Album Rating: 4.3

On the face of it I guess they're both diverse, but everything about that Poppy album felt intensely manufactured and impersonal (as per her brand) to me, whereas this is the complete opposite; all the musical identities taken on here feel like reflections of a personal voice

Album Rating: 1.0

"This sounds nothing like the poppy album, why even bring that up"



Probably because STFU sounds exactly like that poppy album, just a hunch

Album Rating: 3.5

Yeah, that's a great point. I'm just going on initial impression but this does feel more genuine and more of a statement. I just enjoyed I Disagree's attempts at pop/metal more than I do this, but again, I have them both 3.5'd. It's not really my taste of pop.

Some small typos and such:

-- "I was late to the party for Rina Sawayama’s 2017 debut EP RINA, but never struck me as anything outright special": but should be which maybe
-- "wider resonance the moment you headphones came off": your
-- "as a voice both submerged in and empowered by social media as liberated by it": the "as liberated by it" part of the sentence confuses me a little
-- "yet open-hearted the immediacy with which she shares her experience circumvents this" is a little confusing; should it be "the open-hearted immediacy"?

This is a really, really good review. I'd say, though, that its best paragraphs are definitely its first and its lost (both of which are fantastic). I love me some long, rambly reviews, but I think the mid-section for this one could be trimmed down a bit; because you do bookend the review with a very specific discussion, I think maybe you should've limited your discussion in the middle to a few points (you make a lot, which is great) and expanded on those a little more. For example, "the way it blurs both language and phrasing in a dizzying chorus so monosyllabic and, crucially, monophthongal (there are no compound vowel sounds in Japanese) in which both the English and Japanese articulations sound uncomfortably tangled and largely estranged from their natural voicings" is so interesting and is well beyond my understanding: I would've liked a more in-depth analysis of that, as opposed to the examples that follow about confidence or friendship. You jump a bit too much from song to song.

Occassionally, too, your sentences are a bit too long and tangled. Which, again, is not always a bad thing, but it distorts your arguments a bit sometimes. I think Wines is someone who's incredible at circling around a point and rambling a little but never losing track of the overall point. It's incredibly hard to do, but you're really close to doing it, too.

This is all, of course, to nitpick. Fantastic work otherwise. :333

Album Rating: 4.3

Thanks so much Blush! Fix'd all the above points (those latter two points are classic cases of 'proofing', but then not proofing my proofing haha)

"I think maybe you should've limited your discussion in the middle to a few points...and expanded on those a little more"

Looking back, you're right here. Think I got overattached to the idea of personal and stylistic unity and took it further than the framing allowed; will stick to a few examples and draw out the monophthongs next time ;] As for circling the point, I keep trying to track that sneaky kid down but he's a slippery boi. Will hopefully pin him down one day...

Album Rating: 4.0

Enjoying this a lot. Bangers galore.

Album Rating: 3.5

man idk i very much prefer the EP over this

Album Rating: 5.0

"Probably because STFU sounds exactly like that poppy album, just a hunch"



that's like 3 minutes of this 40 minute album but k

Album Rating: 4.3

That song is kinda genius insofar as Poppy Industries Inc. sacrificed a whole album to mediocre pop metal in order to bait headlines, but Rina managed to do the same thing with just one track. Bit of an oof moment tbh

Album Rating: 3.5

lol

Album Rating: 3.5

also i'll get to reol soon johnny !

Album Rating: 1.0

"that's like 3 minutes of this 40 minute album but"



And yet it is there and directly comparable

Album Rating: 3.0

poppy's album was mediocre because it was nu metal and not something cool, but at least her nu metal songs didnt have stupid major key vocal melodies making it sound nightmarish like in STFU

Album Rating: 3.5

poppy's album was mediocre because it was [...] not something cool

Album Rating: 4.3

lol. if major key vocal melodies sound nightmarish to you idk what to say uh i guess air your living room?

Album Rating: 3.5

please do not make the music in the bad key, it makes the music the bad music

I see a Greg post : ]

Album Rating: 5.0

There is nothing in this world cooler than nu metal

Album Rating: 4.5

uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuh



i woke up to-day

I dunno if I would say aoty upon first listen but it was enjoyable.