Charli XCX Is Everything on ‘Brat’
Brat is next-level Charli XCX, a miracle and an instant classic. It’s the kind of album that makes you feel lucky to be alive at the same time as it.
Nick Malone
Nick Malone is a writer and podcaster living and working in Chicago. He co-hosts the cultural commentary podcast Thot Topics.
Chicago Critics Film Festival 2024: The Good, the Unremarkable, and the Dead on Arrival
Axe murder, motor scooter theft, projectile breast milk and more from a week at the Music Box Theatre for the Chicago Critics Film Festival 2024.
Nicki Minaj Reigns on ‘Pink Friday 2’
Pink Friday 2 is the sound of Nicki Minaj cracking her knuckles and getting her hands dirty again. It’s the purest distillation of her uniquely feminine bravado.
Pleasure Systems Brings Light to Grief-stricken Folk with “Everything I Need”
Pleasure Systems’ “Everything I Need” is built from familiar textures: warm and lush vocals, bedroom synths, and vividly drawn scenes of domesticity and quiet.
The Dare’s ‘The Sex EP’ Wants You to Have a Really Good Time
The Dare’s mission is urgent, as simple as breathing. Have a good time – a stupid good time – like your life depends on it. Because it literally does.
Lizzo’s New Album Isn’t Quite As ‘Special’ As She Thinks
Special is such a disappointment because you can hear the better album Lizzo is capable of making, but she insists on cranking out one-size-fits-all empowerment jams.
Does Gay Fandom Help Pop Divas?
Looking at Rina Sawayama, Azealia Banks, Charli XCX, and Kim Petras’ rise and fall in the charts one wonders – does gay fandom help pop divas’ careers?
Slayyyter’s ‘Troubled Paradise’ Is a Funny, Catchy, Boundary-pushing Collection of Songs
On Troubled Paradise, Slayyyter strips the cynicism from hyperpop, invokes the best parts of the last generation of pop powerhouses, and fills the void in culture left by the last time Katy Perry went #1.
Slayyyter’s Inferno: In Conversation with the Logged-on and Laser-focused Pop Starlet
Following a chaotic and self-destructive year, laser-focused pop starlet Slayyyter prepares to ascend with her debut album of noisy pop bangers, Troubled Paradise. She tells us her story.
Lana Del Rey’s ‘Chemtrails Over the Country Club’ Shows It’s Rarely Easy to Just Be Her
Though ‘Chemtrails Over the Country Club’ isn’t quite Lana Del Rey’s strongest album or the most iconically Lana, it’s an intimate, emotional, and largely successful renewal of her artistic vows.
Ashnikko’s Debut ‘Demidevil’ Attempts to Birth a Pop Star From the Endless Feed
Demidevil is poised to keep Ashnikko relentlessly populating the feed in 2021 with some impressively strong new bangers. But it'll be crucial for her to remember the difference between Nicki Minaj and the iLOVEFRiDAYs of the world.
Katy Perry Struggles to Get Out of Her Head on ‘Smile’
Think of Smile as Katy Perry doing the work to (eventually) get her groove back: she's recharging. Smile plays like a necessary centering exercise, indulging her insecurities and less surefire instincts.