WOOSH! What a weekend!! Mitski, Young Thug, Oh Sees and Ariana Grande released new albums on Friday. I can’t remember any other single day that’s begat as many albums from my favorite artists. But if I’ve forgotten, I’d understand. After listening to these four records on constant rotation this week, I feel like I’ve been unsupervised and spinning myself on a swiveling office chair. OK, time to hobble through this week’s picks.
Kurt Vile: “Loading Zones”
Kurt Vile, who can do no wrong, is at it again. I don’t know if he had the idea for the song or the music video first, but “Loading Zones” is an absolutely delightful addition to his legacy as a sly devil of a songwriter. His first release in three years, “Loading Zones” is true-to-form Vile: easy-going but delicate, both crisp and hazy. It’s an ode to carefree existence and to Philadelphia livin’: I suppose it’s arguably a lot easier to be Kurt Vile than to not be, but that’s not beside the point. His cool is monumental, even if the song’s stakes are low. That’s livin, baby! Vile plays The Sylvee on Dec. 20.
Ariana Grande: “sweetener”
I’m still in the process of absorbing Ariana Grande’s great fourth album, Sweetener. After hearing its three disparate singles I was unsure what exactly to expect, but it’s definitely good. And, as with most major pop releases, it’s a lot of fun to dig into the album’s credits.
Sweetener is Ariana’s Pharrell Williams album. It’s his first appearance in her solo discography, but he’s got credits on half of the record’s songs (both in writing and producing). While Pharrell’s magic didn’t do wonders for Justin Timberlake’s Man of the Woods, which he also had a heavy hand in, it fits really well with Ariana’s incredible voice and with this moment in her life and career. With Pharrell on production, writing and background vocals, “sweetener” is the best place to start if you’re looking to get a 3½-minute album sample. There’s a heavy Migos flow running through the track, and it revels in cutting things down to half time. It’ll be interesting to see if Pharrell gets a boost from this album’s success and picks up more heavily influential producer roles (Jack Antonoff-style) on other upcoming pop titans’ albums.
Janet Jackson feat. Daddy Yankee: “Made for Now”
Pleeease don’t give me that “Oh, Janet Jackson’s still making music?” because I will not stand for it! “Made for Now” is just one of the several terrific singles she’s released in the last few years, and it’s a banger. Featuring Daddy Yankee (again… hello!), it’s a reggaeton- and Afrobeat-influenced single with pretty clear ambitions (and potential) for Spanish-language charts. Frankly, from a business standpoint, it’s pretty stupid whenever pop stars shoot themselves in the foot by releasing any songs which aren’t collabs with figures from the tremendously brilliant and varied world of contemporary Latin music. It shows Janet as anything but out of touch; rather, she’s lapping most of the competition without breaking a sweat. Finally, as regular readers of this column (hello Mom and Dad) will be happy to hear, it’s got a wild music video from by everyone’s favorite maximalist director, Dave Meyers. Brace yourselves!
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