21, Adele

Adele's 21 is one of those albums that it seemed like every single person alive was listening to on repeat when it was released-- to say that this album took the world by storm honestly feels like an understatement. While singles like "Rolling in the Deep" may have ended up becoming a little overplayed on the radio, 21 as a complete work absolutely justifies the popularity it garnered when it was released and for years after. It's one of those albums I consider to be a modern-day classic.

Stand-out tracks: "Turning Tables" "Someone Like You"

My favorites: "Set Fire to The Rain" "Lovesong"

Opening the album with "Rolling in the Deep" sets the tone for all the good things to come on 21-- from soaring, raspy vocals to jazzy-pop instrumentals unique only to Adele. While Adele is probably more known for heartwrenching ballads, she does sassy pop-rock like "Rumour Has It" equally well, if not better. The standout moments of this song are definitely the pared-back bridge and the clever ending where the previously repeated "rumour has it I'm the one you're leaving her for" turns into the confessional of "rumour has it he's the one I'm leaving you for."

Over her now-four album discography, "Turning Tables" might be the singular best song that Adele has ever released. Vocally Adele is unstoppable, lyrically it's soul-crushing, and instrumentally this song is absolutely stunning. "Set Fire to the Rain" is one of my personal favorite Adele songs-- it's incredibly passionate and cinematic in composition and performance, and the soft-yet-majestic combination of drums, violins, electric guitar, and Adele's voice makes for quite simply a near-perfect song.

The next several tracks of 21 are not necessarily considered the big hits of the album, but they each have their own charm. The jazzy piano and guitar of "He Won't Go" when coupled with Adele's lower tones and syncopated rhythms makes for an underrated gem that would fit right in at a smoky, candle-lit jazz club performance. "Take It All" is pared back to a piano, a background choir, and Adele at her most raspy and powerful, ultimately telling her lover "don't look back at this crumbling fool/just take it all with my love." While songs like "Turning Tables" and her debut album's "Chasing Pavements" are generally considered to be among the saddest of her discography, "Take It All" might have my vote.

The one song on 21 that I feel is a little less than perfect is probably "One and Only." It drags on for a whopping 5 minutes and 48 seconds, and the bridge is nothing more than the very repetitive "I know it ain't easy/giving up your heart." It's certainly not bad, but when the rest of the album is just that good, this one sticks out as the low point for me. "Lovesong" might be the single most overlooked on this album, but every single time I listen to it I find some new detail about it to appreciate. The finger-plucked guitars (yes, guitars plural-- listen through headphones for a gorgeous experience) and Sting-esque drums coupled with some of the most romantic lyrics Adele has makes for just a really naturally beautiful love song.

Closing out 21 with"Someone Like You"is absolutely quintessential Adele-- a stunningly beautiful, heartbreaking power piano ballad. Ending the album with "don't forget me, I beg/I'll remember, you said/sometimes it lasts in love/but sometimes it hurts instead" paints another painfully human moment to be something genuinely beautiful in a way only Adele can.

From its shelf-load of GRAMMYs to its millions upon millions of copies sold, the raw, emotional, soulful work of art that is Adele's 21 is one album that I can guarantee will eternally be known as a masterpiece.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: FULLY OBSESSED

The Good Witch, Maisie Peters

I honestly couldn't tell you how I first heard of Maisie Peters, but between her opening for Ed Sheeran's current tour and a period of time where rumors were floating around of her opening some of the European dates of the Eras tour, I felt like listening to her sophomore album within a couple days of it's release would be fun. And that's exactly what I got with The Good Witch-- a really really fun album to listen to.

Stand-out tracks: "Coming of Age" "Lost the Breakup"

My favorites: "The Band and I" "Therapy" "History of Man"

The album opens with the pared-back-turned-boppy title track "The Good Witch," which effectively illustrates every single theme that appears on the rest of the album; toxic relationships, emotional struggles, and good old-fashioned moving on. "Coming of Age" kicks the pop tones of The Good Witch into high gear-- the chanting of "I wish I could have seen it, God!" closes out a rock-solid pop punk song that's almost Avril Lavigne-esque. While the preceding track was very Maisie-moving-on, "Watch" is very Maisie-wishing-she-could-move-on; it carries on the poppy sound with a little more heartbreak sprinkled on top of her pop punk.

"Body Better" was one of the pre-releases from The Good Witch and between its cruising chorus that seems like it pairs beautifully with a drive along a coast in the summer and the clever back and forth of "I can't help thinking that she's got a better body/has she got a better body than mine?", it makes all the sense in the world why this song would have been picked as a single. "Want You Back" is the first piano ballad of the album, and honestly I feel like the natural poppiness of Maisie's voice, the backing instrumentals that are added to the production beyond the piano, and the simplistic lyricism makes this one of the tracks that I'll likely skip when I come back to The Good Witch. "The Band and I" is incredibly refreshing-- ultimately, this is what you'd get if you cracked open the diary of a touring musician and read all the little anecdotes of life on tour. If there ever comes a day when there's a coming-of-age movie about a young band in the 2020s, this song was meant to be on the soundtrack.

