Sean Sharp's Diary

Thematically, it seems Harry set out to make a pure-blood disco album, but he and his team ran out of workable ideas and ended up making a few artsy pop songs. Then decided to give the album this title to make it seem intentional. The vibe throughout this thing is pretty unique to say the least. It seems only Harry, Kid Harpoon, and Tyler Johnson had input on this, and so I decided to do a little bit of digging on the background of the producers. Kid Harpoon is, historically, a pop producer. Tyler Johnson seems to be more on the writing side of things and has had a long history of working with Harry. Meaning that these three focused their efforts on a disco album, something that none of them seem to have any experience with, based on my little bit of research. Because of this, they harness some of the elements but completely miss at other points on the direction of this thing. The unique vibe is probably also attributed to their lack of experience in the genre. Their experience as a whole in the industry does serve them well, however, as it does provide as a one-of-a-kind listen. To quickly run through some of the track list to drive the point home, "Aperture" is long, which is not an uncommon thing in disco, but it loses a lot of its grip when it's not peaking at its chorus. "Ready, Steady, Go!" has some very cool vocal details and layering but the production as the song progresses seems like they flew a little too close to the sun as it begins to become a bit of a jumbled mess. Then heading down to "Paint By Numbers", it abandons the style of the album altogether. Truly no idea what they were even thinking by including this track on here. But... the album is good. As much as it seems like it shouldn't work, something about it does click. They knew they had a gem with "American Girls," with it being one of the more pop-focused but still embodying a more disco core. "Taste Back" through "Season 2 Weight Loss" finds a more consistent groove with some songs that are both catchy but features little electronic touches that are typically associated with disco. Then there is "Pop". Despite the name, it really is a crisp example of how this unique style comes together well. A roaring chorus and production that shows the skills of the producers. This song to me seems like the refined version of "Aperture". The closer "Carla's Song" has an excellent ending as well which really is a nice bow and tie to the ambitious project from the trio. While I imagine we will never get something like this from Harry again, I am happy that he took this detour.

Figured it was time to do my occasional check-in on BONES. This dude confuses me to the extreme. I constantly find songs by him that I absolutely love but anytime I listen to a "full" project by him, it's mediocre at best. I suppose when he releases as much music as he does, he's bound to hit the target every once in a blue moon. This album doesn't really seem to land at almost any point. The emo screaming on "HouseMadeOfSticks" is just downright hard to listen to. While most of the rest of the album doesn't drop that low in quality, it is just boring. His albums are always short but typically his rap style and eerie production really work well with the format. This album doesn't feature any traditional BONES production or rapping which he has been straying away from in recent years. BONES is definitely one of the artists that people will be nostalgic for his older work, and typically it's because the new style doesn't meld well with how the old fans' personalities age, but in this case, BONES has just started making worse music in a different genre. The only redeeming quality here is when he briefly finds the light on what this genre could sound like if he put a bit more thought and effort in it. "SuitYourself" and "TallPaleAndUgly" feature some vocal effects that make his vocals more spacious matching the midwest light guitar a bit better. When his vocals are at the forefront of the production, he losses the atmosphere that could be there. Overall though, even if he did capitalize on this throughout the rest of the album, it still misses interesting verses, gripping choruses, and it has an abundance of dead air where boring production just plays... and plays... and plays. Somehow it still only manages to be 26 minutes in total.

I've heard singles here and there from this guy and have always enjoyed them and finally decided to give a project of his a shot. Considering he has been 100% on singles that I've listened to, the math says anything less than perfect is a disappointment but I realize EPs and albums usually have a drop in quality. "Spin The Block" was the only one on here that I heard prior and absolutely loved it. "My Guitar" was the only other track on here I ended up really enjoying. His in your face style is fun and the guy knows how to write a good chorus. I think some of the tracks here lose me a bit with their direction. Especially, "There's No More Underground" and "Fuck It Up" both start to tread into teen band in garage territory which isn't doing the project many favors. I'll still be happy to see what this dude is up to in the future but hopefully the quality increases at least a tad.

My is so goat is back... sort of. Although not a purebred Denzel Curry release, putting his name on the album and every track despite no full appearance on each track is a bit of a letdown. KOTMSV2 was by far from my least favorite of Denzel's and this album definitely returns to a level of quality that I expect from him. I would still heavily like to here a Denzel heavy album, which apparently we will be getting later in 2026. As for what's here in March, it's pretty great. Short and sweet, The Scythe shows out in grade A form. Legends like Juicy J and A$AP Ferg are on here as well as a few up and comers like BKTHERULA and TiaCorine. TiaCorine is the real standout newbie on here. Her verses are the definition of swag, just like she says on "THE SCYTHE". My favorite track is "MUTT THAT BIH". The production is bouncy and energetic and Denzel's verse is fun but, and this is probably a hot take, 1900Rugrat's verse is oddly addicting to me. Typically whiney rappers like him have no part in my listening habits but something about that verse is just fun. The production here though is done to perfection, nearly front to back. There is unique touches around every corner that still fit a typical gritty hip-hop style but are still unique in ever sense of the manner. The only track that loses me a bit on the production side of things is "HOOPTY" with has a pitched up vocal as part of the beat that doesn't do it any favors. Sadly it features TiaCorine and Smino which should have been a great song on here. Otherwise, the last half of this features some of the best production I've here in a hip-hop album in years. A true chef's kiss.

A let down from the standard that Bruno usually holds. By far and away his most boring album to date. Every track on here sounds nice but nothing really stands out that heavily. "I Just Might" being the lead single is the catchiest and by default becomes my favorites since the rest do not differ all that much. "Risk It All" and "Cha Cha Cha" do add a little bit a spice that the rest of the tracks sincerely miss but do not has other gripping elements like an addicting chorus or hypnotic drums to really draw me in. It may do the trick for others, just not me personally. "God Was Showing Off" was the only other track I thought the chorus was fairly interesting from and it does have my favorite lyrics on the who shebang. Given Bruno's impeccable track record, I assume next time he will be back with something I'll appreciate a bit more but his usually extended wait will have me a bit more impatient than ususal.