The Rotation: Albums We're Listening To Right Now

Every month, we try to keep up the daily onslaught of new music, and every month we highlight the best new artists. But what about the albums? In today’s non-stop streaming economy, singles and playlists are more popular than ever, and the traditional full-length project has become less of a priority.

To most music fans, albums still matter, and a good album is an opportunity for an artist to present depth and versatility. Since we’re usually focused on sharing all our favorite new singles, we realize that we don’t talk about albums enough, so we’ve starting a new feature.

Each month, we’ll ask some Pigeons & Planes contributors and friends of the brand to share which albums they’re currently listening to and what they like about them. Here is the latest installation of The Rotation.

Favorite songs: “Score,” “Claymore,” “Wat U Sed” 

A lot can change in five years, and for patient fans of any artist—regardless of the strength of their pen or the grooviness of their delivery—half-a-decade of near silence is a roll of the dice. Either impatience kicks in and fans move on to the next thing, or the fan excitement surrounding a release grows with each passing year. For Isaiah Rashad, the gap between his second studio record The Sun’s Tirade and July’s The House is Burning (some of which he spent broke before his time in rehab, as he told Fader in a recent cover story) only meant more nail-biting and timeline refreshing. Fans wanted this album. And whether it was the unrelenting excitement that helped push him or not, the Top Dawg artist may have just delivered his greatest work to date.

The House Is Burning is any Zay fan’s daydream. You’ve got Rashad seemingly blowing out the candles as he reflects on his past with some insightful bars on closer “HB2U” (“If you don’t ever get yourself straight, who the f**k is you gon’ help, mane?”), you can hear him ready to play in his backseat in the silky smooth album centerpiece “Claymore” with an assist from Smino, who just obliterates the damn thing, and Zay also gives us the ass-shaking anthem of the summer in “Wat U Sed.”

The album is a joyous return without ever sounding like Zay left. The confidence in his delivery, the confidence in his selection of collaborators and the confidence it takes to welcome us back with open arms are what hold this thing together. No matter how much hip-hop has shifted since 2016, it would’ve been impossible to forget about Sunny. And THIB makes us grateful he’s at our doorstep again.—Brenton Blanchet

Favorite songs: “Amoeba,” “Bambi,” “Blouse”

Clairo’s Sling arrived just three years after her breakout EP diary 001. That early work still stands up, but the musical distance between the whimsical lethargy of “Flaming Hot Cheetos” and a song like “Amoeba” is nothing short of mammoth. Maybe we should have seen it coming—2019’s Immunity showed an artist in transition, spreading wings and finding some pockets. But nothing could have prepared us for a no-skip album.

Gone (largely) are the loops and synths, replaced by webs of vocal harmony and an assortment of gentle instrumentation architected by Clairo and Jack Antonoff. The two artists recorded the album in upstate New York—away from the noise, leaving room for restrained textures and beautiful runs from from guitar, organ, strings, and piano.

But there’s a compulsive energy to Sling, one that extends beyond the uptempo cuts “Amoeba” and “Zinnias.” Maybe it’s the groupsing effect of all those vocal layers, or the urgent delivery of Clairo’s vivid lyricism, narrative and direct even when confronting the heavier things on “Just For Today.” Or maybe it’s Joanie—the dog, not the song. Clairo’s new canine companion is cited as a general inspiration, a pillar of comfort in a shit year. Clairo, with Sling, has in turn given us a pillar of our own.—Graham Corrigan

Favorite songs: “Jail,” “Praise God,” “Hurricane,” “No Child Left Behind”

With any Kanye album we’re now familiar with the unparalleled buildup, conflicting narratives, and evasive drop dates. Donda was certainly no different. After months of will he drop, won’t he drop and multiple long nights spent waiting in vain, Donda finally arrived. Given the intense hype, it was almost impossible for the album to live up to the god-like status expected from it. Regardless, Donda brought us beautifully produced pieces, a powerful use of samples, and as always, carefully curated features.

Serving as a dedication to his late mother Donda, Kanye muses in a nostalgic, often religious and reflective voice. Feature wise, this album is on another level. Kanye has a way of bringing out the best performance from each and every artist he works with. From Fivio Foreign and Kid Cudi to Playboi Carti, Young Thug, and Travis Scott, the feature list elevates the listening experience.

Mixing in samples from Lauryn Hill, 20th Century Steel Band, gospel pieces, and speeches all add to the depth of the album. “Jail” ascends into an otherworldly plane with synthed-out guitar, layered and distorted vocals, and finally a Watch The Throne reunion between Ye and Jay-Z. This song alone makes the album worth it. Fans of the unreleased album Yandhi finally got a taste of a completed version of “Hurricane,” which recycled an old Yandhi melody, now sung by The Weeknd. “Praise God” brings Travis and Baby Keem together over a masterfully sampled speech delivered by Donda West herself. “No Child Left Behind,” while mainly instrumental, really seems to encapsulate the essence of Donda. The hours spent producing by Mike Dean to create this epic operatic gospel piece really showed here. 

