![Brooke Pedersen [second from the right] and Luis Reyes [right] hold banners during the Wrap The Woods event.](https://thebluebanner.net/wp-content/uploads/2025/09/ELIZABETH_PRITCHITT_IMG_3470-1200x804.jpg)
This week, I’ve got four albums for your listening ears. There will be three new albums from the past week (on a monday to monday basis) and one classic album we’re celebrating the anniversary of.
All About McGuffin by Mei Ehara
3/5
Mei Ehara is a name all but unknown to most outside of Japan. She debuted under this name in 2017– though produced music under different pseudonyms before signing with an official label– and has been making indie pop since. She’s been praised by artists as big as Faye Webster (and was even featured on her 2021 record I Know I’m Funny Haha). Now, she comes at us with another indie pop piece that blends elements of soft pop and sophisti-pop.
The album is structured like a video game soundtrack, with songs like “Opening Theme”, “Game Over” and “Ending Theme”, not to mention the ever indie-game inspired album cover art. Intercut throughout this however are floaty guitar riffs, funky basslines and lo-fi-drumming– all building up Ehara’s excellent voice. This elevates her album to the next level. Her instrumentation and songwriting is of course incredible, but it’s her use of metaphoric lyricism that makes this album a worthwhile listen– or a worthwhile use of your preferred translator app, because it is entirely in Japanese.
Songs like “Game Over” and “Sad Driver” highlight her ability to make a relaxing song that still carries a blooming energy throughout, a song that is– in other words– a vibe. Her ensemble is of course basic, with the standard rock faire, but also occasionally uses more varied instruments– anywhere from an EP, to a Trumpet.
This album does not fall short in an explicit manner– however it simply lacks the capacity to be better. I think a bit more emotion, more creative guitar work throughout and perhaps a more consistent theme would do it some favors.
At times on this record Ehara is creating an authentic indie pop sound, perfect for late night drives and relaxing, but during others, she’s looking inwards with just a guitar and her thoughts. Through it all though, my enjoyment never faltered. For those of you who like J-Pop and anything Indie or Lo-Fi, give it a listen.
Tomorrow We Escape – Ho99o9
3.5/5
Ho99o9 (pronounced ‘Horror’) is a metal, punk and occasionally rap duo from New Jersey, forming in 2012. They draw influences from gangster rap like ‘DMX’, but also punk such as ‘Bad Brains’ and ‘Dead Kennedys’. They also take inspiration from industrial and experimental hip hop, such as ‘Death Grips’.
Their latest album can best be classified as Digital Hardcore, and mixes elements of all the above sounds. Electric guitars, metal drumming, and electronic industrial sounds blend in a scape that feels angry and ready to burst at any moment. The vocals here are great too, with some vocal work being reminiscent of metalcore and punk, while other segments include rap verses.
The lyricism is not subtle here either, lines like “I am upset with the human race” (from “OK, I’m Reloaded”) or a song straight up called “La Riots”. The conscious political message– though sometimes hard to make out through the overpowering guitar work and slamming of the drums– is clear. The duo is ready for some action to be taken.
This album carries its energy throughout– it makes for a great workout, and a better crashout.
Though there are times when Ho99o9 use their inside voices to share a serious message about mental health, it doesn’t feel like it’s a roadblock, but rather a natural progression of their emotions rising and falling, which gives the entire album a sense of completeness that is lacking in a lot of other modern works.
At times however, the melody and drums starts to become a little too syncopated for my liking, not in a free form progressive way that shows they know exactly what conventions to break, but comes off rather that they are totally unsure what they are doing (in those moments anyways). Sometimes synthesized guitars can give an otherwise emotional piece a bit of a plastic feeling– at least the synthesizer they use.
For those of you who enjoy Death Grips, and really any kind of rock/rap fusion, treat yourself with a listen to this album.
