Ms Nina, “Te Doy”
[Mad Decent, July 3]
Few other new releases capture the steaminess and gloom of summer ’19 as well as Ms Nina’s mixtape, Perreando Por Fuera, Llorando Por Dentro. As the title suggests, the reggaetonera and neoperreo proponent juggles depression, lust, insecurity, and creativity on tracks as varied as the staccato “Resaca” and the sex-positive “Gata Fina.” Although Perreando Por Fuera could fuel a whole night of grinding, Ms Nina also takes the time to explore consent and reciprocity. Her latest release, “Te Doy,” is a booty-shaking perreo jam with a message—Ms Nina makes it very clear what she’s looking to share, but she’s even more explicit about the fact that you’re only getting culo if and when she deems you worthy. [Danette Chavez]
Mal Blum, Pity Boy
[Don Giovanni, July 12]
Mal Blum’s first new album in four years is clear-eyed and confident, its 12 slices of probing, emphatic pop-rock chronicling a history of self-sabotage through a therapeutic lens. That’s not to say they have all the answers, though—what’s so striking about Pity Boy is how in process it feels, with Blum often dealing in conversation with their own thoughts and doubts. “Do you think that we are friends?” they thoughtfully ask on fiery opener “Things Still Left To Say,” punctuating it with a more desperate, straightforward “Are we friends?” Moments like these give Pity Boy an anxious tension that pairs well with its loose, loud riffs, the likes of which serve to elevate the album’s moments of catharsis. “See Me,” for example, oscillates between timidness and anger as it grapples with the anxieties of coming out as nonbinary and transgender, its explosive chorus resonating as an expression of both self-affirmation and frustration. [Randall Colburn]