My Top Albums list for 2023 is coming soon, but first I want to highlight a few albums that missed the mark for me. These misses are significant because the artists listed below set a high bar for themselves on previous releases, a bar which was sadly missed this year. No need to dwell on the negatives: For each artist, I’d like to suggest an alternative work that I find more exciting, for your listening pleasure.
Yaeji – With a Hammer
Korean-American producer Yaeji has been releasing the music since at least 2017, but With a Hammer marks the songwriter’s first official full-length album. Yaeji often makes pop-laced house music with trademark whispered vocals, sometimes in Korean in addition to English. The danceable atmospheres, memorable melodies, soft vocals, and unexpected production choices are what draw me to her music.
“For Granted”, the second track off With a Hammer, has examples of what irk me about this album and also show what Yaeji is really good at. The first instrumental that enters to accompany her vocal passage are some stabbed synth chords which sound a little too square and bright and out of place with the tight electronic drum kit. Additionally, the a cappella section before the break is a little too out-of-tune which is a noticeable dip in quality compared to the rest of the production. Singing was never supposed to be a strength of Yaeji’s, and in-fact, the imperfections can often give a nice color to her melodies, but I just wish she would have done a few more vocal takes in this case. Moments like these take me out of the environment she creates, which is unfortunate because the end of this track ends with a drum break including harmonizing vocals soaked in reverb and a killer synth bass line. This is ecstatic and accomplished.
The very next track “Fever” is built by dissonant electric guitar plucks, which can only be described as intentionally annoying. This contributes to the album’s themes of expressing anger and rage, but surely she was going for the tense feeling one gets when bottling emotions rather than the eye rolls induced by a sibling poking you in the back. Unfortunately, I connected with the latter.
As an alternative, I recommend reaching for EP2, which is much more atmospheric and indirect, but includes endlessly danceable beats, memorable ear-worms, and more palatable synth choices. It is just as easy to dance to this as it is to chill out with it under a blanket. The vocals are clean and smooth, especially on “Passionfruit” in which many layers of processed vocals are used as pleasant textures over a repetitive synth loop. Listenability does not necessarily correlate to enjoyability, but in this case, it really works.
Kevin Abstract – Blanket
The power 9th chords on electric guitar that open the album strongly signal the Pop-Punk of yesteryear. Kevin Abstract employs these and other retro pastiches across Blanket, his first full length since 2019’s Arizona Baby, to varying degrees of success. These wistful songs about love, heartbreak, and “get me out of this town” are certainly emotionally effective, but the instrumentation and songwriting leave much to be desired. Kevin Abstract is a polymath – rapper, singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist – and has left the popular hip-hop group/boy band BROCKHAMPTON to pursue a solo career, which was a side project up to this point. He mostly focuses on singing on this album, and though he is a good singer, most of the vocals are pitched up slightly which has the effect of making his voice sound more anonymous and nasally. He sounds better when he drops the effect like on “The Greys”; it’s more natural and even beautiful. Blanket works in other musical styles on the album including Emo, Alternative, Alt-Country (see “Madonna”), and Hard Rock, but these mostly don’t work out, as the album sounds best when it doubles down on the energetic Pop-Punk like on “When The Rope Post 2 Break,” “Running Out,” and “Real 2 Me.” Experiments like “Mr. Edwards” are downright unlistenable.
As an alternative, listen to Dijon’s latest, “Absolutely,” which features more emotional performances, raw production, and a more soulful take on love songs. For Kevin’s work, I recommend listening to any BROCKHAMPTON album or “American Boyfriend: A Suburban Love Story” which displays an equally wide range of influences, but is more straightforward and on which Kevin’s rapping and singing sound so much more natural.
Disclosure – Alchemy
Disclosure are English brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence (pictured above) who make electronic dance music and are responsible for many of the best dance tracks of the 2010s including “Latch” with Sam Smith, “Talk” with Khalid, and “Holding On” with Gregory Porter. I was in college when their enormous debut, Settle, was released, and it is one of few albums that served as guideposts for my newly evolving tastes. Alchemy, released eight years later, is a more mature release and includes all of their hallmarks including tight snares, dense chords, and glitzy effects. In contrast with the other two albums on this list, I don’t have any glaring issues or any eyebrow-raising qualms of note. What makes it a disappointing release is the lack of standout features or show-stopping singles. The closest it comes is the opener, “Looking For Love”, which features an amazing progression and a catchy lead melody. Still, I feel like it is a lower energy number sheerly by comparison to other singles from the “Caracal” era, like the poppy “Magnets” with Lorde or the straightforward club hit “Nocturnal” with megastar The Weeknd.
One of the best tracks on the album is the interlude(?) “Purify” which features raspy synth pads which stylishly shift from one chord to another without the usual 4-on-the-floor beat, rather without any beat at all. The problem here is that it feels out of place with the other tracks which are all dance beats. Finally, the last few tracks seem to trail off without much of a splash. This leads me to believe that these could have been B-sides from their previous project.
Speaking of which, that is the project I would recommend before listening to this. If you like energetic dance music which has pop influences yet is decidedly not pop, I would listen to “Energy” (the Deluxe version) which has some fantastic singles on the front end, and beats with wonderful African-inspired rhythms and more sampling on the back end. It feels like a more substantial listen. However, I will admit that this year’s Alchemy is still a decent listen, and I would recommend giving it a chance if you are a big fan of Disclosure.
Dear Reader,
Did you like any of these albums that I’ve slandered? Did you prefer the alternative or do you have an alternative to the alternative? Just happy to be here? In any event, I’d appreciate a comment down below if you enjoyed reading this piece before I finish my final albums list later this month.
Thanks!
Hoff
Hoffblogs Music Blog About Music 