The Student Playlist

Showcasing the Best New Music, Curating the Classics

Posts by Aiste Samuchovaite

REVIEW: Bully – ‘SUGAREGG’ (Sub Pop)

Alicia Bognanno grows ever more confident on Bully’s third album ‘SUGAREGG’, a cathartic soundtrack to picking up the pieces and starting again.

REVIEW: Dream Wife – ‘So When You Gonna…’ (Lucky Number)

Although poppy, melodic and immensely fun in its execution, Dream Wife’s second album ‘So When You Gonna…’ is held back slightly by the strength of its songs.

REVIEW: Arca – ‘KiCk i’ (XL)

The first of a planned series of four albums, ‘KiCk i’ is the most ‘pop’ of all of Arca’s albums to date, yet retains the avant-garde cutting edge that has always made her music so compelling.

REVIEW: Phoebe Bridgers – ‘Punisher’ (Dead Oceans)

Even more confident than her accomplished debut, Phoebe Bridgers’ ‘Punisher’ elevates potentially depressing material into something life-affirming.

REVIEW: Lady Gaga – ‘Chromatica’ (Interscope)

While there’s highlights aplenty, the slightly over-calculated nature of the production prevents ‘Chromatica’ from going full Lady Gaga.

REVIEW: Charli XCX – ‘How I’m Feeling Now’ (Warner / Asylum)

In writing, recording and producing a masterpiece in conjunction with collaborators remotely during a lockdown, Charli XCX shows herself to be one of pop’s most industrious and imaginative stars.

REVIEW: Moses Sumney – ‘græ’ (Jagjaguwar)

Acknowledging that the truths about our existence exist in the grey areas that elude binary definitions, Moses Sumney’s ‘græ’ is his second masterpiece.

REVIEW: Rina Sawayama – ‘SAWAYAMA’ (Dirty Hit)

Combining entertaining, brilliantly produced bangers with insightful songwriting, ‘SAWAYAMA’ is one of the best pop debuts of 2020.

REVIEW: U.S. Girls – ‘Heavy Light’ (4AD)

Letting our collective anxiety about the state of the world stew in glacial, literate pop, Meghan Remy’s latest U.S. Girls album ‘Heavy Light’ is different to her previous masterpiece.

REVIEW: Andy Shauf – ‘The Neon Skyline’ (Anti-)

A song cycle of friendship, desire and regret, ‘The Neon Skyline’ shows that Andy Shauf continues to blossom as a songwriter.