Wilco Rediscovers Its Original DNA on Warm, Sprawling ‘Cruel Country’: Album Review

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticIt’s hard to remember any performer who been so on top of the world as Post Malone who has gone to such lengths to convince us he’s bottoming out as Malone does in “Twelve Carat Toothache,” his fourth album. It’s a common lyrical trope that success breeds discontentment, and Malone has already trod some of that territory — four years and two albums ago, he was telling us he was “Rich & Sad.” But that song almost seems like a feint compared to where he’s at now.

Lorde has praised Kendrick Lamar‘s new album ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’, particularly noting the record’s emotional maturity and attempt to process difficult subjects through creative expression.“I’m loving Kendrick,” the singer-songwriter said in the latest instalment of her fan newsletter.

Shirley Ju Kendrick Lamar’s fifth studio album, “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” is already the biggest first-week debut of 2022. With its arrival comes 18 tracks of introspection touching on everything from racism to transphobia to generational trauma.One of those tracks, “Purple Hearts” featuring R&B queen Summer Walker and Wu-Tang Clan alum Ghostface Killah, came to life with the help of Westside Boogie, the Shady Records signee who co-wrote it.

Florence + The Machine have scored their fourth Number One album with ‘Dance Fever’.Florence Welch’s band’s fifth studio album beat Kendrick Lamar‘s Mr Morale & The Big Steppers’ to the top spot.The band’s previous chart toppers include 2009 debut ‘Lungs’ follow up ‘Ceremonials’ and 2015’s ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’.Despite not claiming the top spot Lamar’s new LP was the most-streamed album of the week, in the absence of a physical release, according to the Official Charts Company.Meanwhile, The Black Keys ended up at Number Five with their new LP ‘Dropout Boogie.Elsewhere, in the UK singles chart, Sam Ryder‘s ‘Space Man’ was pipped to Number One by Harry Styles‘ ‘As It Was’,despite his success in the Eurovision Song Contest.Ryder’s song is also the highest Eurovision chart entry since Gina G’s Number One hit ‘Ooh Ahh…Just A Little Bit’ in 1996.‘Space Man’ was the UK’s most-downloaded song of the week, landing at Number One on the official download chart.Despite his defeat, Ryder hailed Styles who has remained top of the charts for seven consecutive weeks.“I feel like what Harry stands for, as a fan of his and listening to his music, he stands for the same things that Eurovision celebrates; a freedom of expression, of inclusivity. A celebration of music, joy and togetherness,” he said.

Florence + The Machine score their fourth UK Number 1 album with Dance Fever this week. 

Jem Aswad Senior Music Editor“Combat Rock” is the Clash’s most commercially successful album, and it’s also the one that tore them apart. Although it contains their two most-popular songs — “Should I Stay or Should I Go” and “Rock the Casbah”— and made them into one of the world’s biggest bands, it’s a disjointed, confusing album, with three absolutely killer tracks, a handful of middling ones and a bunch of indulgent solo experiments.

Kendrick Lamar earns his first ever Number 1 on the Official Irish Albums Chart with Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJust over five years ago, Harry Styles dropped a solo debut that absolutely no one saw coming, especially from a guy who had closed the door on his role as lead heartthrob in pop juggernaut One Direction only 18 months earlier. “Harry Styles” was a timeless, oddly genre-less album that sounded vaguely like a pop collection from the early 1970s, and like nothing else released that year.

Fans have gone into a frenzy after the original Sugababes trio has been announced to take the stage at Glastonbury festival.The announcement was made by Keisha Buchanan, Mutya Buena and Sobhan Doberty who let fans know they were doing a major comeback after 21 years.The trio will be taking the Avalon stage on June 24 alongside some other huge acts such as Sir Paul McCartney, Diana Ross, Kendrick Lamar, Billie Eilish, Doja Cat and Megan McKenna. Keisha told The Sun: "This is going to be something special for our fans.

Florence + The Machine have shared their new cover of The Stooges’ ‘Search And Destroy’ – you can hear their acoustic rendition of the track below.The cover features on the newly released deluxe version of the Florence Welch-led band’s fifth studio album ‘Dance Fever’, which arrived last week.As well as previously unreleased acoustic versions of the tracks ‘Cassandra’, ‘Free’, ‘Morning Elvis’ and ‘My Love’, this new version of ‘Dance Fever’ includes a cover of The Stooges’ ‘Search And Destroy’.Originally released in 1973 by the Iggy Pop-led band, you can listen to Florence + The Machine’s acoustic take on ‘Search And Destroy’ below.Florence + The Machine are currently in a race with Kendrick Lamar for this week’s Number One album in the UK.According to the Official Charts Company, Welch and her band appear to be the favourites to clinch the top spot – though Lamar’s ‘Mr Morale & The Big Steppers’ is the most-streamed album in the UK this week.Welch is credited on the ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ track ‘We Cry Together’ as it samples the Florence + The Machine track ‘June’.

