"Alcott" - The National + Taylor Swift/"Candy Necklace"

"Alcott" - The National + Taylor Swift/"Candy Necklace" - Lana Del Rey + Jon Batiste

A quick glimpse into some of my favorite more mainstream songs of 2023 so far! The National's new album "First Two Pages of Frankenstein" dropped this past Friday, and features guest spots from the likes of Taylor Swift and Phoebe Bridgers. Although I haven't really been into the last few National albums (I enjoyed "Sleep Well Beast" but could take or leave "I Am Easy to Find") I'm relieved to hear that "First Two Pages" is a return to form, and the collabs work wonderfully. "Alcott" with Taylor Swift is my favorite track off the album by far. I am almost surprised by how well Matt and Taylor's voices mesh well together. The National is touring this summer, and you KNOW Taylor Swift is currently on tour. Listen below:

And I really haven't written much about the overall album "Did You Know That There's a Tunnel Under Ocean Boulevard" by Lana Del Rey, but it's another stunning achievement by one of the best singer-songwriters of our time. I will say I haven't fully warmed to it as it's one of those things that feels so lofty and so expansive it's hard for me to wrap my head around. But I will say you really can't argue she's a creative genius after checking it out. "Candy Necklace" featuring the extremely talented Jon Batiste is a chilling favorite - she's gone very piano ballad heavy in recent years, but "Ocean Blvd" is a nice contrast of the more introspective stuff with bangers like "A&W" and "Peppers" with the Canadian rapper Tommy Genesis and a ubiquitous Angelina Jolie metaphor. Check out "Candy Necklace" below - and look out for a possible Lana tour in the near future! Hopefully with not Taylor Swift prices. O_O

And just because:

By Georges Biard, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15975285

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