Album Mode

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Kali Uchis' latest album 'Sincerely,' how she's tracing her musical lineage throughout the album and whether her reversion is worth it.

Démar’s rating: 8.5 / 10
Adriel's rating: 7.5 / 10

The Love List: Illegal, Tonight, Noises, Stateside,

Timecodes:

1:34 - Demar’s favourite women's weekend
5:40 - No Features
6:39 - Song structure  
10:40 - thinks it has regressed a little
14:00 - Sunshine and Rain/pocket of drums
16:17 - Pre R&B
20:40 - For you
22:19 - It sounds like silk lingerie
24:50 - Her voice is an instrument
28:00 - Lana Del Rey comparison
36:45 - How do you feel about no features?
39:04 - Small breath for some extra air – could have enjoyed another artist
43:15 - Her cover game is weird
45:25 - The Scores

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 ===================================

Kali Uchis - Sincerely, / 2025 / R&B, Soul

This week Démar and Adriel discuss PinkPantheress' latest mixtape 'Fancy That', PinkPantheress the producer beginning to outshine PinkPantheress the artist and how PinkPantheress has become the John Wick of music.

Démar’s rating: 8.5 / 10
Adriel's rating: 7.5 / 10

The Love List: Illegal, Tonight, Noises, Stateside,

Timecodes:

2:42 - Demar is a superfan
4:56: - Too short because it’s good
5:30 - John Wick of music  
7:28 - Doesn’t feel like a full project / HMV Days
9:50 - Forza racing, when listening to this
11:08 - Sounds like a toddler that needs to get outside
13:00 - Did she get it right with the singles?
16:34 - Feels like a normal person song
18:14 - ‘Illegal’ is what people think she sounds like  
18:34 - Basement Jaxx sample
19:24 - Producing her own music
22:24 - Song about weed  
26:22 - Previously, her music did not talk about sex
28:10 - She’s from the TikTok era, where the hype matches the quality  
29:41 - The music is bigger than she is
31:21 - The Cover
33:05 - The Scores

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PinkPantheress - Fancy That / 2025 / house, dance, drum n' bass

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Yung Lean's latest album Jonathan, what he meant to cloud rap, his transition to rock and how his lethargic singing tilts into apathy.

Démar’s rating: 3.5 / 10
Adriel's rating: 4.5 / 10

The Love List: Might Not B, Horses, My Life

Timecodes:

3:30 - How do you feel about reviewing YL
6:25 - The modern swaggy trap white rapper
7:16 - His influences
8:40 - Two stand-out lines  - shut the world off
14:45 - Album drags on you  
16:16 - I don’t think he can really sing
16:24 - Sing rapping is a saviour for rappers who can’t sing
18:19 - Feels like an audition for Brock Hampton  
19:30 - Has harmonies, but his voice is the worst part of it  
21:03 - Singing at a pace of Dominic Fike
21:33 - The actual emotion of the singing is not being conveyed  properly
32:33 - Kanye couldn’t figure out the drums for Find Your Love
36:18 - Chief Keef comparison
38:06 - Feels like 808’s and heartbreaks
40:41 - The cover
42:11 - The Score


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Yung Lean - Jonatan / 2025 / indie rock, rock,

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Wiz Khalifa's latest mixtape Kush + Orange Juice 2 how he was one of the kings of the blog era and how his trademark sound is one step away from becoming cutting edge.

