KONEXIA
KONEXIA Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Momo , Erik Tresor & KXA
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eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead
eternal sunshine deluxe: brighter days ahead Album ∙ Pop ∙ 2025 Ariana Grande The 2025 reworking of Ariana Grande’s lightly conceptual seventh album appends six tracks to its predecessor—and, perhaps crucially, a notable do-over. “intro (end of the world) [extended],” the first of the new cuts, starts simply enough as a reprise of the existential lullaby that opens the original album. But its longing is cut off at the knees when Grande begins describing her desire to “jump into your skin and change your eyes” so she can provide a kind of turbo-charged empathy that reveals the relationship’s darker side. While its pillow-soft sonics and Grande’s resolute singing are gentle, it’s still a jarring lyric to hear right after the album proper’s closer, “ordinary things,” on which Grande's nonna Marjorie tells her granddaughter in no uncertain terms about the signals that a relationship is over. Nonna spoke, Grande listened, that book is closed. Or is there even a book in the first place? ...
MUSIC - SORRY 4 DA WAIT
MUSIC - SORRY 4 DA WAIT Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Playboi Carti Playboi Carti has hardly been absent in the roughly four years since Whole Lotta Red , appearing alongside the likes of Future, Latto, and Trippie Redd in the interim. Still, that didn’t keep his enormous fanbase from persistently clamoring over the prospect of I AM MUSIC , ultimately released with the truncated title of, simply, MUSIC . Its substantial length seems to acknowledge the wait, opening with a flurry of rage-rap tracks like “POP OUT” and “CRUSH” that herald the raconteur’s welcome arrival. Over its 30-track, 77-minute runtime, his sonics shift between the aggressively blown-out, synth-heavy post-trap he became infamous for and something markedly poppier, yet all of it undeniably within his stylistic range. Carti initially kept his choice of guests close to the vest, as has become custom for high-profile album drops. Yet it would be impossible not to recognize Kendrick Lamar spitting on “GOOD C...
The Great Western Road
The Great Western Road Album ∙ Pop ∙ 2025 Deacon Blue Soaring melodies and reflective lyrics from the band’s glorious 40th year.
Disney's Snow White (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Disney's Snow White (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack) Album ∙ Musicals ∙ 2025 Benj Pasek & Justin Noble Paul The modern retelling of the princess story gets a playful, majestic score.
Big Ole Album, Vol. 1
Big Ole Album, Vol. 1 Album ∙ Rock ∙ 2025 A Day to Remember A bruising eighth LP of hard rock and metalcore from the Florida outfit.
GIRASOLES
GIRASOLES Album ∙ Latin ∙ 2025 Jay Wheeler “It’s like a thank-you note,” Jay Wheeler tells Apple Music about GIRASOLES . “It’s like a letter saying I’m here for these people.” By “these people,” the Puerto Rican singer is referring specifically to his family, paying tribute to both his wife Zhamira Zambrano and their young daughter throughout this, his most personal project yet. Making the transition from R&B singing reggaetonero to full-fledged Latin pop star all but official here, he largely eschews the genre styles prevalent on his prior albums to push forward a more mature sound to match his grown-up lyricism. Indeed, apart from “Nota” with Omar Courtz and “Verte Por Ahí,” Wheeler prefers a more balladic approach across these 15 tracks. Though hip-hop has long been part of his formula, the way he repurposes its rhythms and flows for “Dañao Pa Siempre” and “Roma” feels noticeably different from, say, 2023’s TRAPPii . Inspired by a car accident he survived, “Abrázame F...
Mixtape : dominATE - EP
Mixtape : dominATE - EP Album ∙ K-Pop ∙ 2025 Stray Kids On the heels of 2024 mixtape HOP , K-pop phenoms Stray Kids continue their tradition of more casual, self-produced “mixtape” releases with Mixtape : dominATE . The project shares a name with the group’s third world tour: Dominate. Like HOP , Mixtape : dominATE is predominantly composed of tracks that don’t feature all of the members, with Stray Kids’ eight members breaking up into subunits to write and perform four of the album’s five tracks. In restless, electric guitar-led “Burnin’ Tires,” Changbin and I.N. are “running until the end,” while Han and Felix rap about riding Benzes and saluting fans in swagger song “Truman.” Bang Chan and Hyunjin beckon listeners to follow in head-banging pop-rock track “ESCAPE,” while Lee Know and Seungmin promise to keep singing in lyrical ballad “CINEMA.” The octet is all together for a Korean-language version of “GIANT,” a stadium-stomper that was first released in ...