Music Roasts
Sally listens to every track so she can tell you exactly what's wrong with it. Bar by bar, note by note.
8 Months
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“Eight months is also the length of every relationship Thomas's target demographic has had since 2019. He is not so much describing a personal experience as he is providing a piece of customizable software. That is either smart writing or accidental marketing. Both, probably.”
25 Was Us
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“Naming a track 25 Was Us in 2026 means committing to a piece of writing that will only fully land for people currently between 22 and 30. The song is going to age like a Polaroid. Beautifully and slightly out of focus.”
MDMA
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“Naming a song MDMA is a marketing decision before it is an artistic one. Every algorithmic playlist that touches party themes will pick it up. Every parent will not. Whether you find that funny or cynical depends on your relationship to streaming economics.”
Wild
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“Naming a track Wild in 2026 is choosing to be findable by no one and discoverable by nobody. The algorithm will throw it onto playlists. The listener will not remember the name when it ends. That is a tradeoff Thomas has made consciously or accidentally.”
Never Over
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“Never Over is also a song that will be played on every "still not over them" Spotify mood playlist for the next eight years. That is a great revenue model. It is a less great way to be remembered as an artist.”
Waste Your Pain
Cruz Beckham & The Breakers · Pop Rock
“La riga 'don't waste your pain on me' e consegnata con il peso emotivo di qualcuno che non ha mai dovuto aspettare un autobus.”
Iceman
Drake · Hip-Hop
“Iceman is what happens when a generational talent decides that the safest version of his work is the version worth releasing. Drake at his peak made music that felt like a person was inside it. Iceman feels like a quarterly report.”
Silhouette
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“A song called Silhouette in 2026 is a song that is trying to be evocative on the cheap. Imagery this generic should be earned with writing this precise, and the lyric does not quite get there. Production saves the track. Production cannot save the title.”
Mr Know It All
Teddy Swims · Soul/Pop
“Il testo e 'Mr Know It All, non mi conoscevi affatto' ripetuto con leggere riformulazioni per tre minuti.”
Sandbox
The All-American Rejects · Pop Rock
“A lesser band would have made an album about how their fans rediscovered them. The All-American Rejects had the discipline to make an album about the people they have become instead. That distinction is rarer than it should be.”
Too Soon
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“A song called Too Soon will be on every Spotify "wish things ended differently" playlist for the next decade. That is steady revenue and an unmistakable signal that the algorithm has decided what kind of artist Thomas is allowed to be in 2026.”
Dandelion
Ella Langley · Country
“Due delle tracce sono chiari scarti di pitch di Morgan Wallen.”
Echolalia
Bjork · Experimental
“Echolalia is not made for streaming algorithms, casual listeners, or background play. That is its strength and the source of every complaint anyone will make about it. The album sets terms. You can take them or you can leave them alone.”
Your Eyes
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“A song called Your Eyes in 2026 is a song that was not going to be searchable, memorable, or culturally distinguishable from the 4,000 other songs called Your Eyes. Production saves it. Production should not have to.”
Cruel World
Holly Humberstone · Indie Pop
“C'e ancora un feature di Sam Fender e due canzoni su un ragazzo specifico.”
In Times of Dragons
Tori Amos · Alternative / Singer-Songwriter
“The mythological lyrical framework will alienate listeners who cannot follow her there. That has been true since 1992 and Tori has never adjusted for it. That is the entire point of being Tori Amos.”
Kissed Her More
Thomas Geelens · Blue Eyed Afropop
“Kissed Her More is also a title that confirms Sally's long-standing thesis that all of Thomas's 2026 song names are tweet-length confessions trying very hard to look like art. They are tweet-length confessions that happen to be wrapped in art. The distinction is doing a lot of work.”
Of All People
Foo Fighters · Rock
“Dave Grohl ha scritto 'Of All People' come titolo di canzone dal 2011.”
She Did It Again
Tyla & Zara Larsson · Pop / Amapiano
“She Did It Again is a perfectly engineered single that will earn its streams and disappear from cultural memory the moment the next Tyla song arrives. Both artists are operating at the floor of their talent, which is still well above most peers.”
Going Shopping
The Strokes · Indie Rock
“Il titolo e Going Shopping. La canzone parla di Going Shopping. Non ci sono strati qui.”
