boyd Holdbrook has a great Cash in, too), where they say to Johnny, "you look like you're going to a funeral", and he coolly responds, "maybe I am". Well, X to Z is, too. The one of Alvin Nathaniel Joiner. His own one. Well...not yet, we sure hope, but "I put together my suit of armor like Tony Stark's/I seen dynasties come together, but never start/N####s ain't with me right now 'cause they ain't had a heart/They get emotional, hold grudges, and fall apart/I am the Alpha, Omega, I am the Holy Grail (Damn)", off of 'Play This At My Funeral' is one hell of a delivered eulogy.

Strong singles like 'Everywhere I Go', 'Shut Yo Mouth' and 'Been A Long Time Pt 2' complete this decade plus comeback, but his legend has been here for years. This is just exhibit I. Or Xzibit, A+, with quite possibly his best album yet. Just listen to the concept of 'Success', his 'Genesis', 'History', or his warning that needs to be heeded that 'Earth Is Over'. The title track in closing will really put you on game as Joiner joins it all together and gives you that new car smell with some shine on the hood, and much more tinkering below. "Your money tight, feeling like you ain't living right/You lost sight of your goals and the spirit to fight/Can you humble your pride, ego, and sacrifice?/Need some motivation at life? Listen to Kingmaker." Pop your collar, this King of LA, like James' version, has just given you another makeover. And this one will have you looking like your best self as you drive off the lot. Hey now, no more mean muggin', you're an all-star again. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Play This At My Funeral', 'The Moment (Feat. Busta Rhymes & JasonMartin)', 'Success'.

Spin This: Xzibit - 'Man Vs. Machine'.

REVIEW: SNOOP DOGG - IZ IT A CRIME?

4/5

The Green Mile

Bow WOW! In the last couple of years, legendary rapper Snoop Dogg has become a hip-hop mogul by acquiring his former label, Death Row Records, reunited with his homie Dr. Dre, for last year's 'Missionary' chart position, and even performed at the inauguration of a president. Too bad it was Trump. But in this era of cancel culture, can we really just disregard everyone for their different opinions? If that was the case, you'd also have to stop listening to Lil' Wayne. Not to mention, stop watching Sly Stallone and Vince Vaughn movies. Mel Gibson and Jon Voight kind of already showed their character year's ago. Maybe he was just accepting a rich payday, like he needs the money. Call him a sellout, but this guy's been in everything before, from 'Starsky & Hutch' to 'Futurama'. There are much worse rappers you should stop listening to right now. Diddy. Possibly (probably) Drake. Opinions are like a##holes, but as long as he ain't s###ing on people, then we should do our best as reviewers and give him a fair and balanced judgement on his work. We can't always separate the art from the artist, with people out here still putting R. Kelly on their Mount Rushmore, but let's give Snoop the benefit of the doubt. Unless he goes full Kanye.

The Doggfather addresses all of this on his new album, 'Iz It A Crime' (kind of). His 21st, not six months after 'Missionary' was unwrapped at Christmastime. Releasing around six albums in that many years, the Willie Nelson of rap, who had rolled records and blunts with the real American songbook, brings everyone to the party like his family on the album artwork in familiar shirt and bandana styling. On the same NMF (New Music Friday) where we got albums from fellow contemporaries (Xzibit's 'Kingmaker') and legends (Chuck D's 'Radio Armageddon'), Calvin Broadus brings October London to the title-track. LaRussell to 'Can't Wait'. JANE HANDCOCK to 'Can't Get Enough'. Charlie Bereal ('What's Hattinin') and Stresmatic ('ShutYoB####A##Up') to 'Keep It Movin''. J-Black (no, not that one, but how good would that be?) and Wiz Khalifa to 'Just The Way It Iz'. Akeem Ali to 'You Want My All'. 'Beautiful' and 'Drop It Like It's Hot' collaborator Pharrell Williams and Tonio Armani to the 'Spot'. Denauan ('My Friend') to the hot 'Cold Summer'. Blaqthoven to 'Life's Journey'. And Sexyy Red to 'Me N OG Snoop'. Now, that's quite the mouthful of dog treats.

