In Loving Memory＜限定盤＞

Matthew Musto, aka Blackbear, has always straddled musical genres, pairing hip-hop with rock and electronic dance music with R&B. On his sixth studio album, 2022s exuberant In Loving Memory, the Florida-born, Los Angeles-based singer/producer continues to smash sounds together, even as he turns his attention back to his punk and emo roots with a series of high-energy rockers. Its a vibe he first debuted with the single "GFY," a laid-back and hooky song featuring Machine Gun Kelly that moves from a chopped-and-screwed-style verse to a chugging, guitar-drenched chorus that wouldnt sound out of place on a 90s Weezer album. Other guests help Blackbear conjure equally potent throwback emo vibes elsewhere, as on the driving "Toxic Energy" with the Used, and fist-pumping pop-punk anthem "Nothing Matters" with New Found Glory. Much of the album occupies the same liminal alt-pop space that artists like Halsey, the aforementioned Kelly, and even Post Malone have embraced since the late 2010s, as they moved to recapture the angsty romanticism of their punk youth while still holding fast to the dark, hip-hop swagger that helped make them famous. In Blackbears case, he balances pop hooks with diaristic angst, and cuts like "Painkiller" and the spiraling "Poltergeist" with Bayside help make In Loving Memory one of his funnest and most infectiously listenable albums. ~ Matt Collar