Timecode:
2:34 Freestyles leading up to the project 
3:17 Most influential rappers of the last 15 years
4:16 Wiz day to day vlogs
5:46 OKAY Wiz Khalifa Voice
6:46 The cargo shorts  
9:12 Say Yeah
9:32 Mixtape buzz
11:41 Kush & Orange Juice
12:28 Flight School
13:24 Demar Kids comparison
17:35 Mixtapes have died
18:07 Feel like he’s trying to capture his old sound
21:40 Ashbeck
25:29 Has Wiz been on a UK track
27:10 I might be
30:29 Max b interlude
35:05 Did Wiz get it right with the singles?
36:03 Could benefit from getting in the jazz drill space
38:15 Fits in with UK rappers
42:55 Wiz will never rap about something new
50:45 Juicy J
57:09 The cover
01:00:45 The score  


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===================================
Démar’s rating: 7 / 10 Adriel's rating: 7 / 10
The Love List: What's Hannin, Just To See You Smile, Jet Taylor, Crime Bud and Women

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Bon Iver's fifth studio album SABLE, fABLE how it nears greatness before ultimately shying away and how it feels longer than its 41 minute runtime implies.

Démar’s rating: 4 / 10
Adriel's rating: 4 / 10

The Love List: THINGS BEHIND THINGS BEHIND THINGS, S P E Y S I D E, I'll Be There

Timecodes:

1:29 - Thought it was one dude
2:36 - Sampha comparison  
04:43 - Adriel’s Doppelganger
6:16 - Best Feature
8:26 - First disc songs were released on a separate EP
11:13 - Loneliness when it comes to folk
15:30 - If you’re going to do a long intro
21:48 - Frank Ocean vibes
23:14 - A 2025 song
24:33 - Mustafa comparison
26:53 - ‘From’ traditional format – boat rock
30:29 - Undanceable
31:11 - Missing the black part of the music
41:05 - As a full project, it’s a different kind of listen
42:05 - The production is hiding the lyrics in a bad way
42:25 - What it means for their career
49:15 - The cover
51:40 - Score 

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 ===================================


Bon Iver - SABLE, fABLE / 2025 / indie rock, folk, rock

Cue the filler music! Adriel and Démar are taking a look back into the annals of Album Mode history and to find the best debut projects they've ever reviewed. When you've been podcasting for nearly 5 years, you can do that. We're talking Unknown T, Olivia Rodrigo and of course the goddess, PinkPantheress and more!

Timecodes:
5:36 - Framework of the context of the artist
6:28 - The album that is the furthest in their career
7:39 - Arlo Parks
15:34 - Has a lane can work with more of the street artists
16:07 - Folk artist but gritty
16:56 - The Last Dinner Party
22:37 - Silk Sonic
25:59 - Too retro?
26:16 - Credible but not eligible
30:55 - Music is more popular than she is
32:44 - In a sweet spot of being more then 12 songs but no too long
35:24 - (Sour) Taylor Swift meets Paramore / Avril Lavigne
42:02 - Lil Nas X
46:28 - Picking and choosing what’s a debut album
47:00 - Destroy Lonely
48:28 - Rise above hate – first review
55:04 - Glorilla
55:55 - Tommy Richman
59:03 - Best way to go about dropping a debut album 

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 ===================================

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Lucy Dacus' fourth studio album “Forever is a Feeling” how the album is a tone setter for her post Boygenuius and how her lyrical longingness escapes being cheesy.

Démar’s rating: 7 / 10
Adriel's rating: 6.5 / 10

The Love List: Ankles, Limerence, Talk, Most Wanted Man


Timecodes:
3:25 - Songwriter-type music  
5:23 - The reset button and how that affects their career
8:42 - The origins of this album
9:24 - Longing vibes
12:46 - Romanticizing her past
13:28 - For keeps
17:15 - Vacation boo
20:51 - Sex and the City Comparison
28:21 - Imagery is very explicit
37:35 - Accentuate the loneliness  
38:21 - How do these songs live on their own?
43:06 - What she said about writing Modigilani
47:35 - The cover   
49:20 - No skips  - too flat production-wise
50:43 - The Score

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 ===================================


Lucy Dacus - Forever is a Feeling / 2025 / indie rock, folk, rock

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Men I Trust's latest studio album “Equus Asinus” how the band's production has shifted in this latest release and how you can get drop a Men I Trust lyric in your relationship to sound poetic.

