Back in stock: Pop

Review: Lady Gaga's brand new album Mayhem documents yet another modification in look and feel for today's North Star of pop music: the 'Bad Romance' conquistador has described her latest record as "utter chaos", fusing influences from 90s alt-rock, electro-grunge, Prince and Bowie-esque melodies, funk, French electro-house, and analog synths. Headed up by the lead single 'Disease', Gaga's visually striking yet newly gothicized turn is quite unsettling, offering a fresh "era" in the pop pantomorph's approach, which invites comparisons to Taylor Swift and David Bowie, yet more latexy.

Review: This six-track EP, crated between the late 'Cloud rap' icon and producer Nedarb Nagrom, is a miraculous refind and repress. The EP originally dropped in 2016 during the early wave of Peep's rise to the broth cream of the etherground emo rap and SoundCloud scene. Peep was still in the thick of lo-fi, punk and emo experimentations, and fellow traveller Nedarb had already been a frequent collaborator. The Katy Perry song referenced in the title is a red herring, as these tracks are original internet artefacts through and through, bearing none of the same pop sensibilities; they're loose and aerated, packing slipshod 808s and drawly hooks from the pink-haired icon.

Review: In 2019, a conversation between Norman Gervais and Mario Gharios (Pocket Of Light) sparked the idea of using compilations to impress a feeling, rather than focusing on a specific decade, genre, or style. And ho, on a warm July day on the Riviera, so began a for-the-ages discussion as to how music could paint vivid pictures, from kitschy seaside resorts to tranquil sailboats in Caribbean coves. Gervais' taste guided the process; he would decalre tracks "100% Blue Wave," referring to Balearic and new wave fusions, perfect for blasting from the baleinaire. Despite personal setbacks, such as the Beirut Port Explosion and COVID, they continued the collab together with Charles Bals, and a few years later, the result is Transcoastal, a trusty, storm-weathering voyager of a comp, replete with invincible sails. These are Balearic favourites for the bluest of skies, our favourites on which have to be Richard Bowen's 'Sorcery', Neil Davis' 'Jealous Sea' and Ricardo Bomba's 'So Sentindo O Momento'. We hear a predilection for guitar, varied plucks suggesting multi-pelagic moods.