Touché Amoré - 'Skyscraper'

At the forefront of melodic hardcore is Touché Amoré, and their fourth record is just on the horizon. Stage Four is the follow up to 2013's Is Survived By, and it's bound to be something special - it's a very personal record for vocalist Jeremy Bolm, who lost his mother to cancer in 2014. This album will be full of those emotions he experienced.

The band has shared the song 'Skyscrapers' from the record. The song is an ode to New York City, in all of the most heartbreaking of ways. It's not a very intense track as far as its sonic soundscape goes; it begins with rolling drums and reverberating clean guitars. Jeremy Bolm and guest vocalist Julien Baker sing somberly as moments of guitar punch through. Bolm is the real focus of the song, despite the female guest. While the harmony is interesting, it's more captivating to hear the longing in Bolm's voice as he signs "To live there, under the lights" is its own gift.

The song builds up to a big climax at the end, harmonies of vocals and screams ultimately taking it out with a bigger instrumental complete with crash cymbals and tremolo guitar sounding high in the background. Bolm's clean vocals make this track sound like a heavy Ariel Pink song. It's a bit odd, but it's not the vocals that make the track. The meaning sends it a lot further.

The music video makes the song even more real and somber. It pictures Bolm traveling through New York pushing around an empty wheelchair, seeing sights in black and white. As the song climaxes, all of the color starts to surround the scenes, as if it's an acceptance. I like to think the empty wheelchair is a symbol for his mother, and that makes this song being sung from her perspective - Julien Baker's female vocals are his mother singing the message too. Perhaps she always had dreams of living in the big city and living under all of the grand lights, but passed away before that came true. Bolm walking through the city with the empty wheelchair is his way of finally taking her there. The way the color changes from the beginning to the end shows how this sad activity of pretending his mother is there with him becomes more of a comforting thing, as if he could do one more thing for his mother to make her happy.

Touché Amoré knows how to play with your emotions. This song is one of the few cases where I can say that the music video makes the song even better. As for the track itself, I'm not the biggest fan but I like the message and the story is sweet. Stage Four seems to be building up to be a very emotional record; anger, sadness, regret... we can't say for certain, but the prospect of it is exciting. Nothing drives music better than emotion, and the loss of Jeremy Bolm's mother is bound to be channeled through his music. It's going to be a big record.

Rating: 78 / 100

Music Video Rating: 90 / 100

Fire From The Gods - Narrative

Nowadays, you really have to go into a metalcore album expecting the absolute standard. And maybe some days you're just in the mood for hours upon hours of the same downtuned riffs and screaming, and there's nothing wrong with that. We all have those times. Fire From The Gods is the next band that fits into that similar metalcore vibe, but their vocalist does provide a... sound for sore ears.

First and foremost though, most everything else about this band is that same old metalcore sound we're all used to. But that means we have driven riffs to jam out too. We have a big start with 'Public Enemy', riffs and rap metal vocals carrying it through to the end. The growled vocals throughout are also great if you're in a mad mood. A lot of other great instrumentals mark the album - 'In Spite Of Doubt' has a breakdown with some fantastic guitar. 'Composition' is also chock full of great instrumental elements that make it stand out. Closing track 'Into The Blue' starts uncharacteristically quiet, before becoming a confident song that takes the album to its end.

What's special about this band is vocalist AJ Turner. He's the only thing diverse about the album. To begin with, he's African American. That's not something you see a lot in metalcore, let alone in the vocals. Props to him already. That takes confidence. His vocals are incredibly vast, too. From the Avenged Sevenfold meets Beastie Boys style rapping on 'Public Enemy' to the clean vocals on 'Into The Blue' to the brutal growls on 'Lifeline', this guy can really go a lot of places with his vocals. What's really special are those harmonies in the choruses of 'Excuse Me'. There's something mechanical about his voice, almost likes it's gone through a vocoder, and under that is the low clean vocals. In between lines comes harmonies of growls that are just phenomenal. There's an almost reggae style vocal in the bridge, too, harkening back to what I can assume would be Turner's roots. There's a lot of diversity on this album as far as the vocals go.

That is what Fire From The Gods needs to capitalize on. Those big choruses full of giant harmonies; that's a sound I haven't heard before, and if I have, not in a long time. Metalcore doesn't go very far instrumental. You either evolve out of the sound or stay with the big riffs. What can be changed is the vocals, and there's a lot of hope for this band.

