It’s a strikingly apt image. Hit Me Hard and Soft feels immersive and saturated. At times, Eilish’s unique strong-but-delicate voice almost sounds like it’s underwater—and that we, her listeners—have plunged into the emotional depths with her.

I suspect few would quickly compare Eilish with her decade-older contemporary, Taylor Swift. Eilish plays the foil of the alt-goth kid to Swift’s awe-shucks girl next door.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Album opener “Skinny” reflects on the tension between others’ thoughts about Eilish’s weight and her own point of view: “People say I look happy/Just because I got skinny/But the old me is still me/And maybe the real me/And I think she’s pretty.”

That track also reflects on the fickle nature of celebrity (“Am I already on the way out?/When I step off the stage/I’m a bird in a cage”). It also suggests that the online world’s appetite for scandal is insatiable (“And the Internet is hungry/For the meanest kind of funny/And somebody’s gotta feed it”).

While Eilish is known for her skewering cynicism and sarcasm, some moments here feel surprisingly earnest, such as her plea for lasting love on “Birds of a Feather”: “I don’t think I could love you more/It might not be for long, baby, I/I’ll love you ‘til the day I die.”

Several other songs try to make sense of disappointment and loss in the wake of broken romantic relationships (“Chihiro,” “The Greatest,” “L’Amour de Ma Vie”).

“The Diner” offers unsettling commentary on celebrity stalkers, and it’s written from the perspective of the stalker: “I saw you on the screens/I know we’re meant to be/You’re starring in my dreams/In magazines/You’re looking right at me.”

CONTENT CONCERNS

In late 2023, Eilish came out as gay. Only, she thought everyone already knew: “But I kind of thought, ‘Wasn’t it obvious?’ I didn’t realize people didn’t know.”

That personal detail is relevant here because Eilish sings repeatedly about lust and love for other women throughout (a fact that likely influences the way we hear some of the lyrics about love in included in the previous section).

“Lunch” is startlingly ribald as Eilish sings about wanting to perform oral sex on another woman. Some lyrics are too explicit to include here, but it’s worth noting that Eilish says, “It’s a craving, not a crush.”

Likewise, “Wildflower” seems to describe a deeply dysfunctional love-and-sex triangle among three women. We hear lines such as, “And I wonder/Do you see her in the back of your mind?/In my eyes?” A suggestive reference to nakedness turns up on “The Greatest” as well.

On “Chihiro,” we hear about a disappointed lover who perhaps hints at suicide (“And you tell me it’s all been a trap/And you don’t know if you’ll make it back”), prompting Eilish to respond, “I say, ‘No. Don’t say that.’”

There’s a passing allusion to reincarnation (albeit one that’s likely intended metaphorically) in “Birds of a Feather”: “I knew you in another life/You had that same look in your eyes.”

“The Greatest” is a melancholy song chronicling a dying relationship: “And we don’t have to fight/When it’s not worth fighting for.” The song also hints that a couple is cohabitating.

More suggestive innuendo turns up in “Bittersuite”: “I see the way you want me/I wanna be the one/ … Can’t sleep, have you underneath/ … Keep me off my feet.” 

We hear the album’s lone profanity, an s-word, on “Birds of a Feather.”

ALBUM SUMMARY

It’s impossible to know for sure how autobiographical any given artist’s songs truly are. That said, Hit Me Hard and Soft has the feel of something that’s deeply personal and revealing. Billie Eilish paints a complicated and layered self-portrait here of a woman longing for love and deeply aware of the ways she’s had her heart broken … and how she’s broken others’ hearts.

Eilish doesn’t play coy when it comes to the fact that she identifies as a lesbian. “Lunch,” in particular, is shockingly shameless in its depiction of Eilish’s female-focused sexual appetites.

The fact that Eilish sings so matter-of-factly about her same-gender attraction offers stark evidence of how far our mainstream culture has walked down this path when it comes to all things LGBT. It’s hard to imagine such plainspoken same-sex fantasizing from a mainstream pop star even five years ago. I suspect many—including some young people quietly grappling with this issue in their own lives—will hear a deep affirmation of that path here.

That perspective, combined at certain points with other suggestively sensual lyrics, is certainly one of the big stories here–especially for families who might have young fans of Billie Eilish. Those moments offer more than enough reason to hit the pause button on streaming Eilish’s latest, as she veers diametrically from God’s intended design for sexual intimacy between a man and woman in covenantal marriage.

We could easily stop right there. But I think we need to press just a bit deeper.

As I listened to each track here—just as was the case on when I reviewed Taylor Swift’s Tortured Poets Department—I hear brokenness and longing, a deep desire for intimacy and meaning and connection. Yes, I respectfully believe Billie’s looking for that love in, as the old song says, all the wrong places. But her heart and yearning to know and be known is achingly, painfully present almost from start to finish.

Billie Eilish may not know it—and she (as well as many others, I suspect) might mock me for saying it—but she’s looking for God, looking for a kind of love only He can give her.

