There were a lot of music albums published this month by various artists, but these five albums were chosen because they are now at the top of the charts. WhatsOn editor Tama has selected the top albums, Listen to the songs from these albums and add them to your playlist.
Taylor Swift’s “Midnights”: a sparkling return to pure pop
The pop icon’s eleventh album departs from her recent re-recording project and quiet lockdown compositions in favor of more upbeat, futuristic sounds.
In a statement following the release of her tenth studio album, Taylor Swift said that “Midnights” contains “the story of 13 sleepless nights spread throughout my life.” The release of this album, which is a collection of songs “composed in the middle of the night,” was rather unexpected.
Another original album seemed remote, especially following the publication of sister albums “Folklore” and “Evermore” in the midst of the pandemic. Taylor is currently in the process of re-recording her first six albums in order to reclaim ownership of her earlier efforts.
In the TikTok series “Midnights Mayhem with Me,” where she broke down the album’s track listing song by song, Swift also disclosed that Lana Del Rey would be making an appearance. Album “Midnights” got an 81% score from critics based on reviews and a 65% user score based on rating.
The English band Arctic Monkeys makes a comeback with a daring, intricately arranged album chock full of intriguing love, desire, and doubt songs
One of the biggest rock bands of the new millennium, Arctic Monkeys, is being transformed into a lovesick, dapper lounge act by the 36-year-old frontman.
Following the career-reviving heights of 2013’s AM, Turner turned inward and upward for 2018’s Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino, obliquely revealing his fears and desires through the concept of an elaborate resort in space, watched over by Big Brother and populated by desperate ghouls dancing to the seductive notes of piano and synthesizers.
Their sixth studio album, The Car, is full of diversions, nonsequiturs, and lost threads that are only held together by Turner’s swaying vocal lines and an orchestra that is constantly on standby like a wind-up toy waiting to be stirred into life.
The Car is an album about love, longing, and doubt, and the obfuscation supports its fundamental premise that the most basic truths are the most difficult to discover. However, like with its predecessor, the more time you spend in its maze, the more obvious its themes become.
Album “The Car ” got an 80% score from critics based on reviews and a 70% user score based on ratings.
With “Hugo,” Loyle Carner’s third studio album, he makes a comeback
Loyle Carner has just published his third album, Hugo, three years after the publication of his previous one, Not Waving But Drowning. The three singles that came before the album, “Hate,” “Georgetown,” and “Nobody Knows (Ladas Road)” have already been described as career highs, and the rest of the album has received almost universal praise from critics.
Deeper analyses of his ongoing dyslexia and ADHD difficulties are among the themes of the album. He also continues to muse on what it means to be mixed race and how he sees society’s struggles with race, Black Lives Matter, and police brutality through his own personal lens.
Album “The Car ” got an 85% score from critics based on reviews and an 81% user score based on ratings.
The London band Dry Cleaning expands on the caustic post-punk of its debut
while experimenting with new sounds and moods, while Florence Shaw, known for her understated delivery, uncovers hitherto unheard details
Even though the last three years have been terrible, what if your tortoise also escaped? Florence Shaw laments the loss of a beloved family pet on Dry Cleaning’s new track, “Gary Ashby,” as evocative guitar tramps and twirls like the animal itself trotting off. This band’s debut album from the previous year was full of caustic, barbed-wire post-punk, so it’s a goofy, sad-sweet curveball.
Though it was written shortly after the release of New Long Leg, Stumpwork is a whole new world, vibrantly extending Dry Cleaning’s basic sound. It alternately veers toward industrial noise or dream pop while also being post-punk; hardcore vandalized with Dadaist journal thoughts; frigid and brooding; lush; and friendly.
Album “Stumpwork ” got an 84% score from critics based on reviews and a 72% user score based on ratings.
