Reycism: The Year in Reyview, 2017 Edition

[Lachlan 18,471]

TRINITY - Blow Your Mind (Mwah) / New Love / Be the One

Here we come to one of my most played albums of 2017, newcomer Dua Lipa. After a series of singles that really only made waves in the UK, she really hit her stride this year with the worldwide smash ‘New Rules’. One of the things that makes this record so great for me is that even though we’ve had some of these songs for over a year now (‘New Love’, ‘Be the One’, ‘Hotter Than Hell’) – they still sound fantastic and I’ve yet to grow tired of them. Throughout the album, we hear Dua glide through drum-heavy kiss-offs (‘Blow Your Mind’), gritty love confessions (‘Lost In Your Light’) and tender, acoustic moments (‘Homesick’, ‘Thinking Bout You’) to create the bright pop album that the other girls couldn’t deliver this year. I hope that’s she able to refine and mature her sound and aesthetic for the next one so we can continue seeing her succeed.

[Lachlan 18,471]

TRINITY - Praying / Rainbow / Woman

Kesha’s return was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I can thankfully say she did not disappoint me. While the more rock inspired sound that she carved out for herself with this album was no surprise, it was still refreshing to hear her voice over these productions. While Kesha’s more electronic pop music will always be a treat, this new soundscape is where she belongs. I absolutely love the fact that this album radiates positivity from the first to last song – after all she’s been through in the past few years it would have been all too easy to churn out a set of sappy ballads. Instead, she’s made an album that while yes, you can still cry along to (‘Praying, ‘Rainbow’), you can also dance and scream to (‘Let Em Talk’, ‘Boots’). I can’t wait to see where she takes this new chapter of her career because she’s off to a promising start.

[Hunty Bear 12,485]

Dua's album got old fast, and Genesis definitely deserved to make the trinity  

[Venus XCX 10,308]

9 minutes ago, Lachlan said:

One of the things that makes this record so great for me is that even though we’ve had some of these songs for over a year now (‘New Love’, ‘Be the One’, ‘Hotter Than Hell’) – they still sound fantastic and I’ve yet to grow tired of them.

Dilmah was boiled!

1 minute ago, Hunty Bear said:

Dua's album got old fast, and Genesis definitely deserved to make the trinity  

I lowkey pissed at Be The One and Woman making his trinities  

[Jake 19,499]

Love Dua's album  

Bad Together deserves a good video after IDGAF slays (or tanks)  

[Lachlan 18,471]

Just now, Venus XCX said:

Dilmah was boiled!

I lowkey pissed at Be The One and Woman making his trinities  

Woman should be in every trinity.  

[Lachlan 18,471]

1 minute ago, Jake said:

Love Dua's album  

Bad Together deserves a good video after IDGAF slays (or tanks)  

That IDGAF video is still coming? 

[Jake 19,499]

1 minute ago, Lachlan said:

That IDGAF video is still coming? 

February probably. 

[Liam 16,191]

Fool for You is TRINITY!!!

[edwinfg 9,131]

Finally some Rainbow praise Sevdaliza's record is amazing, a friend of mine recommended it and it's delightful. Even the videos are a slay!

[Anna-wa 39,629]

3 hours ago, Lachlan said:

Hero snubbing?  

Yes, and proudly. Gave it a 4/10 rating on the Alt-R&B megarate and I ain't sorry.

[Anna-wa 39,629]

3 hours ago, Hunty Bear said:

as for Sevdaliza, I remember pushing for her in 2015 but she totally fell off my radar and I didn't even bother listening to ISON this year  but I'll make Time.m4a for it soon hopefully!

You better, so that you can submit your Alt-R&B Girls Megarate votes before the year is over

[Vulnicura. 7,258]

5 hours ago, Lachlan said:

TRINITY - Marilyn Monroe / Human / Hero

Thank god someone has come along to fill the gap while we wait for FKA twigs to crawl out of her cave. Iranian-born, Netherlands-raised Sevdaliza delivered the 2017 trip-trop renaissance I had no idea I needed. The production all across this album’s 65-minute expanse is moving, rich and relentless. The lower register of her voice means that every line is delivered with a solemn bite, and her emotions – whether that be anger, fear, or sadness – crawl right through your headphones. This album is great to play in the background late at night, and even better to sit down and listen to so you can soak up the intricacies of this record. @Vulnicura. get in here and stan with me!

I'm 5 hours late but  

3 hours ago, Lachlan said:

TRINITY - Blow Your Mind (Mwah) / New Love / Be the One

Here we come to one of my most played albums of 2017, newcomer Dua Lipa. After a series of singles that really only made waves in the UK, she really hit her stride this year with the worldwide smash ‘New Rules’. One of the things that makes this record so great for me is that even though we’ve had some of these songs for over a year now (‘New Love’, ‘Be the One’, ‘Hotter Than Hell’) – they still sound fantastic and I’ve yet to grow tired of them. Throughout the album, we hear Dua glide through drum-heavy kiss-offs (‘Blow Your Mind’), gritty love confessions (‘Lost In Your Light’) and tender, acoustic moments (‘Homesick’, ‘Thinking Bout You’) to create the bright pop album that the other girls couldn’t deliver this year. I hope that’s she able to refine and mature her sound and aesthetic for the next one so we can continue seeing her succeed.

