'Evangeline vs. the Machine' by Eric Church
Eric Church's "dazzling" new album "upends the idea of what country music is, or at least the type of country that made him a Nashville star," said Joseph Hudak in Rolling Stone. Though it consists of only eight songs, "it is also a masterwork." Doubling down on the stir he caused last year when he performed with a gospel choir at a California festival, he adds orchestral strings and horns to the mix here, and by embracing his voice's upper register, reveals himself to be, at 48, a man who's "in touch with his nakedly vulnerable side." Evangeline vs. the Machine "cements his legacy as a try-anything artist, one with more in common with David Bowie than with his peers." But "the beauty of country music is in its simplicity," said Kyle Coroneos in Saving Country Music, and every track here is so overproduced that "nothing is allowed to breathe." That's just Church following his muse, said Jessica Nicholson in Billboard. And as he addresses school shootings, 2024's deadly North Carolina flooding, and the healing power of music, what this album lacks in length "it more than makes up for in depth of creativity and intention."
'If You Asked for a Picture' by Blondshell
Sabrina Teitelbaum has been hailed as an alt-rock revivalist, and on her second album recording as Blondshell, "she proves her bona fides," said Eric R. Danton in Paste. The New York City native has grown gutsier musically and lyrically, and "the dozen songs here are stick-in-your-head catchy." Both "T&A" and "What's Fair" employ a loud-quiet-loud structure, conveying the "roiling emotions" of, in the first case, interrogating a male friend who wants to sleep with the singer and, in the second, a mother who was never around. "A songwriter of rare ferocity and wit," Teitelbaum had previously displayed her ability to transform bruised confessions into "roaring, tightly honed anthems," said Andy von Pip in Under the Radar. Capturing even more of life, her new songs "feel alive to every fragile, confusing, impossible possibility." Whether she's channeling Nirvana's coruscating guitar crunch in "Change" or slowly ratcheting up tension in "Event of a Fire," Teitelbaum is creating music that "leaves space for listeners to find their own meanings." In turn, each song fosters "a deeper, more enduring connection than any straightforward narrative ever could."
'Pirouette' by Model/Actriz
On its sophomore album, the Brooklyn indie-rock band Model/Actriz steps away from the "raucous and eruptive" sound of its debut in favor of music that's "icy, clipped, and clean," said Sasha Geffen in Pitchfork. As the foursome leans further into influences such as Circus-era Britney Spears and lo-fi electronica duo Crystal Castles, the result "still has teeth," but now those teeth are "oh-so-white." Once again, singer Cole Haden explores the challenges presented by his queerness, with songs about the clash between self-consciousness and the open pursuit of desire. On the harrowing "Cinderella," he recounts how, at age 5, he wanted a Disney-princess birthday party but stopped himself from asking and wound up feeling devastated. Pirouette "thrives on thrilling contrasts," said Alexis Petridis in The Guardian. The band has a penchant for cacophony that's offset by "the taut control with which they play," and the sweetness of the vocal melodies are set atop a "pummeling din" of percussive instrumentation. Even on "Acid Rain" and "Baton," two songs that slow the tempo, the band remains "reliably exciting."
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