It seems like "darker, gothier" is what they're shooting for, but I'm seeing it more in concept than execution. "How Not to Drown" aaalmost gets there. I just don't think Chvrches actually know how to crank the scren violence past PG-13.
Mainstream division I think this is the best possible choice (they were fools to sit on "Skate" as long as they did). Though I'm also partial to "Kiss Me More" (Doja/SZA), "Telepatia" (Kali), and "You" (Troye et all).
I got to drop my summer playlist on my husband's family at the pool yesterday and after seeing multiple generations of my in-laws pop all the way off to "I Go" by Peggy Gou, that's gonna have to be my SOTS.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d1gmuWdZzkw&ab_channel=PeggyGou
It's true, there's a nice canon of records made by producers who pushed the band nearly to mutiny (Sleater-Kinney's The Woods comes to mind). I guess that's a more problematic archetype for the male-producer-female-pop-artist pairing, like the non-criminal allegations about Dr. Luke being at minimum a toxic control freak, but then again I don't think there's much doubt about whose in control of the show when someone like Taylor Swift or Lorde hires someone like Jack. He has had his hand in some truly great music over the last fivish years, but I do hope the next album cycles from his recent collaborators see them branching out.
I think Antonoff has done a reasonably good job up until now of varying his touch as a producer. It's only with his current ubiquity where there's started to be some slippage and in particular there are bits of Lorde's new stuff that sound a bit too much like his recent St. Vincent and Lana Del Rey stuff. That said, his solo music does absolutely nothing for me.
I agree, the comparison doesn't quite track. Max Martin has made 24 #1 hit singles. Antonoff has made ONE (well, two if you count "We Are Young" but that was for his own group and not in his capacity as a hired hitmaker). And that one is "Look What You Made Me Do" which only charted so high because it was a lead Taylor Swift single, not because it has some kind of indelible chorus. Martin's specialty is meticulous melodic blocking. Antonoff has had a hand in some excellent toplines, no doubt, but few big hits. And whereas Martin often constructs them fully-formed for artists who don't do a lick of writing, Antonoff's collaborators tend to be folks with no shortage of solo credits to their name. His specialty is being a sideman, and all the praise he gets is from artists who say he helps them get to an honest creative place versus just kind of bidding on a demo that sounds like a blockbuster. In short, I feel like hiring Antonoff is like getting a world-class wingman whereas hiring Marin is like giving up and going to a prostitute.
But anyway, the really salient difference is that Jack is a big deal in boutiquey indie/alt pop land, not in actual pop star land like Martin. I mean, Metro Boomin has made a much bigger impact on the Hot 100 than Jack Antonoff and you don't hear people saying he's the new pop savant.
Exactly my feelings about Futures - it's weird to me that its an even slicker production than Bleed American even as its trying to be a somewhat darker album. I don't think I would mind if the hit rate was as strong as Bleed American's, but it grates hearing that Clear Channel sheen all over some second tier pop-rock tunes, and the angstier approach isn't always a good fit for Jimmy Eat World. But the half-or-so of the track list that works *really* works.
If all of Futures were as good as 23 it would hold its own with Bleed American and Clarity. It's like the perfect blend of what each of those albums does well. I'd still say Futures is underrated. As to the two big ones, well, they are totally different records and there's no wrong choice.
Just before the pandemic I went to a live band emo karaoke thing (very niche, yes, but VERY fun, highly recommend if "The Emo Band" ever comes through your city) and of course this was the song I chose to sing.
This is such a stacked album, just one bulletproof song after another, and perfectly paced to boot. "A Praise Chorus" is my favorite of the singles but as far as the deep cuts go, "Authority Song" is lowkey one of the best songs in the JEWniverse. On the extremely short list of albums I bought before starting high school and still happily listen to today. Actually that list might just be this album.
Cenizas leans very far to the minimal/ambient side and I can get why that's not going to be something everyone gets into. But Sirens? C'mon. That is one of the most kick-ass albums ever to come out of the experimental electronic arena. Not as danceable as AAL but still a ripper. The Nymphs stuff is great too.
Chris Martin's aesthetics have gone through some weird-ass Benjamin Button devolution, like he started out all old-soul balladeer in his 20s but then it was Mylo Xyloto and "Hymn for the Weekend" in his 30s and now he's a 44-year-old man using emojis for song titles and Lisa Frank-looking press releases? Cosmic cringe.
(Honestly TNOCS does nothing for me but lord knows Scott & Co have enabled our parasitism longer than they had any reason to and I guess I’m glad those weirdos found each other the same way)
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