If It's Too Loud...

Sometimes an album hits *just right*. Such is the case with Joana Serrat's Big Wave , which hit at the beginning of the summer and never let me go. The moody, distant darkness to the whole presentation despite the bright feel to so much of this, it's an album that just presents layers on top of layers, both thematically and musically. I dare you to listen to "Freewheel" and not be completely enamoured by this experience - the overdriven bassline straight out of Flaming Lips record, the catchiest chorus this year, the build to the post-bridge climax, the absolutely haunting backing vocals, the guitar work... it blew my mind when I first heard it, it blows my mind now. And the whole album is like this - there are so many special, deliberate choices throughout its 42 minute runtime that reveal themselves over the course of multiple listens. It's truly phenomenal. The album is called Big Wave and it may as well speak of the rush of sound that washes ...

Artist : Joana Serrat Album : Big Wave Quick Thoughts : This is my favorite listen in a long, long time. Joana Serrat is new to me, even though this is her latest of many records. The level of songwriting here, the instrumentation, the absolute gorgeous music across the board here is incredible, and it's an album that made me stop and pay attention over and over and over. "Freewheel" in particular is one I keep sharing with people because it's that good, but the album is sort of like a folk rock/dream pop hybrid that is unlike anything I've heard of late and yet feels so, so right. One of the best of the year, without question. Songs of Note : "The Cord," "Freewheel," "Sufferer," "Are You Still Here," "Big Lagoons," "Broken Hearted" Artist : AURORA Album : What Happened to the Heart? Quick Thoughts : AURORA's been around for close to a decade now, and this is a pop record of someone confiden...