5.

An interesting album for Taylor Swift getting announced less than two months before it was released with no singles for the album. It’s completely produced by Jack Antonoff both to this albums benefit and detriment. Taylor drops the folky feeling to give way to Jack Antonoff’s very 80 insipired production. While it gives a unique feeling compared to Taylors other albums it does work out that well. While there was no clear misses or bad songs in the tracklist nothing really stands except a few more memorable songs like Sweet Nothing. Overall, a disspointment compared to her last two albums but still decent.

4.

Following up one of my favourite hip hop albums of 2021, Half God, Wiki releases Cold Cuts produced by Subjxct 5. One of the most common criticisms of Half God is that it was too long. I didn’t really feel it on that album but I see it as an issue on this album clocking in at 1 hour and 11 minutes. The production also feels less distinct and memorable than on Half God. Overall, Wiki still brings his bars and there’s some good songs but this album could have defintely used with some trimming to create a better project overall.

3.

The 7th studio album from this millenniums biggest inide rock band. This album sees them transforming their album to more baroque and lush arrangements. This keeps the album interesting with beautiful production throughout. While it may not be as hard hitting as the bands previously loved albums it creates a new interesting style for the Arctic Monkeys. My biggest criticism is that I don’t love Alex Turner’s vocals in this new style. A lot of the time they feel over the top distracting from the music. Still a must listen for Arctic Monkey and indie rock fans.

2.

Carly Rae Jepsen does it again creating pop perfection to get lost it. Probably her best album since Emotion. The sounds of this new album perfectly reflects the album cover feeling more lush than her previous albums. It still very much feels like a Carly Rae Jepsen with her catchy style of dance pop. While it may not reach the heights of Emotion this still a very solid album and one of the better straight pop albums from this year.

1.

Far and away the best album from this week this feels like Armani Caesar truly realising her potential . This is her second album signed to Griselda following up The Liz which was good but felt too short to fully show her talent. The Liz 2 follows this up with 17 tracks and a plethora of features. Westside Gunn executively produces this album and creates a perfect vibe throughout the album. It very much feels like the classic Griselda style with grimey beats and over the top interludes and skits about high art and fashion. This style fits Armani perfectly with her bragadocious and explicit rapping reaching a peak. All the features help this album with the regular Griselda crew of Benny the Butcher, Westside Gunn, Conway the Machine and Stove God Cooks all spitting great verses. Kodak Black comes as a surprise spitting a decent verse on the most luxurious beat of the album, Diana. Armani still holds her own with 10 solo tracks. This album finishes interestingly with possibly Griselda’s most mainstream trap song. With a trap beat you could hear Migos rapping over, Armani shows her verstality creating a unique and memorable ending. Overall, this feels like a throwback to the classic Griselda sound and shows that there is talent across the roster of Griselda.