Lose Your Self
Enter Shikari · Post-Hardcore/Electronic
“La strategia di rilascio a sorpresa funziona artisticamente e fallisce commercialmente.”
10 Til Midnight
Snoop Dogg · Hip-Hop
“L'album ha 17 tracce perche nessuno alla Death Row gli ha detto no.”
Holy Thread (from The Devil Wears Prada 2)
Lady Gaga & Doechii · Pop/Hip-Hop
“Quattro minuti sono un po' troppo lunghi per questa canzone.”
Pinky Up
KATSEYE · K-pop/Pop
“Il hook 'pinky up like royalty' e il tipo di verso approvato da quattro dirigenti A&R.”
EXPERIMENTAL RAP
JPEGMAFIA · Experimental Hip-Hop
“Chiamarlo EXPERIMENTAL RAP è un flex solo se l'esperimento è ancora in corso, e a questo punto Peggy ha ripetuto la stessa procedura di laboratorio abbastanza volte da poter pubblicare i risultati.”
Blue Morpho
Ed O'Brien · Art Rock / Ambient
“Ed ha finalmente fatto un album solista che suona come Ed, il che e un trionfo finche non ricordi che il suo compito nei Radiohead era far suonare meglio tutti gli altri.”
the color of rain
aja monet · Spoken Word / Jazz
“La tragedia non e che the color of rain sara poco ascoltato, ma che chi ne ha piu bisogno e stato addestrato a saltare tutto cio che dura piu di un ritornello.”
Ugly Duckling Union
Lowertown · Indie / Bedroom Pop / Post-Punk
“Ugly Duckling Union è il suono di una band da cameretta che si accorge che la cameretta è stata demolita, e cerca di convincersi che il nuovo studio open space con il pedalboard post-punk era quello che voleva fin dall'inizio.”
Live From Mexico
Dua Lipa · Pop / Live
“Un album dal vivo dovrebbe essere un documento del perche le canzoni dovevano esistere. Questo e un documento del perche il tour doveva esistere, che e una domanda completamente diversa e molto piu costosa.”
Florescence
Maisie Peters · Pop / Singer-Songwriter
“Chiamare il tuo terzo album "Florescence" quando i brani restano per lo più a metà fioritura è il tipo di titolo che solo una laureata in lettere osa e solo un'ufficio stampa difende.”
Love Is The New Gangsta
6LACK · R&B / Alternative R&B
“Chiamare il tuo album Love Is The New Gangsta nel 2026 non è una tesi, è un tatuaggio che coprirai discretamente nel 2028.”
Everyone For Ten Minutes
Bleachers · Indie Pop / Rock
“Non puoi produrre metà delle classifiche pop e poi fingere di essere sorpreso quando il tuo stesso album suona come una compilation tributo ad artisti che hai inventato tu.”
Blog Era Boyz
Machine Gun Kelly & Wiz Khalifa · Rap / Pop-Rap
“"Blog Era Boyz" e come chiami un progetto quando l'algoritmo e il tuo vero produttore e il tuo pubblico target e un marketing manager di 33 anni che ha ancora un account SoundCloud di cui non parla.”
Sexistential
Robyn · Electropop
“La title track abbina testi confessionali sulla FIV con riferimenti alla commedia di Adam Sandler del 2008.”
THIS MUSIC MAY CONTAIN HOPE
RAYE · Pop/R&B
“17 tracce. Diciassette. In un'era in cui gli album si accorciano, RAYE ha guardato l'economia dello streaming e ha detto 'assolutamente no.'”
Whatever's Clever!
Charlie Puth · Pop
“Il titolo dell'album ha un punto esclamativo. Questo e il tipo di entusiasmo fabbricato che definisce l'intera carriera di Charlie Puth.”
Younger You
Miley Cyrus · Pop
“Due minuti. La canzone dura due minuti.”
ALL ROADS LEAD HOME
Central Cee · UK Rap/Drill
“Sette tracce. Rilasciato con marketing guerriglia a Shepherd's Bush.”
ARIRANG
BTS · K-Pop/Hip-Hop
“Quattro milioni di copie in una settimana.”
Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally.
Harry Styles · Dance-Pop/Disco
“Il titolo dell'album non e un titolo. E una bio Tumblr del 2014.”
HADES
Melanie Martinez · Alt-Pop
“Diciotto tracce su distopia e male patriarcale. Diciotto.”
