15 Albums of 2015 That Didn't Suck

Normally, I would countdown a list of the 25 best albums of any given year. However, since 2015 sucked ass, there were so few albums that I actually enjoyed. Even the best records of the year had their fair share of problems, so I will instead give a list (in no particular order) of albums that didn't completely suck this year. Thank the Lord for giving us these rays of light in a world saturated in shit I MEAN DARKNESS lol haha no.

Here they are:

Adele-25 (Soul, Singer-Songwriter, Pop)
Even when she's not at the tippy-top of her game, Adele has more soul than everybody else on the planet combined. Whether you like it or not, "25" was an album everyone needed to hear in 2015, because if she can't revive our collective psyche (as well as the music industry), then who could?
 
Björk-Vulnicura (Experimental, Pop)
Once again proving that she's on the vanguard more than any other artist in pop, Björk's mercilessly long 'fuck you' to her ex-husband has reignited the creative spark that lead to such masterworks as "Homogenic" and "Vespertine". 

Carly Rae Jepsen-Emotion (Pop)
Like I said, this is a list of albums that didn't completely suck. It was over-rated for sure, but "Emotion" still contains some of 2015's best songs, regardless of genre. "Run Away With Me" is pure bliss, "Love Again" is synthpop pleasure, "Making The Most of The Night" and "I Didn't Just Come Here to Dance" are prime club bangers, and the title track "Emotion" is the most successful at incorporating 80s cheese with a more modern taste that was sadly missing on the rest of the album. 

Chvrches-Every Open Eye (Synthpop, Pop)
Carly Rae Jepsen got all the critical attention, but Chvrches by and far made the better pop album. "Every Open Eye" is fresh, fun, and freewheeling; catchy anthems like "Leave A Trace" rub shoulders with slow-growers "High Enough to Carry You Over" and "Playing Dead" and the sequence feels organic, not contrived. 

Death Cab for Cutie-Kintsugi (Alternative Rock, Indie Rock)
Electronics are fully embraced on Death Cab's first album since Ben Gibbard's divorce (and last with Chris Walla), and it results in a warm, intriguing record that covers basic DCFC themes while exploring social commentary ("Good Help Is So Hard to Find") and the pitfalls of fame ("No Room in Frame"). 

Ellie Goulding-Delirium (Pop)
Not Goulding's best work (her weakest, some might say), but like Adele, she still manages to surpass her peers by not letting her creative spirit get squashed by high-thread producers like Max Martin and Greg Kurstin. Less length and more intricacies in the production would've made another EG pop masterpiece, but "Delirium" as it is has gems like "Love Me Like You Do" and "Something in the Way You Move" to distinguish itself as a quality record in its own right.

Grimes-Art Angels (Indie Rock, Electronic, Pop)
An unexpected flurry of effervescent pop, sneering nu-metal, EDM, and R&B, Grimes managed to surpass everyone's expectations by doubly proving her skills as a songwriter and producer as well as her savviness in the realm of mainstream music. Her ventures into modern pop have shown just how poor the genre has become, and what can be done to bring it back to life once again.

Hilary Duff-Breathe In. Breathe Out. (Pop)
Perhaps she should take eight year gaps between albums more often, because Hilary Duff has re-emerged with one of 2015's best pop albums. It's not as calculated as "Delirium", more effortless than "Kiss", and doesn't delve too far below the surface like "Every Open Eye" so everything is light, engaging, and fun. Just how all good pop should be, but Duff's earnestness is making the material work is what ultimately separates her from her peers.
 
Kacey Musgraves-Pageant Material (Country)
The post-Bro Country era has begun, thanks in major part to purists like Kacey Musgraves who kept their nose to the grindstone and brought traditional methods into the present. Her sophomore album "Pageant Material" expanded on the promise of her debut and simultaneously brought country closer to pop/rock ("Biscuits") and further back into the days of country past ("High Time").
       