"Lost the Breakup" is one of the other pre-releases from The Good Witch and it absolutely deserves to be arguably the biggest hit Maisie Peters has had. A chorus that's composed of lines like "I know I'm obsessed, and/right now, I might be a mess, but/one day, you're gonna wake up/and, oh, shit! you lost the breakup" backed with a fun synthy instrumental deserves hype almost to the level of Carly Rae Jepsen's "Call Me Maybe." "Wendy" is one of the other slower-paced songs on this album, but the poppier instrumental turns it up a notch. It's a little unoriginal in the comparison of a boy not growing up to Peter Pan that we've heard in a dozen other breakup songs, but it's better than the other ballads on this album like "Want You Back" and "Two Weeks Ago." "BSC" is another really fun track and when you listen to this track and find out what the title stands for, it makes it all the more fun. This song might also have the best bridge of the album (how can it not when it starts with "I am unhinged/I am scaling these walls I've gone within").

"Therapy" is the only track on The Good Witch that hasn't been made into a single that I think absolutely needs to be one-- it's one of the more dancy-pop songs on the album and personally, I love a song with clever, sad lyrics and a boppy beat. The next track,"There It Goes," is almost an Act II to "Therapy," illustrating more of the feeling of being happy moving on ("the comedown of closure/the girls and I do yoga/I wake up and it's October/the loss is yours") rather than the "but now you're gone honey I can't sleep/I'm just talking to your memory/I still love you, but you're taking me/from your arms/back to therapy" of Act I. In terms of quality of lyricism, this album ends on the highest of high notes with "The History of Man." I could describe this one, but I would never do all its complexities justice, so just go listen to it and thank me later.

Ultimately, I feel like cutting a few tracks off this album would have overall made it a little stronger as a complete project. But, the songs on The Good Witch that are great? They're really, really, really great.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING: KINDA OBSESSED

Harry Styles, Harry Styles

Few artists are able to find colossal fame once in their career, but with Harry Styles, Harry Styles proved that the star power he found with One Direction was just the beginning for him. Harry Styles left behind high-powered bops like "What Makes You Beautiful" and "Best Song Ever" and leaned into more of a soft-rock vibe powered by incredibly introspective lyrics, fleshed-out instrumentals, and a certain level of humanity that we were never really able to see from Harry when hidden behind the One Direction hysteria.

Stand-out tracks: "Sign of the Times" "Kiwi"

My favorites: "Two Ghosts" "Ever Since New York"

Opening this album with "Meet Me in the Hallway" is Harry's acoustic, ghostly reminder that this isn't One Direction anymore; it's pining and definitively repetitive "I gotta get better" opens the album with the clear message that this album will be about personal growth. The second track, Harry's solo debut single "Sign of the Times," is in my opinion still one of his best-written songs both lyrically and instrumentally. This song almost feels like an ode to growing older and realizing how far you've already come, and the instrumental push and pull of stripped-back verses and dramatic, building choruses mimics that growing process beautifully.

"Two Ghosts" is another stunning track that's composed to sound like a slow-dance love song, but really tells the story of two people falling apart from one another. I don't pick up on any instrumentation in pared-back "Sweet Creature" besides acoustic guitars and beautifully-layered harmonies, resulting in a very real, sincere love letter. "Only Angel" is maybe the best-produced song on this album, starting with cinematic hidden audio that cleverly transitions into a classic, unflinching, upbeat rock song. The only song that could upstage the previous track is "Kiwi," which is audacious in every way-- from the scream-singing of "'I'm having your baby, it's none of your business'" to the delicious electric guitars-- this one is a heck of an intentional attention grabber.

The closing act of Harry Styles begins with my personal favorite "Ever Since New York." This song is best paired with a self-pondering walk through Central Park in the fall-- it's simplistic but effective in conveying the complexities of feeling disconnected from yourself and the world around you. "From the Dining Table" is a stunning conclusion to this project-- it's another pared-back, acoustic, heartwrenching letter to a lover who's drifting away. Closing the album with "comfortable silence is so overrated/why won't you ever say what you want to say?/even my phone misses your call, by the way" is so painstakingly human and romantic, which perfectly sums up the entire story of Harry Styles.

The entirety of this album is instrumentally dynamic and incredibly vulnerable, solidifying without a doubt that Harry Styles is a rock star in his own right in every sense of the word.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

FULLY OBSESSED