The post Hit Me Hard and Soft appeared first on Plugged In.

The arrival of a new Taylor Swift album is always an event that the Swifty faithful mark on their calendars like Christmas. And this time around, Swift surprised everyone with the release of her 11^th album, The Tortured Poets Department. The original 17 songs showed up on streaming at midnight (Eastern time) April 19. But a couple of hours after that—wait, what’s this? Fourteen more songs?    

Indeed.

Swift, ever the marketing genius, called it The Tortured Poets Department: The Anthology. A double album, she said. More like a triple album, really. And one can’t help but ponder the question: When on Earth did this 33-year-old singer have time to pen and record 31 more songs about heartbreak, love, heartbreak, tragedy, heartbreak and still more—well, you get the point. After all, she’s been jetting around the world for her Eras Tour for the last 18months and spending most other waking moments with her NFL beau, Travis Kelce.

By all accounts, they seem deliriously happy together. This album, though? More like deliriously tortured. It feels like reading Romeo and Juliet 31 times in a row.

With so much poetic angst set to music here, we’ll hit some of the most relevant lyrical issues and circle back to the bigger conversation about Taylor’s tragic romantic worldview in the conclusion.

Positive Content

At the risk of sounding like the kind of churlish, hate-filled critic that Taylor blasts on one of her tracks, there’s very little here that one could characterize as positive.

That said, perhaps we can give Swift a bit of credit for self-awareness regarding her unhealthy romantic relationships. To wit: “I love you, it’s ruining my life,” she sings in lead single “Fortnight.” Later in the song, we get a bit of vintage innocent Taylor when she sings, “At dinner, you take my ring off my middle finger and put it on the one/People put wedding rings on, and that’s the closest I’ve come/To my heart exploding.” That’s a genuinely touching lyrical moment.

But there aren’t many of those here.

Content Concerns

With each album she releases, Swift seems more and more comfortable with casual profanity. “Down Bad” includes 18 f-words, for instance, one of several songs that include that particularly harsh vulgarity. Other swearing includes the s-word, “b–ch” and “h—” on numerous tracks.

Lead single “Fortnight” (referencing a two-week period of time, not the popular game Fortnite) seems to be about a woman who’s had a brief affair with a neighbor, perhaps in part because her husband has cheated too (“My husband is cheating/I wanna kill him”).

Likewise, on “Thank You aIMee,” which purportedly is about dealing with Kim Kardashian’s criticism at one point in her career, she says of her mother’s response, “Everyone knows that my mother is a saintly woman/But she used to say she wished that you were dead.”

Songs breezily suggest sexual trysts that include lyrical references to shared beds and showers, as well as cohabitation when she keeps finding one ex’s stuff in her drawers. “So High School” nostalgically reminisces about risky adolescent behavior (“I’m watching American Pie with you on a Saturday night/ … Truth, dare, spin bottles”) as well as sex in the back of a car (“Get my car door, isn’t that sweet/ … Then pull me to the backseat/ … No one’s ever had me/Not like you/Had me.” The she adds this retrospective commentary: “You knew what you wanted, and boy, you got her.”

Nods to drinking, smoking and marijuana use turn up throughout the album as well. “Fortnight” includes the line, “I was a functioning alcoholic.”

“But Daddy I Love Him” tells the tale of a rebellious girl’s love affair with a wrong-side-of-the-tracks kind of guy—and it paints a nasty picture of judgmental churchgoers: “I just learned these people only raise you to cage you/Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best/Clutching their pearls, sighing, ‘What a mess’/I just learned these people try and save you/‘Cause they hate you.” Later she adds, “I’ll tell you something right now, you ain’t gotta pray for me/Me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy/He was chaos, he was revelry.”

Another song that spiritualizes love and intimacy is “Guilty as Sin?” Suggestive lyrics hint at sexual fantasy and masturbation: “I keep these longings locked/ … These fatal fantasies giving way to labored breath/Taking all of me, we’ve already done it in my head.” Swift then asks, “Without ever touching his skin/How can I be guilty as sin?” And then Swift takes a big leap, using Christian images and themes to describe her own romanticized religion: “What if I roll the stone away?/They’re gonna crucify me anyway/What if the way you hold me is actually what’s holy?/ … They don’t know how you’ve haunted me so stunningly/I choose you and me religiously.”

There are many, many more instances of similar problems throughout this 31-song collection. But that representative sampling gives you a sense of what to expect here.

Album Summary

Taylor Swift would probably number me among those hateful, religious, pearl-clutchers in church for what I’m about to say. But I think it bears saying, because Swift practically says it herself: Romance for Swift is a religion. In fact, she says what she experiences in moments of intimacy represents something akin to worship for her: “What if the way you hold me is actually what’s holy?”

