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Album Review

  1. album review
    Our Sweetheart of the RodeoBeyoncé’s Cowboy Carter chronicles an artist with a voice pliable enough (and a following large enough) to crash whatever scene she pleases.
    By Craig Jenkins
  2. album review
    Justin Timberlake Wants You BackHis new album sticks to a safe, occasionally satisfying script, even when it’s clear he’s lost the plot.
    By Craig Jenkins
  3. album review
    Ariana Grande Is Telling This Story HerselfEternal Sunshine stares directly into the past — and recontextualizes it.
    By Craig Jenkins
  4. album review
    Schoolboy Q Is Following in the Footsteps of GiantsOn Blue Lips, he rummages through decades of Black American history.
    By Craig Jenkins
  5. album review
    What Is Kim Petras Doing?She could have reminded fans why she’s actually worth listening to. Instead, we got Slut Pop Miami.
    By Reanna Cruz
  6. album review
    Boygenius Is Here to Blunt Whatever Life Throws Our WayTheir Grammy-winning debut album is about finding strength in themselves.
    By Craig Jenkins
  7. album review
    We Should Appreciate The Smile While It’s Still HereDropping four projects in 20 months screams “Here for a good time, not a long time.”
    By Craig Jenkins
  8. album review
    Nicki Minaj Locks the GatesPink Friday 2 drips with the irritating realization that running a kingdom means defending its walls.
    By Craig Jenkins
  9. album review
    Peter Gabriel Is Trying to Keep It Togetheri/o is a series of lofty ideas for the future.
    By Craig Jenkins
  10. album review
    André 3000’s Solo Album Is a Breath of Fresh AirNew Blue Sun isn’t the esteemed return to form rap fans hoped for. It’s something more.
    By Craig Jenkins
  11. album review
    PinkPantheress Is Remastering the Y2K AestheticHeaven Knows sounds like lightning striking a 160 GB iPod.
    By Craig Jenkins
  12. close read
    Bad Bunny and Drake Are Making Offers Their Fans Can’t RefuseIn our current climate, it pays to be the villain.
    By Craig Jenkins
  13. album review
    The Rolling Stones Paint It BackwardA new Stones record in 2023 may feel as necessary as a milkman. But they’re doing more than just conjuring ghosts.
    By Leah Greenblatt
  14. album review
    Sufjan Stevens Tours the Garden of HeartbreakHis new album Javelin urges us to embrace life’s beauty while we still can.
    By Craig Jenkins
  15. album review
    Doja Cat Is Fighting Fires of Her Own CreationOn Scarlet, the rapper, singer, and internet terror channels negative comments into some of the best work of her career.
    By Craig Jenkins
  16. album review
    Olivia Rodrigo Would Rather Go Through ItOn Guts, the pop star sidesteps her winning formula.
    By Craig Jenkins
  17. album review
    Burna Boy Sounds Creatively ExhaustedThe Nigerian superstar’s new album was supposed to be a victory lap. But he comes across as bitter and paranoid.
    By Lawrence Burney
  18. album review
    Noname Shakes the TableOn Sundial, the rapper is pushing back against everyone — including herself.
    By Craig Jenkins
  19. album review
    Travis Scott Is Raging Into OblivionOn Utopia, the rapper is too scared to mess with the blueprint.
    By Craig Jenkins
  20. album review
    Blur’s Return Is a Fitting Evolution for a Once-Chaotic BandOn their beautiful, occasionally plodding new album, the Britpop legends embrace stillness.
    By Craig Jenkins
  21. album review
    Kelly Clarkson (Finally) Succumbs to the SpotlightChemistry proves to be the ideal emotional counterpart to her talk show.
    By Emma Madden
  22. album review
    Gunna Is Fed UpIsolation and anger hang over a Gift & a Curse, the rapper’s first album since taking a plea deal in the YSL indictment.
    By Paul Thompson
  23. album review
    Janelle Monáe Lets Go of Her (and Our) AnxietyOn her breezy new album, she abandons perfectionism.
    By Craig Jenkins
  24. album review
    The Foo Fighters Reach for the LightTheir new album isn’t for getting over tragedy. It’s about learning to live beside it.
    By Craig Jenkins
  25. it’s ‘the album’
    Every Album Named ‘The Album,’ RankedWhen self-titled won’t suffice.
