Superbloom, Ashton Irwin

I may have taken a bit of a hiatus from writing about music, but I can promise you that I haven't taken any kind of a break from listening to it. The coolest thing about this project so far to me has been the music-related connections I've been able to appreciate more and the discoveries I've made of music that brings me joy that I may not have otherwise listened to.

Superbloom is an album that I've listened to bits and pieces of over the last year and a half since its release, but I've never been able to bring myself to listen to it in full.

After taking it in as a complete work, it's honestly a shame I've never consumed this album cohesively prior to now. For me personally, there are one or two dud songs, but overall 5 Seconds of Summer drummer Ashton Irwin takes on a whole new level of classic rock depth than he's ever been able to show before.

Stand-out tracks: "Greyhound", "SCAR"

My favorites: "Matter of Time (Interlude)", "The Sweetness"

Superbloom dips its toe in many different corners of the rock genre, from airy acoustic of "Sunshine" to the electro-contemporary rock of "Perfect Lie." "SCAR" and "Have U Found What Ur Looking For?" open Superbloom with the vibe-y sweeping sound that accurately illustrates the sound of the rest of the album while lyrically portraying the messages of trying to understand the complexities of yourself. "Greyhound" checks every single box to make for a great rock track-- it's lyrically complex with its storytelling, has echoey and soulful vocals, and is fully immersive in it's instrumentation. I love the simplicity of "Matter of Time (Interlude)" in contrast to the rest of the album's ear-pounding sound. The highlights of the second half of the album are definitely "The Sweetness" - a fantastic representation of the feeling of passion when you've found the things that give your life meaning - and the album closer "Perfect Lie" - a darker sounding, dancier track that ends the album on a fitting mysterious note.

I'm not usually one to gravitate to such a heavy rock album as Superbloom, but if that's what I'm in the mood for, this is the album I'll be coming back to for that fix.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

KINDA OBSESSED

This Is What It Feels Like, Gracie Abrams

Gracie Abrams caught my attention back when she was announced as the opener for Olivia Rodrigo's SOUR tour, but now that I'm officially seeing her open for Taylor Swift on The Eras Tour next year, I felt it was time to give her full album a listen.

This Is What It Feels Like fits right in with albums like SOUR and Folklore-- its lyric-focused, gently powerful, and so easy to enjoy listening to.

Stand-out tracks: "Feels Like" "Wishful Thinking"

My favorites: "For Real This Time" "The Bottom"

"Feels Like" is a solid album opener-- it almost gave me the vibe of a soft-rock "State of Grace". "For Real This Time" has a gorgeous, almost melancholy dance beat to it that beautifully demonstrates the freeing heartbreak of walking away from someone you care about. "The Bottom" almost feels vaguely Colbie Caillat-esque, but sassier.

It's hard not to compare Gracie to Olivia and Taylor, but with a song like "Wishful Thinking" she almost perfectly combines Olivia's "Traitor" and Taylor's "The Story of Us." "Better" continues the emotionally-charged soft-rock that Gracie does so well across this whole album. Between "Hard to Sleep", "Augusta", and "Alright" This Is What It Feels Like closes with some gorgeous acoustic songs, appropriately mimicking lullabies and ending the album with questions of what could be.

After listening to This Is What It Feels Like, I'm genuinely excited to see Gracie translate these songs to stadiums. And, I'm excited to see where her music goes next.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

FULLY OBSESSED

Youngblood, 5 Seconds of Summer

(So disclaimer, I will preface this review by saying there is absolutely no way I can keep my bias out of this review. I've been a fan of these Aussie pop-rockers since their debut album in 2014 and I become a bigger and bigger fan every day.)

Youngblood was a huge gamble for 5SOS as a band-- their record label had abandoned them after their success with tracks like "She Looks So Perfect," "Amnesia," and "She's Kinda Hot", they'd disappeared from music for 2 years, and they'd grown up from a teen garage band to worldwide rockstars. 5 Seconds of Summer had one shot at rebirth with Youngblood , and they nailed it-- as far as pop-rock albums go, this one is darn near perfect.

Stand out tracks: "Youngblood" "Want You Back" "Ghost of You"

My favorites: "Want You Back" "Why Won't You Love Me" "Empty Wallets" "Woke Up In Japan"

I've always found "Youngblood" an odd album opener, but it checks every single box in terms of what you want from a great pop-rock song-- thrumming bass, whiny power vocals, unpredictable drums. "Want You Back" feels like an ode to what 5SOS used to be, just grown up so that heartbreak is more reflective and mature rather than scathing and heartwrenching than it was on previous albums. "Lie to Me," "Valentine," and "Talk Fast" are all astronomically different sounds from one another, but hold together with the catchiness of their choruses and the ever-present theme that romance isn't meant to last forever. The album kicks into high gear with the unyielding emotion of back-to-back "More" and "Why Won't You Love Me," with lyrics like "we're speaking different tongues communicating" and "switching into airplane mode again/we're not alright but I'll pretend" illustrating the powerlessness of relationships spiraling into nothingness. The last hurrah of Youngblood is the pure post-party haze of "Woke Up In Japan" and "Empty Wallets"-- this is 5SOS back at their most fun, but now with flashing club lights and extravagant nightlife rather than what they gave us on tracks like "Good Girls" and "Hey Everybody!." The album closer "Ghost of You" is 5SOS's "All Too Well"-- it's haunting, incredibly written with stunning imagery, and it's turned into a song that connects the band with fans in a way that supersedes the song itself; it's simply stunning.

If I were ranking 5SOS albums on their quality, Youngblood takes a close second, only to 5 Seconds of Summer's new album 5SOS5. This album was a hell of a turning point for this band, and it's carried them into a whole new era where the music has only continued to get better.

AM I OBSESSED?

RATING:

FULLY OBSESSED