Album Review

At this point in their career, By Storm, composed of rapper RiTchie with a T and producer Parker Corey — both formerly of the group Injury Reserve — are a duo defined almost as much by the mythology surrounding their music as the music itself. Since the 2021 release of Injury Reserve’s earth shattering By The Time I Get to Phoenix and the group’s subsequent dissolution/reformation into By Storm, it’s become common practice to wax poetic about their music’s innate connection to grief, about how the sporadic, confrontational sound of that final record so effectively embodied the devastation of post-mortem anguish like little hip-hop before it ever could — and that’s not denying that By The Time I Get to Phoenix was anything but an album about grief. 

The album is inverting in on itself, track to track. It is a warning for those who take themselves too seriously to loosen up, and a reminder to pay close attention. A lot has changed between album releases for Lord Pretty Flacko Jodye. He became the father of three kids. Became a partner to long-time collaborator, Rihanna. Was the face of many campaigns from Ray-Ban to Dior. Safe to say he has secured himself even more so from where we left off in his Discography. Don’t Be Dumb has its lesson in the name; it’s up to its listeners to take it into account.

EUSEXUA is the moment. Afterglow is the chaos that follows. The anarchic comedown of promise and mourning. Your head is still in the clouds, but your feet have landed on the ground. This album grows on you like the smudge of eyeliner after a long night, proof of evolution out of experience. Then it stays with you like the rhinestone you find behind your ear on a Tuesday. Afterglow, the sister album to EUSEXUA, continues the conceptual design of the FKA twigs universe. twigs is notorious for reinventing herself with each album, pushing the boundaries of her artistic experimentation in both sound and movement. Afterglow is the first release without a “new” twigs, but a continuation of the twigs she has spent the last two years building—it is arguably one of the strongest musical campaigns of our time. This record takes time to hook you, but put yourself on the city streets at 4 a.m. and you’ll be overcome with a glow of sorts.

Design by Charlotte Heintz By Wyatt Sardy Jeff Tweedy’s right hand strokes the strings on his guitar like he doesn’t care, like it’s easy for him. He doesn’t have the best stage presence, he doesn’t prance or slide on his knees to face the crowd for a high-octane solo. Tweedy allows his music to envelop…