I’m honestly grateful that Swift herself has identified that core longing here. She yearns for those fleeting experiences of intimacy to transcend time and space. Indeed, on “Down Bad,” she describes a moment of soul-to-soul connection in ecstatic, cosmically transcendent terms: “Tell me I was the chosen one/Show me that this world is bigger than us/Then sent me back where I came from/For a moment, I knew cosmic love/ … For a moment, I was heaven struck.”

What she’s longing for is salvation, being unconditionally known and embraced. And she works so very, very hard to earn that salvation. Still, Swift savagely spurns those who would suggest such a thing, even though she’s so obviously seeking salvation in relationships that inevitably leave her broken and gutted.

Elsewhere, she sings, “So how much sad did you think I had/Did you think I had in me/How much tragedy?” Honestly, Swift’s appetite for tragedy seems nearly infinite, listening to song after song after song that “poetically” chronicle her black holes collapsing in on themselves. It’s a void no man can fill, no matter how passionately she longs for it. Only God will fill that space, for her, for any of us.

Now all of that said, everything I’ve written above takes Swift’s tortured personal confessions earnestly, at face value. But I think it’s also worth asking this question about her stories of tragedy and heartbreak: How much is personal, and how much is a performance? A very calculated performance, perhaps? After all, she has a reputation to uphold: No one does a breakup song—or a breakup album—like Taylor Swift.

And Swift has tapped into a seemingly infinite adolescent appetite for such romantically tragic angst. It’s the kind of affection that prompts tween and teen girls to buy four different versions of the same album, just to make sure that they’re not missing out on the complete Taylor Swift experience.

Too cynical? Maybe. Then again, no one else has ever generated a billion streams of her songs on one outlet alone.

And that should give us pause when it comes to our kids and the messages they’re ingesting.

At the surface level, I really don’t like all the harsh profanity here (more pearl clutching—sorry, Taylor), or the glorification of reckless intimacy. But I think I’m even more discomfited by the underlying worldview that millions upon millions of impressionable girls are ingesting: that romantic love is the capstone human experience.

That’s a worldview that Taylor Swift continues to lean into with all her might. And it’s one that deserves our parental attention and critique, lest it leave our daughters (and probably some sons, too) vulnerable to the kind of emotional devastation that Taylor herself plods through over and over again here.

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It’s going to have my stamp. 

That’s what Taylor Swift has said about the albums that she’s recreating, under her name, as her own producer. 

It’s not that her previous work didn’t have her stamp. But when manager Scooter Braun scooped up the rights to her first six albums, Swift decided to re-record every single album, which would allow her to use and license all the songs on them as she chose. And while she’s at it, Taylor’s giving her fans new takes on her old-time classics and even adding songs from “the vault.” 

Now, she’s re-released her 2014 album, 1989, and it’s called, naturally, 1989 (Taylor’s Version). Taylor’s version, includes five new, added songs that we’re going to be talking about here. And while some of them are sweet and reflective, most focus on broken hearts, former lovers and the complications that messy breakups, and sex, bring. 

POSITIVE CONTENT

Taylor learns to be vulnerable in “Say Don’t Go.” Taylor wonders what ended her relationship in “Is It Over Now?”

In “Now That We Don’t Talk,” Taylor mourns a past relationship and the friendship she’s lost (“I miss the old ways, you didn’t have to change/But I guess I don’t have a say/Now that we don’t talk”). She calls her mother for counsel and solace (“I called my mom, she said that it was for the best”) and then remembers …

CONTENT CONCERNS

… That this former lover began to become disinterested and distant in their relationship before it even ended (“Remind myself the way you faded till I left”). 

“Slut” calls out the shaming Taylor experienced while dating a much-desired man (“And if they call me a slut, you know it might be worth it for once”); she notes that the man did not suffer the same fate (“love thorns all over this rose/I’ll pay the price, you won’t”). This song also includes plenty of innuendo, letting listeners know intimate details about their sexual history (“Got lovesick all over my bed/…Half asleep, takin’ your time”). 

Taylor remembers a former high school relationship and the unfaithful, too-cool guy who broke her heart (“You had people who called you on unmarked numbers/In my peripheral vision/…And you kiss me in a way that’s gonna screw me up forever”). 

Taylor’s left alone after being led on by a love interest in “Say Don’t Go.” She says, “Why’d you have to lead me on?/Why’d you have to twist the knife?/Walk away and leave me bleeding.”  

“Is It Over Now” finds Taylor’s former lover replacing her, often sensually, with anyone and anything that reminds him of her (“If she’s got blue eyes, I will surmise that you’ll probably date her/…You search in every model’s bed for something greater”). Taylor does the same (“Was it over when he unbuttoned my blouse?”). 

ALBUM SUMMARY

I’ve said this before, but it’s worth saying again: Taylor’s music has changed and evolved. But that’s to be expected.

She started writing music back in 2006, before I graduated high school (and we’re the same age), and she’s still writing and releasing music. Which means that women like me who grew up listening to Taylor sing about hopeless romance are now listening to her add murky complexity to that music: revenge, bitterness, heartbreak, loss and details about former sexual trysts. 

