July's Top 10 Albums

July is in our rearveiw, so let's get you abreast of new releases. This might help you, casual readers, with what you might have missed.  I am not doing little blurbs on them, just linking the reviews. This helps me organize my end-of-year lists by including each album's genre. This does not mean these albums were released this month; it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed most. I have albums in my in-box that won't come out until October, so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of how much I have listened to them. This month, leaned more on heavy stuff ranging from Nu-metal to Indie Pop, so perhaps you will find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums for July of 2026.

10- Pretty Reckless,-"Dear God" 

Rock

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/the-pretty-reckless-dear-god.html

9-Taylor Bickett- "Nothing I Can't Undo" 

Indie Folk

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/taylor-bickett-nothing-i-cant-undo.html

8-DIE ANTWOORD- "ZAMA ZAMA"

Experimental hip-hop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/die-antwoord-zama-zama.html

7-Dead Pony-"Eat My Dust" 

nu-metal

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/dead-pony-eat-my-dust.html

6-Eartheater- "Heavenly Body" 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/eartheater-heavenly-body-if-im-bottle.html

5-Deathgrave- "Hell is Evil" 

Death-grind

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/deathgrave-hell-is-evil.html

4-Show Me The Body- "Alone Together"

3-Kacey Musgraves- "Middle of Nowhere" 

Country 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/kacey-musgraves-middle-of-nowhere.html

2-Ceremony- "Tell Me Your Dream" 

Punk

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/ceremony-tell-me-your-dream.html

1-Charli XCX - "Music Fashion Film" 

Pop

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2026/07/charli-xcx-music-fashion-film.html

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Kacey Musgraves : " Middle of Nowhere"

 

She opens the album with a two-step back into country and further from pop. I've heard the singles leading up to this album, so I know it's not going to be a straight-up country album, nor would I want it to be. Though if you have not seen her covering "Coalminer's Daughter" at the Country Music Awards, you should if there are any doubts as to her being a legit country artist. Speaking of singles on "Dry Spell she uses pop smarts in the vocal arrangements while sticking clsoer to country; lyrically, some of her smartest innuendos flourish in this song. 

"Back on the Wagon" has a Conway Twitty-like introspective feel, as she makes apologies for an alcoholic in the lyrics.  "I Believe in Ghosts" is the first song that really feels it could have been on the last album, though it does carry a comfortable level of organic twang."Abilene" has more groove to it; it's pop only if you mean the pre-disco pop of the early 70s.  The production of this album is immaculate. "Coyote" finds Gregory Isakov of "Big Black Car' fame lending his voice. The song works but does not grab me as hard as the first five.

"Lonelist Girl" sort of crosses over in the minimal beat that keeps things moving. Billy Strings joins her for "Everybody Wants to be a Cowboy". It's more of a melancholic sound than what I expect from him, and the guitar solo he plays is rather subtle. "Horses and Divorces" finds Miranda Lambert dueting with her, wehre the other singers have been relegated back to harmony vocals. It's an old school country drinking song.   "Uncertain Tx' works not as original as "Rhinestoned," but I am sure she has always wanted Willie Nelson on an album nad at 83 his appearance is understated and low in the mix. 

I have already heard 'Mexico Honey" and seen the video where she is shaking it in the pink shorts she sings about here. This is everything you could want from her as she brings the smarts of pop hooks combining with legit country instrumentation. This song has dreamy ebb and flow to it. 'Hell On Me" closes the album. It's a more introspective ballad. She takes the melody in less obvious places. I will go ahead and round this up to a 10. At this rate, I might have to rate a seperate country end-of-year list, as I am curious how this album would stack up against the new Chelsea Wolfe. Regardless Kacey has created a smart sexy country album that stands on it's own. 

Thanks for reading, give a listen to the song below, and  please "like" and share on social media to give music a voice 

https://www.facebook.com/abysmalhymns

Check out our Podcast here ... https://www.youtube.com/@abysmalhymns666

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the Top 10 Folk / Country Albums of 2024

For some time I've combined country and folk music into this list since they are on the fringe of what is normally reviewed here. The two genres have a great deal of stylistic overlap since pop country is not my thing, and I like folk music that is darker and more melancholy. These albums do not really give a damn about the Nashville status quo even when it comes to the artists in the more commercial spotlight. These are not the coolest albums, but the best, fuck what other blogs say. 

