May 2022 Album Reviews
The month of May was a very busy month for new album releases from many large names in music across various genres. With so many important releases, I wanted to just do a recap and review of some of the ones I dove head first into. Something I think many people overlook about album releases in the month of May is that many times, these songs and albums have the opportunity to set the tone for the Summer. As school is letting out, people will be putting on these tunes to accompany their fun Summer activities and that in and of itself creates a connection to those songs for listeners to enjoy for years to come. Now before we dig in, I wanted to, of course, share the disclaimer that these album reviews are my opinion and you are welcome to disagree. That being said, let’s talk new May releases!
The first album that was a highly anticipated release for May was Florence and The Machine’s fifth studio album, Dance Fever. As a long time fan of Florence and The Machine, and Florence Welch in general, I was really excited about getting some new music. A word that can easily describe Florence’s style, vibe, and sound for most of her work would be “ethereal” and this album was no exception. For starters, the style of the album cover and promotional materials gives a medieval and baroque type of vibe, which is very quintessential Florence Welch, and the sound of this album seemed to compliment that style. On my first listen, I was immediately pleased to hear the heavy drums and tambourine sound that is almost expected for a Florence and The Machine album, giving me that comfort that one of my favorites is still sticking true to those roots. The flow of the album is very nice in that you can truly feel the intention behind the song placement and progression of the songs. The overall feel of the album honestly makes you want to dance around barefoot in celebration of life, but in a “we have overcome hardships” type of celebration. I think that this body of work was well timed with us now getting back to somewhat normal following the pandemic, and providing hope and celebration for that time. Like most of Florence and The Machine’s work, feeling the urge to just dance and let loose seems to be a common theme and I think naming this album Dance Fever was an accurate choice. Funny enough, I read that Florence Welch got the idea for Dance Fever from the phenomenon, choreomania, which essentially was the practice of large groups of people dancing erratically in early modern Europe, and I think that inspiration is clearly reflected in this body of work. My favorite songs off of this album include “King”, “Free”, “Choreomania”, and “Morning Elvis.” Overall, I give this album a rating of 6.5 out of 10 due to the immaculate vibes, the classic Florence and The Machine Sound, and accurate portrayal of inspiration. The only thing keeping me from rating this higher would be that a large portion of the songs on the album wouldn’t be as memorable or revisited by me as opposed to some of her earlier work.
The next album release in May that I want to review is Kendrick Lamar’s fifth studio album, Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers. This album was highly anticipated by fans due to Kendrick mentioning that he was putting out new music since early 2021 and his previous album release being from 2017. This double album features 19 songs and Kendrick doesn’t leave any issue untouched in this collection. The album features themes of childhood trauma, fatherhood, fame, religion, gender, and many more while taking on a mix of jazz, soul, and funk to accompany his classic hip-hop sound. Being a Pulitzer Prize winner, it is no surprise that Kendrick would pack so many heavy hitting topics into a body of work, while still keeping it on the poetic side instead of the obvious ways many rappers do. Something else I appreciate about Kendrick Lamar is his honesty regarding various ideas, despite how difficult some of them may be. This collection of songs truly shows how much reflecting and overcoming Kendrick has done and even exudes a bit of an angry energy, and rightfully so. I will say, although this album as a whole represents a full-on self reflective journey, I don’t necessarily think it holds up as well when taken out of the context of the album as a whole. Many of the songs wouldn’t really be something I would put on to vibe to on my drive to work or listen to when wanting to just hear some music to accompany any task, however, I can appreciate the intention and the full story when the album is played as a whole. My favorite songs from the album include “Father Time”, “Die Hard”, and “N95”. Overall, based on the poetic nature of the lyrics, the construction of a body of work that really takes listeners on a journey, and the listenability of the individual songs themselves, I rate this album a 6.5 out of 10.
The next May album on my list is the eleventh studio album by The Black Keys, Dropout Boogie. At this point in their career, The Black Keys have pretty much solidified their spot as a solid rock band that will be known by future generations to come. They have a really great way of blending blues rock, garage rock, and indie rock so when it comes to the expectations of Dropout Boogie, they seemed to really live up to them. As a whole, I have really enjoyed The Black Keys over the years but I wouldn’t necessarily consider myself a huge fan. One of the main reasons that I enjoy The Black Keys is that when you listen to their music while doing even the most mundane tasks, their sound just makes you feel cool and like you are a character in a movie. That being said, I think that my overall impression of this album is both what I think makes this album good and also what I consider to be its downfall. To elaborate, on my initial listen of Dropout Boogie, I thought “yep, that sounds like The Black Keys.” The reason I find this to be a good thing is that it is nice to be a fan of a band and feel like they are staying true to their sound that the fans love, and hearing new material that aligns with that sound is satisfying from a fan standpoint. However, the downside to this is that as a listener, I sometimes feel like the majority of The Black Keys songs sound the same, which can occasionally cause listeners to lose interest. I really enjoy their blues rock vibe and this album featured many songs that quenched that thirst. I would say that may favorite tracks from this album include “Wild Child”, “Good Love” which features Billy F. Gibbons, and “Baby I’m Coming Home”. Overall, I think this was a great album and collection of songs but maybe just not as memorable as some of their previous work, leading me to rate this album a 6 out of 10.
The last May album release up for review is Harry Style’s third studio album, Harry’s House. Now I never really listened to One Direction so I am certainly not listening to any of Harry’s music through the lens of a 1D fan, but I have found myself slowly becoming a Harry Styles fan. When I use the term slowly, I am not meaning that in a bad way, I just notice how those who are big Harry fans seem to absolutely worship anything he does so I try hard to not let the major hype from his “Stans” sway my personal opinion of his work. That being said, I have really enjoyed seeing the direction Harry has taken since starting his solo career. Upon first listen of Harry’s House, I thought that the album produced a really fun sound. I think this collection of songs has an excellent vibe and will probably be the background music to many Summer activities. In this album, Harry plays around with pop, funk, and synth-pop sounds and I found that the combination sounded really clean when put together. I think that this album shows listeners that Harry is really having fun with his sound and possibly experimenting more now that he has really solidified a loyal fan base. I would say that my only negative critique would be that this album may not have gone deep enough in terms of emotions and putting out fun songs like these that are easily devoured by fans can come off a bit easy. Not to diminish any of Harry’s hard work, but overall the album does stay a bit more surface level. I will say, I think that Harry does a really great job of making music that makes people feel happy and in turn, creates really good music for Summer. My favorites from this album include “Late Night Talking”, “Daylight”, and “Satellite”. Based on the fun sounds, enjoyable tunes, and the collection as a whole, I rate this album a 7 out of 10.
As I mentioned earlier in the post, May was a heavy month for big name releases and it will be interesting to see how well these albums hold up for the rest of the year. Give these albums a good listen and let me know if you agree or disagree with my ratings, I definitely don’t mind a good disagreement. And of course, thanks for reading!
