Real Goblin

Not a great week. Sucked actually. Idk.

Addison Rae – “Addison Rae”

C+

I think a lot of artists in Addison Rae’s Tik Tok circle would probably love to break out of that category. They’d probably like to be known just as artists in their own right and not have “Tik Tok” as a preamble to their introductions.

I’m not sure “Diet Pepsi” is enough to confirm that Addison Rae is ready to leave that circle. I also wouldn’t go so far as to say this is terrible. Lyrically, it sounds like if Kidz Bop had  PG-13 division. The mixing is decent, but that’s about all I can say for it. The hook is probably the best aspect of the song. It sounds like they knew that the verses were very uninteresting so they don’t dwell on them for too long. I don’t know. Good for her I guess.

The Killers – “Bright Lights”

B

I’m not really sure what the band is doing in terms of the next album rollout. There was talk of their 8^th studio release last year, with a handful of teaser singles. But it seems they may have scrapped that and started fresh.

“Bright Lights” is the latest track from the longtime rock group, who’ve had such a strangely great resurgence that it should be studied. Pressure Machine and Imploding the Mirage were both very solid – the former being a beautiful conceptual album and arguably a career highlight for the band. “Bright Lights” sounds a lot more like Imploding the Mirage. And that’s not a bad thing. The full band returns, which is great. It’s upbeat and bombastic. I don’t know that it really blew me away or anything. But it’s nice to hear the full band together again.

Beabadoobee – “beaches

B-

Whether I end up releasing a review of this project or not, “Beaches” is an example of a good song that still disappointed me. Beabadoobee’s newest album feels very low-energy in comparison to her debut and her sophomore album. Also, while we’re at it, the cover confuses me. What’s up with the album cover? Who did that?

Adrianne Lenker – “Once A Bunch”

A

This one feels very timeless. You could tell me this is an old John Prine song that’s been rerecorded in the modern day and I’d believe you. There’s a simple, beautiful quality to it that I really like. It’s just a refreshing little folk tune.

Rex Orange County – “The Table”

B

I’m never sure what to expect from Rex Orange County these days. A low quality, generic album? A surprising chamber pop project? A series of concerning allegations against him? Who’s to say. The charges were dropped. But you know how these things are. It leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Anyway, the song is an interesting direction. There’s something here, but I’ll need to hear more before I’m sure.

Bright Eyes – “Rainbow Overpass”

C+

So far, I’m not loving the singles from Bright Eyes’ upcoming project. This one is a step up from the previous release, which sounded like it was made by Young Sheldon.

The lyrics are there, and some of the instrumentation is there. But it still feels too generic somehow. It feels inauthentic. We shall see where this goes.

Katy Perry – “LIFETIMES”

D+

Yeah, how’s that whole “working with a predator” thing working out for you Katy? Not so good. A lot of people work with terrible people. But generally, they don’t also claim a message of supreme feminism and positivity and release a song called “WOMAN’S WORLD”.

This whole thing stinks of desperation to me. The caps-lock song titles? Katy, you’re almost 40. Let’s cool it with that. But yeah this sucks.

FINNEAS – “For Crying Out Loud”

B-

I’ve never found FINNEAS’s music to hold a candle to his sister’s. But I did like the horns on this one, which were a pleasant surprise. I’d like to see some more organic or acoustic backing instrumentation brought to Billie Eilish’s next project.

The production is strong on this one, which makes sense given FINNEAS’s background.