Snoop's singles 'Unsung Heroes' (an absolute gem) and 'Let Me Love You' (ain't nothing to do with Mario, but you'll love Snoop doing the white guy voice again) are joined by visualizer videos for 'Joy', 'Snoop Will Make You Dance' and 'West Up', not to mention, a whole movie for this album. On the DJ Battlecat produced 'Sophisticated Crippin', the Dogg raps, "Back in the kitchen/Intuition, sophisticated cripping/This s### different/Still, top billing/The Dogg is chilling/What more can I say? I made a living/Big dipping, we ain't set tripping/This is how they turn superheroes into villains", on an album that is pure Cali' G-Funk, rhythm and gangster, despite Warren G recently revealing he felt left out by Snoop and step-brother Dr. Dre. Get it together, fellas. That's what Nate Dogg would have wanted. On 'My Friend' we see Calvin get real emotional, over one he's lost, crying at church. But on this 21-track set for his 21st (album, dude's 53), Broadus urges us all to 'Live Life' like, "It's us against the world, strap on your Nike's, girl/It's time to show these n####s you ain't just an icy girl/Don't let them get inside your head/Get your paper, making sweet love to the bread/I think I need a baker." DAMN! Now that's something we can all agree on before the 'Rapture'. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Iz It A Crime (Feat. October London)', 'Spot (Feat. Pharrell Williams & Tonio Armani)', 'My Friend (Feat. Denaun)'.

Spin This: Snoop Dogg & Dr. Dre - 'Missionary'

REVIEW: JIN - ECHO E.P.

4/5

Echo Chamber

'Echo' in the headphones. Blue steps descend the speaker, like Penrose, for the record of this album artwork that circles back to the groove. One 'Happy' go lucky E.P., released last fall, deserves another (like Andre 3000's '7 Piano Sketches' last New Music Friday) as the summer is on its way. Most of "Worldwide Handsome" Jin's BTS brethren have already released two solo sets after their hiatus. Now it's his turn up to bat for the Big Hitters of HYBE hype, matching their also temporarily disbanded BLACKPINK K-Pop legendary contemporaries. The army of BTS soldiers, after Jin was the first to enlist in his mandatory military duty, are releasing records like Marvel movies with avengeance. And they're all greeted with fanboy and girl (ARMY) enthusiasm like the M.C.U. No doomsday. There's even an 'Echo' like a titular anti-hero from 'Hawkeye' fame.

Shooting straight, Jin's 'Echo' and accompanying M.V., sees him get cinematic as the bad boy, in his punk rock fashion era. Hair, that no longer needs to be buzzed for the South Korean army, flowing free. It gets even more Hollywood on the lead single 'Don't Say You Love Me', and its movie like music video featuring acclaimed actress Shin Se Kyung ('Rookie Historian', 'Run On'). The actress and the singer who could sure star in films and K-Drama (hey, they're all doing it in 'Squid Game', collecting roles like Thanos does stones) play long-lost lovers reunited with an undeniable yearn. All as Jin sings, in English, "Faking a smile while we're breaking apart/Oh, I never, never, never meant to take it this far/Too late to save me, so don't even start/Oh, you never meant to hurt me, but you're making it hard." We feel you, bro! Jin also duets on 'Loser' with Yena, a singer (the former member of Iz*One) and actress. A track, even the king of 'Losers', Beck would be proud of.

This extended play that will be headlined in Jin's first solo world tour, RunSeokjin Ep. Tour, is highlighted by tracks that will definitely make that set-list. The bittersweet and blissful 'Nothing Without Your Love' ("I'm thinking 'bout you/I'm thinking 'bout me/끝없는 이 긴 밤 속에서/밝은 빛이 되어줘/I'm nothing without your love/You are my life/You're all of me/빛나는 추억 속에서/영원토록 남아줘"). Or the cowboy lasso of 'Rope It' that 'Boy With Luv' collaborator Halsey would have adored in her 'You Should Be Sad', 'Maniac' era. Meanwhile, 'A Journey With The Clouds" (구름과 떠나는 여행)'  is a musical one. Twisting and turning as it goes all over the place like a beautiful 'Bohemian Rhapsody'. But we're not saying it's as good as the best record of all-time, you hysterical Queens. There's only room for one.