Kanye may never return to his Yeezus, Graduation or MBDTF days, but as an artist he continues to evolve and experiment, keeping us all waiting with bated breath for whatever’s next. —Sabine Adorney

Favorite songs: “IDFT!?,” “Patterns?,” “Glenwood Freestyle!”

GRIP has been a P&P favorite ever since we heard his 2017 project Porch. We interviewed him in 2018 and followed him closely ever since, from the excellent Snubnose to the quarantine packs Halo and Proboscidea. He hasn’t disappointed yet.

In 2021 GRIP got a call from Eminem and signed to Shady Racords, and his new album I Died For This!? is an introduction of sorts. If you’ve already been paying attention to GRIP, you know what you’re in for: top-shelf lyricism, thoughtful narratives woven throughout, and timeless production that doesn’t fall in line with the flavor of the week.

But even if this is your first time hearing GRIP, I Died For This!? tells you everything you need to know. There are easy entry points like the hard-hitting “IDFT!?” and thumping “Glenwood Freestyle!,” heartfelt songwriting on “ConMan?” and “Patterns?,” and a strikingly authentic portrayal of GRIP’s life story on tracks like “And The Eulogy Read!?” and “A Soldier’s Story?” Oh yeah, and there’s an Eminem feature on “Walkthrough!” that should reel in a new support system of Stans.

For those who were already sold on GRIP, I Died For This!? solidifies his spot as one of the best new rappers on the rise right now. But the album also hints at his potential beyond his well established rap skills. “I definitely want to expand in music,” he told us. “I want to be known as a musician, more so than just a rapper… I don’t want to be boxed in, like I’m just rap-itty rap, rap-itty rap every goddamn time.”

Some of the most exciting parts of this project are tracks like “JDDTTINT!?” and “Enem3?,” where he flirts with new sounds and styles outside of hip-hop. And then there’s “Patterns?,” a soulful song where GRIP flexes his vocal cords and gets vulnerable about fatherhood from a few different angles. For a rapper like him, especially with this new Shady association, making a song like that is a big risk—it would have been far more safe to deliver 12 songs of straight bars. In this case, it paid off—“Patterns?” is one of the best songs on the album, and along with the rest of this project, it’s a plot twist that sets the tone for an artist who’s playing the long game, evolving in real time, and building something made to last, brick by brick.—Jacob Moore

Read our full interview with GRIP here.

Favorite songs: “Verdansk,” “Three Rivers,” “In The Fire,” “System”

British rapper Dave’s latest album is the clearest distillation of his vision yet and confirms that the 23-year-old is one of the most important contemporary musicians in the UK. He successfully combines a wide variety of sounds and styles on the album into a cohesive and clear-eyed project that has a sweeping, film-indebted character arc. “When you hear who I am by track 12 versus who I was in track one, that journey, it feels like a journey of years, like, ‘Yo, this person has been here, this has happened, that happens, I meet this person, the slang I use, the arrogance, the voice,’” Dave explained in a GQ interview before the album came out.

Talking of film, the album title We’re All Alone In This Together came from a conversation with legendary film score composer Hans Zimmer, who said the phrase to Dave during a FaceTime conversation. That anecdote serves to show the world Dave inhabits now, a celebrity and star in the UK and beyond with acting credits in Netflix’s Top Boy, cosigns from Drake, and a message from Daniel Kaluuya on his album.

As bright the spotlight shines on him, Dave is not afraid to speak about what’s on his mind and he does so with unnerring clarity, whether that’s Grenfell, deforestation, and racism in his powerful BRIT Awards performance of “Black” or the Windrush scandal, the Balkan Wars of the ‘90s in Easter Europe, and violence in the Middle East as he does on the stunning “Three Rivers” from his new album. Across the album’s 12 tracks there are Afrobeats party songs (“System”), rap flexes (“Verdasnk”), an all-star UK rap posse cut (“In The Fire”), production and vocals from James Blake, and a lot of self-reflection (“Survivors Guilt,” “Heart Attack”). There are straightforward bangers and lush production flourishes, including keys from Dave himself, who learned piano in high school.

“Now, I get to go from zero backwards in time and explore stories from before, stuff that led up to the events of the first album [Psychodrama],” Dave explained in the same GQ interview. “Heritage, history, culture, my family, the countries that we come from, the regressive state of humanity in where we are now. Migration is a massive thing for me – boats, freedom of movement.” There is much to unpack across We’re All Alone In This Together, but Dave’s is a voice worth listening to with messages that need to be heard.—Alex Gardner

Favorite songs: “Mood Ring,” “Big Star,” “Secrets from a Girl (Who’s Seen it All)”

Solar Power is brimming with the comfort and catharsis we’ve come to expect from a Lorde album, but this time it’s delivered with the warmth of a New Zealand summer and the poise of a girl who’s seen it all. Her songwriting is sun-kissed by chorused electrics, double-tracked acoustics, and lush vocal arrangements. And while there isn’t a feature in sight, attentive listeners will discover contributions from Phoebe Bridgers, Clairo, Robyn, Jack Antonoff, and a swarm of cicadas (Solar Power is textured with the ambiance of buzzing cicadas, courtesy of Lorde’s personal voice memo collection).

