POP/ROCK
The Chainsmokers, "Memories ... Do Not Open" (Disruptor/Columbia )
The EDM-pop DJ/producer duo of Andrew Taggart and Alex Pall has turned all it touches into buzzing, methy, high-charting gold, starting with the dumb 2014 song " Selfie" and 2016's dumber, lovelorn "Closer." That's the key to the Chainsmokers' success so far — dumb-headed, airy, contagious, synthetic pop with a glossy danceable vibe and self-serving emo-yearning lyrics.
It's both odd and emboldening, then, to see the Chainsmokers shifting their fast, furious hit-making sound from buoyant singles to something more soft-shoe-shuffling on this debut album.
With the exception of the blip-electro-rocking "Break Up Every Night" (worst lyrics ever), the trap grooving "It Won't Kill Ya" and the densely chipper "Last Day Alive" (with the country duo Florida Georgia Line), "Memories" is atmospherically moody (lots of Satie-esque forlorn piano figures) and rhythmically cool with its weighty, emotional emphasis placed on doe-eyed narcissist romanticism. "Bloodstream," "Honest" and the gently carousing "Something Just Like This" (with Coldplay) are slower-in-tone, selfish love songs: love thyself and beware of strangers you can't sleep with, then discard. But they're catchy — good, dumb, numb and catchy.
A.D. AMOROSI, Philadelphia Inquirer
Sheryl Crow, "Be Myself" (Warner Bros.)
Remember Crow when all she wanted to do was have some fun? That's the version of the singer-songwriter that comes shining through on her latest album. You can practically hear the weight lifted off her shoulders as she sashays her way through "Woo Woo," her clever twist on Meghan Trainor's "All About That Bass."
That's not to say her recent albums — the soul-tinged "100 Miles From Memphis" and the country-leaning "Feels Like Home" — were heavy, but there's a comfort that feels infused into the songs on "Be Myself." Maybe it's the familiarity of working again with her late-'90s crew, co-producer Jeff Trott and engineer Tchad Blake. Or maybe it's that Crow, now 55, feels more comfortable with who she is and where she's heading.
The activism of her underappreciated "Detours" CD is still on display here, but it's become more integrated into her big-picture lyrics. On "Halfway There," she's looking to foster a dialogue between liberals and conservatives, over a strutting soul groove. She does turn up the political heat on "Heartbeat Away," a raging Rolling Stones-y rocker. She balances that seriousness with the lighthearted "Grow Up."
"Be Myself" sounds carefree and timeless, while still remaining current sonically and lyrically. In other words, it sounds exactly like Crow.
GLENN GAMBOA, Newsday
new releases
• Feist, "Pleasure"
• Willie Nelson, "God's Problem Child"
• Mary J. Blige, "Strength of a Woman"
• Gorillaz, "Humanz"
• John Mellencamp, "Sad Clowns and Hillbillies"
• Thurston Moore, "Rock 'n' Roll Consciousness"