Kendrick Lamar-To Pimp A Butterfly (Rap, R&B, Hip-Hop)
No rapper in history has garnered so much critical acclaim, and it's not hard to see why: Kendrick clearly deserves it. Unlike canned commercial acts like Kanye, Jay-Z, or Lil Wayne, he sticks to the grass-roots of rap and talks about pertinent issues in US society (as well as the world) and mixes these monologues with mainstream songs that consciously avoid the middle of the road. Blunt and real, just the way it should be.

Madonna-Rebel Heart (Pop)
Sales aren't everything, and chart positions don't dictate an album's quality, because "Rebel Heart" is without a doubt the best pop record this year. It's ambitious, sprawling, enthralling, and very satisfying from start to finish. Yeah it has some weaker songs, some that are simply OK, but even when it stumbles, "Rebel Heart" is delivered with conviction and style from Madonna. The Queen of Pop has reclaimed her throne, and offers a not-so-humble reminder that she did pave the way for modern female artists.

Marina and The Diamonds-Froot (Alternative Rock, Pop)
The under-rated "Electra Heart" worked hard to titillate, but once it was over, Marina Diamandis' next project would take the best aspects of both her first two albums and synthesize them into a cocktail of pop and alternative rock, underlined with disco and electronica. All this results in Marina's catchiest record yet, but it doesn't sacrifice her unique stylistic elements.
 
Purity Ring-Another Eternity (Electronic, Pop)
If you've never even heard of Purity Ring, I don't blame you...but you should look them up right now. They're amazing. Do it. "Another Eternity" is actually their second album, and it builds a foundation for future pop while staying grounded in the present. That doesn't mean it panders, it's just that Megan James and Corin Roddick have married avant-garde ideas with familiar sounds, and it all adds up to ten tracks of electronic joy.
 
The Veronicas-The Veronicas (Rock, Pop)
Like Hilary Duff, it took The Veronicas eight years to release a proper follow-up to their last album. Stupid record labels, always preventing great artists to release great music and shit. I guess it doesn't matter in the end, because at least their new record is out, and it once again shoots to the top ranks of rock and pop. Thanks to Jess and Lisa Origliasso's hip sensibilities, they update pop/rock from the 2000s and infuse them with 2010s EDM and singer-songwriter nuances. The end result is a hearty platter of hits and strong album tracks.
 
Twenty One Pilots-Blurryface (Alternative Rock, Indie Rock)
They may be relatively famous now, but don't let that sudden success fool you: Twenty One Pilots remain as restless as ever. Whether it's squeezing ten different genres into one song, or somehow managing to rap and sing with strong sense of tonality, Tyler Joseph's id is on full display, and Josh Dun accentuates his lyrical themes with all sorts of noises, rhythms, and chords. "Blurryface" is a record that proves being repetitive and safe is so passe; the creative minds are on the rise and now have gotten a grand opportunity to break down the generic confines of modern music.

Honorable mentions go to:
Ashley Monroe-The Blade (Country)
Coldplay-A Head Full of Dreams (Rock, Pop)
Dr. Dre-Compton (Rap, Hip-Hop)
Jamie xx-In Colour (Electronic)
Jess Glynne-I Cry When I Laugh (Soul, R&B, Dance)
Kelly Clarkson-Piece By Piece (Pop)

Grimes-"Art Angels" Review

It was far removed from the hazy, indiscernible electronica that marked Grimes' earliest work, but by no means was 2012's "Visions" her 'pop' record. "Genesis" had a catchy hook, and "Oblivion" mixed Clare Boucher's girlish vocal with fun, squiggly synths, but those one or two cuts didn't detract from an ambitious, varied set of electronic music. It certainly didn't set the charts on fire--it reached a peak of 98 in the US, and didn't go much higher in other countries--and even its poppiest songs didn't make a dent on top 40 radio. Many critics hailed the album as one of 2012's best, but not in comparison to other mainstream records like "Kiss" or "Believe". In the end, though, no matter what the statistics show, "Visions" received enough attention above ground to make die-hard Grimes fans fear that she would eventually answer the siren call of big-budget pop. It didn't help matters when Ms. Boucher signed to Jay-Z's Roc Nation management company, and then collaborated with Skrillex understudy Blood Diamonds to produce a track for Rihanna (the song in question is "Go", which Grimes later released herself in 2014 to a nasty reaction from her core audience). Paired with an increasingly fervent interest in her views on feminism and the music industry, Grimes soon became a creature of pop culture. Not intentionally, mind you, but this unfortunately set-up her second major-label album to be a product of business rather than an artistic statement of purpose. 

