traence
traence Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 Souly
Posts
Remembering Now
Remembering Now Album ∙ Blues ∙ 2025 Van Morrison The legendary singer revisits personal themes with warmth and wisdom.
Still The Mayor
Still The Mayor Album ∙ Afrobeats ∙ 2025 Mayorkun The Afrobeats star returns with a showcase of streetwise charisma.
Mixes Of A Lost World
Mixes Of A Lost World Album ∙ Alternative ∙ 2025 The Cure When a rock band releases a remix album, it’s often treated like an afterthought, with execs enlisting high-profile dance producers to slap new beats onto old singles and promoting them to club audiences who wouldn’t typically buy rock albums. This has never been the case for The Cure’s remix albums. Ever since their first—1990’s Mixed Up , which yielded the Balearic classic “Lullaby (Extended Mix)”—the band’s singer and principal songwriter, Robert Smith, has had a close hand in the process, doing many of the mixes himself. The tracks rarely veer into proper club-music territory. Instead, certain motifs are teased out and built upon, and are occasionally augmented with new instruments or lengthened for more languid DJ sets. The band’s third remix album generally hews to that ethos. Even a towering name like Paul Oakenfold (who previously remixed “Close to Me” on Mixed Up ) treats “I Can Never Say Goodbye” with a ligh...
Alive in the Catacombs - EP
Alive in the Catacombs - EP Album ∙ Alternative ∙ 2025 Queens of the Stone Age In July 2024, Queens of the Stone Age descended underneath Paris for a unique unplugged performance to an audience of six million...corpses. Founder Joshua Homme says his interest in the city’s famous catacombs began in childhood and it became a dream to play there. “Obviously, in the simplest terms, there’s a bunch of bodies and they’re stacked in a certain manner,” he tells Apple Music’s Zane Lowe. Recording in a subterranean cemetery filled with over six million skeletal remains proved challenging, but Homme had a “desire for it to have this improv element to it.” Ultimately, the morbid setting helped turn their hard rock anthems into haunting, acoustic balladry. “It’s very ASMR in there,” he says. “When you’re playing something that’s stripped down to the bones, and I guess in front of people that are stripped to the bones too, it just felt intuitively like this should be [like] there’s almost nothing be...
Don't Die Before You're Dead
Don't Die Before You're Dead Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 AJ Tracey Death is at the forefront of AJ Tracey’s mind on his third studio album; the title, Don’t Die Before You’re Dead , makes that more than clear. And although success has granted the West London rapper a certain level of immortality, no one, not even Tracey—who has seen his career go from strength to strength since he put his home borough on the map with the 2019 hit single “Ladbroke Grove”—lives forever. “I’ve been through a lot of things since I dropped the second album,” he tells Apple Music’s Dotty. “Life is beautiful, but it’s also quite tough sometimes…We all go through it, but I come out the other side stronger and with a different perspective on life.” The reason for his preoccupation is laid out in “3rd Time Lucky,” which finds him sorting through his emotions as his mother recovers from cancer, over solemn chords reminiscent of Sting’s “Shape of My Heart.” The track is a rare moment of vulnerability on an...
My World
My World Album ∙ Hip-Hop/Rap ∙ 2025 EST Gee The Louisville slugger kicked off 2025 with January’s I Ain’t Feeling You , his star-studded second album with guest spots from Travis Scott, Lil Baby, and Veeze. Not six months later, Gee returns with a surprise third album, My World , whose unfussy song titles suggest a more spontaneous approach from the gravelly-voiced hustler who’s spent the six years since his 2019 debut mixtape El Toro ascending from the Kentucky hip-hop underground to the mainstream. He’s still balancing stone-cold street tales with a healthy dose of soul-searching. On “Take my time Geeski SH Feb 23,” Gee reflects on his trajectory as one of few rappers to make it out of his hometown. And an appearance from Yo Gotti on “PABLO FINAL GOTTI version” as the album’s only feature should implicitly quell the recent rumors of Gee’s supposed departure from the Memphis veteran’s CMG label.
Rico o Muerto, Vol. 1
Rico o Muerto, Vol. 1 Album ∙ Música Mexicana ∙ 2025 Óscar Maydon It’s hard not to see this first installment in Óscar Maydon’s intended Rico o Muerto series as an existential ultimatum. Though the get-rich-or-die-trying ethos hardly originates here, already a thematic staple of rappers galore, the way the música mexicana singer unites so many of his peers for these dozen songs turns that sentiment into a collective Latin exclamation. Heavy hitters in the contemporary corridos scene, such as Junior H, Neton Vega, and Tito Double P, actively build with him here. Whether resigned to the prospect of immeasurable loss with Fuerza Regida on “Tu Boda” or playing as brash Clydes in search of baddie Bonnies with Peso Pluma on “Asquerosamente Rico,” he demonstrates an ability to both excel and lead. Elsewhere, he erodes intra-genre boundaries by hosting both Gabito Ballesteros and Luis R Conriquez for the evocative “Fina Con Los Valentinos” and reaches further than that by bringing L...
GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3 - EP
GOLDEN HOUR : Part.3 - EP Album ∙ K-Pop ∙ 2025 ATEEZ Following the release of their 2024 EP GOLDEN HOUR : Part.2 , ATEEZ returns with the third installment in the series. From the fresh sounds of opening number “Lemon Drop” to the distinct vocal colors from all eight members on “Masterpiece” to the comforting lyrics of “Now this house ain’t a home” and “Castle,” the album is a showcase of ATEEZ’s signature charisma, brightness, and emotional depth. To mark the release, the members share their thoughts on each track with Apple Music. “Lemon Drop” SEONGHWA: “I think it might feel like the boys who sang ‘Wave’ six years ago have all grown up and returned to that same season. It’s ATEEZ’s first summer track in a while.” MINGI: “You’ll probably notice the refreshing sweetness of a lemon drop cocktail in this track, but I think you’ll also feel a summer that’s more than just blue. It’s ATEEZ exploring R&B and hip-hop in a fresh new way, so I hope you enjoy it with a cool breeze.” “M...