And that’s mostly what we hear on these five songs released from the vault. We hear that Taylor’s heart has been broken and that she has a sexual and emotional past that is working itself out. Not profanely, but often graphically. 

The post 1989 (Taylor’s Version) appeared first on Plugged In.

Taylor Swift is here to tell you her story, her way. 

Back in 2010, Swift released her album Speak Now through Big Machine Records. Since then, her relationship with the record label took a real dive. After she parted ways with Big Machine, she vowed to re-release all of the albums she originally recorded under her Big Machine contract, but this time under her own label. 

And so she has, little by little, with each one being tagged with the label Taylor’s Version. 

Which brings us to Speak Now (Taylor’s Version), the third album Swift has re-recorded. Here, you will find the same 14 songs that were released back in 2010. But Swifties will also find six new and previously unreleased tracks from that era. 

And I’m here to let you know what’s going on in those new, added tracks from the Taylor Swift vault. 

POSITIVE CONTENT

Swift wants to cast aside cynicism and believe in love again in “Electric Touch.” Similarly sweet thoughts can be heard in “Timeless.” 

“When Emma Falls in Love” is a heartfelt song about a captivating young woman who finds love and stays in love (something that Swift realizes she hasn’t learned how to do yet). 

Swift realizes that she’s not the same person she used to be, and life doesn’t look like it once did in “Castles Crumbling.” 

In the previously released track, “Better Than Revenge” Swift changes the lyric, “She’s better known for the things that she does on the mattress,” to, “He was a moth to the flame, she was holding the matches.”

Swift learns to pick the one she loves better in “Foolish One.” 

CONTENT CONCERNS

There’s a bit of innuendo in “Electric Touch” as Swift sings, “And I want you now, wanna need you forever … /I’ve grown accustomed to sleeping alone.” Similarly suggestive lines show up in “I Can See You,” as Swift imagines (a bit more graphically) having sex with a guy (“I can see you up against the wall with me/… You won’t believe half the things I said inside my head/Wait ‘til you see half the things that haven’t happened yet”). 

A man leads Swift on in “Foolish One.” 

ALBUM SUMMARY

For the most part, the original Speak Now is one of Swift’s sweetest albums in many ways. It felt like her last album before things started to turn to revenge and heartbreak and emotional warfare. Sure, there are still songs that deal with all of those topics, but they’re not so tainted and jaded as much of what she’s sung about since then. 

Some of her new songs here are just as sweet and include big names like Fall Out Boy and Haley Williams. These songs deal with a complex inner dialogue, contemplation and the desire for true love. 

What’s not so sweet on Taylor’s Version of Speak Now are some songs that add that dollop of sexual innuendo and find swift daydreaming about sexual encounters with young men. 

So, while there’s still cause for some caution here, overall the six new vault releases are more positive than negative. And they recall Swift in her earlier, more innocent days. 

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No, really. That’s the name of the Jonas Brothers’ new album, released in May 2023. It’s their sixth studio album, and it features a mixture of ’70s groove, pop and a touch of rock. Many of the tracks show off the wide range of vocals that brothers Kevin, Joe and Nick Jonas are belting out. And this time around they’re singing about each of their wives. 

This isn’t necessarily a new topic for these New Jersey natives, but it is one that is focused on more closely this time around as the brothers talk about both the friction of marriage as well as express the love, gratitude and attraction they have for their wives. 

POSITIVE CONTENT

If this album does anything, it reiterates that each of the brothers love their wives and considers them to be their best friends, their confidants and the ones they come to for support. 

In “Miracle” it says that a wife is the “rock for me to stand on” and in “Sail Away,” a wife is represented as a safe harbor for her husband. Similar thoughts are shared on “Walls”. 

“Waffle House” recognizes that marriage is hard and that “some nights we try to kill each other” but in the end, it’s “always love.” “Celebrate!” recognizes that marriage is hard, but that working through the ups and downs of life together is worth celebrating. 

Another praiseworthy mention is the romantic love and affection these men have for their wives. In “Summer Baby” a man sings “I’m still catching feelings for you” after years of being married. 

One of the brothers sings about the beauty and wonder of his new baby daughter in “Little Bird.” 

CONTENT CONCERNS

While the love that the Jonas Brothers have for their wives is obvious and often represented beautifully, it can also be a bit risque. A few tracks do far more than hint at sex: They talk directly about it and leave little up to the imagination. 

“Miracle” talks about all the places that a woman’s hands can go. “Vacation Eyes” says that a man will “make love” to his wife anywhere. while “Summer In The Hamptons” talks graphically about sex. 

Another popular topic here is smoking marijuana, which we hear on “Americana,” “Montana Sky” and “Vacation Eyes” (“Dutchie in my left hand”). The brothers also talk about partying and drinking alcohol, sometimes until they’re inebriated on “Summer Baby” (“too much tequila, no we’re dancing in the lobby”). 

