Oh My Lanta

★ 8.6

album

At Home In My Mind

Ellur

“at home in my mind- ellur i love finding music and then listening to it!! i came across british singer-songwriter, ellur, and her song, missing kid, on a random playlist, and learned that they had just released an album mere days ago!! how exciting for this dragging train from new york to dc. When I start the album from its proper beginning, god help me now, i sigh in relief that this girl gets it. sometimes it feels really good to hear someone else you don’t even know say: I think too much I'm all out of fucks The world's on fire I'm just getting drunk i mean- yes, exactly!!!! you get me!!!! At just 25 years old, Ellur has been releasing music since 2020, quietly cultivating a cult following over the pond, but this year is her turn to make a global splash. in 2025 she landed in Austin, TX at SXSW, and this year I predict a handful of US festivals are on her docket! While the album starts off upbeat, a little sparkly, a litty synth pop perhaps, by dream of mine we are getting an idea of who ellur really is. the small town struggles that are the backdrop to her storytelling. i’m hearing an influence of war on drugs and other psychedelic-americana that has such a special place in my heart. ok and now we are at the 5th track, yellow light, and oh wow, that hook hits. she knows it hits because the first time she sings it at around minute 1 she starts it quiet, subtle, not trying to convince us it’ll be stuck in our heads for all of eternity. i can’t decide so i rely on the yellow light simple and uniquely put, and so universally understood. that’s honestly a great way to describe this album in general. I love that she ends this song in a cacophony of brass and strings and drums- it’s giving bon iver weirdness and i love it. the world is not an oyster is the quinessential mid 20s anthem i wish i had when i was going through it. constantly feeling like everything is your fault, even when other people hurt you.”

★ 8.5

album

luck... or something

Hilary Duff

“It doesn't feel right to listen to a Hilary duff album for the first time on a streaming service. I still remember the days I would load my cd Walkman with metaphorosis and swing my heart away on my backyard swingset. Hilary duff continues to write the rule book for how to be a pop star in the 21st century. From creating the Disney channel star to pop artist pipeline, now she's proving that audiences are in fact interested in music from rope over the age of 25. There are a few reasons this album works. Hilary's authenticity has always emanated from her, since Lizzie McGuire days. The other reason this come back album is so successful, is th collaboration of her husband. He is a major player in the music industry, from songwriting, to production, to vocal toplining. He worked on carly Rae Jepsons album We don't talk had Easter eggs of sounds from "somebody that I used to know" The optimist is a complete diversion from any sound we know of Hilary. Light and spooky, influences from traditional country, civil wars Adult size medium might be my favorite track on this record. It might've a little more alternative in its songwriting and phrasing, airy and floaty, cinematic as fuck. Favorite songs: Roommates The optimist You from the honeymoon Adult size medium”