Prelude to Ecstasy - The Last Dinner Party
★★★☆☆

This album I had to sit on for a few days because it had me in a pickle but I've decided that it is a slay overall. I think there is just something missing from it that misses the mark of giving it that PUNCH to make it a mainstayer in my music rotation, but I think it's because it starts off so strong with the intro into my favorite song (Burn Alive) and then just kind of doesn't live up to that for the rest of the album. But that's what happens when you serve the best dish early, I fear. The lyrics of Burn Alive really had me gooped and gathered, comparing her toxic relationship to feeling like a candle that is melting, but if she lets the relationship go she’ll harden back up and have nothing to write music about.. gagged me a bit. The girls really chose to be meta this year. Overall, the album is fun and the song-writing is REALLY strong.. I just think the more I read about how they wanted the album to "not be like the other pop girls releasing right now", the more I judge it based on that logic and it just falls flat. There wasn't enough to set it apart other than some rock elements, but even then.. the girls are doing that too! I'm excited to see where they go from here because the vocals and writing were really exceptional, I think it would have been a lot bigger of a hit if it wasn't in the vast sea of music releases this year. But it is very gay so that gives it some extra bonus points on the end.

Fave Songs: Burn Alive, Caesar on a TV Screen, Sinner, My Lady of Mercy, Nothing Matters

Ava Max's Next Album - Ava Max
★★★★✩

Since most of her songs are great, I'm sure I'll like this album. Even though she has only released one song, I'm confident that she'll do great. My Oh My is a very artistically executed song, it has a nice rhythm and the girl got some great moves. That is all I can say about her for now.

She gets four stars bc there are better albums out there.

Fave Songs: My Oh My

Ado's Utattemita Album - Ado
★★★★★

Perfection. Not sure what else to say. I have mostly listened to Unravel, but just like in my previous example, everything she does is great so must be a five star.

Fave Songs: Unravel

I'M DOING IT AGAIN BABY! - girl in red
★★★★☆

I actually have really fallen in love with this album, I fear. The narrative she crafted in this one is so cool and I really eat up that she started this album with the same tune she ended her last one on, just a little bit sped up and then turns up the synth slowly in the intro song to slide into the new era. I also really love that she was like.. Hey girls, I'm not sad anymore. I'm feeling really good so have some bops from yours truly.. ate that up. Such a departure from her debut album and I just think it's SOOOO COOL & fun. And then the vibes slowly drop over the album as her mind wanders back to the place she started in, ending on a note about how she's not sure if she has it in her to do another album like this because it always drags her back to that dark place. Really fun to follow artistically & really fun to listen to.

Fave Songs: I'm Back, DOING IT AGAIN BABY, Too Much, You Need Me Now?, & Ugly Side

Radical Optimism - Dua Lipa
★★★★☆

A pop girlie is going to give us a pop album, and I will always say thank you for that! I do think this is probably my second fave from her. It feels like she kind of took Future Nostalgia and cleaned it up a bit, but like... not necessarily for the better? I think Future Nostalgia was fun because the sounds were unique and made me go OHHH??? Where this one felt like they were all songs I had heard before but I still bopped along nonetheless. It didn't move mountains, but I do really enjoy a lot of the songs on my re-streams, and I think it'll grow on me going into summer even more. I think this one was really fun in the way that I feel like we finally got some real Dua VOCALS!! And I feel like that's more rare than not these days. She said Future Nostalgia? I'm working on dancing. Radical optimism? I took VOCAL classes, mama. So have THESE! Overall, I think I will really enjoy these when I'm a few drinks deep and dancing in the club, and THAT is enough for me to stan. I think narratively, it's fun for her to get a nice lil storyline going through an album because those are always my favorite. EASY listening.

Fave Songs: Houdini, Training Season, Whatcha Doing, Illusion, Falling Forever, Maria

What A Devastating Turn of Events - Rachel Chinouriri
★★★★★

I laughed, I cried, a number of times. I sweat, I danced. I got... a shot, I ate and... I had many epiphanies. What a beautiful album this was! I genuinely fear for my streams for the next week because she had me HOOKED. I think this is one of those albums where you can tell she just experimented with sounds until it had a really cool and unique sound and really had me SAT! It just so seamlessly jumps from pop to rock to grunge to a ballad while somehow still sounding cohesive? It really baffled me but I really fell in love with her with this one. I think she reminds me a lot of NAO & her music style, because it's just such a unique voice & sound. I was really enjoying the singles as they came out but I did not expect such a slay to hit me... She is one of those people that makes you feel like you are just reading out of her diary and her VOICE is so emotive that you really get the feelings she's trying to convey to you as the album goes on. But in a way that doesn't step on the music's throat because I think I could easily enjoy this album solely based on sounds alone, but partnered with the lyrics is just a true CHEF'S KISS. I just love an album that gets me excited about music and she's taking it, I fear. The themes of her trying to face her trauma and realize exactly what is causing her so much grief and trying to unpack it and overcome it, it's just really well done and the track listing really takes you on that journey through the album. Really excited to sit on this album for the next few weeks, I fear she might be a contender for one of the faves of the 2020s.

