Eli Bland

Recently, I’ve been revisiting a handful of albums that have come out over the past few years to see if I still feel the same way since they first released. I thoroughly enjoy every album I’ll mention in this piece this time around, but the level of enjoyability may have teetered just slightly.

Charli xcx – how i’m feeling now (2020): 8.7 → 9.4

Before BRAT summer there was, well, a global pandemic. Charli xcx’s fourth studio album was a defining moment for a lot of people amidst the COVID-19 lockdown. how i’m feeling now, with its erratic, noisy instrumental palette, also offered great feelings of hope, strength and togetherness. Coming back to this record a few years removed from the turmoil that was 2020, reminded me not of the isolation and loneliness of the time, but rather those glimmers of hope and reunion everyone was looking forward to. While how i’m feeling now would act as a great precursor to the unique and wonky production style Charli has now become known for this year, it’s also a great reminder of how humanity was still able to find fun amongst the chaos.

Fiona Apple – Fetch the Bolt Cutters (2020): 9.0 → 8.2

When this record first released I don’t think I’d ever heard a Fiona Apple song in full. Now in 2024, she’s slowly becoming one of my favorite singer/songwriters of all time. While I still adore a lot of the production and songwriting on Fetch the Bolt Cutters, I’ve come to appreciate a lot of her earlier work much more in comparison. While this record is still a masterful edition to her immense yet brief catalog, it still doesn’t come close to her absolute best.

Billie Eilish – Happier Than Ever (2021): 9.2 → 8.5

Originally being one of my favorite records of 2021, I’d be lying if I said I’ve come back to it more than a couple times since then. Billie Eilish’s second album is still full of great moments and noticeable growth, it just isn’t a record I come back to as much as I’d hoped. Especially since her latest album Hit Me Hard and Soft came out this past May, a record that I think is now easily her best and most interesting in every possible way, I don’t have much use for Happier Than Ever anymore. That isn’t to say it’s not worth your time, I still think it’s one of her best projects and home to some of her best songs, it just now feels more like a time capsule other than a timeless classic.

Sufjan Stevens – Javelin (2023): 9.1 → 10

One of my favorite records of last year has now become one of my favorites of the decade so far. Javelin is an emotionally raw, taxing yet beautiful listen that demands your attention with each passing track. Having gotten into more of Sufjan Stevens’ work over the past year, it has made me appreciate this album so much more in the process. As this record details the crushing loss of Stevens’ beloved partner, it also leaves you with a sense of warmth and hope as the record carries you through the stages of grief with stunning, orchestral production, soothing vocal melodies and quaint lyrical content. I now easily see Javelin as Stevens’ most personal, down-to-earth work and a culmination of his entire musical career and overall life up to this point. It deserves nothing less than a perfect score.

As you continue to grow and change throughout your life, so can a lot of your favorite things. Especially when it comes to music, I’ve found your taste isn’t always constant and that your opinions can easily change given the circumstances as well as your new life experiences and memories. That’s why I like to do these retrospectives once and a while, to see if anything has changed and what specifics have made me think differently. It’s all part of being an avid music listener and enjoyer as well as a human living in your constantly changing world.