    By Zach Schonfeld
  26. album review
    The Ed Sheeran Formula Hits a RoadblockHis grief-stricken new album is personal, messy, and necessary.
    By Craig Jenkins
  27. album review
    The National Are Now a Parody ActThe band have become the very thing their critics accuse them of.
    By James Robins
  28. album review
    Lighten Up and Listen to Everything But the GirlThe duo’s new album eases the pain without sacrificing pleasure.
    By Craig Jenkins
  29. album review
    Metallica Vanquish Their DemonsTheir new album conquers the present by conversing with the past.
    By Craig Jenkins
  30. album review
    Lana Del Rey Has Come to ConfessOn Ocean Blvd, the singer sets her fears on fire.
    By Craig Jenkins
  31. album review
    Miley’s Californication Is CompleteEndless Summer Vacation showcases a more unified and refined version of Cyrus, but is almost too meticulously crafted to soundtrack summers.
    By Craig Jenkins
  32. album review
    Just Give In to the New Gorillaz AlbumDamon Albarn’s earnest, schmaltzy Cracker Island is restless enough to work.
    By Craig Jenkins
  33. album review
    Skrillex Is Reinventing HimselfVibes shift, and the wub man endures.
    By Craig Jenkins
  34. album review
    Kelela Knows How to Interrupt a GrooveHer first album in six years wages war on a world that wrings artists dry.
    By Craig Jenkins
  35. album review
    Lil Yachty’s Great Gig in the SkyThe rapper’s surprising new psych-rock album delights in sensory overload.
    By Craig Jenkins
  36. album review
    Sam Smith Toes the Line on GloriaThe singer’s new album is sharp, occasionally cringe-y, and full of heartfelt schmaltz.
    By Craig Jenkins
  37. album review
    SZA Wants It AllSOS processes loss and success and pain and desire from the middle of millions of ogling eyes.
    By Craig Jenkins
  38. album review
    Our LossDrake’s new album, billed as a collaboration with 21 Savage, renews his interest in bars but also excitable, chauvinistic cruelty.
    By Craig Jenkins
  39. album review
    Midnights’ Moonlit LessonsTaylor Swift’s tenth album reveals a simpler fantasy: the desire to be truly free.
    By Craig Jenkins
  40. album review
    Lil Baby Knows Exactly What You Want From HimOn It’s Only Me, the rap star is successful enough to take chances but understands his appeal too well to stray from the script.
    By Craig Jenkins
  41. review
    Kid Cudi’s Entergalactic Is Pretty, Affecting, and a Little Too SmoothThe new album and Netflix project hit their marks but will make you pine for something stranger.
    By Craig Jenkins
  42. album review
    It’s Cam’ron’s HarlemU Wasn’t There, his new album with A-Trak, feels like an uptown therapy session.
    By Craig Jenkins
  43. album review
    Ari Lennox Knows Exactly What She WantsOn a/s/l, you can try your luck with the singer, but you might get your feelings hurt.
    By Craig Jenkins
  44. album review
    Megan Thee Stallion Takes Control of Her News CycleTraumazine is a reminder there’s a human on the other side of the headlines.
    By Craig Jenkins
  45. album review
    Beyoncé’s Sequined RevolutionRenaissance, a love letter to Black queer innovators, comes at a precarious moment in history.
    By Craig Jenkins
  46. album review
    Lizzo Is Hedging Her BetsSpecial seems invested in uplifting everyone in earshot but anxious to secure its slice of the pop radio market share.
    By Craig Jenkins
  47. album review
    Drake Is Still on VacationHonestly, Nevermind is frictionless — a geographical shift ushered in as comfortingly as possible.
    By Craig Jenkins
  48. album review
    Post Malone Is Going Through ChangesTwelve Carat Toothache dreams of a future where Post Malone can discuss what’s on his mind instead of what may be coursing through his bloodstream.
    By Craig Jenkins
  49. album review
    Wilco Attempts to Let GoImmediacy is the point with Cruel Country, but a bit of polish might have smoothed the rougher edges.
    By Craig Jenkins
  50. album review
    Harry Styles, Work in ProgressStyles is still figuring out where his art needs to go — and how much to tell us about the life he leads outside it.
    By Craig Jenkins
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