Lorde’s third studio album has arrived entirely on her own terms with a social media-less rollout, an eco-conscious CD alternative, and an upcoming tour of intimate venues. Lorde’s primary means of communication for this era is the Solar Institute bulletin—a long-form newsletter that reads like the pages of her diary. The Solar Institute is a window into the mind of an artist who is as introspective and private as she is famous: “I know now that as hard as I try to run towards or away one of the sides of my life, they’re both very much who I am,” Lorde writes of the balance between superstardom and domesticity. “It’s jarring to move between them, but that dichotomy is me.” True to her word, Solar Power embraces the space in between, opening with a song that recalls stealing a fork from the Met Gala as a gift for her mother. From there onwards, Lorde assumes her role as your personal tour guide through sunshine and sadness across the album’s 43-minute runtime.

If Melodrama was the journey, then Solar Power is the destination. This record is a natural evolution of Lorde’s artistry because, in her own words, “all the music you loved at 16 you’ll grow out of.” If you aren’t ready to let go of the “old Lorde,” her earlier albums are never out of reach. Just know that when you’re ready to step into the light, Solar Power awaits.—Nico Tripodi

Favorite songs: “Voicemails Uptown,” “Bussin’ (Cold),” “Wayan Bros.”

Dropping three separate albums including a joint project and 68 new tracks in 2021 alone, there is no shortage of Pink Siifu music to catch up on. His newest album Gumbo’! brings 57 minutes and 36 seconds of deeply textured tracks in tandem with Siifu’s signature hypnotic, raspy lyricism. Layered sampled sounds mixed with ambient jazz and ‘80s synth shouldn’t work this well, but Siifu has masterfully blended genres to create an experimental experience. Fans will notice Siifu has included elements from previous work including NEGRO (2020) and ensley (2018), creating a living, breathing discography.

Speaking on his own ambitions, successes, and tribulations, Siifu brings an edgy, aggressive delivery that demands to be listened to. He also knows which artists complement his style, with old and new names including The Alchemist, Liv.e, Bby Mutha, and Maxo all featured on the album. Big Rube is also heard on the album giving a nod to the art of spoken word hip-hop and its influence on Siifu’s personal style. 

Moving to Cincinnati after being born in Alabama, Gumbo’! reflects the eclectic nature of Siifu’s southern upbringing. The album hops effortlessly from smooth jazz samples and nocturnal beats like in “Living Proof” featuring The Alchemist, to the heavy and intense soundscape of “Wayans Bros.” It’s been clear before and continues to be true that Pink Siifu is independent in every sense of the word, creating music with full autonomy, willing and able to push the boundaries.—Sabine Adorney 

Favorite songs: “Pretty Pictures,” “17,” “Late Night Crawler”

Framed by grungy production, unaffected vocals, and just the right amount of teen angst, Indigo De Souza’s 2018 debut album I Love My Mom quickly caught the attention of Omaha label Saddle Creek. Three years and a record deal later, De Souza is back with her sophomore album Any Shape You Take. 

The Indigo De Souza on Any Shape You Take is a bit more mature, has a firm grip on her sound, and approaches songwriting—and life—with a newfound clarity. She still loves her mom, though. In fact, her mother was the artist behind both of De Souza’s album covers. 

Any Shape You Take weaves in and out of various rock subgenres dressed in pop undertones, while ultimately staying true to I Love My Mom’s DIY ethos. “Hold U” and “17” come with a slight 80s soft rock tinge, à la 2017 HAIM, while songs like “Bad Dream” travel further into gritty guitar instrumentals. Co-producer Brad Cook’s (Bon Iver, Whitney, Big Red Machine) folk rock influence peeks through on “Die/Cry.”

There’s something for everyone on this album. “Hold U” sounds like the score to a grainy, romantic VHS montage. Tear-jerker “Pretty Pictures” might leave you wondering why you took your toxic ex back. The screamo bridge on “Real Pain” evokes a feral frustration. The tracks flow beautifully into each other, leading the listener from gloomy musings on “Late Night Crawler” (“maybe we’re bigger than staying on the very same island”), to brutal reckonings on “Kill Me” (“nobody asked me to feel this f*cked up / but here I am f*cked up”). 

If your first impression after reading this blurb is that there’s a lot at work on this album, you’d be right. Any Shape You Take is a whirlwind of revelations and extremes, and it’s Indigo De Souza’s unfiltered honesty with herself that makes it such a rewarding listen.—Maddy Quach