Criticism of discs: Sparks and Alejandro Sanz between the best of the year; Miley Cyrus between the forgettable
*Alejandro Sanz – And now what? – EP
The Spanish star resets his discography with this EP, the first title after signing with Sony in 2023, after a long stay in Universal. The concise format -seis songs in 17 minutes- allows the concentration of its talents, in impressive form to 34 years of the official debut.
And now what? It is Alejandro Sanz Atemporal and at the same time attentive to the strategies in the Boga of Spanish -American pop where collaborations are vital, territory where it has reaped milestones as Looking for Paradise (2009) with Alicia Keys. Here covers practically the entire Latin pop spectrum of the moment adapted to its ways.
Each cut is justified from Palm trees in the gardenthe story of a romance without coincidences. The single Kiss me Together with Shakira it is a magnificent example of first urban frequency pop, at the same time an extraordinary demonstration of validity and fullness of two veterans. I don’t feel good today Next to the Frontera Group, the Northern Texan Band of vertiginous success, unfolds towards the sauce by clicking the fingers with recriminating verses. The heart of a heartbreaking edge, Latin cadence and reflection takes over That is love -“To think that heaven in hell fits, that’s love and he who tried it, knows it”-. The closure with Manuel Turizo in What would it be like He finishes a solid delivery, at the height of a Latin pop giant.
*Sparks – Mad!
If the measure of musical success responded exclusively to the influence and respect of other artists, Sparks is one of the most relevant bands in history, with an enviable cutting of subject; Among others, Duran Duran, Sex Pistols, Depeche Mode and Björk.
For more than half a century, the Californian duo of the Ron and Russell Mael brothers has chiseled an extraordinarily ambitious and wiring pop, but without crossing the line towards the free ketches, even when the material offers levels of elaboration of the progressive, in protection of the deadly seriousness and the litanies through humor and irony. Mad!, Twenty -seventh title, it has plenty of merits to appear among the best of 2025.
Do Things My Own Waythe first cut is read as a biographical summary while being built around an accelerated pulse with layers in layers. Jansport Backpack It alludes in a coral suite to the famous backpack. Hit me, baby It borders the heavy metal and electronics, with a freshness that Ghost would like. Running up at the hotel for the faB is a gentle invitation to trance with western reverberations and angelic and insane choirs, such as Synth Pop of heavenly profile shapes In Daylight. At 76, Russell’s voice and ideas to mold melodies are phenomenal. Ron, 79, persists as a composer and lyricist out of series who challenges time.
*Miley Cyrus – Subject Beautiful
Inspired by The Wall (1979) by Pink Floyd, Miley Cyrus embarks on the most ambitious and discursive project of his career. Something Beautiful is a “visual album” that involves a film directed by it, in an attempt to “medicate (…) a sick culture through music” with the aim of “impact your body with frequencies that make you vibrate.”
With 32 years and after winning a couple of Grammys in 2024, the artist felt the freedom “to create the album she had wanted to make throughout my adult career.”
This talk results in a grandiloquent and mismatch work, whose results pale before the intention of a final work. It skids towards a little identity, especially in electronic passages with dance inspiration such as the cloying Reborn Where he sings about “killing my ego” as in a disinfiled version of Lady Gaga, whose ghost appears several times.
The homonymous song tries a literal rupture passing from soul to a more effectist more effectist rock rock, while the single End of the world It is a decaffeinated rock pop with stadium ambition; The same lack of consistency takes over Easy Lover. Subject Beautiful It lacks powerful simple, focused production and stylistic consistency. It is not a collapse because of Cyrus’ interpretive qualities, but it does not definitely qualify among the most interesting of its discography.