The s-word is bleeped out in “Waffle House”. 

ALBUM SUMMARY

Isn’t it nice to hear other people express that marriage is both hard and wonderful?  Because it is. And this is something that the Jonas Brothers focus on. 

While the difficulties of marriage aren’t necessarily discussed in detail, the brothers make it clear that each of them has walked through battles and trials with their wives, and that they have all come out stronger on the other side. They also talk about how much they love their wives, how they find them to be their place of refuge and how time has made their relationships sweeter. 

These are all beautiful, wonderful sentiments that many can relate to. But that doesn’t make this entire album family friendly. There are more than a few references to smoking marijuana and drinking, as well as one bleeped-out apparent s-word. We also get plenty of references to sex. And while those references are made in the context of marriage (and sex in marriage is a beautiful thing), their descriptions can be pretty graphic.

The post The Album appeared first on Plugged In.

It’s already the top-selling album of 2022, having moved 1.2 million album equivalent units (a number that combines digital streams with physical albums sold, as well as vinyl). Swift’s latest also garnered the biggest sales week for any album since 2017. And on Spotify, Midnights became that service’s most-streamed album in a single day.

In a world of ever-fragmenting music and entertainment options, Swift obviously still enjoys a kind of old-school popularity very few musicians can match these days. As for the album’s overarching theme, she says the songs are based on “the stories of 13 sleepless nights scattered throughout [her] life.” Those sleepless stories include references to current and past loves, revenge, self-loathing and more.  

And just as avid fans finished listening to the newly released album, they were in for an additional treat. A few hours after releasing Midnights, Swift surprised fans with seven more songs written during her “journey to find [Midnight’s] magic 13 [songs].” That whopping 20-song list comprises Midnights (3am Edition), which takes listeners about 70 minutes to complete.

As the dark of midnight leaves us feeling somber and vulnerable, so too does Swift’s Midnights present itself full of reflections on life, love and self-image. Though Midnights contains a few songs regarding the wonder and beauty of a loving relationship, it also carries with it a number of explicit songs (on par with Swift’s more recent album releases, such as folklore and evermore); occasional references to drugs and alcohol; and topics that touch on manipulation, loss and cheating.

POSITIVE CONTENT

In “Lavender Haze,” Swift sings about ignoring outside influences that might distract her from loving a partner well, and “Snow on the Beach” describes the “beautiful” feeling when two people fall in love with one another.

“Labyrinth” describes how a new romantic interest tries to help Swift overcome past hurts following a painful breakup (“You would break your back to make me break a smile.”). “Sweet Nothing” appreciates the peace a partner can bring while navigating a chaotic world (“Outside, they’re push and shovin’/You’re in the kitchen hummin’).

But relationships aren’t without their struggles, which Swift recounts in “The Great War.” Here, she sings about resisting the impulse to let past relationship experiences sow doubt within and sabotage her current one.

Additionally, “Bigger Than the Whole Sky” reflects on saying goodbye to a lost loved one as well as the doubts and grief we might go through because of it. Based on lyrics such as, “You were more than just a short time,” and “I’m never gonna meet/What could’ve been, would’ve been/What should’ve been you,” many speculate that the song may be referencing the emotional pain of having a miscarriage.

CONTENT CONCERNS

Listeners should be aware that many songs, even some of those referenced in our positive content section, contain explicit language, including the s-word, f-word and “g-dd–n.” Songs containing language are “Lavender Haze,” “Maroon,” “Snow on the Beach,” “Question…?” “Vigilante S—” and “Karma.” Additionally, “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” contains “d–n” and misuses of God’s name, though because Spotify does not count such words as explicit, the song won’t have a warning next to it like the others do.

Songs deal with negative experiences resulting from relationships. “Question…?” seems to center around Swift hoping an ex-boyfriend hasn’t been able to move on from her. “Mastermind” shows Swift manipulating people in order to get what she wants from them—namely, to love her. “High Infidelity” describes a woman who has an affair as a result of her unstable relationship.

Furthermore, “Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” uses religious phrases to explain the pain she felt in a previous youthful relationship. Many speculate the song references Swift’s relationship with John Mayer when she was 19 and he was 32. The song recounts how the trauma from the relationship still haunts her.

Additionally, a couple songs reference sexual acts. “Paris” mentions “that guy you hooked up with.” “Mastermind” depicts Swift laying “the groundwork” to get a man to sleep with her (“What if I told you/None of it was accidental/And the first night that you saw me/I knew I wanted your body.”)

Though “Anti-Hero” rightly reminds us that we are all broken people who make mistakes, the song’s self-deprecating lyrics offer no solution to its depressing problem, leaving the listener without any hope.

Almost half of the album’s songs reference alcohol and drug use at some point. In “Karma,” Swift refers to that Hindu concept as being a “god.” 