 After I sort through the top 10 albums of all the respective genres, I use those lists to compile the top 10 albums of 2024 list. The very fact that these bands made it on the list speaks to how great these albums are, so it's not a slight that the number 8 album is above the 9th album; there is something that just gives it an edge that makes me want to listen to it more. After all, we can try to look cool and pick the hippest bands for a list, but at the end of the day, what makes an album the best is that it makes you want more, you look forward to listening to it again. Perhaps you can find your next favorite on this list. I've included links to reviews of these albums if you want to check out the audio on these guys. Anyway here are the top 10 country and folk albums of 2024

10-Hovvdy-"s/t" 

If Justin Vernon had grown up in a trailer park listening to country music, Bon Iver might have sounded like this. The twang is subtle, meaning if they were trying to be country, it would be more upfront, as that is the act they are putting up. It's detectable, but I think they are trying to make indie pop, but that is what comes out. It's not pop country though I think they recorded this in an actual studio and not their bedroom, like the sometimes lo-fi Soundcloud quality tries to emulate. Though this is their 5th full-length album they have taken enough trips into the studio to settle into their skin.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/12/hovvdy-st.html

9-the Death South - "Chains & Stakes" 

One of the best modern bluegrass quartets is back with a collection of songs that finds them moving back in a darker direction. They move back in the direction of Murder Ballads. They remained consistent in what they do which is already pretty great so that works for this album.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/the-dead-south-chains-stakes.html

8- 49 Winchester -"Leaving This Holler" 

This Virginia-based band plays a traditional style of country, that is a little more upbeat than what I normally listen to, but it's well done. All the instrumentation fits in the lush mix. Lyrically the outlook is pretty bright, making up home that the drink it up songs go south so I can hear songs about alcoholism. At the end of the day the great guitar playing and singing won me over . 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/49-winchester-leavin-this-holler.html

 

7-the Decemberists -" As it Ever Was, So it Will Be Again"  

The songwriting has been streamlined, and though they get really progged out on the last song, the album is typically an eclectic mix of bard-like folk. as they dip their toes into styles, sometimes taking you back to the 70s as flutes wander around. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/06/the-decemberists-as-it-ever-was-so-it.html

         

  

6-Amigo the Devil -"Yours's Until the War is Over" 

Danny has been playing big rock festivals for a few summers now, and we are beginning to hear how that is influencing him. There is more of an edge here. There are depressing songs that ponder suicide, and by and large, this album is a continuation of the Murder Ballad theme that has driven the bulk of his music. He colors these with different influences, like the touch of Tom Waits which can be felt at times.

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/02/amigo-devil-yours-until-war-is-over.html

5-Faye Webster -"Undressed at the Symphony" 

She could have also crossed over into the top 10 pop albums list that I have yet to finish, but if this was Joni Mitchell doing the exact same songs it would be folk so, here we are. In the 70s there was a genre called adult contemporary. It was the kind of organic loungy music that was not the bubble gum of pop but found artists in the middle of country and jazz. There was none of the country twang, nor the complex excursions in jamming that jazz ventures off into. More produced than folk;, but many former folk artists would cross over into this for radio play. Mellow is certainly a fitting word to describe it. There are no aspirations to induce dancing. This is what Webster's music invokes.