Favorite Tracks: Excuse Me, Composition

Least Favorite Tracks: End Transmission, Diversion, Pretenders

Rating: 62 / 100

The Naked & Famous - 'Laid Low'

There's no one who blends indie rock and electronic pop quite like The Naked & Famous. Their style is unmatchable in its swagger and energy. Their third record Simple Forms is due in October, and serves as the follow up to 2013's In Rolling Waves. Simple Forms seems to be taking a more upbeat direction than the somber tones of its predecessor. The second single from the album 'Laid Low' promises a big album is on the way.

Right from the beginning you know something different is on the way. It has a huge drum beat that serves as a highlight in itself; it's big and upbeat, exactly what the track is going for. The synths build a chill atmosphere as the synth riff brings in the lyrics. The choruses are subdued with reverberating synths with vocalist Alisa Xayalith sounding powerful, begging for saving: "Know that you can take me home / I'm learning to live with ghosts / the limbs I miss the most." The song's climax comes with several vocal lines singing at the same time on top of an explosive instrumental, building up before it concludes.

The song itself is about becoming tired of life, and missing what you had in the past when life's bringing you down. The lines "Laid low by heart ache / I'm trying to stay afloat." The way the song explodes at the end feels compassionate and so final; like you finally got what you've wanted through the story of the song. The lyric video shows a variety of scenes, the main focus is a woman running from a car. Like a deer in headlights she runs from it - that feeling of standing out and being afraid capturing what the song wants to be saved from. A variety of other scenes, including a burning rose, also make up the video, providing metaphors for love and the monotony of life.

The Naked & Famous have a big album in store. The previous single 'Higher' also has a similarly upbeat sound to it - this album's going to be fun. Simple Forms is out in October, but 'Laid Low' will be on repeat for the month to come yet. The hype couldn't be bigger. New Zealand's finest electronic group is about to make 2016 their own.

Rating: 85 / 100

Britney Spears - Glory

Britney Spears has been tearing up the pop world for over two decades now. Her music was started some kind of revolution in the 90s, and her music was part of the soundtrack of the 2000s. Her ninth studio album Glory is a good representation of her career as its come to be, but hits both extremes of good and bad.

It gets off to a bumpy start. Bubblegum pop can describe the first opening sequence of the record. 'Invitation' kicks it off in a dinky way. It's an oddly dirty track in the most innocent way, the over-produced vocals adding to its innocence. 'Make Me...' improves a bit, though with a very weak verse from G-Eazy. I wish we could just not talk about 'Private Show' - it's one of the stupidest things I've heard in a long time. The chorus chants in some weird country/rap tonallity the god-awful lines "Work it, work it / Boy watch me work it / Slide down my pole / Watch me spin it and twerk it".

Beyond the beginning of the record there are some other subpar moments. 'Do You Wanna Come Over?' sounds like something that would've gone down well at the beginning of her career, but not so much anymore. The whole line of tracks from 'Hard To Forget Ya' through 'Change Your Mind (No Seas Cortes)' (two of these tracks are found on the deluxe edition) is wholly forgettable - 'Change' is oddly distorted at the beginning, too. 

Over her career, though, Britney has learned how to make plenty of great tracks. This album has a lot of soul and character to it. The first memorable track on the album is 'Clumsy' - a lot of groove and a fantastic instrumental and vocal performance gives this song a big pop appeal. The instrumental begins with an almost carnival vibe before an electronic, pulsing synth takes over the choruses. The verses are bluesy and Spears' vocals sound scratchy enough to pass it for some blues singing.

From a bigger perspective, it's all of the stripped-down and rawer tracks that sound a lot better than the rest of the songs. 'Just Like Me' starts off with an acoustic guitar and overall doesn't build much sonically, the choruses with a synth that begs to explode, though subduing it seems to have done the trick. The melody fits the bittersweet meaning of the song: a combination of jealously of a lover being with someone else, but the comfort knowing that their new partner is the spitting image of you. 'Love Me Down' is also not as in-your-face as many of the other songs, and has great melodies that build to epic choruses that have an awesome bassy pulsation going with them.

The album's deluxe version contains track called 'Liar', which sounds like classic Britney build in with her newer style. It has that mid-2000s flair to it with the choruses with plenty of harmonies and string punches. It's an epic song that definitely should've made it onto the regular version of the record. It has a dinky harmonica in it that adds a playful vibe to it, and the melodies of the song overall make it an all around great track and it sounds like her best hits from the peak of her career.

