2018: Albums & Conclusions

Originally posted Nov 2025

THE ALBUMS

Marking key at bottom

George Ezra “Staying at Tamara's”

What a great start to 2018! Ezra has that folk-pop sound with a ‘soul’ singing style. This opens strongly with an anthemic (made up word alert) track, “Pretty Shining People” that invites the audience to sing along. Its upbeat in tone and positive in philosophy. Many will know that’s not always my thing, but when its done this well it can be. I'm aware some say that they miss the balance of darker themes present in his debut album “Wanted On Voyage” (2014). I cant really comment because I haven’t heard that one. Interestingly, my criticism would be that, if you listen closely, he suffers slightly from the modern melodic writing problem. Although his voice, performance, the great music, and arguably the ‘feel-good factor’ cover it quite well, the melodic writing is slightly limited. He tends to stick to moving around the 1^st 2^nd 3^rd 5^th and 6^th notes of the key he is in (pentatonic scale). Not only that, he often has them in the same order of a descending 3, 2, 1 then dropping to 6, 5 of the octave below.  That said, so many of the tracks are belters, and the melodies, whether standing up to close scrutiny of not, are infectious and memorable. “Don’t Matter Now”, “Shotgun”, “Paradise”, “Hold My Girl”, “Saviour” – Come on, no?!!! This is a borderline 7 – 8 for me but I think it just crosses the line. 8

Post Malone “beerbongs & bentleys”

So following a strong start to 2018 we go in the other direction. I am interested in this artist and his change in musical direction over the years. We are in very R&B/hip hop territory here. I’m getting along with hip hop a lot more these days but this is very plain stuff. It has its moments. “Ball For Me” and “Candy Paint” are pretty good. But, over all its very mid-tempo and bland. It would make for a ‘so-so’ 4 or 5 out of ten album..... but...... there’s over an hour of it. Which I find pretty unforgivable. 3

Haley Heynderickx “I Need To Start A Garden”

This is very good. Its essentially folksy vocal and acoustic guitar with things added. Its quite reminiscent of early Simon & Garfunkel but not quite to their level of brilliance. The lyrics are quite good – there's a sort of ‘light but not juvenile’ philosophy going on. The music does vary. Some is simple guitar and vocals, some add drums and bass, there’s a brass section in a few. “Oom Sha La La” has a four part harmony backing vocal section, “Show You A Body” is quite innovative – borderline experimental, and “Worth It” takes a journey from a gentle opening to a harder rock feel with a rock ‘n’ roll passage thrown in. The final track “Drinking Song” features an interesting quirk of a flattened 3^rd note which is alien to the major harmony. This note is prominent but usually resolves to a semi-tone higher, fitting back in which the harmony. However, there is one last sound of this alien note at the end that is not resolved – leaving that clashing sound ringing out as the album ends. 7

Kadhja Bonet “Childqueen”

Another brilliant one. This is built on a foundation of traditional song writing with a folksy feel but lifts off ever so slightly from that foundation. It achieves this by playing around with dissonance, taking momentary steps away from standard structures, and touching upon other genres like R&B, jazz, funk, and bits of world music. There’s a lot of layered instruments and vocals. It usually uses quite ‘blocked’ melodies and phrases underneath all this. It kinda sounds like a trendy and experimental version of Enya. 7

Jess Glynne “Always In Between”

I don’t have a lot to say about this other than it is a very good solid pop album. I think that covers it really. 6

Gas “Rausch”

This is German musician who has been making music on and off under various guises since the 90s. I was familiar with the name but honestly can’t recall if I’ve ever had a listen to anything. I enjoyed this. Its essentially and hour long sound-piece. Its split into 7 tracks but they are all untitled and there’s no break in the music. Its ambient atmospheric music - although the atmosphere is a disturbed one. I can imagine some saying its ‘relaxing and meditative’. They may be right in a sense. But I’d say only if you’ve become calm and accepting of fear, anxiety, and dark mystery. I’d describe it as a tonal swirling wash of sound created by orchestra, band, and electronic instruments. 7

Ariana Grande “Sweetener”

