The Roster is a series created by Aneesh Batchu. Each week, a tier list of the best, most average, and worst new releases is published alongside blistering hot takes. The best of the best receive a trophy, and the worst of the worst are tossed in the bin. First, Batchu tackles the latest singles. Then, the team comments on the most recent albums.
SINGLES…
Good
🏆Kali Uchis – “Sunshine & Rain…” is a pretty work that embodies both sunshine and rain. Uchis’s breathy vocals interlock perfectly into the stunning, dense instrumentals for a sonic painting of the title’s environment.
d4vd – “What Are You Waiting For” is purely a beautiful continuation of d4vd’s movement towards an increasingly positive sound.
Malcolm Todd – “Cheer Me On” is the final lead single for Todd’s album. It’s excellent, incorporating distorted instrumentation and a powerful vocal delivery over a driving percussive backing.
Selena Gomez – “Stained” maintains the narrative thread of the recent lead singles, while providing a fresh recentering of Selena’s pop sound. All in all, the track is more entertaining than the other recent releases.
Mid
NLE Choppa, Carey Washington – “HARD LIFE” is a much more introspective song than I’m used to hearing from Choppa, particularly thanks to the incredible feature on this piece.
Russ – “Movin” is quite the adventurous performance from Russ. Here, he grasps the opportunity to show off his range and dynamism. It’s a welcome change.
Wiz Khalifa, Gunna – “5 Star” is a lesson in division of responsibility: Gunna takes the forefront of the melodic chorus, and Khalifa maintains his monotonous delivery on the verses.
Bad
Sexyy Red, BabyChiefDoit, PlaqueBoyMax – “YN” is just another boring Sexyy Red song. There’s little variation in the production –– not much can be said of the uninspired bass back track.
🚮 Linkin Park – “Up From the Bottom,” but this song won’t make it far from said bottom. Over Park’s repetitive and overdone electric guitars, the strained vocal pattern adds up to little contribution to the band’s discography.
ALBUMS…
Good
🏆Ariana Grande (DELUXE) – eternal sunshine: brighter days ahead is an effective deluxe; it’s genuinely stronger than the original work. Grande’s striking vocal range is on full display over a beautifully diverse range of tracks. The album includes a particularly enjoyable trumpet sample on “dandelion” and a powerful string-backed “past life.”
NAV – OMW2 REXDALE, despite a wasted Weeknd feature, does a great job of varying pace between songs, creating important breadth in one of Nav’s weakest suits. With songs like “Burbs” and a general throughline of impressive production constructions, the album is a truly enjoyable listen.
Mid
Wallows – More unfortunately does not equate to more good songs. While it definitely showcases the band’s signature mix of alt-rock and pop, the album is largely underwhelming, with the over repetitive lyrics landing as annoying. The constant ringing of the drum in “Hide it Away” is particularly irritating. – R. Ho
Lil Durk – Deep Thoughts, but no was thought put in musical depth, with the 17-song project feeling exactly like every Lil Durk project that came before it. While some standout tracks and features make the work relatively listenable, it’s no revolutionary record.
grentperez – Backflips in a Restaurant unfortunately underperforms its lead singles, delivering a performance that fails to impart a fresh take on the indie sound. While a sonically light pleasure, it’s nothing to be doing backflips in a restaurant over.
Bad
Mumford & Sons – RUSHMERE is as ‘varied’ as the monument it pays homage to is… ‘colorful.’ Each song has similar beats, the same delivery, etc., etc. The 34-minute project gets old quickly. Very quickly.
🚮Will Smith – Based on a True Story demands to be taken seriously, though it realistically never could be. Sandwiched between corporate corny rap songs lie sermons that seem as if they’re supposed to structure the album, but ultimately fall short and flat.
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