Breach – Twenty One Pilots
1/5
As someone who never had a “21 Pilots Phase” during the peak of their initial fame, it is a difficult task to speak of them. Simply put, this album is to me– exactly the same as a class of 5th graders allowed to watch PG movies with parent permission. Cheesy, overproduced and mainstream pop coated in a false sheen of edginess.
The album is produced like commercial music– the drums are aggressively played but mixed quietly, and every instrument is at the exact same level. The sounds all feel like free demos one just getting into electronic music would use to make their first song– even the actual guitar work sounds like a midi.
As is their signature, Tyler Joseph (½ of the duo) both sings and raps lyrics. His singing is of course impressive– in a vacuum. Joseph is no doubt a talented singer, but the same vocal tricks over and over take away so much from his energy. This is all interspersed with the most corporate friendly rapping that one can muster. Rapping is a strong word, it’s more like he’s talking fast, with no rhythm.
The rapping particularly “shines” on the track “Center Mass” where he forgets all musical counting abilities, trying to mimic a higher pitched voice like Kendrick Lamar, much to failure.
The additional cherry on top of the commercialized, fake alternative cake is the– for lack of a better word– cornball lyrics. With lines such as “Oh, why have I become? Dirty and wretched one” (“Downstairs”) or “I feel like garbage, I feel like, My systems are operating at 20 percent, or less” (the aptly named “Garbage”), the duo shows similar growth in songwriting capabilities to plastic bags in the ocean– that is to say they have not changed at all; and to be fair, that is exactly what this album is to me. A plastic bag in the musical ocean that will sit forever, unchanging, making it a worse scene for everyone else.
50th Anniversary: Wish You Were Here – Pink Floyd
5/5
Sequels are hard. Sequels of beloved media are harder. Sequels of albums as big as 1973’s ‘Dark Side of the Moon’ which is perhaps the most iconic album of all time (only rivaled by The Beatles’ Abbey Road) seem like perhaps the hardest task of all– but without breaking a sweat, Pink Floyd managed to do it all over again with Wish You Were Here.
What is there to say about the album that hasn’t been repeated by critics across generations, since the 70s? Every instrument, from David Gilmours’ masterful guitar soloing to Roger Water’s ethereal vocals and smooth basslines to Richard Wright’s innovative implementation of electric synthesizers all come together to swirl into a cone of space-age rock that’s delicious bite after bite.
Of course there’s the prog-rock classics, the album is coated start and finish by “Shine On You Crazy Diamond”, parts 1-5 opening the album, and parts 6-9 finishing it out. Each movement of the song perfectly flows into the next. If it weren’t for the name, you might never know it’s divided into parts.
“Welcome To The Machine” and “Have A Cigar” are powered forward by a more energetic drumloop, and a blastingly powerful synth, the same lead across both songs, but accompanied by a larger variety of sounds from the keys throughout. Interestingly, “Have A Cigar” is not sung by a member of Pink Floyd, but instead by guest vocalist Roy Harper, repaying a favor he owed to Gilmour.
This is all ignoring the main claim-to-fame of the album– the radio-friendly title track, “Wish You Were Here”. Which is a masterpiece in rock music, storytelling and emotion in just 5 minutes. This song– if it wasn’t already clear– makes the message of the album truly clear. The feeling of emptiness, the desire, the wish, it’s no hypothetical. The members of the band miss Syd Barrett– their former guitarist and leader.
“Welcome To The Machine” is not just a space-rock concept about robots, it’s about a music executive welcoming a new band into the pump-and-dump lifestyle of Hollywood. The iconic opening and closing track, “Shine On You Crazy Diamond” is sometimes noted for every other word spelling out “SYD” with its first initial (Shine, You, Diamond); and that’s all to say nothing of the album cover, showing a business deal where one man is literally getting burned.
Overall, the album is perfect in every way that matters when it comes to music critiques– while some prefer the expanse and variety of their previous Dark Side of the Moon, I think there’s no competition for their best album.