If Grimes was just another pop tart, that would have been the case. She's not, though, and she spent the first ten months of 2015 proving it: EDM-influenced "REALiTi" came in March, while the rock-driven "Flesh Without Blood" arrived in October. Both songs are equally phenomenal--blending an intoxicating mix of hooks, beats, and style--and are undoubtedly the backbone to "Art Angels". In a nutshell, it follows the path set by its first singles: upbeat pop, harder rock, dance, R&B, and classical music sprinkled in to give the songs texture and shape, but it also showcases a woman easing into a pop career with a level of expertise that even few veterans of the industry have. Not only has her singing improved (you can now hear diction and separation of phrases), but her skills as a producer have increased by leaps and bounds. Normally, it would take many songsmiths to come near the effortless catchiness of  the title track "Art Angels" or balance commercialism with commentary as well as "California" does, but this record is a one-woman show with Clare Boucher as its main star and creative director. "Art Angels" is a record bubbling over with ideas, all focused on mining new paths between genres and moods--"Kill v Maim" suggests gore but its nu-metal settings are outlined by cheerleader chants, "Life in the Vivid Dream" rides an airy atmosphere despite its macabre lyrics describing environmental activism. Of course, such an eager approach to substantive pop can lead to a stumble ("Venus Fly" has potential but Janelle Monae's weak presence in the song becomes its undoing), but it might be telling that the weakest track here ("Laughing and Not Being Normal") is the one that is closest to Grimes' past oeuvre, because it's a darkly bizarre opening for a distinctively sunny album. It's so un-listenable, in fact, that it almost turns you away before the true heart of the record unfolds. Once it does, though, Grimes' talents are undeniably strong, and her songs more often benefit from her experiences in the mainstream than suffer from it. That doesn't necessarily mean that "Art Angels" is a better album than "Visions" (both share their fair amount of filler, "Visions" is more consistent while "Art Angels" is more varied in quality), but it reaches peaks that extend well beyond her past records, or any other pop record of 2015. That's no small accomplishment, and it's simply stunning coming from the artistic prowess of a singular, original talent like Grimes.

Recommended Tracks in Bold: 
1. Laughing And Not Being Normal 2. California             3. Scream