4-Waxahatchee- "Tigers Blood" 

 This album took some time to sink in. Katie Crutchfield is more of a country singer than not. Sure she is soulful. But there is an honest twang that offsets most of her indie sensibility. She has certainly settled into her skin as an artist. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/03/waxahatchee-tigers-blood.html

 

3-Kacey Musgraves -"Deeper Well" 

This is the singer's 6th album. Funny enough the title track is about how she quit smoking pot, but it sounds like still was hitting the bong when she wrote the opening track. It has a 60s ambiance to it. The title track also carries more atmosphere than what you might expect from a country musician who is not smoking pot. From her past work, I would never have taken her as a pot smoker, so it's funny that the album she is not smoking sounds like the one she's smoking the most on. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/kacey-musgraves-deeper-well.html

      

2-Johnny Blue Skies- "Passage Du Dasir" 

Not sure why Sturgill Simpson needs an alter ago as this is more country than some of the albums he's released under his name. Strong guitar playing throughout, sometimes it's touched with a bit of 70s soul, and sometimes he jams closer to what Pink Floyd does. His voice sounds great and it's another testament to his songwriting, where else are you going to hear country songs about fairies? 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/07/johnny-blue-skies-passage-du-desir.html

1-Chelsea Wolfe -"Unbound" 

 If She said the versions of these songs found on this EP were how they were originally written, before being re-mixed into what was presented on "She Reaches Out to, She Reaches Out to..." it would make perfect sense as this sounds more like who she is. This is emotionally powerful and feels like  true expression of who she is. 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/10/chelsea-wolfe-unbound.html

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August's Top 10 Albums

It's time for August's top 10 albums. Staying abreast of the month's highlights might help casual readers see what they missed and check these artists out. I am not writing little blurbs on them, just linking the reviews. I' am using this to organize my lists for the end of the year, by listing the genre of music the album falls under. Inclusion here does not mean that these albums have been released this month, but it is a list of new or upcoming albums I have enjoyed the most, I have albums in my in-box that are not coming out til October so I am normally way ahead of the curve in this regard. They are ranked in order of what I have listened to the most. This month there is a wide variety from Country to Black Metal so you may find your new favorite among them. Here are the Top 10 albums for August of 2024.

10-Curse Upon a Prayer -"The Worship: Orthoprax Satanism"

Black Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/curse-upon-prayer-worship-orthoprax.html

9-Bleed the Earth- "Shapes That Stood in Silence" 

Funeral Doom

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/bleed-this-earth-shapes-that-stood-in.html

8-Falling in Reverse - "Popular Monster" 

Nu-Metal 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/falling-in-reverse-popular-monster.html

7-DAUFØDT -"Glitter" 

Hard-Core 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/daufdt-glitter.html

6-SPEED - "Only One Mode" 

Hard-Core 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/speed-only-one-mode.html

5- Kacey Musgraves -  "Deeper Well" 

Country 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/kacey-musgraves-deeper-well.html

4-Fontaines DC- "Romance" 

Indie Pop 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/fontaines-dc-romance.html

3-GEL -"Persona" 

Punk 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/gel-persona.html

2- Amiture - "Mother Engine" 

Trip-hop 

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/amiture-mother-engine.html

1-Weston Super Maim - "See You Tomorrow Baby" 

Extreme Progressive Metal  

https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2024/08/weston-super-maim-see-you-tomorrow-baby.html

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Kacey Musgraves : "Deeper Well"

 

This album has been out since March, it's the singer's 6th. The title track is about how she quit smoking pot, but it sounds like still was hitting the bong when she wrote the opening track. It has a 60s ambiance to it. The title track also carries more atmosphere than what you might expect from a country musician who is not smoking pot. From her past work, I would never have taken her as a pot smoker, so it's funny that the album she is not smoking sounds like the one she's smoking the most on. "Too Good to be True" carries an introspective melancholy to it, though is solid songwriting,. 

For all practical purposes, this is as much of a pop album as it is a country one. However she does not have an entire staff of producers and songwriters, there are fewer of each on the entire album than there are on one Beyonce song. "Moving Out" is the first song that does not sound as inspired as the previous one. It meanders like a daydream. "Giver / Taker" ambles more like a lazy river, the key here is the melody has movement. Her vocals are really well produced and the harmonies are arranged perfectly. "Sway" finds the guitar creating this sense of motion, that pulls you into the song while her vocals are pretty laid back, almost sleepy from all the pot she is not smoking.

