Halsey's last album was my favorite of the decade so far, so I was really looking forward to The Great Impersonator, even if they didn't work with Trent Reznor again on this one. And I think it's a pretty solid follow-up to a masterpiece, an incredibly ambitious attempt to come to grips with mortality while dealing with a serious illness while also synthesizing decades of different influences into a set of original songs. Some of the songs are pretty on-the-nose stylistic exercises (the Stevie Nicks one sounds just like "Dreams," the Bruce Springsteen one sounds just like "I'm On Fire," etc.), but I'm kinda glad most of the album just sounds like Halsey songs and not a pastiche. There's some very raw emotions, but also occasionally funny, self-aware lyrics ("I don't know if I could sell out my own funeral, at least not at this point in time"). This album became kind of instantly infamous among people who probably haven't and would never listen to a Halsey album because of one negative review, but I think it's excellent, not really interested in all the social media noise around it. 

I interviewed these guys recently and really enjoyed talking to them and learning about their influences. I feel like it's almost too obvious to compare them to OutKast, but out of all the contemporary Atlanta or southern rappers who pay lip service to OutKast being greats, they're one of the only acts that you can really hear the influence in. 

I feel like an odd James Bay fan in that I think that 2018's Electric Light, the sophomore slump that nearly killed his career, was a masterpiece and by far the best thing he's ever done. He's done a couple albums then trying to convince people he's still the rootsy balladeer of "Let It Go" and Changes All the Time opens with a nice little acoustic rave up with Noah Kahan and the Lumineers, "Up All Night." I'm happy that the album still contains a decent amount of alt-rock stuff like "Easy Distraction" (co-written by Brandon Flowers of the Killers) and "Some People" (co-written by Dan Wilson of Semisonic) that reminds me a little of Electric Light, though, there's a nice balance of different sounds. 

I find authenticity debates over White rappers to be kind of repetitive and exhausting, but White rappers continue to thrive commercially and many of them are cartoonishly inauthentic, so here we are. Ian O'Neill Smith, a 19-year-old who played rugby at Clemson University, at least until he recently dropped out to release his major label debut, raps in a post-Playboi Carti rage patois that almost makes me long for the quaint corniness of Asher Roth. It's hard to see this guy becoming Jack Harlow-level big, but this album is actively unpleasant to listen to and he's getting features from Chief Keef and Lil Yachty, so whatever, I'm hating.