4. Flesh Without Blood               5. Belly Of The Beat   6. Kill V Maim

7. Art Angels                                     8. Easily                       9. Pin

10. REALiTi                                      11. World Princess II 12. Venus Fly

13. Life In The Vivid Dream             14. Butterfly

Chvrches-"Every Open Eye" Review

Glasgow synthpop trio Chvrches had bright pop hits on their 2013 debut, but since most pigeonholed the group as anathema to the mainstream at the time, nothing could have prepared long-time fans for the pure pop blitz that came out of single "Leave A Trace" in the summer of 2015. Not that the fundamental sounds of the song were much different than early tracks "The Mother We Share" or "We Sink", but now Chvrches seemed right in line with other pop acts like Taylor Swift or Carly Rae Jepsen. However, instead of coming across as a sell-out move, "Leave A Trace" proved how the musical landscape reshaped between 2013 and 2015, becoming more hospitable to Chvrches' charms. Indeed: their sensitive synthpop slowly mingled its way through radio until their sophomore album "Every Open Eye" dropped in late September 2015. One precursory listen and it becomes readily apparent that Lauren Mayberry, Marthin Doherty, and Iain Cook are not only a truly unified band--at least two of the three members share singing or songwriting/producing duties at any given time--but they're savvy too. With "Every Open Eye", they don't skirt the issue of sounding more mainstream, mainly because their songs were never that underground to begin with. So, their scope is wider this time around, incorporating house elements in the phenomenal singles "Clearest Blue" and "Keep You On My Side", and then turning to unabashed, bouncy pop in "Empty Threat" and "Bury It". This might alienate early-Chvrches purists at first, but only because "Every Open Eye" pulls a nifty trick: instead of being steeped in emotions and atmospheres, these eleven songs thrive on melody and vibrant beats. This means that this whole concoction can please fickle pop fans by surface pleasure alone, but because the lyrics don't get lost in the production (which itself is more polished than on the debut), each spin unveils considerably more thematic depth than the last. Lauren Mayberry was also keen in giving her voice some grit and growl, pushing through the sheen and giving even the fluffiest tunes a tangible emotional center. Best of all, is that while the songs are buoyed by the strength of the music, they are hooky and memorably enough to stand on their own--nowhere is this more true than on "Afterglow", the closing Enya-esque track that uses only a synthesizer to capture the ethereal grace in Mayberry's lyrics and voice. "Every Open Eye" might be easier to love than "The Bones of What You Believe", but that certainly is no indicator that Chvrches are abandoning their stylistic eccentricities. If anything, they've improved on them, because now that they've faced real stardom together, they've rallied together instead of coming apart. This tight focus makes "Every Open Eye" a notably stronger album overall than their first, and a shining example of what pop should sound like in the mid-2010s.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Never Ending Circles        2. Leave A Trace     3. Keep You On My Side

4. Make Them Gold          5. Clearest Blue      6. High Enough to Carry You Over

7. Empty Threat                8. Down Side of Me    9. Playing Dead

10. Bury It                            11. Afterglow

The 20 Best Songs of 2015

It was borderline impossible, but I managed to scrape together 20 songs released in (or very close to) 2015 that didn't suck big donkey dick. Actually, the songs on this list are some of the best I've heard in years! I guess you can't have great successes without incapacitating failures? In any case, these are the 20 best songs of 2015:

20. Kacey Musgraves-"Biscuits"
Though much of her "Pageant Material" album is loaded with great songs, "Biscuits" still stands above them all because it's instantly memorable, insanely catchy, and just rings true with its message and Kacey's no-nonsense attitude about it all. Plus, who doesn't love biscuits? Haha

19. Jess Glynne-"Don't Be So Hard On Yourself"
Now, there have been PLENTY of self-help songs to come out this decade, but only a few of them were as engaging as this. Jess Glynne is a deep house singer with a deep, smoky voice that invigorates your ears when she sings about giving yourself a break and forging ahead of setbacks and road bumps.

18. Purity Ring-"Heartsigh"
The lyrics are abstract and could mean anything (as is the case with most indie acts like future-pop duo Purity Ring) but the bubbling production and wistful hook put everything into clear perspective. Innovative as it is accessible, "Heartsigh" is what sunny pop should sound like in 2015.

17. Purity Ring-"Push Pull"
A little darker, a little more concrete than "Heartsigh", but "Push Pull" is far more intricate and less laden with frilly sound effects. It's also much more substantial, musically and lyrically, and still manages to cater to the underground while pleasing those in the mainstream looking for a change of pace.

16. Zedd and Echosmith-"Illusion"
Even if it is a little too long, and gets repetitive half-way in, "Illusion" features beguiling vocals from Echosmith (particularly Sydney Sierota), and wonderfully contemplative music to support the lyrics that are straight-forward yet can work in multiple contexts.
 

15. Marina and the Diamonds-"Savages"
Marina Diamandis won the pop game in a lot of respects this year. Taken from her superb third album, "Froot", "Savages" is a brutally honest commentary on modern-day society and really takes a hard look at how violence influences us. Some might call it misanthropic--I call it genius and truthful.
 
14. Kelly Clarkson-"Someone"
It's too bad that her latest chart-topping album "Piece By Piece" didn't get more exposure this year, because it had a handful of really great songs. Take "Someone" for example, an electro-ballad that's burned with soul, once again courtesy of Clarkson's powerhouse voice. Lyrically, it's a little campy, but the general atmosphere of the song elevates it out of Sam Smith territory and into balladeer brilliance.
 