 

can't wait to see even more talent!  

[Hunty Bear 12,485]

    

#HuntySUGGESTS: Love, Tomorrow Never Came, Cherry, Get Free, Groupie Love

#HuntyREVIEWS

Obviously, Lana is my fave and I can go on for hours about this album but I'll try to keep it relatively concise (relatively!) and just establish right now that it's probably my AOTY! 💋 When Lana debuted the lead single off of Lust for Life in February, the triumphant ode to young love, Love, we all knew that Lana was turning a new leaf in her career. On Lust for Life, it seems as though Lana decided to forsake the general gloom that girthed the entirety of her back catalogue and embrace a more optimistic disposition. She even opted to smile on the album cover, which is probably the most vivid visual testament to the change in her ethos that we have (as cheesy as it sounds!). Songs like Coachella - Woodstock In My Mind and Lust for Life still radiate with unshakeable optimism, despite the darkness lurking underneath them. It was just really cool overall to see Lana play the part of the hipster fodder on this album (Tomorrow Never Came) and play the part of the onlooker on this album, singing about the woes of this ever-tumultuous world that we live in today and praying for some kind of world peace, possibly through voodoo! 

We still get that classic Lana sound that we all know and love, like on the sultry and sophisticated cavernous torch song, Cherry, and the downbeat Hollywood film score, 13 Beaches. But just as that smile promised, there's been a change in tone and atmosphere as well. Lust for Life is her first album where she broke out of her own cocoon and passed the mic to other musical collaborators on an album of hers, and that choice provided a whole new dynamic that had never been seen before on a Lana album. Whether it be Stevie and Lana singing about their woes on downbeat piano showpiece Beautiful People Beautiful Problems, Lana brownnosing to her celeb crush Rocky on the woozy and heady slow-burner Groupie Love, or Lana and Sean Ono Lennon singsonging in the pouring rain on the folky and pastoral Beatles-esque album centerpiece, Tomorrow Never Came (also the album's best moment, don't @ me!), by opening the doors to new collaborators, Lana allowed for a whole new level of intrigue to her music that she wasn't able to foster before. Lana also decided to dip her toes into the mires of the political sphere, and while her political messages can get a little clunky (*cough* Change, When the World Was at War We Kept Dancing), it was truly fascinating to see her strive for personal resolve in a way that she hadn't allowed herself to before. Her more political songs are a little benign, but when she allows room for more interpretive flexibility, like on the album's bookends, the warm and hearty Love, and the serene Shangri-La-esque anthem , Get Free, she really manages to hit that much harder and resonate that much stronger. Overall, Lust for Life isn't a perfect masterpiece, but it's a perfect masterpiece, and it's a peephole into Lana's ever-evolving musical world. Here's to hoping she continues changing it up on Løst for Life next year! Out 👏 of 👏 the 👏 black 👏 and 👏 into 👏 the 👏 blue 👏 indeed ✔

[Hunty Bear 12,485]

  

#HuntySUGGESTS: 911/Mr. Lonely, See You Again, Pothole, November

#HuntyREVIEWS

Flower Boy was a beautiful coming of age album, following his rather vulgar and chaotic previous efforts, Wolf and Cherry Bomb. Flower Boy came out around the same time as Lust for Life, so it didn't initially garner that much traction in my library, but after taking another glimpse at it, it's clear that Tyler has widened his musical scope so much further than he previously allowed himself before. The album is lush and tender, and the album was clearly conceptualized to visualize the irresponsibility of youth, which translated beautifully on songs like See You Again and November. There are a lot of pastoral references as a whole, with the running "blooming flower" and "garden shed" conceits clearly alluding to Tyler's newly-revealed sexuality, and I feel as though the general tapestry of the album is very subdued and and teeming with sylvan-allusions as well. My main gripe with the album is that it's occasionally flyover at times, and that the guests on the album occasionally overshadowed his contributions, but I think that this album is a much more full body experience than Cherry Bomb ever was! Time to try to get into his discography again!

[Lachlan 18,471]

A great write-up for LFL full of tea.  

[Hunty Bear 12,485]

5 minutes ago, Lachlan said:

A great write-up for LFL full of tea.  

by far my longest write-up  (  ) nothing comes even close!

[Liam 16,191]

#HuntySUGGESTS: Love, Tomorrow Never Came, Heroin, When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing, Cherry, Get Free, Beautiful People Beautiful Problems
#HuntySUGGESTS: 911/Mr. Lonely, See You Again, Boredom, Glitter Pothole, November

 

[Lachlan 18,471]

4 minutes ago, Liam said:

#HuntySUGGESTS: Love, Tomorrow Never Came, Heroin, When The World Was At War We Kept Dancing, Cherry, Get Free, Beautiful People Beautiful Problems
#HuntySUGGESTS: 911/Mr. Lonely, See You Again, Boredom, Glitter Pothole, November

 

#LachlanSUGGESTS Garden Shed

[Anna-wa 39,629]

1 hour ago, Hunty Bear said:

Obviously, Lana is my fave and I can go on for hours about this album but I'll try to keep it relatively concise (relatively!) and just establish right now that it's probably my AOTY! 💋

You mean your list is already over?