The Music Dispatch: July 19, 2022
Inside: Lizzo, beabadobee, STAYC, Flo Milli, Joey Bada$$'s singles so far, Perfume going disco, and Red Velvet-esque songs!
Welcome to The Music Dispatch! This is a weekly part of this Substack where I shortly review every new(-ish) release I listened to. Out every Tuesday. All mentioned songs are available on your streaming platform of choice unless stated otherwise. Is there an album you want to recommend me? @ me on Twitter or head on over to the Retrospring!
The thing to listening to so much music is that I’m not sitting with the stuff in question — which is a problem if the release in question demands being sat with (Aldous Harding’s Warm Chris falls under this category). Instead, you go through lists every week and say Heard, heard, heard. or Yes, chef! and, when the first impression is favorable and the music is good, thank you chef! (The Bear is so good.) In either case, I once got really bored and it was close to lunchtime — prime time to not start a new album — and I put on fromis_9’s music and, suddenly, the songs I said weren’t interesting really hit! Same with STAYC’s Stereotype, which still suffers from not going big in the chorus, but is such a pleasant listen otherwise that I looped it a couple times yesterday. Anyway, first impressions are true and real until the second, and the third, and the fourth, and so forth. Heard, heard, heard. Thank you chef!
EPs and Albums
black midi has consistently not appealed to me, so I didn’t feel adventurous enough to check out their latest. Same with Sabrina Carpenter, I fear.
beabadobee — Beatopia This is a massive step up from her debut Fake it Flowers, channeling 00s rock and shoegaze and midwest emo at points and all of it like it’s old hat. The lyricism is sharp and emotional, her vocals are excellent and the production, often helmed by Matty Healy and George Daniel of The 1975, pushes her sound without losing her original charm. But all that aside, the Pinkpantheress collab tinkerbell is overrated — that’s the one. The country/folk song which eventually adds a breakbeat at the back sounds amazing with these two helium vocals — so what if it sounds like The 1975, it’s yassified!
Lizzo — Special Another major improvement on the sophomore record, Lizzo’s newest immediately opens with the answer of where she’s been: at home, isolating, like the rest of us. Not much later, she treats us to disco, warm brass, and feel-good pop that recall an updated version of Good As Hell and, at times, the likes of Donna Summer, and overall feels a lot more cohesive than 2019’s Cause I Love You by the sheer fact that every song hits. The best song is Everybody is Gay on here, which is a full disco song with Lizzo’s vocals featherlight over the excellent beat. But I also really enjoyed the ode to her body and being loved, Naked, which is a very inspired ballad. The hit to be had here will undoubtedly be 2 Be Loved (Am I Ready), an excellent pop record with a key change — when was the last time you heard a final chorus key change on a pop record?
J-Hope — Jack in the Box I really grew to like MORE with its single guitar riff and its hollow percussion as well as the staccato delivery of J-Hope. But despite the introduction with Pandora’s Box and plenty of attitude throughout, most of this album sounds like a first draft — the songs are too short, the beats are uninteresting, there’s not a lot of hooks. I wouldn’t know if the lyricism is good — which is crucial to enjoying and understanding a genre as wordy as hip hop, I am well aware — but what I heard besides that didn’t impress me much. However, lead single Arson has a good beat and a hook (albeit a terrible one), and the Dem Jointz produced What if is interesting in its slow-burn approach to a beat and J-Hope questioning his loss of skill and passion. I just wish it was more of a finished thing than what we got.
ITZY — Checkmate Poor girls got their She’s The Boss moment: terrible title track, extremely good b-sides. Racer and What I Want would have made great singles: hard-hitting beats, great performances, listenable. Racer even has an anti-drop that works. Overall, it’s my favorite release of theirs since IT’z Me, except for that atrocious single choice, SNEAKERS — in every way a regression of ITZY with a very juvenile chorus. Somebody has it out for them.
STAYC — We Need Love Beautiful Monster is such a robust single, a major departure for this group musically and stylistically yet one they perform as if they have never done anything else. The guitar reminds me of Charlie Puth, progenitor of a lot of kpop after 2015, but so much of the songwriting and melodies elevate the Puth pop completely — and that world flute in the pre-chorus is excellent. It’s very good! I’m not sure about the RUN2U remix here, it sounds simultaneously energetic and relaxed. But I Like It sounds very oldschool K-Pop and Love makes perfect use of an empty chorus with a very pretty tropical pop release. This is a good release, where no song overshadows Beautiful Monster.
Singles
Flo Milli — Conceited The album’s coming out this week. The lead single is such a good trap song and a great step up from Ice Baby, thanks to a beat that actually keeps up with her. I can’t wait to hear Flo Milli shit, bitch this summer again. I knew something was missing in my life!
Joey Bada$$’s singles of this year so far:
Multi-hyphenate (and hot man) Joey Bada$$ was meant to release 2000, but things didn’t work out and he’s releasing a lot of singles in the meantime, five in total including newest release Zipcodes. Here’s the dispatch of the singles:
The REV3NGE: This is very different from the rest of the singles, much more melodic and poppy. His delivery here is Kid Cudi-esque? If you like Temptation of ALL AMERIKKKAN BADASS you’ll like this a lot.
Head High: Of all the singles, this one has the best beat and a very spirited performance. The hook is incredibly catchy here as well.
Where I Belong: This has a beat that sounds like it wouldn’t be out of place on Avatar: The Last Airbender with its flute? I really liked the lyrics here, which detail wealth and also his skill.
Survivors Guilt: This eulogy to Captain STEEZ showcases excellent penmanship and is very confessional, with an organ sample that is more engaging than you’d think it is.
Zipcodes: This one has a warm jazz beat and an excellent flow. You’ll like this if you like artists like Earl Sweatshirt.
Am I hyped for 2000? I am! It sounds good so far.
Omar Apollo — Archetype The best Frank Ocean vocal performance since Frank Ocean’s Blonde. This r’n’b crooner is one of the better Omar Apollo cuts to me.
billlie & Yoo Jongshin — Patbingsu Patbingsu is very Red of Red Velvet (The f(x) comparisons for this group continue to be incomprehensible), this is… interestingly enough good despite the entire switchup after a minute? There’s great synth pads, wonderful vocal melodies, a random rap…. that, again, makes no sense with the first minute in. I think this is their best title track yet. The b-side Highway romance is quirky and pretty that is more engaging in the background than the vocals are, which are once again very SM-esque.
Perfume — Spinning World Perfume goes disco!!! It’s super modern and new from Perfume! Words can’t describe how good this is. If you listen to any track from the Dispatch this week, it needs to be either this or the next one.
Dot Da Genius — Talk About Me (feat. Kid Cudi, Denzel Curry & JID) This one here. Incredibly great performances from all three performers. Beat is appropriately empty yet interesting enough to trudge the song on, but the Denzel Curry verse is so good. Amazing posse cut honestly.
Ciara — JUMP (feat. Coast Contra) This song as a lead single (I’m guessing it’s a lead single?) is much more serious than Level Up was, and I say this as a big fan of Level Up!
fka twigs — Killer This is a return to her moodier work, i.e not Caprisongs, and I think this will be the lead to the much-announced El Guincho produced project, seeing as he produced this? A modern take from her EP work, I would say? I like it, but I did prefer Caprisongs as a whole.
This week I’m looking forward to Flo Milli’s newest album, as well as Rico Nasty’s! And then we need to clear the table. Beyoncé is coming…