"Dinner With Friends" has some good vocal harmonies, but the bulk of it is kinda sappy. "Heart of the Woods" finds a more mellow 70s sound creeping in, obviously no pot was involved to create this. There are some great guitar sounds on this album, though the vocals got the most love. "Jade Green" sounds like a mix of Stevie Nicks and Dolly Parton. Making it one of the album's best songs. "The Architect" is a quaint folk song, but in light of the vibes she has laid down thus far, it's not as impressive. "Lonely Millionaire" has a more hushed groove, but it is indeed a groove, that makes the song slap. 

"Heaven Is "is another folk song, that is well sung, but these are placed right after slappers so fall a little flat. The bulk of this album's songs could be defined as ballads, so "Anime Eyes" falls into this category. The melodies are not quite as gripping, though the lyrics are clever. The production is more stripped-down and organic for the last song. There are some good songs on the extended editions of this album in fact some of them are better than most of the songs on this album, but for the purpose of this review, I am just going over the songs presented in the original release format.

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The Top 10 Pop Albums of 2018

It is that time again. Pop is music that is fun, and sometimes after a day of listening to death metal for four hours I just need something to cleanse my palate. Pop is encompassing country and rap as well, as long as it's approached from a more mainstream angle. The score from my reviews to help determine the ranking, though I did not review all of these albums so I relied more on how many times Last FM told me I listened to each album.An album can have all the critical acclaim in the world but if it does not inspire multiple listens then how good can it actually be ? While the top ten lists for other genres were more balanced this list leans heavily on the side of new blood. Rather than posting media of a track from each band I am leaving a link to the review, which will contain Bandcamp or Full Album Streams. But since all of these album's don't have reviews, I think you kids know how to use Google and find them if you want to check them out. Ok enough talking about it, the time has come to dig into the top 10 pop albums of 2018.

10-Culture Abuse- "Bay"

The traces of hardcore continued to be shed as the opening is a lazy British beach ballad. Even at this point calling it post-punk would be an exaggeration of the word punk. I can hear more Brit pop and new wave in the almost more 80's like sheen that is buffed out by a warm organic mix. Speaking of pop it is hooky and has more pogo in it's bounce than say the Drums, but the melodies do reach a similar zip code.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/07/culture-abuse-bay-dream.html

9-Ghost World - "Spin"


 Pop doesn't have to be an ugly word. This band from Finland draws from what it meant in both the 70s and 90s. Either that or this is what it sounds like to get stoned and play pop songs with actual instruments. The vocals have a touch of Stevie Nicks in how they warble with vibrato slightly. The guitar melodies glide with single notes in a manner that owe props to the Cure.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/08/ghost-world-spin.html

8-Travis Scott-"Astroworld" 


 This is the kind of album guys like Future and Young Thug used to make it. Both of those guys put out rather lack luster albums, so this kind of fills that void. Auto-tuned vocals that are almost sung than rapped. This is hip that is pretty accessible, trap for the suburbs for sure. With that said it hooks that keep themselves around and you returning for multiple listens and when it comes to pop that is what matters.
 

7-Kacey Musgraves-"Golden Hour"

This is another album I did not review as it's too mainstream. It is driven by "High Horse" which is a perfectly crafted. The other songs might not be album to touch this one but have a very lazy 70s feel to them and are more country than even Swift's earlier albums. Her voice is soothing though she sings in the same range for the bulk of the album, it's still relaxing and fun.

6- the Weeknd- "My Dear Melancholy"

 I was afraid that he might have become too preoccupied with being a TMZ personality and consumed with the celebrity to focus on music. He has  enough in the way of personal drama to fuel a song or two , but would this happen. If he pushed the pop envelope further I felt he was going to lose what set him apart from the other mainstream r&b singers, though artist could apply to him the same can't be said of his peers who are closer to being entertainers than musicians. My fears were laid to rest as picks up where he left off before "the Beauty Behind the Madness" . It has a much darker feel to it and employs some of the pitch shifted vocals that remind me witch-house

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/04/the-weeknd-my-dear-melancholy.html

5-Cypress Hill- "Elephants on Acid"

