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In typical Hozier fashion, much of his third studio album focuses on the devotion one can have towards their lover. "First Time" explores the thrill of first entering a relationship, while in "I, Carrion (Icarian)" our narrator tries to uplift their struggling partner. Passion then ensues in "Eat Your Young." However, by the end of the album, our narrator has come to realize that they were blinded by their all-consuming love. In "Anything But" they express a desire for freedom and for their voice to finally be heard. This theme of knowing versus unknowing is pervasive throughout, highlighted by songs such as "To Someone From A Warm Climate (Uiscefhuaraithe)" and "Unknown/Nth." Previous songs reflecting on the good old days- such as "Francesca," "Who We Are," and "Damage Gets Done"-- suggest that the relationship would eventually turn sour. Nevertheless, our protagonist still proclaims "Though I know my heart would break/I'd tell them, 'Put me back in it'." Simply, they were a flame that burned too bright too quickly. Hozier also takes time to explore his Irish identity. "First Time" references the river Liffey, which runs through Dublin. "Butchered Tongue" directly addresses the disconnect many Irish feel from their history, especially their language. The last minute of "De Selby (Part 1)" is sung in Gaelic, with the addition of other voices creating a tribal chant. The song then perfectly transitions into "De Selby (Part 2)," an upbeat, modern groove that links a current artist like Hozier to his ancestry.
It's all about doors for Alice Phoebe Lou on her new record, Shelter, doors, opening and closing, letting things in and out and in again. Doused in her signature dream-pop production, Shelter is Alice Phoebe Lou at her most pure. Her vocal stylings dominate the record, with a classic, smoke-filled oeuvre permeating every inch of the tracks. "Is it safe to go outside?" she asks, on the opening track, "Angel:' On title track "Shelter," she sings, "You showed me things I've only seen in dreams/ And there's something magic about this whole thing/ Open your door and let the air in:' But reflecting on this in "Open My Door;' she inverts the whole paradigm, the utility of her own openness, as she croons, "I used to open my door / To pretty much anyone who was tryna look for/ A place to feel safe/ But I made my whole world safer for everyone but me." By the end of the record, it's turned once again and she is closing the door. On the title track, she has a vision of her future, and pleads, "Take me to a new home, I'd like nothing more / Than to make it with you." The pappier tracks are there - "Lose My Head" is an 80s synth pop banger, - as are the guitar-driven indie on "Halo:' However, even as the thematic through-line relishes in beauty and imagery, there are times where it feels disjointed, thrown together - but maybe that, too, is the unpredictable nature of life and love.
-Boowa Zarcone '24
-Van Monday '24
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"'DLUR"'
A warning to casual Blur fans - The ninth and most recent studio album, Ballad efDarren, Blur's the band's iconic jaunty tunes. Gone isarecomposed of anything but the glamour and pep of songs such as "Girls & Boys" and "For Tom 1990s. This album also evades the effortles orrow" of the early "Chinese Bombs" and "Beetlebum" from s edginess of songs like the decade's latter half. Blur, however, conquers new territory with Darren, appropriately with reflective balla The Ballad ef dry. The album begins with "The Ballad" (obviously!), a defeated love heartedly celebrating the better days gone by. song half A suitable opener for an album released nearly 30 years after Britp op's "The Ballad" introduces the album's persistent exist heyday, ential fears. While the bluesy "St. Charles Square" does touch upon fears, they are certainly best encapsulated in "Russian these where frontman Damon Albarn mournfully wails over Strings," a pop instrumental "there's nothing in the end, only dust lounge - so turn the music up." The album's triumph, however, is "The Narcis sist." This song illustrates the surreal and transcendent highs of drug use, before depicting full-blown addiction. Considering Albarn past transparency with his drug-use, the song's concluding 's promise to not "fall this time'' and to "�eed the signs" rings especially poignant and personal. Although The Ballad ofDa"en lacks Blur's usual earworms, the album strikes out as the band's most lyrically precise yet, with a self-awareness desperately needed within today's current "rock" scene. -Ellen Downard '25
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