ALBUM SUMMARY

Taylor Swift has never been afraid to write about the harder side of relationships, and Midnights is no exception. But long gone are the days when Swift’s biggest issue was realizing that the white horse just wasn’t coming. With each album, Swift’s music has focused on more adult, mature themes.

Those mature themes aren’t always bad; As some songs on Midnights will testify, Swift writes impactful lyrics that could potentially encourage others to not give up on love and to look at relationships in a realistic light rather than through rose-colored lenses.

But that maturity also comes warranting a mature audience, too. Many of the songs include harsh language, and others make references to sex, drugs and alcohol. Others still discuss the pain caused by cruel people and damaging relationships.

It’s easy to remember regrets and painful memories when we stay up late and get lost in our minds. But just as midnight might be well past bedtime, parents will want to be aware that Midnights just might be too mature for young fans of Taylor Swift to handle.

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But before you dismiss this solo take by Mumford & Sons’ frontman, you should know that his 10-track album isn’t heavy for the sake of being heavy. Instead, it’s his attempt to work through the sexual abuse he suffered at age 6. The album focuses on the horrors of the event, his own personal feelings about the matter and what it means to walk through counseling, grief, difficult relationships and the possibility of forgiveness. 

POSITIVE CONTENT

In “Cannibal” Marcus wants to know how to “begin again” and forgive his abuser. In “Grace” Marcus realizes that he will need grace to be able to work through these painful memories as he shares them with his mother, hoping for “healing just around this corner.” Similar sentiments, along with strong biblical imagery, are heard on “Stonecatcher” and “How.” 

Marcus shares his scarred memories in “Prior Warning” with someone he loves who reminds him “of love and what we would look like without it.” This same person shows him the ultimate example of humility, deciding not to cast judgment but to listen instead (“Then you knelt on the ground like you were drawing in the sand”). 

Marcus asks for forgiveness from a loved one in “Only Child,” saying: “And if you want, we’ll pick through my mistakes/You’ll see me crying/But maybe we could put it all behind.”

CONTENT CONCERNS

The opening song, “Cannibal” includes the harsh profanity “f—ing” and dives into some of the graphic details of the sexual abuse he suffered as a child. He says “I can still taste you, and I hate it/That wasn’t a choice in the mind of a child and you knew it.” He calls this person a “cannibal” who “took the first slice of me and…ate it raw.” 

“Dangerous Game” doesn’t include any profanity or “bad” content, but it may trigger some that are working through counseling themselves, as it’s about Marcus having to remember and work through the sexual abuse he suffered (“Now he tells me to conjure you up/And so we meet again…/And I’m chasing a ghost all around the room/And now you’re strung up on the ceiling”). Similar sentiments are heard on “Stonecatcher.” 

ALBUM SUMMARY

Mumford’s Grammy award-winning group Mumford & Sons has never steered away from tough subjects. But they don’t often plague every single song on an album. 

That’s why Marcus Mumford decided to venture into this effort on his own. His album provides both an extremely powerful and difficult listen. One that’s introspective and confessional. And one that’s best told straight from Marcus’ mouth. 

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times, he says: 

“…the first time I told the story amongst my community — my friends and my family — it was full-blown PTSD. Vomit, breathing, all that stuff. But the point of trauma work is to be able to tell the story without reliving it. So by the time “Cannibal” came out, I’d already done the work. It’s not hugely emotionally charged for me at this point, and I don’t think I’m kidding myself with that.”

In other words, the creation of this album may have allowed him to work through trauma, but he was diligent to work through decades of emotional weight before the album was fully birthed. That’s a big deal and extremely difficult. It shows that he understood the weight of his trauma and what it was doing to him. And he wanted healing. Something that may feel elusive for some. 

Now, this traumatic subject is something that not only his friends and family know, but the entire world does, too. Some may think that all of this is best left in the privacy of one’s home, but for many this may be an opportunity to heal alongside Marcus. 

The album asks really difficult questions, wrestles with concepts like grace and anger, fights with the process of counseling and unburying memories and ultimately ends on his desire to forgive this person who so destroyed him in his childhood. 

There’s one harsh profanity in the opening song, graphic imagery is present in a few others–but the bulk of this album is one of a grown man using biblical imagery to wander through grief while reaching for forgiveness. And if you choose to listen, make sure that you’re prepared and that you have tissues nearby. You’ll need them. 

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On Oct. 23, 2019, TobyMac’s oldest son, Truett, died of an accidental overdose of fentanyl and methamphetamine. The 15 songs on this album alternately express TobyMac’s lament and remorse, even as we see the 57-year-old Christian musician choose to surrender his grief to God and continue to hope in Him.

The result is a confessional album that embodies tenacity and tenderness, one that may just throw a lifeline of faith, hope and love to listeners who find themselves unexpectedly navigating the valley of the shadow of death.  

