KPop Demon Hunters

The soundtrack was already thoroughly embedded and now I've finally actually watched the thing, I have the rest of the pieces to see why it's been such a phenomenon. We could do far worse in terms of product to take over the world's attention.

CMAT - Euro-Country

What a trio this album starts off with - the title track with its curling melodies, whoops and ululations, the almost (or maybe actually) OTT Celtic-country crooner "When A Good Man Cries", and the Kraut-rock-ish - and also "Common People"-ish - "The Jamie Oliver Petrol Station" whose motorwayish sound is appropriate given the lyrics. The whole thing's a joy - music as art in several senses, individual expression far from the least of those, and in a way that bridges.

Hayley Williams - Ego Death at a Bachelorette Party

I don't know why so many acts remind me of Metric, specifically Metric circa Fantasies and Synthetica - how much is anything truly distinctive about them and how much them just coming along at the right time for me. But they come to mind again across the excellent Ego Death ... - as do Garbage, and plenty of other more contemporary pop acts. This album's a smorgasbord of styles, with a pretty consistent energy and attitude - although across 20 tracks the first half's a lot stronger than the second. It's high gloss and so it sounds like the hooks and tunes should be more immediate than they are, but many of the songs here are growers - even the big anthems - while being filled with fun details.