October Music Recap

October came and went didn't it??? A lot of new music came out this month, so I wanted to talk about some of the standout releases that we saw in October. These are listed in order of release.

>> 1: brat and it's completely different but also still brat <<

Charli XCX

Released 10/11/24

The brat remix album was a great start to the month! It was really great to be able to hear all the old songs from the original album in a new form. Despite some people complaining that this album drifted too far away from the source material, I think that there's no issue with doing that. I already talked about rambled on and on about this album in another blog post, so check that out here if you wanna read more about my thoughts on it.

>> 2: The Secret of Us Deluxe <<

Gracie Abrams

Released 10/18/24

I was kind of surprised to see this even come out, as The Secret of Us was released all the way back in June this year. This deluxe has 4 new tracks plus 3 'Live from Vevo' versions. To be completely honest, this deluxe kind of emphasized the parts of Gracie's music that I don't like. Don't get me wrong, I thought the original album was pretty solid, only complaint I had was that it gets a bit repetitive. But there were a lot of songs from it that I liked, especially the two singles 'Risk' and 'Close to You'. The new songs in this deluxe are basically more of the same, decent lyrics with a mostly acoustic instrumental. The four songs sound pretty redundant, especially when listed to back-to-back. The writing is okay, but it's nothing more than some love songs with some decent metaphors. None of it is terrible, but frankly I found them to be quite boring. If she spent and her producer spent time making the instrumental more interesting then I think that could have make a significant improvement, and a better overall listen.

>> 3: Holidays <<

Conan Gray

Released 10/18/24

Another surprising release from this month! I didn't expect Conan to be releasing new music any time soon, especially since he just released an album in April. This is a completely different of vibe from that album. 'Found Heaven' was an 80's pop-inspired album that was a completely new vibe from Conan's old music. With this new single, it looks like we are headed back to what Conan is used to making. Holidays is a nostalgic song about childhood and friendship. Despite all the time that's passed, Conan still feels like not much has changed about him or the people he grew up with. It's a cute song with a sad nostalgic undertone. Overall, I thought this was a decent song, but I feel like he should have waited to release this song. This song would hit so much harder wrapped up in a blanket at night as the snow fell, but maybe that's just me...

>> 5: The Great Impersonator <<

Halsey

Released 10/25/24

An interesting and well executed concept album from Halsey! I honestly wasn't really looking forward to this album when she announced it, and then single 'Ego' came out and I was excited to see what else she was going to do on this album. It wasn't quite what I expected, but that's not a bad thing. If you didn't know, this is a concept album where Halsey impersonates a different artist from the past on each song, adopting their sound and singing style. This made it a pretty interesting listen, as each song felt different from the last. Also, Halsey was battling some serious health issues while making this album, and so she created this album thinking it would be her last. With that context, this album makes a lot more sense and meaningful. I'm thinking of doing a full album analysis at some point, so just in case I do, I'll save some of my other thoughts for now.

>> 6: Aquamarine <<

Addison Rae

Released 10/25/24

Addison Rae went from someone who I would've just shrugged off as some social media influencer. But recently, she's actually been dropping some decent music. She did release a debut EP but I didn't find it very interesting. She disappeared until- out of nowhere- she appeared on the 'Von Dutch' remix with Charli XCX, which was got Addison a lot of praise. This remix definitely signaled a vibe-switch for Addison, and this was proved after she released 'Diet Pepsi' a couple months ago, which was actually really good despite being so simple. It felt like an outtake from Lana Del Rey's old album 'Born to Die' (which is a compliment btw). This new song Aquamarine is going in the same direction as before, and while I do prefer her last single over this one, I still thought this was an interesting listen. Maybe it will grow on me more as time goes on, but I do know that I'm curious to see what Addison does next.

>> 7: MEGAN: ACT II <<

Megan Thee Stallion

Released 10/25/24 

Megan released her self-titled album 'MEGAN', and then what felt like only a few weeks later, she announced and released this album. In actuality, there was around a 4 month gap between the first and second album, but it felt like such a short amount of time. Maybe that's just me though. As for the first album, I thought it was pretty good and the singles from it were marketed very well. I remember every single trending on TikTok, especially 'HISS'. The sequel does more of the same, but I found it a little less interesting than the first album because of that. I think instead of continuing from where the first album left off, it would have been more interesting for her to go for a new sound with this one. Regardless, I don't really find any issue with how it is now, after all it's yet another decent album from Megan Thee Stallion.

>> 7: CHROMAKOPIA <<

Tyler, The Creator

Released 10/28/24 

'CHROMAKOPIA' is the last major release from this month, and is the definition of last but not least. This album kind of came out of nowhere- with Tyler posting a cryptic teaser on social media, then releasing the full announcement the day after. I love it when artists surprise their fans like this! Especially because this album defies Tyler's usual 2-year album cycle, no one expected him to drop a whole new album so soon. Safe to say, it was yet another example of Tyler's talent when it comes to making music. This album mixes elements of Rap, R&B, and Jazz to create a full-sounding album. This project covers a few different topics, but is most primarily about Tyler looking back on himself from the past, while also looking towards the future as he contemplates responsibilities like having a family. I couldn't tell you whether or not this is my favorite project from Tyler yet, but it's definitely up there. I probably couldn't review this album as well as others since I'm not as involved in this genre, but I can tell you this much- it's another great piece of art from Tyler, and proved yet again that he's one of the best modern-day rappers.

>> Final Thoughts <<

Overall, October was a pretty interesting month for music. There was even more music released than what I talked about here today, these were just the releases that stook out to me personally. Hopefully November has even more in store for us in terms of music!

As always, thanks for reading and I hope you enjoyed this rundown of October's music!

~ Joey