POSITIVE CONTENT

Album opener and hit single “Help Is on the Way (Maybe Midnight)” is a gospel-tinged, foot-stomping shout-out to God’s faithfulness: “It may be midnight or mid-day/He’s never early, never late/ … Help is on the way.”

From that up-tempo opener, most of the following songs have a slightly more subdued sonic vibe, one that’s in keeping with the reflective nature of the album.

Many songs honestly express TobyMac’s brokenness, even as he reaches out to Jesus for hope and help. “It’s been a long year/It almost took me down, I swear,” he admits on “Faithfully.” “Life was so good/I’m not sure we knew what we had/I’ll never be the same man.” But lest he dwell too much in those emotions, TobyMac then lifts his face heavenward: “But when my world broke into pieces/You were there faithfully/ … I may never be the same man/But I’m a man who still believes.”

That contrast, between grief and faith, turns up on song after song here, with lyrics that will likely speak deeply to anyone traversing the dark tunnel of grief themselves. “Rest” tells us, “Rest, take a breath/ … Blessed, my child you’re blessed/Fall into the arms of God and rest your weary head.” Similarly, “Cornerstone” reminds us that God’s faithfulness is the only foundation worth building our lives upon: “I’m here travelin’ down this long and winding road/Seasons come and seasons go/I been high, and I been low/But I’m standing on the only Rock I know.”

On “Everything About You,” TobyMac is joined by his daughter Marlee as they reflect on Truett’s life and who he was. “I miss everything about you,” Marlee sings simply. “I just miss bein’ around you.”   

Life After Death also includes a remixed version of the song “Promised Land,” now featuring Sheryl Crow. Together, they sing, “Through all these seasons/I’m still believin’/You’re my promised land/In all my grievin’/I’m still believin’/You’re my promised land.” Likewise, “The Goodness” proclaims: “Everywhere that I go/You keep showin’ up/Lord, You make me wanna shout it, oh/You’re the goodness in my life.”

CONTENT CONCERNS

None.

ALBUM SUMMARY

As a parent myself, I can’t begin to imagine losing a child so young, so tragically. Even the thought of it feels incomprehensible.

On Life After Death, TobyMac graciously invites his generations of fans to ponder how he and his family have coped with such an unthinkable loss. Song after song strike a paradoxical balance between honestly venting grief and choosing to trust God with such a terrible blow.

TobyMac told The Media Collective, “I began writing this record right after losing my first-born son—the first few songs I wrote … were just really sad songs, lamenting songs, which you kind of would expect.  At that point, I was just like, ‘Am I just going to live here? Is this my journey for the rest of my life?’ and maybe it is sort of, but God began giving me glimpses, starting with “Help Is On the Way,” I started to really stand on that promise, and really believe that help is on the way. Where that journey sort of took me, and what I kind of landed on, was this thought: I wrote on a napkin one day, ‘you’re still the goodness in my life,’ and I started to believe that, and to see how God is good to me.”

Life After Death is aptly named, a painful, poignant but hopeful collection of songs about what it means to grieve, to remember and ultimately to move forward in faith.

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Harry’s House boasts several chart-topping songs, with four concurrent Top 10 hits. Styles was the first British solo artist to achieve this feat. And among all British acts, he shares that honor with the Beatles alone.

Sound-wise, the album is bright and smooth. Styles’ relatable reflections carry with them a certain charm, and the songs tell vivid lyrical short stories. That said, Styles doesn’t hold back from including problematic messages and references. Many will find his sexual themes, as well as an apparent preoccupation with drugs and alcohol the most concerning of these problems.

POSITIVE CONTENT

Harry Styles pours his heart out to a woman in several songs, and he makes claims about being in love. 

In “Late Night Talking,” Harry admits he can’t get a particular woman “off [his] mind.” He doesn’t hesitate to take responsibility for his mistakes, and he says that he loves someone deeply in “As it Was.” In fact, he feels like life just isn’t the same without her.

Styles also hopes a young woman who was abused as a child can mature past that trauma in the song “Matilda”: “They won’t hurt you anymore” he promises. Styles seems to be upset by the treatment a young woman is receiving from her boyfriend in “Boyfriends”; and he’s frustrated that she’s “back at it again,” even though she knows better.  

Styles often regretfully references his own poor treatment of women as well as his inability to recognize their value until after the relationship is over—content that could be construed in both positive and problematic ways, depending on a listener’s perspective.

CONTENT CONCERNS

The sexual content of this album is frequent and inappropriate. Seven songs incorporate sexual references or innuendos.

“Music for a Sushi Restaurant” weaves sensuality and sushi together in suggestive ways, as Styles tells a woman that he could “could cook/an egg on [her].” On “Daylight,” we hear him “cursing the daylight” when morning arrives after, presumably, an amorous evening.

“Little Freak” mostly deals with emotional heartbreak but does mention a “wet dream.” Lyrics also call a woman “Jezebel,” a reference to a particularly infamous Old Testament pagan woman. Sexually suggestive lyrics in “Cinema” involve dancing and intimacy.