Fave Songs: Garden of Eden, Never Need Me, All I Ever Asked, Dumb Bitch Juice, My Blood

Don't Forget Me - Maggie Rogers
★★★★★

This one really, really ate for me. I love Maggie's approach to music because it's that folk/songwriter music that I adore with a fun twist in almost every song to give it a little genre switch-up. Her music is always just so fun to listen to, and this one is no exception. I listened to it a while ago but sat on it for a bit because I really liked it and wasn't sure where to put it in the rankdown. But I think this is one of my favorites from her because I'm always a sucker for a narrative album. And I really feel like with Maggie, you can really feel her growing up with each album, and it's just been really cool to see her change and evolve over the years. "Drunk" might be one of my favorites of all time from her. CLASSIQUE!

Fave Songs: Drunk, So Sick of Dreaming, The Kill, If Now Was Then, On & On & On, Never Going Home, Don't Forget Me

THE TORTURED POETS DEPARTMENT: THE ANTHOLOGY - Taylor Swift
★★☆☆☆

Well, girls... it’s fine. It just feels really stale and one-note to me. At first, I liked the lyrics, but I honestly feel like that’s the main problem for me? They’re so jam-packed that it doesn’t really give any room for there to be like, an actual song to me. And she kind of loses the fun of taking the feeling she’s going through and crafting a narrative around it. Instead, she just takes it literally and I hate to be that girl BUT... as much as I like Taylor’s music, I do not really care about her personal life. It just feels clunky and super massive just to get streaming records. I have found a few outliers that I really enjoy when listening back to the album, but I'm here to review ALBUMS, and as a body of work, it just lacks any real connectivity for me. I think it just overall feels very lyrically overwhelming while being very sonically underwhelming and I feel like she could have really edited out some of this album. And I know that people are saying she released it for herself which SLAY but also.. you can just get a journal, my good sister!!

Fave Songs: Guilty as Sin?, Who's Afraid of Little Old Me?, loml, I Can Do It With a Broken Heart, The Prophecy

RANKING SO FAR THIS YEAR!

Spoiler

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cowboy carter - beyonce what a devastating turn of events - rachel chinouriri found heaven - conan gray don't forget me - maggie rogers orquideas - kali uchis eternal sunshine - ariana grande fireworks & rollerblades - benson boone radical optimism - dua lipa i'm doing it again baby - girl in red older - lizzy mcalpine girl with no face - allie x for your consideration - empress of with you-th - twice prelude to ecstasy - the last dinner party the ride - johnny orlando drop 7 - little simz the tortured poets department - taylor swift what now - brittany howard venus - zara larsson deeper well - kacey musgraves tyla - tyla the winning - iu djesse vol. 4 - jacob collier gothic summer - the veronicas headsplit - maggie lindemann

HIT ME HARD AND SOFT - Billie Eilish
★★★★★

Oh, she is TAKING it, girls... But are we shocked? I was sitting here trying to figure out where to rank this one on my Billie album list, but I'm not sure I can? I feel like all of her albums serve such a different purpose that I don’t want to compare them. This just feels like if she took WWAFA and made it more personal than a narrative? And I just really adored what she brought to the table. It feels so vulnerable but still authentically weird and Billie, which is what we show up for. I feel like this is one of those albums that feels like such a cohesive narrative that it makes you feel like you’re in a little dream while it happens. The order of the songs is SOOOO strong to me; it really takes you on a journey of self-discovery through her personal life and sexuality and then also the highs and lows of getting into a relationship and falling out of it. And that crushing reality that comes with it sometimes where you realize a lot of those feelings you were having were simply just the Thrill of the Moment. Soooo powerful and beautiful. I fear she’s going to be getting a LOT of streams from me... And when we get that double album? It’s going to be OVER for me. I fear that she might be coming for the AOTY grammy, but I'm praying that it's the year for Miss Beyonce. But I wouldn't be mad, I fear.

Fave Songs: SKINNY, LUNCH, BIRDS OF A FEATHER(!), WILDFLOWER, THE GREATEST, & L'AMOUR DE MA VIE