The 'Background' of these sevens seals tells us, in translation, "I still live there/In the season when your whole world was me/The words I repeat alone/If I could go back, what would I say?/Even if I call you/It echoes back and hurts me again". Referencing the E.P's name and the love that echoes in the chambers of the heart. Alas, it's the perfectly penned 'To Today's Me" (오늘의 나에게)' that gets really profound. Jin writes to himself, "떠나자 하늘 저 위로/나를 믿고/I fly, 맘 이끄는 곳에/I fly, 나를 던져/단 한 번 뿐인 이 순간/내 마음을 열어/오늘의 난 (The one), 날개를 펴 (The one)/Now I fly to where my heart beats." Or in English, "Let's leave, up above the sky/Trusting myself/I fly, to where my heart leads/I fly, throwing myself/This once-in-a-lifetime moment/Open my heart/Today's me (The one), spread my wings (The one)/Now I fly to where my heart beats." Echoing like a message passed down through generations. Or a song we'll play on repeat. And just to think, we've still been 'Happy' since his last play. This one, too, is here to stay. TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Don't Say You Love Me', 'Loser (Feat. Yena)', 'A Journey With The Clouds" (구름과 떠나는 여행)'  

Spin This:  Jin - 'Happy' EP

REVIEW: COUNTING CROWS - BUTTER MIRACLE, THE COMPLETE SWEETS

3.5/5

Butter Days

How sweet it is! Zach Galifiankis may have the best line when it comes to how old Jerry Seinfeld is getting 'Between Two Ferns' ("counting crow's feet"), but Adam Duritz and his band are by all means no joke. And they're back for all those who dropped off them and forgot classics like 'August and Everything After', 'Recovering The Satellites' and 'This Desert Life' (what a big-three to start a career). As a matter of fact, they've been back. In 2021, they gave us the 'Butter Miracle, Suite One' EP, and this was originally meant to be, 'Suite Two'.  Spearheaded by super singles 'Spaceman In Tulsa' and 'Under The Aurora' complete with COVID music videos, featuring band studio sessions and Durtiz zoomed in, all by himself (what a time, what a time). Now, on the same New Music Friday that Outkast's Andre 3000 follows his 'New Blue Sun' flute album with a '7 Piano Sketches' EP, we get the full LP of Counting's 'Butter Miracle, The Complete Sweets'.

Backed up at the end, the previously released, 'The Tall Grass', 'Elevator Boots', 'Angel Of 14th Street' and 'Bobby and the Rat-Kings' all make it back for this nine-track album that spreads the butter further on the toast. Like a 'Still Blooming' Jeff Goldblum and his Mildrid Snitzer Orchestra said to Sarah Silverman about leaving it out of the fridge overnight to soften for the perfect spread. Yes, for our umpteenth reference, we can't get enough of all that. Just like we adore this album artwork and our muse, lying across the buttercups, with a face of heavily buttered bread (my kind of woman), like the Japanese superhero for kids, Anpanman. For those who don't know, this is a guy whose face is bread. And if you thought that was weird, his friends eat said face when they need a power up (wait...WHAT?!). That needs a parental advisory, this album, on the other hand, should probably come with a cholesterol warning. Yet you'll have your fill when you come to the 'Virginia Through The Rain' album pick that is classic Counting Crows. So much so, you might just hear it on the forthcoming fourth season of 'The Bear'.