Glory is a natural progression for Britney Spears. Her innocent dirtiness comes through just as it would have 10 years ago, and her pop appeal is getting greater and greater while not losing sight of her previous sound. I only wish the album didn't have so much wrong with it otherwise that the great tracks wouldn't be standalones on an otherwise weak album. It's a Britney album, that's undeniable, but there's not enough personality in the lesser tracks to make it any more than average.

Favorite Tracks: Liar, Clumsy, Just Like Me, Love Me Down

Least Favorite Tracks: Private Show, Do You Wanna Come Over?, Hard To Forget Ya

Rating: 65 / 100

You Me At Six - 'Night People'

English alternative rockers You Me At Six have returned this year to follow up to 2014's upbeat Cavalier Youth. For 2017, they've promised Night People (tour details + more here) and have shared the first song from the record. The title track 'Night People' has a lot of swagger and promises some jamming.

The song is the opening track on the record, and, as any good opening track should, it brings the hype. It has this cool rock n' roll vibe to it. It kicks off with an effected vocal sample of the chorus, which confidently chants: "We are night people, roaming these streets / Night people, we get what we need." There's a big call-to-arms sound in the track too, the riff playing very upbeat and and the gang vocals in the background screaming their "woah"s. The drum beat carries pretty well too, though mildly understated among the rest of the song's elements.

While the song itself is good, it does raise the question of You Me At Six's future. Their sound has become the standard alternative rock/pop punk sound since Cavalier Youth, and 'Night People' doesn't sound much different. Lots of other bands in their same kind of "scene" area have shown evolution; the most prominent example is Bring Me The Horizon. Sempiternal brought about a compositional, unique, and mature change in the band. They veered away from the "scream and sound edgy" tone to something that had a lot of substance and meaning. You Me At Six is not at all the same band, but the key to any band is evolving. Their falling into this standard sound that will soon become bland. Their previous efforts show a lot of promise and talent; they have what they need, but they can't yet materialize their talent into something that has substance.

Night People won't be losing any of their big rock vibes, and may even be treading into some of their older sounds, too. But this band needs a change to vamp things back up. They can only get by with this upbeat rock sound for so long - they're going to start losing their purpose. They have the talent and the means of evolving, it's just getting to that point that they haven't quite gotten to yet. 'Night People' is a fun song, but fun music will only take you so far. Let's hope the album is a bit more unique.

Rating: 70 / 100

Myrkur - Mausoleum

Acoustic reimaginations of black metal tracks most of the time probably won't go well. There are, however, exceptions to that. The black-metal female-fronted project of Myrkur is an example of that. Mausoleum is by far a better album than the heavy version of these songs were on her debut LP, and has you wondering why she didn't do acoustic folk instead.

To be honest, the sole LP release M was not very good. It had its defining moments, but for the most part was very bland. It's likely the lack of experience; it improved from the EP, but didn't quite get where it needed to be. The music just felt wrong and lacking emotion. The songs that were performed in Mausoleum have a new darkness too them, ultimately sounding much more evil and gory than M was. These acoustic songs are more metal than the actual black metal songs.

The darkness this album generates roots from the cavernous piano that leads most of the tracks. You simply feel oppressed and alone listening to 'Byssan Lull' with the way Myrkur's vocals sing high and innocently above the low bass notes the piano plays that echo through your body. The way the choir echoes throughout the song puts you in an empty room of darkness, a light flashing on you and nowhere to go.

That's the aesthetic for a the first half of the album. 'Den Lille Piges Død' introduces acoustic guitar, which plays quickly and panicked with the piano, which sounds equally as frantic, especially at the high end. 'Frosne Vind' is the point of the album where you really start questioning why Myrkur didn't adopt an acoustic Scandinavian folk project. This song screams Scandinavia. 'Onde Børn' continues, introducing more riveting instrumental movements (the chord progressions are phenomenal). 

Did Myrkur make a wrong decision? Her music translates a lot better into an acoustic setting than in black metal. The only error on the record is the last song, where the clapping did not sound great with the acoustics of the hall she recorded in. I'd like to see Myrkur do a folk album somewhere down the road. Black metal doesn't seem to be amazing from her end yet, anyway. Her voice is much better executed in this setting. Let's see what happens.

