PAINLESS, Nilüfer Yanya (6/10)

Ok I know everyone and their mom luvs this album and it seems to be everyone's album of the year but I really tried to love it and I just can't bring myself to. When Yanya dropped "Midnight Sun" as a single, I was pretty excited, but it still remains my favorite song on the album and I just am not convinced by a lot of the rest of the album for whatever reason. If there's anyone I can compare it to, this album reminds me most of Blood Orange in his Cupid Deluxe era -- kind of retro electric guitar heavy alt pop. And the thing is, similar to my review of The Smile (and Radiohead at large), I know this is good music - like it's sonically complex with really interesting guitar and bass and drums and vocals. But idk it just doesn't do it for me. Maybe it's her voice? Maybe it's just a bit too poppy for me? I can't quite place my finger on why I could skip through most of these songs. But anyways.. yeah I really tried. This is also not to downplay that there are some songs on the album that even I really fuck with and yeah I do think Yanya is really talented. Just not my personal taste atm. Favorite tracks: Midnight Sun, Shameless, Stabilise, Try