Tag: The Weeknd

The Hit Songs of February 2021

ProducerLunchboxLeave a comment

Another month on the charts that seemed to be running on fumes.

14. The Kid LAROI – Without You

Another break up song on this month’s list, LAROI comes off as a Justin Bieber clone that likes to curse. But at its core, this is an emo break up song in its most generic form. The song feels like it can’t get out of first gear until about 2 minutes in and there is finally more than an acoustic guitar and a whiny rapper. But even when some drums are finally added, the emotion just isn’t there. It’s a very bad sign when you’re singing a heart-wrenching break up song and it hits with the same emotion of Radio 4’s shipping forecast. The newsreader’s falsetto might be more impressive.

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April 3, 2020

monkeyhammer81Leave a comment

Purity Ring – WOMB (4AD)

Listening to WOMB is an exercise in stark dichotomy. The Canadian duo produces a brand of magically magnetic trip-hop that is as powerful as it is understated. Honey-sweet vocals issue complex poetry about curses, devils and terror angels that live in the mirror, longing and heaving bodies, scars and entropy. 

There is a sci-fi soundtrack, music box quality to the tracks that sucks you in like a good mystery story. The tempo of everything stays slow, but somehow conveys a potent energy that pulls like a riptide. WOMB is heart-rending, life-affirming, and otherworldly. An absolute gem.

FFO: Ruelle, Grimes, Sneaker Pimps

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