Power

Given Sarah Tudzins growing success as a producer and engineer -- she helps artists like Boygenius, Weyes Blood, Speedy Ortiz, and even Coldplay make the most of their music -- were lucky she still finds time to make music of her own under the moniker of Illuminati Hotties. Then again, her gifts as a punky-poppy tunesmith and multi-instrumental savant are sharp enough that one could argue Tudzin is doing those artists the favor by giving them access to her impressive talent, and 2024s Power, the first Illuminati Hotties album since 2021s brilliant Let Me Do One More, confirms that shes only getting better at making her own records. Power is more thematically and emotionally diverse than Tudzins previous work, with events in her own life providing the subtext -- she fell in love and got married, and helped her parents through serious health problems; her mother succumbed to metastatic breast cancer. Even when love and loss dont directly inform the lyrics, the highs in Powers songs are sweeter and more buoyant, while the lows have a greater gravity, and the overall feel is more mature and carefully crafted. While Tudzin has grown as an artist in the three years since Let Me Do One More, shes sacrificed nothing in the process -- she still writes killer pop tunes and can bring them alive in the studio with a tone that encompasses joy and introspection with aplomb. Released in late August of 2024, Power came out a bit late for "Falling in Love with Somebody Better" to be the Great Pop Song of the Summer, but it could still be an anthem for those finding new romance in the fall, while "YSL" is the edgy, new wave-ish dance track youve been needing (even if you didnt know it), "Didnt" is a near-perfect 90s alt-pop homage (with a fine vocal cameo from Cavetown), and "Whats the Fuzz" is loaded with dirty guitar and vocal swagger that makes it sound like a head-nodding classic. Power more than lives up to the high standards Sarah Tudzin established on Let Me Do One More, and if youre in the mood for smart, insightful indie pop thats not afraid to rock, Illuminati Hotties is a band you need to hear.