13. Marina and the Diamonds-"Froot"
The title track of her third album, "Froot" is a deliriously fun and insanely catchy slice of pure disco. Donna Summer could have cut it in 1978, or maybe Kylie Minogue after her 2000 modern-pop makeover, but only Marina could muster up the sensual energy needed to fuel this song's carnal pulse. Sexy, provocative, fun: everything Katy Perry wishes she could be.

12. Carly Rae Jepsen-"Run Away With Me"
Her supposed comeback moment didn't make a dent in the US, and it's not hard to see why: "Emotion", her latest album, was big on critical hype but came up short in terms of delivering great pop music (maybe in 1985, but now the nostalgia craze is straight up tiring and nauseating). Still, the lead-off track "Run Away With Me" shows Carly Rae could have made a smash pop record had she kept the grooves as intoxicating as this song, while mining the lands of contemporary pop instead of re-hashing what's been done to death.
 
11. Enya-"The Humming"
The long-awaited return finally happened in late 2015! No one was expecting Enya to change her successful formula, but the subtle alterations in her approach this time around proves that she isn't (and never was) a one-off fad. "The Humming" is one of her best songs ever, jaunting along to a 6/8 meter and describing the origins of the universe. 
 
10. Hilary Duff-"One In A Million"
"Breathe In. Breathe Out.", Hilary Duff's first album in eight years, is what Carly Rae Jepsen's "Emotion" should have been. Hilary has been energized by her long break, and it perfectly shows in the Tove Lo-penned "One In A Million". It has a big, soaring chorus, effervescent beats, and doesn't get grating after repeated listens. It's utterly fresh, suggesting that the real gem pop album was over-looked.
  
9. Carly Rae Jepsen-"Love Again"
Don't let this fool you, "Love Again" is one of only a few great pop songs on "Emotion", even if it still co-opts 80s cheese and synths, its built on a singular ingratiating hook that's backed by production that's not too obsessed with recreating a lost decade. A perfect balance of old and new, music that Jepsen maybe have wanted to make, but didn't fully succeed in.
 
8. Marina and the Diamonds-"Blue"
Back to the disco, "Blue" is a dynamite pop song that never feels to poppy or vying for mainstream credibility. Its light, hooky, and memorable, but it's definitely not disposable fluff. David Kosten's mixture of real instruments and warm synths provides a more unique spin on 80s-indebted pop, proving just how good Marina's "Froot" album is.
 
7. Adele-"Hello"
Is it as great as "Rolling in the Deep" or "Set Fire to the Rain"? No, and nothing on "25" is, but Adele sure knew how to pick a smash comeback single. After three years of Ed Sheeran's snoozing and Sam Smith's whining, the world was in desperate need of a soul-rejuvenation. Adele more than delivered with "Hello", a song that might not be revolutionary but is sturdy and timeless.
 
6. Chvrches-"Afterglow"
Is it possible that a Scottish synth-pop trio could do Enya better than Enya herself in 2015? It's pretty obvious that it's very possible, because Chvrches strip their music to the core, leaving synthesizer keyboards as the only instrument in this stupendously great song. On a sonic level, it's gorgeous, Lauren Mayberry's vocals are strongly emotive, and the production actually builds and decays with the motions of the lyrics. A ballad doesn't have to be static, and Chvrches prove that it can actually be invigorating too.
 
5. Grimes-"Flesh Without Blood"
It turns out an indie-electronic artist would show the mainstream what fun and carefully constructed pop is really all about. Several hooks run throughout the verses and chorus, Grimes' vocals sound assured and confident,  and synths are mixed with heavy guitars that drive the song's anthemic pulse. It's so good, in fact, that how anyone (pop fan or not) could not like it is baffling. 
 
4. Chvrches-"Clearest Blue"
A straight-ahead dance track would've made a bigger splash in 2013, but even now, Chvrches expand on their star-making recipe by adding stronger hooks, diversifying the sonic effects, and once again having the song build to a climax rather than overplay its hand the first couple of seconds in. Much more energetic than anything they've ever done, who knew that Chvrches could even pull off a happy song and not have it sound corny or cliched?
 
3. Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars-"Uptown Funk!"
You were expecting this to be number one, and I can see why. A knockout hook, literally funky beats and production, early-80s sounds mixed with Bruno Mars' contemporary swagger, everything here works together to produce an intoxicating listen. It's been done before, though, so I can't give points on originality, nor can I overlook the immense amount of calculation that went into this (Mark Ronson choosing Bruno Mars, literally one of the biggest stars on the planet right now, and naming a song after a genre of music everyone in the world loves? Yeah, he knew what he was doing here). Still, I'll give credit where credit is due, and "Uptown Funk" is pretty bad-ass, no matter how many times you hear it.
 
2. Grimes-"REALiTi"
Oh Grimes, you think that the demo of this song you released in March 2015 wasn't the best you had to offer this year? Not only is it the best track on "Art Angels", her latest album, "REALiTi" may be on the best pop songs ever released in the 21st century. EDM influences aside, there was nothing else as dreamy, alluring, or enveloping as this song in 2015, and I hope it eventually is recognized as a landmark in 2010s music. 
 
1. Madonna-"Wash All Over Me"
The Queen reigns supreme. It edged out "REALiTi" as the best song this year not because it is more experimental or groundbreaking. It's the best song of the year because it doesn't pander to any trend, throwback or modern, it's consistently moving and resonates far longer than its four minute run-time, the lyrics are philosophical and ring true no matter who you are, and finally someone has the balls to look at the world and realize its flaws are not going to be fixed by ignoring them. "Wash All Over Me" is a song that makes you think; whether or not you agree with doesn't matter, because it demands your attention and really gets under your skin. It's not flimsy like other cheap pop acts this year, it's not asinine or unoriginal, and it's definitely not built on the goal for easy listening and agreement. Madonna has dug back into the existential parts of herself that were already beautiful on "Ray of Light", but in the dreary and shallow landscape of 2015, "Wash All Over Me" is a song that everybody should listen to at least once.

Enya-"Dark Sky Island" Review

Since 2015 was a year in which the mainstream turned to placid and soulless pop, perhaps there was no greater time for Irish siren Enya to return from her castle and deliver her first LP in seven years, "Dark Sky Island". To get the obvious out of the way, it is indeed just as ethereal and sonically rich as every one of her previous albums. After a career spanning three decades, what more was there for Enya to do in the realm of new-age pop? Well, after taking a considerable beating from critics since her "Only Time" sleeper-hit success, she actually takes a look back at her best music, bringing back the purity of "Watermark" and "Shepherd Moons" to prove that her eternally reliable formula is solid, transcendent, and can go toe to toe with the best music of its era. Though elements of her post-2000 work remain--Loxian language, no real instruments (except for a double bass cameo), lyrics with heavy allusions to stars and nature--Enya was savvy enough to push the melody ahead of the multi-vocal tapestry, placing equal emphasis on sound and song. Many tracks, chiefly "The Humming", "Diamonds on the Water", and "The Loxian Gates", revisit the low-slung 6/8 feel of Enya classics such as "The Celts" and "Boadicea", while others like "Echoes in Rain" and "The Forge of the Angels" mine the similar territory of "It's in the Rain" and "The Journey of the Angels" (no one ever said Enya didn't blatantly repeat herself through her career...). Then, there are the few songs that achieve the old-meets-new fusion quite successfully, with the best being "So I Could Find My Way" (though "Astra et Luna" is a close second). While it's playing, there's no denying that "Dark Sky Island" contains some of Enya's most accomplished music in years--it could even convert a few non-believers!-but when the final beat clicks, the sad truth is that a large portion of these songs are just not as memorable as her 90s masterworks. The sound is gracefully soft, the words and production don't push into 80s cheese too much, but aside from the careful construction, nothing else really stands out here. "Dark Sky Island" is one of those records that plays like a record, but loses interest with the consistently subdued atmosphere and soggy tempos. It's a step up from the flimsy "And Winter Came" for sure, but given the sheer pedigree of the artist and production team behind this project, it's hard to not wish that it had strayed from tradition a little. Of course, consistency has always made Enya such an unlikely star, but recapturing the important aspects of her best material on "Dark Sky Island" proves why her early works were her best, which turns this record into a synthesis of career rather than a strong statement of purpose.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. The Humming                 2. So I Could Find My Way         3. Even in the Shadows
4. The Forge of the Angels   6. Echoes in Rain               7. I Could Never Say Goodbye
8. Sancta Maria                     9. Astra et Luna                     10. The Loxian Gates
11. Diamonds on the Water

