Archive | February, 2025

The Weeknd – Hurry Up Tomorrow

10 Feb

The Weeknd is unfortunately anodyne as a massive pop star. The sound is too well defined, the look is too safe and the edges are all gone. This is still the greatest male vocalist of all time and he is bigger now than he ever was and yet the music just doesn’t have the impact it once had.

His spectacular talent is enough to carry the occasional chunk of the album. He uses his voice to great effect in “Cry For Me” and in “Open Hearts,” songs that highlight his vocal range while simultaneously maintaining propulsion. He does very well in “Timeless” and uses Playboy Carti for an interesting wrinkle.

However, at no point does he muster the memorable images and lines from his earlier work and much of the music here is just pastiche of his better music. “Opening Night” is well in his comfort zone, it’s just uninteresting. “Sao Paolo” brings in new sounds but moves too slowly to be much better.

A few singles can’t really make up for a padded album and the singles aren’t as strong as they once were. I want more from superstars than this.

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FKA Twigs – EUSEXUA

3 Feb

I’m glad that FKA Twigs’ best work is also the one in which she has the most fun. She tends to be a little too serious and a little too high-art in her music and EUSEXUA could have very easily been another album of that nature.

This starts with the production. It’s absolutely good enough to carry curveballs like “Drums of Death” even before Twigs’ voice kicks it up to the next level. It’s also more playful than usual. The obvious one is the excellent “Childlike Things” but “Sticky” also feels like the best bit of an indie DJ set at a local club. It reminds me of Rockit in that the use of surprise in the beats is practically jazz fusion.

There are some weaknesses in the album, particularly “Wanderlust.” The ballad is a poor fit and uninteresting musically, as is unfortunately the case with the title track. However, the rest is bold and superb. Going from the already fantastic “Childlike Things” into the equally excellent but very different “Striptease” is a tremendous choice and the kind of flair that defines the album and makes it entirely unmissable.

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