As the album progresses, it’s clear Styles enjoys sleeping with a woman so much that starts worrying about whether he is “too into [her].” And on the song “Daydreaming,” a woman asks him to  love [her] like [he] paid [her].” Provocative and violent lyrics in “Keep Driving” reference a woman’s breast, as well as a man choking her “with a sea view.” “Boyfriends” includes a lyric about a man thinking a woman is “easy.”

Styles also sings about alcohol and drugs a lot. “Grapejuice” mentions enjoying a “bottle of rouge” with his girlfriend.  “Little Freak” and “Keep Driving” mention wine. Unnamed drugs turn up in “As it Was,” where Sty mentions pills, although it is unclear whether they are medicinal or recreational. “Daylight” and “Keep Driving” mention cocaine. “Cinema” mentions “doses” and the “high.”

Besides generally questionable attitudes toward life and mentions of vague mental health struggles, the only other lyrical choice worth mentioning in this album is his name for the woman in “Little Freak.” He calls her Jezebel, which carries an interesting weight in a Christian context.

ALBUM SUMMARY

Harry Styles seems to feel things quite deeply, which gives his songs a cathartic, emotional element at times. It’s not hard to see why he has so many followers—especially the young, female kind.

But while some of those fans and listeners might be tempted to minimize the album’s problems—there’s no profanity here, they might say in Style’s defense—suggestive and sensual lyrics remain impossible to ignore. Add in references to alcohol and drug use, and Harry’s House becomes a destination families will want their children to avoid.

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Growin’ Up is Combs’ fourth top-five album in the U.S. and boasts the highest debut for a country album in 2022 so far. Since the release of his first album, 2017’s This One’s for You, Combs released his second album, What You See Is What You Get, which was well-received. A deluxe version of the album was released on October 23, 2020, including the song “Forever After All.”

This album is consistent with Comb’s other work, featuring themes of idealistic rural life and the sometimes-fleeting nature of love. Casual nods to Christianity are blended with references to heavy drinking, making love and some mild profanity.

POSITIVE CONTENT

“Doin’ This” and “Used to Wish I Was” revolve around Luke’s acceptance of his identity as a country music artist, and the belief that writing and singing music is his destiny. “Doin This” also tells us that his passion for creating music supersedes his desire for fame or wealth.

Several songs admit continued love or respect for women Luke had past failed relationships. Combs acknowledges that he should “let yesterday be” in “Tomorrow Me.” “The Kind of Love We Make” shows his love and desire for a woman who’s presumably his wife.

Several songs, specifically “Middle of Somewhere” and “Better Back When” show Comb’s contentment and appreciation of the little things in life. The former also mentions the Christian culture of the South, where “Jesus saves” and the people pray.

CONTENT CONCERNS

References to drinking in this album are frequent. Luke sings about imbibing various kinds of alcohol, justifying intoxication as a way to let loose and as a coping mechanism. On “Call Me,” Luke sings that a woman he is having a challenging relationship with will “smoke a few smokes, drink a few drinks.” He also talks about stealing a keg from a frat party and drinking from it in “Better Back When.”

A few songs are disrespectful toward women. The most glaring example is on “On the Other Line,” where Combs minimizes his significant other’s emotional outburst and leaves to go fishing. The tone of the song is dismissive, and he claims that he has to hang up the phone with her because of a “six-pound largemouth on the other line.”

Combs sings about another toxic relationship with a woman on “Call Me,” where he encourages her to call him even after she has been slandering him all night in a bar. Another woman is discouraged from calling him in “Tomorrow Me,” because he knows they will both regret it in the morning.

Some lyrics have sensual or suggestive allusions. In “Ain’t Far From It,” we hear, “When she flips that switch, I’m off like a rocket.” The most suggestive lyrics on the album come in a song about his wife, “The Kind of Love We Make,” in which Combs talks about having sex with her “all night long.”

Some coarse language slips in, too. In “Better Back When,” we hear “a–” once, while “d–n” can be heard in “Doin This” and “On the Other Line.” In “Call Me” Combs’ anticipates a woman calling him an “S. O. B.” and saying he is from “B. F. E.,” which is an abbreviation for a vulgar phrase meaning the middle of nowhere.

ALBUM SUMMARY

In some ways, Luke Combs seems to be growing up a bit. Songs like the introspective “Doin’ This” feel more serious than previous albums as he grapples with the realities of his relationships and comes to terms with where life has taken him. Some of his songs harken back to the twangy sound of classic country artists, such as his collaboration with Miranda Lambert in “Outrunnin’ Your Memory.” That said, many songs here nevertheless feature cliched country allusions to sexual intimacy, drinking and treating women poorly.

All in all, hard-core country fans will likely find much to appreciate in the superstar’s latest effort. But predictable winks at bad behavior and nods to unhealthy relationships perhaps indicate that this incredibly popular country singer isn’t quite finished growing up just yet.

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