Interscope レコード& CD

Review: Being a 'supergroup' - as Boygenius trio Julien Baker, Phoebe Bridgers and Lucy Dacus are commonly described - has its pitfalls, one of which is finding time to record and promote your music. It was for this reason that it took the threesome almost five years to record their debut album, The Record, which was released to critical acclaim (the NME called it an 'instant indie classic') earlier this year. The fact that 'The Rest', an EP of unheard songs (literally - no previews were available online prior to release), has followed so quickly suggests that it was recorded at the same time. Either way, it was produced by the band alongside a team of six producers) and delivers more memorable songs in their now familiar American indie-rock style. A treat for fans, all told.

Review: Contemporary pop starlet Billie Eilish's third studio album, HIT ME HARD AND SOFT is her most daring work yet. It's a diverse yet cohesive collection of songs that work well as a listening whole from front to back, and they all live up to the album name as they deliver both hard and soft hits lyrically and sonically while bending genres and defying trends at the same time. With the help of her brother and collaborator, FINNEAS, they wrote, recorded, and produced the album in their Los Angeles hometown. Following her hugely successful first two albums WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? and Happier Than Ever, this is another great expansion of Billie Eilish's artistic universe.

Review: Kendrick Lamar's To Pimp a Butterfly, the Compton-based rapper's first album since 2012's major label debut, Good Kid, M.A.A.D City, has been receiving rave reviews. In truth, it's not hard to see why. Imaginative, soulful, and blessed with the looseness of live performance (a result of the use of jazz-minded live players as much as anything else), it sounds like the kind of album that may one day be hailed as a hip-hop classic. Sure, there are big name guests - Dre, Snoop, George Clinton and Thundercat included - but the focus remains on Lamar's distinctive flow and almost cinematic tales of life on L.A's streets. Given the quality of his lyrics, that's no bad thing.