Album of the Week: Alessia Cara Know-It-All

The state of pop music in 2015 is strong, and unsurprisingly, we have the ladies to thank for it.

Taylor Swift's pop opus 1989 is still kicking down doors, and inspiring alt-leaning musicians to publicly embrace a genre they would normally scoff at; Carly Rae Jepsen delivered not just the best pop album of the year, but one of the year's best albums period; underground R&B songstresses like Kelela and Tink are adding vital new voices to the music; Grimes is fracturing the music and using the scraps in unique ways; and we have Adele coming back next week.

Amidst all this, you should make room for 19-year-old Alessia Cara, a musician who takes bedroom R&B and brightens it up with her own pop sensibilities. On her debut album, Know-It-All, she's made an album for the wallflowers, love sick and those on the verge of adulthood.

The undeniable highlight of the album is "Here," a party anthem for those who would rather be anywhere but the party. The song samples Isaac Hayes "Ike's Rap II," and adds some booming drums and bass over tinkling keys. The whole song is basically Cara telling off people who are trying to chat her up at a party: "I don't dance, don't ask, I don't need a boyfriend/So you can, go back, please enjoy your party," and she adds a healthy measure of cynicism and biting wit to the proceedings. Verses like

Excuse me if I seem a little unimpressed with this

An anti-social pessimist, but usually I don't mess with this

And I know you mean only the best

And your intentions aren't to bother me

But honestly I'd rather be

Somewhere with my people

eloquently shows the nimble mind of a person who knows where they belong. It deserves to go into every party mix, if for no other reason than so the people who don't want to be there (and trust me, there are always a few) have something to nod along to.

As evidenced on the album, Cara's wheelhouse is love songs that capture the surprising way love comes along and changes people.

"Outlaws" makes the best use of a horn riff since Ariana Grande's "Problem." The lyrics are a dash of Jay Z and Beyonce's "'03 Bonnie & Clyde," run through Drake's lonely worldview. It's the kind of escapist pop song that rock music has traded on for decades, but I'll be damned if Cara doesn't sell the hell out of it.

"I'm Yours" it's the cynic's love anthem, with verses like

How dare you march into my heart

Oh how rude of you

To ruin my miserable

And tell me I’m beautiful.

It's a song for everyone who has fallen in love when they were least expecting it, and is a catchy example of the kind of smart humor Cara possesses as a songwriter.

"Stars" is among the best love songs of the year, and is a swooningly romantic ode to loving someone who adores you for who you really are. Cara really sells the moment of acceptance in lines like

See I need you

And sometimes we need to

Shed our facade and be just who we are

All broken and torn, then we could be stars.

Almost everyone can relate to that heart-stopping moment when you reveal who you are to someone and it only makes them love you more. It's a rare occurrence, and all the brighter for it.

For a first effort, Know-It-All is brimming with promise and potential. Cara knocked it out of the park, and more than lives up to the album's name. We should all be excited to see what she does next.  

Know-It-All is out on Def Jam.

Also recommended this week:

Justin Bieber's trap pop return, Purpose.

Logic's space-rap sophomore release, The Incredible True Story.

Mark McGuire's lovely classic-rock techno, Beyond Belief.

One Direction's last album before a hiatus, Made in the AM.

A Sunny Day In Glasgow's EP, Planning Weed Like It's Acid / Life Is Loss.

A Tribe Called Quest's reissue of their debut album, People's Instinctive Travels and the Paths of Rhythm.

Ty Dolla $ign's long awaited full-length, Free TC.

Album of the Week: Kelela Hallucinogen

For many years, albums were almost always 40 minutes long. This was the amount of time a vinyl album could hold, and unless an artist wanted to get really adventurous (and expensive) and go with a double LP, they had to pare down their songs to fit that time frame.

Think about that for a minute. That means most of the defining records from people like Bob Dylan, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, Jimi Hendrix, Led Zeppelin and countless others changed music forever in 40 minutes or less. That just boggles the mind.

New mediums allowed for more time, and thus more music, culminating in CDs, which provide 80 minutes for musicians to experiment with. Some artists use that time to the max (think Kendrick Lamar's brilliant but exhausting To Pimp A Butterfly), but even an average album still clocks in at around an hour.

I've always been a "leave them wanting more" guy, so while I appreciate the efforts many musicians put into making use of all the time they have, many of the albums that have hit me hardest in recent years go for brevity. Take Japandroid's Celebration Rock, easily the best rock album of the century, which clocks in at just 35 minutes.

We can now added Kelela's new EP, Hallucinogen, to the list of heavy hitters who can knock you out with just a few well timed hits. Hallucinogen is a mere six songs and clocks in at around 37 minutes. And yet, she doesn't waste a second or a sound in creating a gorgeous sonic landscape in which to get lost.

The theme of Hallucinogen is a kind of Memento'd relationship – first song "A Message" is the end of a relationship, and she works her way back to the start from there, ending with the gorgeous "The High."

Kelela really digs into those brutal thoughts that envelop you after losing someone:

I won't shed a tear

Cause waterworks are easy

Left some things behind

Don't need your help

And all I know is all I've got

Is it hard to face

All we lost?

She beautifully gives voice to all the self-doubt, bitterness and grief that the loss of a partner can create, and does so in a completely honest way.

"The High" is glitchy sex anthem, as ominous as it is intoxicating (check out lines like, "My lips are creeping up your neck/You shiver and try to pull back/And forth and back and forth with it") and indicative of a relationship that had a shelf-life built in. 

Her insightful songwriting throughout is augmented by breathy-vocal delivery that belies her range when she fully cuts loose. Her words come to you with a breathless muffle, like she's singing to you with her face in a pillow, and it carries with it an immediate intimacy. But you can also hear her sly smile, especially on standout track "Rewind."

The soundscape is all icy synths and 808s – the kind of stuff Drake lives in and Tink skates through – and Kelela is perfectly at home there. "A Message" has one of my favorite beats of the year, and I wouldn't be surprised to hear Drake hopping on a remix of it at some point. It's perfect headphone music, and Kelela subtly bends all the music to her will.

Kelela is just getting started (this is only her second release) and by taking a classic approach to constructing an album, she proves has greatness ahead. Give her your attention – you won't regret it.

Hallucinogen is out on Cherry Coffee/Warp.

Also recommended this week:

The Decembrists lovely EP, Florasongs.

The first part of Game's Documentary 2 release.