Music reviews: Laufey, Deftones, and Earl Sweatshirt

'A Matter of Time' by Laufey

★★★

"The emergence of Laufey is largely attributable to her abundant talent," said Maura Johnston in Rolling Stone. But "Gen Z's chief flag-waver for throwback pop" is also "a product of her time." In the TikTok era, there are many ears seeking out singable period-style tunes, and Laufey has both a "full-bodied alto" and "a knack for marrying 21st-century problems with fishhook melodies that recall standards from previous centuries."

The L.A.-based 26-year-old Icelandic singer-songwriter opens her third album on a bright note with the carefree "ding-dong" refrain of "Clockwork." But she's also exploring modern love's pitfalls, and by the time "Sabotage" closes the album with a touch of chaos, she's calling herself her own worst enemy. "Lyrically, this album is as timely as it gets," said Roisin O'Connor in The Independent (U.K.). With these 15 songs, "Laufey has achieved the kind of confessional storytelling that makes Taylor Swift so relatable." Laufey, though, adds "glamour and glitz." From the "lovely momentum" of "Carousel" to the "shivery, spellbinding flair" of "Forget-Me-Not," this is "sublime" work.

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'Private Music' by Deftones

★★★★

"Against all odds," Deftones now rank among rock's elite, said Sadie Sartini Garner in Pitchfork. Once known as "nu-metal B-listers," the Sacramento-born quartet are today "avant-rock heroes" with a sizable Gen Z following. And while the band's 10th album is "unlikely to draw in unconvinced listeners," it shows them "fully in control" of their menacing sound, "able to effortlessly bend it around whatever structures they put in place." Still, the turnaround in Deftones' reputation owes mostly to the rock audience, particularly "the evolution of how people feel about heaviness, romance, and the primacy of our emotional life." A great Deftones song, as always, "can feel like an arduous hike to a stunning vista that reveals a violent storm on the horizon."

Private Music "should please all corners of their wide fandom," said Neil Z.Yeung in AllMusic. The band's "muscular" guitar riffs and Chino Moreno's "primal screams" are tempered by "catchy chord progressions" and "shimmering, melodic programming," producing a "sensual, sexy, and soulful" 11-song set that reaffirms Deftones as "one of the greatest bands of their generation."

'Live Laugh Love' by Earl Sweatshirt

★★★

Surrendering to the "weird logic" of Earl Sweatshirt's sixth solo album is "an enrapturing way to spend 25 minutes," said Alexis Petridis in The Guardian. "This is music from deep within hip-hop's 'otherground,' an area in which normal rules don't apply." The songs "unexpectedly short out or crash into each other." On the sixth track, "Live," the "bright-hued" synth backing starts glitching midway through before the beat and the rhythm of Earl's rhymes shift entirely. Yet there are hooks and samples here, including the harpsichord loop on "Forge," that "dig into your brain as they repeat."

Renowned for his bleak outlook, Earl seems to have lightened up, perhaps owing to the arrival of the children he pays tribute to on "Gamma (need the <3)" and "Tourmaline." The quest for self-knowledge has always colored Earl's music, and "he's using Live Laugh Love to catch us up on his hard-earned progress," said Kiana Fitzgerald in Consequence. On "Well Done," a track that's all of 71 seconds long, he raps about being "baptized in the fires of flaw and failures." Blink and you could miss it, but "Earl Sweatshirt might finally be happy."