review is good

album is mostly good

the brat comparison can take a strep hike, approaching this as a grab-all rave package strikes me as pretty disingenuous to the way its kinetic moments are balanced alongside delicate artsy ones (often in the same song), trying to peg it as a nostalgia package just seems silly - far more of a futuristic angle here, and mostly not in a wilfully future-nostalgic sense (not always successful! Drums of Death is exactly the difference between an inadvertently dated attempt at a late 10s/early 20s glitch banger and actual nostalgia) thank you next

we can all agree that 'eusexua' is a stupid brand-word where 'brat' was a perfect one and move on if that's rly what the discourse calls for. there are thousands of pop albums that attempt this kind of pithy concept branding and the comparison tells me next to nothing about how closely these two are actually aligned (one look at the concepts in question says *very vaguely*)

I look forward to skipping the first four tracks and hitting this again v soon

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

Wait, is this the girl from the video?!?

Album Rating: 4.0

this is more of a motomami moment than a brat one to me

😂 hang on i have to ask what is a strep hike?

I don’t think it’s a nostalgia package, and neither is brat, and like i said they don’t sound like one another but the deconstructed club + variety rave nostalgia is a common factor and from my perspective the pithy concept branding thing has reached a new height in social media and is more powerful and potent than it ever has been and these artists are leading a charge in pop music with this particular kind of world building through music marketing. I don’t agree that the eusexua thing is stupid, i like the idea and i like the idea of an artist trying to bring awareness to love and human empowerment and all that it can do for us right now, but i do think her execution will prove ineffective to establish it as a cultural phenomenon

Album Rating: 4.0

It's definitely better than Brat, but the comparison that makes more sense for me is Kelela's Raven from 2023; both albums are highly influenced by the club but still retain the alternative R&B core from previous LPs.

Maybe I'm rating it a little high as honestly, aside from Eusexua, there isn't a truly memorable all-timer in the tracklist - just 11 high quality tracks that reward repeated listens and work well together.

I actually love Childlike Things after thinking I'd hate it - heaps of fun. And Wanderlust finally grew on me despite the cheesiness.

say the words "deconstructed club" three times in a row with a straight face and maybe I'll think about proofing my mobleposts lmao

I do think it's fair to say that brat is explicitly about club nostalgia (among other things) in a way this very much isn't, which is one reason the comparison stinks to me

and sure you *can* compare the success the album's branding is likely to bring its concept re. viral dissemination with the success brat had, but that strikes me as a far more refined point of discussion than the last page was echoing (and not particularly representative of the aesthetic contrasts and attitude to futuristic bangers that this ultimately lives and dies on). Saying the branding is stupid (valid) is very different from saying the concept is stupid, which is kinda the point we're both circling here

Raven is a much more natural comparison, although very favourite to this - songwriting here doesn't suffer nearly as much from the indistinct vibe collage Kelela swims in. Lots of sharp contours and memorable twists. yes plz to Striptease!
Childlike Things is ridiculous and kinda goes? NW Japanese jesus is king feature very much makes me want to kill myself but is also a total earworm? do we cancel it or throw shapes to it? discuss

i swear i saw this album title referenced in a jane remover comment box

i'll give it a go sometime

Album Rating: 4.0

this feels like a striptease agreed

Album Rating: 3.5 | Sound Off

This is more of a club degustation than deconstructed club tbh.

Album Rating: 4.0

It helps that I have no idea what NW is actually saying. Best guess is it's about Jesus...

I actually look forward to it, it's catchy as fuck and I kinda love the piano.

It’s only January but already this is a strong contender for worst album art 2025

Album Rating: 4.5 | Sound Off

>Best guess is it's about Jesus...



Yeah. she basically just says Hi my name is north west from california to tokyo jesus is king praise the lord the one true god!!!



Coming from a 12 year old on a song called childlike things it makes perfect sense. thought it was a skip but the more i listen i think its actually a bop

Album Rating: 4.5

AOTY

I’m glad we’re finding some common ground around the branding vs concept! I can def concede that deconstructed club does not apply here in the same way as it does the charli album (and also that it’s a silly term) but i think the nuance with which I’m viewing the comparison is getting lost a bit here in the back and forth. And that’s fine. I think the other comparisons that are coming up itt are likely much better comparisons (*musically*) but i do see the eusexua thing more in-line with brat as far as its intended universality. Not quite finding the right words anymore but I’ll just let the thread resume organically. Catch you on the flippity flip

Album Rating: 3.0

this has gotta be the most gorgeous mid pop album i've ever heard

Album Rating: 4.0

LP1 remains her best work imo but twigs is incapable of making a bad album. of the non-singles i'm especially loving striptease and 24hr dog

“this has gotta be the most gorgeous mid pop album i've ever heard” [2]

Album Rating: 4.0

childlike things is pretty fun idk, i think twigs fans are way to over critical on her more straightforward pop centric songs. I felt the same when holy terrain dropped on magdelene, i saw so many people acting like it was the worst thing ever when its honestly a great track. Might not fit suuuper well with the rest of the tracklist, but in context of the 90s influences on the album, i think its pretty fun. The north west verse rapping in japanese about god is the funniest feature ever

Album Rating: 4.0

still close to bottom tier on the tracklist but pretty much everything on here is fantastic

Album Rating: 4.0

>It’s only January but already this is a strong contender for worst album art 2025

No! I love the album art. So bestial.