 It was on "Temples of Boom" where their music took a darker turn. There was a few shifts as the landscape of hip hop changed over the years , but for the most part they have retained a distinct sound. This is not them putting auto-tune on their voices , but taking what they do and putting against different sounds. It opens with more of a psychedelic feel and organic instrumentation. Lyrically they stay sharp. When you are a rapper from California , rapping about weed which was their stock and trade is like rapping about Slim Fast.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/11/cypress-hill-elephants-on-acid.html

4-Twin Shadow-"Caer

" Never got around to reviewing this one, and truth be told I could stand to spend more time with this album, but when I hear these songs they beg for more listens so it's easier to get stuck on one. I think it's not quite at the level of "Eclipse" but that is a pretty high bar and when it comes to pop this album is better than all but three.

3-Post Malone-"beer bongs & bentleys"

 Another one I did not review,as I am sure people who are into this guy know what to expect and while I know I do review artists like Taylor Swift, it's because of some odd left field obsession, but since we do have a pop list then its the right time and place to discuss this album. It's not hip hop, though this is where hip-hop would go...Cypress Hill any one? This is a fun album that is like Justin Beiber with more of a gangsta edge when it comes to the lyrics , though he does get his feelings hurt to much to be a gangsta, still it's a fun album.

2-Chrvches- "Love is Dead"

 This band was my methadone to ween me off a violent addiction to Taylor Swift's "1989" album. For the most part it worked only to get me hooked on their sugary electro pop. Things are only getting worse in the best possible way from there. Lauren Mayberry has lost the goth trappings of her look, and this album might not be the same shade of gray we have heard from them previous.It's well crafted and stays true to what they do without coming across like a sell out. It has more balls than most of the pop these days and doesn't skimp on the sugar.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/05/chvrches-love-is-dead.html

1-Pale Waves- "My Mind Makes Noises"


 I've; described this band to friends as a mix of Taylor Swift with the Cure. The opener is pretty bubble gum, but well done for what it. You don't get to hear the meat of what they do until "There's a Honey". The hook in the chorus is subtle, but I've woken up at 4 AM with it in my head as I stumble to the bathroom. It's songs like this one that have provided a soundtrack to my summer and navigating the first feelings of a new relationship.This band proves Brit pop doesn't have to have anything to do with the Beatles.

 https://abysmalhymns.blogspot.com/2018/09/pale-waves-my-mind-makes-noises.html

the Weekly Playlist Vol 14

Sorry I know it's been more than a week since the last installment. But life happens. I have also been knee deep in the National Novel Writing Month so having to pump out a steady word count on that. Rather than going with a theme like I have in the past, I am going more for a soundtrack of emotions I have been riding the waves on over the past ten days. A lot of life stuff unfolded in the lives of others close to me and myself so there is some of that reflected. In the current "the Sound of Me Before You" series I am doing, I am sharing the sound track of my life in a auto-biographical journey, so this is a more urgent snap shot of the current flux. As the seasons shift toward the holidays, it can cause a morbid subconscious reflection on losses in life, so my focus and goal in these days is to be appreciative for what I have gained. Some of my head ways is not measured in outward accomplishments but the inner journey, so this is more of the soundtrack to that journey, the vulnerability of being present in uncomfortable feelings while knowing it doesn't change where your heart is at. So this is more of a thank you as we enter thanksgiving week, as I have been given something to be thankful for so the acknowledgment of that in these songs might be the best I can do at present when other words fail, yeah I know a writer who finds words fail him, it's easier to do when I am describing metal bands or fantasy scenarios, the closer and more intangible it gets the more I have to rely on the vibrations music brings from inside me.

 The Decemberists _"Here I Dreamt I Was an Architect"

 

 Tears For Fears _ "Head Over Heels"

 

the Weeknd _" Try Me"


 

 Kacey Musgraves _ " Love is a Wild Thing"


 

 Street Sects _ "Dial Down the Neon"

 

 Chvrches _ "Miracle"

 

 Chelsea Wolfe _" Crazy Love"

 

Ryan Adams _ "This Love"

 

 Twin Shadow _ "Littlest Things"

 

Slothrust _ " On My Mind"