Kendrick Lamar is literally kicking back after releasing his first album in five years.

Florence + The Machine and Kendrick Lamar are battling it out for this week’s Number One album in the UK.Florence Welch’s band’s fifth studio album ‘Dance Fever’ is currently ahead of Lamar’s ‘Mr Morale & The Big Steppers’ after clocking up over 26,000 chart sales so far in the midweek album chart, according to the Official Charts Company.The Black Keys are not far behind at Number Three with their new LP with ‘Dropout Boogie’ and Bear’s Den are currently at Number Four with ‘Blue Hours’.If Florence + The Machine do go to Number One it’ll be their fourth chart topper after 2009 debut ‘Lungs’ follow up ‘Ceremonials’ and 2015’s ‘How Big, How Blue, How Beautiful’.Reviewing the record, NME awarded it four stars and described it as “the triumphant sound of a singer reborn”.If Lamar scores this week’s Number One album, it will be his first since 2015’s ‘To Pimp A Butterfly’. His current record ‘Mr Morale & The Big Steppers’ his first in five years, was awarded a whopping five stars by NME and was described as a “cathartic, soul-bearing autobiography”.Welch also received a writing credit on the record for the song ‘We Cry Together’ for its use of a Florence + The Machine sample.Elsewhere, in the UK singles chart, Sam Ryder has climbed up to Number Three following his success in the Eurovision Song Contest 2022.

Florence + The Machine look set to secure this week’s Number 1 album with Dance Fever.

Andrew Barker Senior Features Writer“I’ve been going through something.”These are the first words that Kendrick Lamar speaks on “Mr. Morale & the Big Steppers,” and if the 19 songs that follow over the next 72 minutes are any indication, it’s quite an understatement. In the five years since he last released a proper album, 2017’s best-rapper-alive declaration “Damn,” Lamar became the first hip-hop artist to win the Pulitzer Prize, earned an Oscar nomination, launched a media company, performed at the Super Bowl, and announced his departure from TDE, the tight-knit label that has been his home and a key part of his identity since the very beginning.But “Mr.

Eminem has listened to Kendrick Lamar‘s fifth studio album, ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’, and shouted out the rapper’s colossal effort.Em took to Twitter to share his thoughts, tagging Dr. Dre – who has served as a mentor to both Eminem and Lamar.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorLike virtually every major rock act in the mid-1970s, the Rolling Stones had become bloated and overblown. After the generation-defining singles of the ‘60s and the stellar string of albums running from “Beggars Banquet” to “Exile on Main Street,” they’d eked out three comparatively uninspired sets that, due to Keith Richards’ formidable heroin addiction and its multiple accompanying legal problems, found Mick Jagger seeking musical foils in guitarist Mick Taylor and then guest keyboardist Billy Preston.

Kendrick Lamar has said in a new song that he was “confused” by Kanye West and Drake‘s reunion last year.Last November saw West share an image of himself and Drake posing together after seemingly ending their longstanding feud, which is believed to have been ongoing since at least 2009.Earlier that month, Ye extended an olive branch to the Canadian rapper and invited him to perform at a Larry Hoover benefit show in LA in December. Drake obliged, with the pair subsequently appearing on-stage together at the special concert.Lamar released his long-awaited, 73-minute fifth studio album ‘Mr.

Kendrick Lamar has released his long-awaited new album ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ – you can read the record’s full credits below.The follow-up to the Compton rapper’s 2017 album ‘DAMN.’ has been released today (May 13) after Lamar shared the standalone track ‘The Heart Part 5’ earlier this week.Split into two discs, ‘Mr. Morale & The Big Steppers’ contains 18 songs and runs for a total of one hour, 13 minutes.Featured guests on the album include Ghostface Killah, Kodak Black, Portishead‘s Beth Gibbons, Summer Walker and Baby Keem, while the likes of Thundercat, Pharrell, The Alchemist and Sampha also worked on the LP.As Pitchfork notes, ‘Mr.