High as Hope Florence + the Machine “And it’s hard to write about being happy / ‘Cause the older I get / I find that happiness / Is an extremely uneventful subject,” begins “No Choir,” the final track in the latest Florence + the Machine album, “High as Hope.” Like, I have no doubt, many […]
Read more "“High as Hope” by Florence + the Machine"Wildness Snow Patrol As you may or may not know, I’ve been a Snow Patrol fan for a number of years, with my fandom gradually gathering momentum like a slow-moving avalanche (you see what I did there?) ever since I heard “Called Out in the Dark” when it was first released. Before then, I’d had vaguely […]
Read more "“Wildness” by Snow Patrol"Native Invader Tori Amos I’ve always been conflicted about Tori Amos. Actually, that’s not true. I thought, and still think, that “Under the Pink” and “Boys for Pele” were not just a couple of the best albums released in the 1990s, but perhaps some of the best albums released in the 20th century. Bold words, […]
Read more "“Native Invader” by Tori Amos"How to define Paramore? Are they pop? Rock? Something else entirely? To be honest, I had always thought of them as catchy rock light, and liked them (or didn’t) on a song-by-song basis. “After Laughter” is the first album of theirs that I’ve listened to as an entire album; with that caveat, I’ll boldly claim […]
Read more "“After Laughter” by Paramore"I’ve always had mixed feelings about John Mayer. “Your Body is a Wonderland” was, and continues to be, a guilty pleasure (I just relistened to it several times), and I thought “Waiting on the World to Change” was amazing, but overall his sound was a little too…I don’t know, jazzy and…I don’t know, overthought or […]
Read more "“The Search for Everything” by John Mayer"The Afterlove (Extended Version) [Explicit] If you listened to popular music around 2005-2006, or even if you didn’t, you probably heard James Blunt’s breakout single “You’re Beautiful”, and you probably developed a strong opinion about it. Many people hated it. I quite liked it, but here we have the irony of the breakout single: I […]
Read more "“The Afterlove” by James Blunt"Prisoner “Do you still love me, babe?” Adams asks in the opening track to his latest release, “Prisoner.” The answer, as the album unfolds, is a resounding “No.” The result is a breakup album for grownups. Musically, the sound is an homage to ’80s classic rock, with a side of country. This is nothing particularly […]
Read more "“Prisoner” by Ryan Adams"Divide (Deluxe Version) Okay, I admit it. I’m a huge Ed Sheeran fan. It took me a while, but “Divide” (why did he have to use a symbol that isn’t on my keyboard?!) has totally cemented my fandom. For those who enjoyed Sheeran’s previous two albums, “Divide” builds on his strengths while also being different […]
Read more "“Divide (Deluxe)” by Ed Sheeran"X Wembley Edition (CD+DVD) In “X,” Ed Sheeran’s follow-up to his stunning debut “+”(read my review here) he continues to dazzle with a wide variety of musical styles, all tied together with his trademark combination of rapid-fire rapping and mellow singing. In the “Wembley” deluxe edition, listeners are treated to some extra studio tracks, including the […]
Read more "“X–Wembley Edition” by Ed Sheeran"+ (Bonus Tracks) I have to confess I’m late to the Ed Sheeran bandwagon. I sort of liked “The A Team” when it came out as a single, but I could never quite get into most of Sheeran’s other songs. I could recognize why it was good, but it never quite gelled for me. Now, […]
Read more "+ by Ed Sheeran"
E. P. Clark: Author, Book Reviewer, and All-Around Literary Handiwoman 