Adele-"25" Review

Maybe once every decade, a female artist arrives out of nowhere and strikes gold (and then multi-platinum and diamond) with records that shouldn't have been successful given the current mainstream audience. The 80s had Madonna, the 90s had Alanis Morissette, while the 2000s saw Norah Jones skyrocket to ubiquity. And then, despite having been mildly present on the charts a couple years prior, British songstress Adele was elevated from anonymous torch singer to a monumentally profitable diva on her own terms. "21", her star making album, had a lot to do with that, selling 30 million copies globally and picking up seven Grammys because it was that good. In fact, it wasn't just good: it set the pop standard for the next five years. But why did it so? If every album full of break-up songs became a blockbuster like "21", Taylor Swift's income would equal Bill Gates' by now. The truth of the matter, is that Adele deliberately chose to maintain focus on her voice--certainly much better than any of her pop (and even soul) peers--the songs she was singing became a bit inconsequential, since they were catchy and driven by raw emotion, but lose their potency after being played to death and beyond on the radio. It didn't matter, though, because the 2010s was in dire need of someone with more than a pretty face or promotional gimmick, someone who brought a performance to their songs, rather than a vacant reading. That, and quite honestly, it was outstandingly refreshing to see a genuine talent eager to share her music, and not her arrogance, with anybody who cared to listen.

That modesty is what sets up Adele's enormously anticipated third album, "25". Instead of being empowered by her success, Adele scales back her ambition and focuses inward, creating a warm collection of substantial ballads and searing mid-tempo jams. Lead single "Hello" captures this approach better than any other song on "25"; even better actually, because it not only recaptures the intense emotional power of "Rolling in the Deep" or "Chasing Pavements", but it manages to strip the arrangement to its bare minimum, yet still retains that sense of drama that made "21" such an unexpected blockbuster. It's unfortunate, then, when "Hello" ends and the album crawls through the rest of its tracks, because the realization sets in that no matter how hard she tried, Adele was never going to re-create the exact formula that made her last record such an invigorating listen. That doesn't mean "25" is a disappointment, at least when compared to the other pop albums of 2015 that failed to live up to their potential, but it's not a rousing triumph either. And Adele is just fine with that: she coos and wails at will, gives safely written pop from Ryan Tedder and Greg Kurstin much needed personality, and eventually succumbs to writing a song about her son ("Sweetest Devotion", the closest this album gets to matching the quality of "Hello"). Basically, if "21" was Adele's "Thriller", then "25" is her spiritual successor to "Bad": a record that shows an artist becoming a standard-bearer instead of a game-changer. True, Adele was the one who reset the pop standard, but there's an undercurrent of dissatisfaction that runs beneath "25" when taken into consideration that she could have taken her music to new and more unpredictable places, but deliberately chose not to. If that makes this record an unsuccessful sequel to "21", then so be it: it still does justice to Adele's skills as vocalist and cements her superiority among the many British balladeers in the 2010s. Now that she's a star, she's entitled to remind her wannabe peers (ahem, Sam Smith) who does it best.

Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Hello                      2. Send My Love (To Your New Lover)       3. I Miss You
4. When We Were Young     5. Remedy                              6. Water Under the Bridge
7. River Lea                             8. Love in the Dark                9. Million Years Ago
10. All I Ask                            11. Sweetest Devotion

Ellie Goulding-"Delirium" Review

In the wake of Adele's success in early 2011, multiple artists from across the pond have had their way with the mainstream US market--Ed Sheeran, Sam Smith, Marina and the Diamonds, One Direction, Chvrches, Katy B, Disclosure, Calvin Harris--the list is endless, but few of those names were as distinctive in their pure artistry as Ellie Goulding. She recalled the early 2000s when Dido's acoustic/folk leanings mixed with electronic sheen and made an intoxicating sound fit for either the clubs or small cottages in the countryside. Goulding's first two albums "Lights" and "Halcyon" exploited this successful fusion to the hilt, and even when 2013's "Burn" took the re-vamped "Halcyon Days" into a dancier direction, the progression felt natural and unforced. It's not odd to think that Goulding has so much intrinsic quirkiness, that anything she touches bears the stamp of a true individual, like Grimes or FKA Twigs. However, what happens when an artist decides that a niche audience is nice, but anonymity in the mainstream is not? No matter how many times "Lights" or "Burn" were played on the radio (and it was quite a lot, mind you), nobody outside of the UK could really connect those songs with Ellie Goulding, the pop star. She seeks to formally define her sound and rectify the indie-trappings of her earlier work with 2015's "Delirium", an album built to be the sum of Taylor Swift's "1989" and Carly Rae Jepsen's "Emotion". Though "Delrium" is far less 80s-crazy than either of those albums, it never-the-less plays like the chilly, calculated dance-pop of "Shake It Off" or the hard-working bubble-gum of "All That" or "Run Away With Me". This isn't by accident: Goulding recruited Max Martin, the mastermind behind Swift's pop makeover, and Carl Falk, a major collaborator on Jepsen's sophomore set, to be her song smiths this time around, as well as the perennial hit-maker for big budget pop makeovers, Greg Kurstin. 

It may be disarming at first to see a roster of producers that aren't Jim Eliot (though he does contribute to one track, the pretty good "Scream It Out"), but Goulding has had hits with Kurstin and Martin before, and both turned out quite well (the aforementioned "Burn", and 2015's definitive ballad "Love Me Like You Do"). It should come as no surprise, then, to hear "Delirium" as an anthology of sorts; everything going right in pop and dance all condensed into sixteen tracks. Lead single "On My Mind" certainly feels like a Swift anthem, "Holding On For Life" mixes soul with EDM nuance not unlike Jess Glynne, "Don't Need Nobody" could've fit well on AlunaGeorge's debut, and when hip-hop inflected dance isn't at the fore (like in "Keep on Dancin", an ode to Ke$ha perhaps?), then we get more classic Goulding tracks (both "Army" and "Something in the Way You Move" fit perfectly in her back catalog of folk-tronica hits). Although, as diverse as this reads on paper, the unfortunate setback to "Delirium" is that like so many other modern pop albums, any distinctive characteristics in the writing or production have all been scrubbed clean, making each track imperceptible on the first listen. Especially with such a large number of songs here, it's quite frightening trying to discern which hook is which, what songs are products of genuine creativity or just expertly crafted filler. There aren't any tracks here that are sub-par, but even the best tracks feel more like plateaus that mountain peaks. Taken altogether, "Delirium" may not be Goulding's best work, but despite its flaws, you have to admire the fact that she has ambition. Her perpetually unique, airy voice separate this record from the countless other canned and bland LPs of 2015 (here's looking at you, "Mobile Orchestra"). Goulding's peers might be trying to pass off their underwhelming efforts as ground-breaking and state of the art, but "Delirium" rises above them all because there's no pretense that this record is anything but what it really is: fun, simple pop. 

Recommended Tracks in Bold:
1. Intro                                    2. Aftertaste               3. Something in the Way You Move

4. Keep on Dancin                 5. On My Mind                6. Around U

7. Codes                                  8. Holding on for Life      9. Love Me Like You Do

10. Don’t Need Nobody 11. Don’t Panic                 12. We Can’t Move to This

13. Army                              14. Lost and Found     15. Devotion

16. Scream It Out