Album review overview: Nick León, Lorde and more
Dozens of new albums arrive at Maxazine’s editorial staff every week. There are too many to listen to, let alone review them. It ensures that too many albums are left behind. And that’s a shame. That is why today we post an overview of albums that arrive at the editors in short reviews.
Terrace Martin & Kenyon Dixon – Come as you Are
Terrace Martin and Kenyon Dixon, both sons of South Los Angeles, join forces for an intimate R&B odyssey that unfolds as a loving ode to their shared roots. The album opens with “Isley’s Hymn,” featuring Dixon’s little daughter Isley-Rose singing about self-acceptance, setting the tone for a project centred on authenticity and family bonds. Martin brings his background as a jazz saxophonist and hip-hop producer, resulting in lush, analogue production with warm live instrumentation. Dixon delivers vocal finesse rooted in both gospel traditions and modern R&B. Their chemistry is remarkable for a first collaboration, with songs flowing effortlessly between jazz, R&B, and hip-hop, never sounding fragmented. Highlights like “211” and “Circle of Love” (featuring Robert Glasper) showcase their ability to renew traditional soul without losing its essence. “Love Yourself” offers a gentle reminder that love begins within, while “Body & Soul” evokes poetic images of love in its purest form. Although some tracks lose momentum toward the end, this 35-minute statement succeeds in honouring LA’s rich musical tradition while presenting a fresh vision of contemporary soul. (Elodie Renard) (8/10) (Sounds of Crenshaw/Empire)
Lorde – Virgin
After four years of silence, Lorde returns with her most vulnerable work to date. “Virgin” marks a dramatic shift after the polarising “Solar Power.” Where her previous album floated in pastoral tranquillity, this new work bubbles with raw emotion and urban energy. The album explores Lorde’s evolving gender identity, family trauma, and the aftermath of her longest relationship. Opener “Hammer” sets the tone: “I’m ready to feel like I don’t have all the answers.” This new uncertainty, so different from the cool self-assurance of “Pure Heroine,” forms the album’s emotional core. Production-wise, Lorde returns to the electronic soundworld of “Melodrama,” but more sparse and introspective. Tracks like “David” contain static, stroboscopic pulses that feel as if they come from both outside and within. “Favourite Daughter” explores generational trauma with uplifting synths that rise higher and higher, while “Broken Glass” might be the best song ever written about eating disorders. Critical notes concern some melodies that meander too much and certain lyrics that feel forced. Nevertheless, “Virgin” succeeds in capturing Lorde’s new phase of adulthood – raw, transformative, and full of possibilities. (Jan Vranken) (8/10) (Universal Music New Zealand)
S.G. Goodman – Planting By the Signs
S.G. Goodman returns with an album inspired by the ancient practice of “planting by the signs” – planning activities according to lunar phases. This third album emerged during a difficult period when Goodman lost her dog, Howard and mentor Mike Harmon, resulting in her most emotional and introspective work. The album combines unhurried drum patterns with guitar work while Goodman grapples with her darkest hours of 2023. Her distinctive Kentucky accent remains intact, but the themes have deepened. “Fire Sign” opens powerfully with images of exhaustion and spiritual searching, while “Snapping Turtle” transforms a disturbing childhood memory into something moving. “Michael Told Me” is a raw ode to Harmon, originally written in 2021 but transformed into a lament after his passing. The title track, performed as a two-part duet with Matthew Rowan, sounds like an old gospel hymn and ranks among the album’s most beautiful moments. The nearly nine-minute “Heaven Song” tests some listeners’ patience, though Goodman’s storytelling remains compelling. This album confirms her status as one of the most important voices in contemporary Americana. (Anton Dupont) (8/10) (Slough Water Records)
Bambii – Infinity Club II
Bambii’s long-awaited follow-up to her 2023 EP brings the rave to the charts and vice versa, with flair and eccentricity. This Jamaican-Canadian artist, born Kirsten Azan, has used her JERK parties in Toronto as a springboard for a global club experience celebrating Caribbean diaspora sounds. The album oscillates between hyperpop-meets-dancehall (“Thunder”) and jungle and ragga (“BAD BOY”). Opener “Remember” featuring Ravyn Lenae and Scrufizzer jumps from seductive alt-R&B to heavy breaks, while “Blue Sky” is a multi-part song that leaps from pop-rap to deconstructed club. Bambii’s vocal contributions are more prominent and give the album a genuine sense of who she is. Collaborations with Jessy Lanza, Yaeji, and Aluna add texture to her genre-crossing cocktails. “Mirror” is particularly inventive, imagining a universe where a Police song comes with air horns and Korean ad-libs. Critical points include the short runtime of many tracks that just begin to develop before ending. Nevertheless, “Infinity Club II” proves that Bambii continues to develop her unique vision of global club culture. (Jan Vranken) (7/10) (Bambii)
Nick León – A Tropical Entropy
Miami’s son Nick León serves up a concept album of dance music for the end times, inspired by Joan Didion’s novel “Miami.” This debut album follows his #1 hits “Xtasis” and “Bikini” and explores decay, disillusionment, and psychedelia against the backdrop of a collapsing society. León looks through a subject rather than simply describing it, just as Didion did with Miami’s masked corruption behind its tropical paradise facade. The album was partly inspired by León watching his personal life fall apart, parallel to modern society, but it’s not a sombre excursion. León drowns Afro-Caribbean and Brazilian rhythms in ethereal effects, sub-bass, and fragmented synths as if viewing clubland through a snow globe. “Ghost Orchid” featuring Ela Minus swims in a psychedelic soup, while the sublime “Bikini” featuring Erika de Casier channels the feeling of an endless South Florida sunset. León’s vision of Miami as a space of continuous fabrication and deconstruction is confirmed in songs that showcase different skills while presenting an all-encompassing artistic vision. This album demonstrates his ability to cloak himself in the characteristics of any style and look through them toward the ultimate truth of his mission. (Jan Vranken) (9/10) (Tratratrax)