San Francisco's Bay Area's very own, who we're sure inspired the classic show Counting Cars, roll back into town 'With Love, From A-Z', to the 'Boxcars' that keep this new material tuned into your car radio. They have enough sessions here, not to mention the classics (like 'Shrek') for the tour they're about to embark on, across America, supported by the reunion of the one and only Jersey boys, Brian Fallon and his Gaslight Anthem. Here, Duritz, David Bryson, Charlie Gillingham, Dan Vickrey, David Immerglück, Jim Bogios and Millard Powers make good on a real extended play, for their first album in a decade and a year (after 2014's 'Somewhere Under Wonderland'). It's been a long time, but this butter to have loved, complete suite is what you've been waiting for. The eighth wonder of this roots rock spreads. Just like Adam sings on 'Spaceman', "I'm a painkiller, and I'm a caterpillar/They can't break you, man (Yeah, they can't break you apart)/Another well-nigh butterfly found on a bus out of town/Turning into a motherf#####g rock and roll star." There's nothing like them stone the crows lyrics from Duritz. And after all this time, round here. All the Saturday nights and Sunday mornings under sunshine, Adam is still a rock and roll legend, you mothers. Now, how's that for a miracle? TIM DAVID HARVEY.

Playlist Picks: 'Spaceman In Tulsa', 'Virginia Through The Rain', 'Angel Of 14th Street'.

Spread This: Counting Crows - 'Hard Candy'

REVIEW: ANDRE 3000 - 7 PIANO SKETCHES

4/5

3 Sketches

Someone tell LL Cool J that the great musical OutKast that is Andre 3000 has traded in his flute. Although, the Cool James who Ladies Love may not like this one (see LeBron James and Maverick Carter's Uninterrupted episode of 'The Shop' for more information). We can't get enough of it, though. Following his Grammy-nominated Best Alternative AND Album Of The Year (the offbeat jazz piece 'New Blue Sun'), his tour (which we were lucky enough to catch in Tokyo's Blue Note in November) and the 'Moving Day' EP, 3 Stacks has another extended play for us this New Music Friday. And it's big, boy!

For all the marvellous and outrages outfits that hit the Met Gala this week, Andre Benjamin definitely pulled off the best one. Outside of the 'Metropolis' that is Janelle Monáe, with a little 'Clockwork Orange', we hope those two standing together, side-by-side are dreaming up a classic collaboration. Even ex Erykah Badu had to give it up for 'Dre lugging around the grandest of pianos strapped to his back. And that's not all the talented wordsmith, who hasn't dropped a bar in years, had in his back pocket. He also revealed a surprise EP by the name of '7 Piano Sketches' for us. And I  bet you can guess, there's no rapping. The only time you hear him speak beyond the keys he plays is when he introduces the tracks he plays, sometimes in duet or distortion. After 'Blue Sun's classic chapter titles ('The Slang Word P(*)ssy Rolls Off the Tongue with Far Better Ease Than the Proper Word Vagina .Do You Agree? (you already know it)), '7 Sketches' in album artwork, beautiful blue scrawls gives us more of the same ('when you’re a ant and you wake up in an awesome mood, about to drive your son to school, only to discover that you left the lights on in the car last night so your battery is drained'). Don't you just hate that?

Open and pure, from 'bluffing in the snow', to the 'i spend all day waiting for the night' haunting highlight, this album shows that the flutes were no bluff, Andre 3000 really is a revolutionary in esteemed company. Sure, this isn't 'Sketches Of Spain', but he isn't as miles away from Davis as you think. As a matter of fact, pair this with last months 'Still Blooming' blossom of accented actor Jeff Goldblum and The Mildrid Snitzer Orchestra, and we just may have a new jazz revolution on our hands. These 'blueberry mansions' built off the grounds of 'My Blueberry Nights' star Norah Jones after she told Andre, baby, 'Take Off Your Cool', following 'The Love Below' of the OutKast dual album pairing off. Me sipping on Norah's 'Day Breaks' cocktail at the Blue Note whilst Stacks freestyled on the flute. Whether he's messing around on 'hotel lobby pianos', or bringing the joy like Rosario Dawson's 'She Lives In My Lap' cackles on some 'off rhythm laughter', this is another classic e-mailed directly to you. Spontaneous improvisations inspired from everyone from Thelonious Monk, to Stephen Sondheim, the collection of iPhone recorded songs was originally meant to be called 'The Best Worst Rap Album In History', but he'll get to that LL. Want to know more? 'And then one day you'll...' TIM DAVID HARVEY.

 

Playlist Picks: 'blueberry mansions', 'off rhythm laughter', 'i spend all day waiting for the night'.

Play This: Andre 3000 - 'New Blue Sun'