New Music Report (Deftones, The Ocean, Joji)

I'm once again blown away by the quality of the music released in 2020. We have bands putting out albums they'd rather wait a little longer to put out so they can tour behind the songs, artists expanding the sounds they've already built, and others leaning into the chaos this year but a lot of it is great stuff. Listen to next weeks music meeting for my thoughts on some new singles, but these are three new albums I really like.

Deftones - Ohms

Deftones are one of the bands that rose to popularity on the wave of Nu Metal in the late 90's but managed to trancend that label to great success. Each of their albums is consistently great to listen to and Ohms is no different in that regard. But on this album we see the band getting heavier than 2016's "Gore", while incorporating elements of Dream Pop along with the heavy guitar work (9-string guitars are used on this one) Fans are going to love it, and I think this album is already one of their best.

The Ocean Collective - Phanerozoic II: Mesozoic /Cenozoic

This is the 2nd half of a Double album The Ocean have been working on over the last half of the previous decade. Part 1 (Paleozoic) was released in 2018 to fan and critical acclaim, and this album both continues the concepts on part 1 and brings them to an even grander scale. Both albums should be heard for the full experience, but I like part 2 a little more. If you like Post-Metal, or Progressive Metal; you'll adore this album and this band.

Joji - Nectar

This is the second Studio album from Singer and Former Youtuber Joji. Right from the start he's stuck pretty close to the lo-fi R&B sound he established himself with on his previous releases. But on Nectar we see him adding more into the sound, making it grander, and more mainstream sounding. I like it a little more than "Ballads 1" and I'm excited to see Joji find more success, if you're looking for something chill and elegant, Nectar is the album for you.