Favorite Tracks: Frosne Vind, Onde Børn, Byssan Lull

Least Favorite Track: Dybt I Skoven

Rating: 79

Drapht - Seven Mirrors

All things considered, hip-hop is the last thing you'd expect out of Australia. The country's pop and progressive rock scenes boom, but you never really hear many rappers coming out of there. Drapht shows us Americans not only that hip-hop isn't something exclusive to us, but that others can thrive in it. 

Already on his third album, Drapht has slowly been carving his way into Australia's mainstream. His success is rightfully claimed; his new record is something you don't hear often in hip-hop. Seven Mirrors is an audacious record in all of the right ways. The lyricism of Kendrick Lamar meets the fun instrumentals of Macklemore & Ryan Lewis. How can you not dig this sound?

If you're skeptic, just listen to the first full track on the record, 'All Love': It has confidence, style, and lots of love. His vocal delivery doesn't try and be gimmicky or something he wishes it could be (in American terms, he's not trying to sing like a pop star). The instrumental is simply fun with blaring trumpets throughout and twinkling pianos in other parts. There's several tracks where you can tell the purpose of them is to have some fun. 'Bad' featuring Nat Dunn is an example of this; it's a fun track, and you can tell that's what he was going for. Dunn delivers some fiery vocals on this track, too.

This album isn't afraid to show some character. It's a very diverse record in terms of the different styles Drapht blends into his music. 'Another Juliet' sounds like he's channeling his inner Lin-Manuel Miranda. Hilltop Hoods help add some funk and personality to 'Don Quixote'. Earlier on the record is Katie Noonan adding crooning and smooth vocals to the dramatic and somber 'Raindrops', as well. 'Asylum' has some blues rock vibes going on it, sounding more like a subtle acoustic track by the time it ends. The last song on the record is the brilliant 'Odds' with Brendan Welch - a song about battling cancer. It's a truly heartwrenching track and perfectly executed in its performance.

There are some lesser moments on the record, sadly. All of the interludes are just unnecessary; the opening one just seems cocky, 'Scumday' just makes you feel bad, 'Again' is sweet but forgettable, and 'Midnight At The Hospice' seems too dark and odd considering how the next track goes, in a completely different mood. There are some tracks that are a little too left field, too. 'Oikophobia' is the fear of feeling at home; and titling it your song seems too extreme. You get the message, but it's almost overdoing it.

Listening to Drapht really gives you an idea of how different hip-hop can be construed across the globe. This is true for all genres, really. But Drapht is a shining example of how being yourself can lead you to real success. Seven Mirrors is a fun and diverse album full of life - hip-hop today is so sex and money oriented in America, and the aesthetic of it is slowly becoming overdone. It's refreshing to hear hip-hop in this form. It's not every day you hear something old sound so new.

Favorite Tracks: All Love, Odds, Another Juliet

Least Favorite Tracks: Scumday, Mexico, Again

Rating: 77 / 100

American Football - 'I've Been So Lost For So Long'

Who'd have thought American Football would be releasing music in 2016? Most people would've thought they were a done deal when they called it quits in 2000 after a mildly short but successful career with the eponymous debut in 1999. But, lo and behold, here it is. The band will be releasing a second, new eponymous debut (yes, another American Football) in October. You can read up on that here, but the first single from the album is worth words alone.

After being absent from the studio as a group for so long, it would be easy to expect that there would be a loss of quality, or even identity. The band has been reunited since 2014, playing shows here and there since then. Yet here we are with a new single, a song titled 'I've Been So Lost For So Long', and it sounds as fresh as the first record sounded. The formulas are all the same, but there's still something that's still familiar about it. Everything you loved about the first album is still here.

Sure, they haven't recorded together as a band, but they've mostly all been pursuing music still in the time since they became inactive and now. By no means are these musicians rusty; if anything, they've honed their skills and found their niches. 'I've Been So Lost' is a surprisingly intricate track, but the performance of it makes it sound almost easy. It takes musicianship to make a song like this not only stay true to the identity of the band, but also sound so blissfully basic.

That being said, this song is intricate in its performance, not in its production. It's barebones as it can get - there doesn't seem to be much layering going on at all. It's a cleanly tracked with two guitars, a bass track, drum track, and vocal track song. No tricks or background noises anywhere. It's honest-to-heart math rock. No strings attached.

