Album reviews
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Jorja Smith's debut album Lost & Found suggests her ascent is far from over
Jorja Smith Lost & Found album review: The 21-year-old British R&B singer has gotten co-signs from Drake, Kendrick Lamar, Stormzy and more, but she wisely resists calling in her famous friends here. more
Tona's Black Mirror is a defiant outlier from the Toronto hip-hop sound
Tona's syllable-cramming delivery and gritty beats go against the melodic vocal delivery and smoothed out ambient soundscapes that some would immediately associate with a Toronto hip-hop sound in 2018, but that doesn't mean he should be overlooked. more
Kanye West's Ye: a conflicted perspective from a long-time fan
Kanye West - Ye album review: Do the rapper/producer's raw honesty and still-fascinating artistry justify overlooking his more reprehensible traits? more
Review: Bernice's new album is breezy, whimsical and delightful
Bernice's new Arts & Crafts album Puff LP: In The Air Without A Shape finds the ever-evolving Toronto band bottling their eclectic energy for seven songs. more
Arden Wray
L Con's Insecurities In Being is packed full of great ideas
Album review: The new record from Toronto singer/songwriter L Con (aka Lisa Conway), Insecurities In Being, is moody and complex, and it arrives fully on its own terms. more
Review: A$AP Rocky's Testing is tentative
The adventurous Harlem rapper gets introspective on his third album, but style eclipses substance more
Pusha T is completely in his zone on the Kanye West-produced Daytona
Album Review: Pusha T's seven-song Kanye West produced Daytona just dropped. The stripped-down and sombre new record mostly sidesteps Kanye's exhausting recent devil's advocacy... aside from a couple of things more
New Chance forges her own path on her debut EP
After singing backup vocals of Lido Pimienta and Jennifer Castle, Toronto electronic producer Victoria Cheong, better known as New Chance, releases her own debut EP, a five song . more
Witch Prophet's debut album perfectly balances the personal and political
Album review: Witch Prophet's The Golden Octave – the Toronto alt-R&B singer/songwriter's long-awaited debut album – is fully realized, empowering and so gratifying. more
Michael Rault's new album isn't original, but it is well-executed
Canadian singer/songwriter Michael Rault brings confidence and swagger to 60s/70s psych-rock sounds on It's A New Day Tonight. more
Courtney Barnett's second album is an overthinker's dream
On Courtney Barnett's new album Tell Me How You Really Feel, the witty Australian singer/songwriter articulates the anxiety in her own mind and of the current cultural moment. more
SSION's O album is the best kind of pop music
Underground star Cody Critcheloe's latest collection of songs is witty, personal and joyously referential more
Iceage invent their own warped version of Americana on Beyondless
Iceage's intoxicating fourth album refines their brooding intensity into something both measured and chaotic. The Danish punks take another step forward on Beyondless. more
Jeremy Dutcher’s debut album is full of musical mastery
The Toronto-based composer and vocal artist pays homage to his Wolastoq First Nation roots more
J. Cole's KOD isn't full of hits, but it's a front-to-back success
J. Cole's KOD, the rapper's fifth album, cycles through the ups and downs of addiction, throwing a few shots at trendy trap-rappers along the way. more
Kontravoid's Undone resonates beyond the dance floor
Toronto electronic music producer Cameron Findlay, better known as Kontravoid, follows his 2012 self-titled debut with Undone, a five-song EP with an ominous, all-encompassing dark take on house and tecnno. more
Tess Roby's Beacon is an impressive synth pop debut
With precise and assured vocal delivery, = Montreal-via-Toronto singer Tess Roby explores how the past resonates with the present. Here debut album Beacons is out on Italians Do It Better. more
Kuné – Canada’s Global Orchestra aims to represent the country through sound
Kuné – Canada’s Global Orchestra is made up of a disparate group of world-class musicians – 12 from abroad and one Métis – all of whom call Canada home. Read our review of their self-titled debut album here. more
Meshell Ndegeocello's Ventriloquism is what a covers album should be
Unlike artists who bring a karaoke approach to cover songs, Meshell Ndegeocello reinvents them. On her new album Ventriloquism, she cracks open well-known songs by TLC, Prince and Tina Turner and releases their edge and grit. more