P.S. Where's the Clairo feature??

Démar’s rating: 8 / 10
Adriel's rating: 8 / 10
The Love List: I Come With Mud, Bethlehem, Paul's Theme, Frost Bite, Girl (2025) 

Timecodes:

5:11 - Soft enough for the bedroom but not so we are going to sleep
9:06 - could be on Zach Bryan’s album
13:43 - There is a country element
16:33 - Paul’s theme sample
19:13 - The production on here is not homogenous
24:35 - The way the songs have been sung has not changed
29:23 - Songs with an immersive cinematic feel
33:57 - Let yourself feel
37:31 - Going to the lyrics help you like the song more
39:48 - What it means for their career
49:16 - The score


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Men I Trust - Equus Asinus / 2025 / indie rock, bedroom pop, indie

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Playboi Carti’s third studio album “Music”, his new deep voice, the album’s incredible production, and how Carti’s aura and influence is pivotal to his fandom.

P.S. SWAMP IZZO!!!!

Démar’s rating: 7 / 10 
Adriel's rating: 4.5 / 10

The Love List: POP OUT, RATHER LIE, MOJO JOJO, WAKE UP F1LTHY, OLYMPIAN, OPM BABI, LIKE WEEZY

Timecodes:

6:00 - Hip-hop Christmas song
9:16 - Features / narrative wise
12:42 - Most famous but hasn’t released an album in 4 years
15:15 - His fan base is so loud
17:40 - Super fan and musicians think he’s amazing
18:22 - His fans create the conversation around his music
20:35 - Production is the star
23:01 - Has legit vision
23:50 - Progression of his sound
26:11 - Real artistic vision
27:05 - Does the production a disservice
29:23 - This whole album is “if so and so is on this”
30:30 - Underrated in their production
33:00 - Deep voice
36:01 - Don’t know if he found the thing in the experiment
36:25 - Choir vocals
40:10 - Song structure we developed  
40:44 - Demar is doing the things fans do
41:25 - Kendrick combo
42:07 - Roles flipped with adlibs and verse   
44:49 - Drake declined to be on the project
49:12 - Interested in seeing where this is going
49:52 - Pitbull comparison
53:10 - Rod wave comparison
55:41 - His lyrics sound like when you freestyle in college
1:05:25 - His music isn’t as good, but his aura is higher
1:12:18 - What is important to his genre is not the same as the rest if hip-hop
1:19:42 - His career
1:22:10 - SGA is a taller Allen Iverson
1:23:40 - Has hip-hop split
1:27:08 - The cover
1:31:50 - The score 

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Playboi Carti - Music / 2025 / Hip hop, rap, rage, trap

This week Démar and Adriel discuss Lady Gaga's latest studio album 'Mayhem', how she's navigated her fame throughout her career and why this entire project sounds like it got pulled straight out of the 1980s.

P.S. heavy Siouxsie and the Banshees vibes on Abracadabra

Démar’s rating: 7.5 / 10 
Adriel's rating: 7.5 / 10


The Love List: Disease, Die With a Smile, Perfect Celebrity, Vanish into You

Timecodes:

2:26 - Bruno Mars 
4:13 - A star is born
8:00 - Rarely an artist is in their own lane like this
9:23 - Madonna 2.0
12:00 - Putting out music consistently and just ignoring it
14:07 - Démar likes pop songs
15:16 - Frame how we view Lady Gaga
16:30 - Missing a Charlie xcx feature
19:58 - She doesn’t have the vision
23:41 - Miley Cyrus comparison
27:05 - 80’s inspired
29:20 - Blade of Grass
33:52 - The way she frames celebrity
36:49 - Almost doing a Weeknd thing
43:30 - Abracadabra: Loved everything but the hook
50:29 - How are we deciding who’s too old to say what
56:20 - The cover
1:06:02 - The Score

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Lady Gaga - MAYHEM / 2025 / Pop, Synth pop, electronic