The old habits of the band are still here - the reverberating guitars and ever-shifting time signatures are all still present, and its what makes this track so intricate. The strumming pattern is relatively simple, but there's two different strumming patterns that don't necessarily follow each other, but they work together almost seamlessly. The time signature change in the choruses are also pretty odd, and its impressive that it flows so fluidly when switching between the verse and chorus.

17 years has brought some changes, though. Better production will have some complain that the track may lose some rawness that the originals had. It seems doubtful that better production techniques will ultimately make the track less of an enjoyable experience, but it may miss that extra touch if you were a hardcore fan of the band's previous work. Age is also a factor with Mike Kinsella - his belting antics from the previous works may not be so crisp anymore; he's 39 now - at the time of the former record, he would've been 22. There's no belting or uber-emotional moments on this track, but its yet to be seen if it'll return on the album. This track isn't meant to be anything overly dramatic though; it's fine being subtle.

American Football is finally back, and their new single shows a lot of promise. American Football II (for lack of differentiation from the former) has a lot of potential if 'I've Been So Lost' is any indicator of the work to come. It's honest and intrinsically an American Football song, but also shows growth and maturity. They're not the same band as they were in your teenage years (unless you're a teenager, of course). But maybe it's better that way. Perhaps the band has grown with you.

Rating: 80 / 100

Bad Omens - Bad Omens

Post-hardcore lovers will be all over the new band on the street Bad Omens, but they've yet to find their own voice. Their eponymous debut is some standard post-hardcore work, and channels Bring Me The Horizon in more ways than it feasibly should.

There isn't too much to say about this record that you can't say about Bring Me The Horizon. Bad Omens is like a less fleshed out Sempiternal - the rock vibes are there; but the songwriting, not quite. Despite this, there is still a lot to enjoy on the record. It opens big with the epic 'Glass Houses', with its ethereal opening and huge anthemic choruses. 'The Worst In Me' follows in much the same suit, big riffs and choruses sounding something like twenty one pilots meets BMTH. The album's slow ballad 'Enough, Enough Now' has odd screaming on top of reverberating piano but builds to an epic, wallowing conclusion. 'Crawl' is another slow moving some, but less-so in a ballad manner. It's a piano track that showcases the impressive vocal register of Noah Sebastian that concludes with epic orchestras and gang vocals, the latter of which make 'Reprise (The Sound Of The End)', an atmospheric track with brilliant instrumentation a great song.  It's not without jams, either. 'F E R A L' has a big riff and a harsh vocal line that'll have you headbanging in no time.

Now, we have to get into how similar this album is to Bring Me The Horizon. It's been said at least three times in this review already, but it's truly disappointing how this band doesn't have its own established voice yet. The atmosphere, the vocals, the instrumentation is just what every other post-hardcore album sounds like that has followed in this vein. It's not even Sempiternal and beyond BMTH they channel; 'Malice' is the early stages of the band, and the vocals are just horrendous. The only thing keeping this album from being great is the lack of voice this band has. We've heard it all before, right down to the same pointless message of 'Broken Youth'. In case it wasn't clear, that's the typical edgy track on the record. Listening to it just leaves you wanting something different. Not something that Bring Me The Horizon can do infinitely better.

By no means is Bad Omens a bad debut to start this band's career, but it falls into the trap of having influences. Do you want to sound similar to a band you look up to, or do you want to sound exactly the same? If the answer's the second option, perhaps a cover band may be the better route to take. Bad Omens has a lot of untapped potential, and hopefully as their next effort comes around the find their own stake in the post-hardcore world.

Favorite Tracks: Glass Houses, The Worst In Me; Enough, Enough Now

Least Favorite Tracks: Malice, Broken Youth

Rating: 68 / 100

Frank Ocean - Blonde

It's been a big weekend for Frank Ocean. As the clock rolled around to Friday, he dropped Endless (review here), a visual album experience that didn't quite cut it for me. Then came word that the long awaited Boys Don't Cry was still being released this weekend, and there was rejoice. The legend we were all waiting for was coming. And now it's here. Boys Don't Cry is now Blonde, and it's everything you could've wanted from Ocean.