I’ve just not been getting on with Ariana Grande in this project. And, its not because I’m an old grump. We know I’ve developed a love for Dua Lipa – I’m on board with Sabrina Carpenter etc. I’m just finding Grande fairly dull on the whole. I made a playlist of her hits and noted that I was more attracted to her earlier stuff. This is sort of mid-point of her career so far. Its OK. Its certainly better than “Eternal Sunshine” (2024) which I gave a 3. It does have some nice quirks and interesting points. And, I will admit that “no tears left to cry” is a really good track. 6

Jeff Rosenstock “POST-”

This is a borderline brilliant album offering a fairly standard look at rock/punk/new wave etc., and threatens to go off on an experimental angle but never going full-blown ‘out there’.  Lyrically, there’s a lot of cynicism about modern life and the social commentary focuses on suppression and isolation. Its a great listen. 7

The Beths “Future Me Hates Me”

Straightforward indie-rock really. Pretty good. 6

Little Mix “LM5”

This is much better than “Confetti” (2020). Its pop music with an edge and interesting array of styles thrown in. It veers towards the unconventional here and there, “Strip” being the prime example. It works well as an album with is a capella opening and its strong closing track. 6

Anne-Marie “Speak Your Mind”

My 1^st reaction was that this sounded very much like Tate McCrea..... and I’m not sure who came 1^st (Anne-Marie, I think). Once I was passed that I was surprised how brilliant this is. Its jam packed with excellent edgy-pop tracks. Each has its own interesting quirk whether it be the yodel-like vocal leaps of “Ciao Adios”, the weird electric shock sounds and deep octave vocal drops of “Alarm”, the off-tune tuned-percussive sounds in “Trigger”, the jazz piano and random vocal-beats of “Perfect”........ and so on. There’s always something grabbing your attention over the top of a solid tune. Brilliant. 7

Caroline Rose “LONER”

I guess its broadly within the indie genre (which is a broad term anyway) but with lots of different elements from across the rock spectrum. Also, the focus on the guitar is largely replaced with keyboard. At times it is catchy-pop with sarcastic humour, at others it is deeper and darker. It even blends the two – such as the track “Smile”. Its brilliant stuff. 7

XXXTENTACION “?”

This opens with a bold move – a spoken word track that describes the album in a grand way..... even uses the word ‘genius’ and asks the audience to listen with ‘an open mind’. To be fair – it is a really great album. It was released very shortly before his death and lyrically built around exploring mental health, social violence and self-harm and a person’s contradictory personas. Some tracks explore vulnerability and this hugely contrasts with tracks that express a more aggressive nature. The artists displays a wide array that add to the authenticity of this. The music matches this - incorporating hints of  hip-hop, grunge, indie, a little folk, and has a haphazard sense about it but one that fits perfectly with its lyricism.  It certainly makes for a very interesting listen from start to finish. There’s a lot to unpack about this artist as he was known for his own violent nature.... to say the very least. However, in this context I will ‘separate the art from the artists’ which is a phrase a number of critics have used in reference to him. 8

Mick Jenkins “Pieces Of A Man”

Its an album grounded in hip-hop that is quite inventive/creative etc. This makes it quite interesting. The problem is that after the 1^st 3^rd of the album, we don’t really go anywhere further. The tracks arguably remain creative, but as an album that creativity basically flat-lines (at least until the very last track anyway). 6

CONCLUSIONS

I’d say this was a quite a strong year. It could very well be my 2^nd favourite so far after 2023. At present, its still difficult to come to any conclusion on the theory that music gets better as we go back. I’ve theorised that 2020-22 where poor but ‘anomaly’ years owing to Covid-19. But whether of not you leave those years in or treat them as anomolies, we still have the problem that I rate the years 2023 & 2024 more highly than most of the other years. I’ve also learned than Streaming has changed the game so much and in a way that DOES have some baring on the way pop music is written, performed and produced, not just how its marketed. Its a complex story. That said, I think there will some potential conclusions that can be drawn and backed-up as we head  further backwards.

Marking key (in a nutshell)

10 – Perfect (only 3 albums in history)

9 – Basically 10/10 (I just don’t quite view them in the same way as the 3 albums)

8 – Outstanding (possible nit-picking criticisms)

7 – Brilliant

6 – Good

5 – Average

4 – Has potential but below average

3 – Some good points but not very good overall

2 – Poor (possibly a few good points)

1 – Abysmal