10 Best Pop Albums Of 2018
5. Let’s Eat Grandma - I’m All Ears
Let's Eat Grandma's follow-up to the ambitious 2016 "sludge pop" release "I, Gemini" might have traded in some of the experimental, fairytale-like weirdness of songs about shiitake mushrooms for more straightforward pop hooks, but in doing so the band have discovered a sense of clarity and purpose.
At first glance, the band's electronic sound isn't all too dissimilar to an act like Chvrches, only with a refreshing drive to never be limited by the constraints of modern synth-pop. Although it's more polished than their previous record, each track maintains the same threat of unwinding, with the refined production not obfuscating the pervasive unpredictability that's always made the band so exciting.
These elements are as present as ever on lead single Hot Pink, co-produced by another breakout star of 2018, SOPHIE. Though the latter's industrial sensibilities shine through in this track, it functions as a brilliant statement of intent for Let's Eat Grandma as a whole, with the trading vocals driving home the simple, assertive central hook.
The best thing about "I'm All Ears", though, is the way it moves between biting, radio-friendly pop hits like this into larger, winding tunes that embrace the power of the band's instrumentals. No better is that exemplified than on the album's closer, Donnie Darko, a track which builds in intensity between vignettes about bed bug bites and flicking through the Yellowpages before exploding into a powerful crescendo of dreamy synths and punchy vocals.
How Let's Eat Grandma's sound will develop from here is a mystery, but one thing's for sure: I'm all ears.