This Week in Music: New Releases

Without a Java show this week, what is a poor musical lover boy to do? Listen to everything else possible, of course.   

A slew of new releases arrived last Friday with an anxious mix of pop grooves, hip-hop highlights and soulful signatures from several genre-staple artists.   

This week’s stand-out release was the urban rapper, singer and producer Bad Bunny’s sixth solo outing, “nadie sabe lo que va a pasar mañana.” The Latin pop prodigal continues his string of extremely critically acclaimed and commercially accessible releases with a slight step down from 2022’s “Un Verano Sin Ti.” The production is still clean as a well-pampered Catholic priest. The features match his previous collaborations with Mora and Young Miko. Yet, Bunny’s dance beats do not warrant the nearly hour-and-a-half album runtime. Optimists would view albums like these prime to pick and choose favorites and discard the rest. But I am no optimist. Cut a quarter of the tracks, and the album will be tenfold more enjoyable.  

Bad Bunny’s hip-hip contemporaries had a similar whirlwind series of drops. Ken Carson, Opium Records’ rage rap hotshot, follows up 2022’s critically trashed “X” with “A Great Chaos.” Carson once again proves that vibes alone can outshine any genuine musicality. There is not one ounce of trained talent or artistry in this album, but I’ll be damned if I would not mosh with dozens of sweaty college dropouts high off PCP while “i need u” sonically mutilates a poor DJ’s subwoofer.  

But nothing beats Griselda. Westside Gunn slides right back into his natural state as the prodigal nephew of underground rap with “And Then You Pray For Me,” a loose amalgamation of several rushed collaborations with Denzel Curry, JID and DJ Drama. I will admit the runtime similarly becomes tedious as the album passes the 70-minute mark, but my internal bias will always prevail. Gunn’s annual sleeper drops will always be welcomed.   

Fellow underground wordsmith MIKE emits a bang-up series of slow Earl-Sweatshirt-inspired tracks of emotional rawness. After this listen, I am worried MIKE will never attain the same thematic and harmonic cohesiveness as his debut, “MAY GOD BLESS YOUR HUSTLE.” That is not to dismiss his efforts, but experimental rap declined after MF DOOM’s passing in 2020. Every project since holds an ominous shadow of melancholy that wraps the artist in a depression blanket of artistic solidarity.  

SPEED ROUND: Bronx-born internet phenomenon Ice Spice continues her 2023 streak of short-and-sweet bops with “Pretty Girl” alongside Afrorave idol Rema.   

Rapper Key Glock casually drops a low-maintenance sequel to a track from his recent “Glockoma 2,” “No Hook 2.”   

Migos originator Offset drops a slightly bloated trap LP, “SET IT OFF,” his first solo release since the passing of his close friend and bandmate Takeoff.   

Dance/electronic producer Fred again… teams up with hip-hop ghostwriter Jozzy on “ten.”   

Ice-Spice-collaborator PinkPanthress continues to garner exponential anticipation for her upcoming LP with “Capable of Love.”   

Indie rock outfit, The Feelies, tastefully cover their favorite selection of The Velvet Underground’s classic experimental rock hits on “Some Kinda Love.”  

My mortal enemy, Mac DeMarco, joins the indie group Eyedress on the groovy slow ride “My Simple Jeep.”  

For those looking for more grit and soul, Alabama Shakes alumna Brittany Howard dropped “What Now?,” a spirited catalyst single for her upcoming tour across the American South.   

Chris Stapleton swoons and croons on “It Takes A Woman” in advance of his newest album, “Higher,” releasing next month.  

Alternative band The Drums trip through “Jonny,” a topsy collection of upbeat dance bops with an equally absurdist album cover.   

Pop-punk exemplars, blink-182, recovered from a raucous 2010s with a new set of singles before their upcoming LP, “One More Time… ” 

Queer-folk icons, boygenius, bookmark their eventful year with “the rest,” an EP of outtake recordings from their recent recording cycle. “the rest” feels more like super-fan fodder than a cohesive throughline of the trio’s traditional heartbreaker ballads.   

Lastly, on the other end of the LGBTQ+ spectrum, pop’s pretty boy Troye Sivan returns with “Something To Give Each Other.” Slap me silly because this album was a proper romp. Sivan’s lush vocals and dense production hide the dull “blanket statement” lyrics. The album’s most notable production power statement is the ludicrous yet addictive samples using excerpts from “Back Baby” by Australian folk singer, Jessica Pratt, and the certified synth-wave meme “Shooting Stars” by Bag Raiders.   

Maybe the most outlandish, unexpected releases from has-been artists will ultimately be the defining trademark of 2023.