2012's channel ORANGE was a critically acclaimed album, but there were many who thought Ocean was yet to achieve his full potential. He seems to have reached that point in Blonde. What ORANGE lacked that really sets the bar with this new record is purity. This whole album feels so natural that it can't be contested. It's basic in all of the best ways. It's not trying to go out of its way to be flashy or upfront; Blonde is fine being subdued and quiet - and for good reason.

The album's lyrics makes it feel very personal. It's not a typical pop record; instead of singing of love and fun, it's about the lessons Ocean has learned. The most down-to-earth track on the record is 'Godspeed'. The subtle track is, as Frank put it in a message released with the record, "a reimagined part of my boyhood." The song is sweet, and really reflects the story of his childhood, or rather, perhaps, what he wishes it would be. You can watch the scenes play through your mind as the verse reassures, "Wishing you Godspeed, glory / There will be mountains you won't move / Still I'll always be there for you / How I do / I let go of my claim on you, it's a free world / You look down on where you came from sometimes / But you'll have this place to call home, always." In his message, he continued, "Boys do cry, but I don't think I shed a tear for a good chunk of my teenage years. It's surprisingly my favorite part of life so far. Surprising, to me, because the current phase is what I was asking the cosmos for when I was a kid. Maybe that part had its rough stretches too, but in my rearview mirror it's getting small enough to convince myself it was all good. And really though... It's still all good." This album is like a thank you note to his experiences. He's thanking the hardships he faced for where he is today, and the next lesson he's learned is that it's okay to let go.

Every second of this record sounds like a reflection. Listen to the instrumental of 'Solo' - it feels so warm and genuine. The instrumentals on the record are an important part of what makes each track sound so welcoming. 'Good Guy' is a very barebones track; the one minute track is a sweet interlude featuring piano and Ocean singing about a relationship he wants back, but not in a selfish way. The way he delivers his vocals sounds very patient and understand, like he knows his time is yet to come. 'Self Control' is much the same, but instead of an interlude, it's a fully developed track. It's just as barebones at its core, with reverberating guitar supporting Ocean's vocals, at times pitched up to reflect a younger mindset. His voice sounds really smooth and pure on top of the underlying gospel and occasional orchestral swells that add character to the track. The end is a beautiful gospel of a thousand voices, Ocean's voice harmonizing with itself as the track fades out. 

The vocals are what really make this record, though. Take 'White Ferrari' - it's heartbreaking how real this sounds. It starts as a slow moving synth track before becoming a stunning acoustic track with dozens of harmonies, and each voice sounds almost tortured in understanding. You can't describe this track's beauty in words. It's sounds too pure to even try and substantiate to words. Guests help bring this record a step further. Beyoncé lends her voice on 'Pink + White', and above the lovely flow of the instrumental, creates beautiful harmonies, with a fresh female voice giving the track some uniqueness among the rest. Kendrick Lamar accentuates some of Ocean's thoughts throughout 'Skyline To', not delivering a blistering verse but instead acts as a second supporter of the lyrics. The subdued percussion in the first verse is a fantastic touch, too. A lot of artists influenced him on this record, too. You can hear the bewildering and panicked sounds of David Bowie's Blackstar album in 'Pretty Sweet' before its quick paced beat makes it one of the more exciting tracks on the record. And Kanye West wrote a poem about McDonalds just for this album too, so there's even more inspiration.

This album isn't perfect, though. There are some weaker moments on the record, some that even translate to WTF moments. 'Be Yourself' is a minute of being scolded by your mother and cautioned against drugs - fitting in the scheme of things, but more of a joke at the start considering the album's message isn't exactly clear at that point in the record. 'Facebook Story' is equally as strange, a German man telling a story of an awkward encounter involving Facebook. As genuine as the record is, it doesn't exactly have many areas where it'll grab you. Each song is pure in its own right, but aforementioned tracks have something more to them that separate them from the rest. Lots of average tracks make up the meat of the album - everything has something going for it, but nothing that makes them stand out.

Blonde is everything Frank Ocean fans could've wanted and more. It's not trying to be anything it isn't. It has moments of intensity and moments that are quiet and personal. It's the story of a lifetime, and the lessons that came with it. The long wait was well worth it. Frank Ocean has discovered himself, and he made the album he was destined to make. Blonde is a beautiful record.

Favorite Tracks: White Ferrari, Self Control, Pink + White

Least Favorite Tracks: Be Yourself, Facebook Story, Close To You

Rating: 78 / 100