RECORD REVIEWS

RECORD REVIEWS

K.Flay

Album: “Solutions”

Grade: B

It’s always been hard to pin down K.Flay’s music. She’s a bit of a sonic chameleon, mixing elements of hip-hop, rock and indie pop with moods that go from brash to introspective. You’ll get no clear answers after listening to her new album “Solutions” – thankfully.

K.Flay, the stage name of Illinois-raised Kristine Flaherty, starts her third studio CD with the wonderfully autobiographical statement song “I Like Myself (Most of the Time)” and ends with a wistful tune about her father, “DNA.” In between, we get to celebrate all the gloriously different sides of an artist who resists getting boxed up in one genre.

There’s The B-52-ish “This Baby Don’t Cry” and the Lorde-adjacent “Bad Vibes.” She channels Weezer on the environmentally conscious “Not in California” and practically raps on “Good News.” Her thrilling vocals range from babyish to Joan Jett-ish.

K.Flay, whose biggest hit to date is her 2017 “Blood in the Cut,” got a song on the TV show “Riverdale” and has been featured on songs by X Ambassadors, Tom Morello and Mike Shinoda.

Imagine Dragons’ frontman Dan Reynolds is also a fan. He invited her to open for the Dragons on tour and signed her to his Interscope-distributed label, Night Street. (He gets a co-writing credit on her “This Baby Don’t Cry.”)

K.Flay had a hand in writing every song and plays guitar and keyboards on a few. She gets production help from some old fans – Tommy English (who earned a Grammy nomination for K.Flay’s album “Every Where Is Some Where”) and JT Daly, who helmed “Blood in the Cut” to his own Grammy nod.

“Solutions” reveals a woman unbowed by social pressure, angry by adulthood’s lies and aware of her insecurities but not defined by them. She mocks overly posed Instagram photos, calls out fakers – “You’re the sequel that sucks” – and is modest about her goals:

“Everybody wants to count their calories and money and their likes/ Baby, my job is just to rhyme/ And I’m fine with that,” she sings on the opening song.

OK, but definitely count us as a like.

–Mark Kennedy, Associated Press

BANKS

Album: “III”

Grade: B

You could call BANKS’ first single in a few years steamy – but you’d be off-base. “Gimme” is absolutely erotic, an explicit, hyper-racy club song – maybe a sex club song? – that announces the return of an artist in complete control. “I been dripping for your love,” she sings. “Driving me crazy with the way you whine.”

It’s the highlight of the appropriately titled “III,” BANKS’ third album and one that jackhammers into the dark, murky pop vein that other young women like Tove Lo, Meg Myers and Lorde also mine.

Born Jillian Banks, BANKS released her debut album, “Goddess,” in 2014, with her follow-up LP, “The Altar,” arriving in 2016. Her songs have been featured in the HBO series “Girls” and fueled the opening act for The Weeknd.

“III” finds BANKS co-writing every track and collaborating with some high-level producers, including Buddy Ross (Frank Ocean) and BJ Burton (Bon Iver, Lizzo). It’s got highs but also lows, particularly when the production elements overwhelm BANKS’ warm and hypnotic vocals.

In addition to “Gimme,” the standout tracks on the 13-tune album include the sludgy gem “Contaminated” and the bright collaboration with Francis and the Lights’ “Look What You’re Doing to Me.” BANKS’ vocal fluttery range is on glorious display in “Propaganda,” she’s playful in “Alaska” and her voice is barely above a whisper in the exquisite ballad “If We Were Made of Water.”

But “Hawaiian Mazes” is overcooked, marred by silly lounge arrangements, “Sawzall” never really gels, and “Stroke” and “Godless” meander. Lyrically, you might want to pass on the album if you were ever a dissatisfying lover to BANKS. She’s got very specific imagery and a keen understanding of narcissists.

–Mark Kennedy, Associated Press