This English group has an intriguing trajectory, marked by certain stylistic choices that almost sank their career before paying off once they’d sorted out the genres. While still the standard-bearers of an aggressive metalcore with songs boasting a more melodic post-hardcore soul, Architects have long since evolved beyond their more technical and convoluted early compositions to allow the more accessible choruses to breathe. The tragic loss of guitarist Tom Searle in 2016 after a fierce three-year battle with cancer did not spell the end of the British band led by drummer Dan Searle, his twin brother. Architects turned the grief into a source of inspiration and relaunched themselves better than ever with their eighth album, Holy Hell in 2018. For Those That Wish To Exist is the second album recorded by the band since the death of Searle (with Dan the sole remaining original member). The pain and rage that roared through Holy Hell and helped them mourn have mutated into a kind of despair fuelled by a very gloomy observation about the inability of human beings to save the planet and take up their responsibilities. Committed to various environmental defense movements (Architects are closely linked to the Sea Shepherd organisation), the Brighton combo delivers an album that does not directly attack the institutions in place, but is more like sincere self-criticism, taking into account what each of us should have done before blaming others. The message is delivered with a massive guitar sound fused with electronic ingredients, making Architects’ sound more accessible, grandiose (and even cinematic) than ever. While still rocking the beefy riffs (Animals), the group fully embraces its melodic side in Black Lungs and Giving Blood with choruses braced by synthetic layers that wouldn’t be out of place in Linkin Park. Without sounding industrial, those omnipresent keyboards (Dead Butterflies, An Ordinary Extinction) occasionally evoke the work of countrymen like Enter Shikari, proof that the group is utterly of its era. So it’s no coincidence that Winston McCall, singer of Parkway Drive (the two bands share a label) drops by for a vocal in Impermanence. More surprisingly, Mike Kerr’s (Royal Blood) excellent vocal in Little Wonder shows how much more porous the boundaries between the genres are than might be believed (Simon Neil, singer of Biffy Clyro also show up for a howl later on the album). The old, more radical group is long in the rearview. Whoever decided to flirt with post-hardcore and catchy choruses made the right call. Far more accessible than in the past, Architect’s music will reach an increasingly large audience rather than bringing back older fans lost several albums ago. That’s a winning bet given the catchy aspect of the new songs. Architects were already a staple of melodic metalcore. They’re well on their way to becoming one of the genre’s undisputed leaders. © Chief Brody/Qobuz

Capitalizing on the creative surge set off by 2022's rock rebirth Holy Fvck, Demi Lovato takes aim at ten of their biggest pop hits, transforming them on the appropriately titled Revamped. As straightforward as that sounds, Lovato slaps some leather and eyeliner on a range of favorites culled from 2008's debut Don't Forget through 2017's Tell Me You Love Me. While the already-rocking "Don't Forget" didn't really need a remake, Lovato's updated vocal performance does make the track even more powerful. The rest of Revamped is more daring, as they dabble in punk rock ("Heart Attack"), metalcore ("Cool for the Summer"), stadium rock ("Tell Me You Love Me," "Skyscraper"), and old-fashioned rock & roll ("La La Land" with touring guitarist Nita Strauss). The chaotic "Neon Lights" with the Maine, the glam rock stompers "Confident" and "Sorry Not Sorry" with Slash, and a soaring duet with the Used's Bert McCracken ("Give Your Heart a Break") round out this rousing set, which could just as well be called "Greatest Hits (Demi's Version)." Revamped is great fun, and fans of both sides of Lovato's sonic personality will appreciate this bonus diversion from the main catalog.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Composer Reynaldo Hahn is known mostly for his songs, and his music in the less common two-piano genre is all but forgotten. This release by pianists Frank Braley and Éric Le Sage may change that. The main attraction here, the waltz set Le Ruban Dénoué, contains marvelously evocative music; a "ruban dénoué" is an untied ribbon, and this work is indeed a gift for the listener who may not have heard it. The work consists of 12 waltzes, capped with a song rendered here by the ethereal Sandrine Piau; the waltzes have titles that seem to carry an unlikely degree of specificity ("Indolent Decrees of Chance," "The Lost Ring"), but listen and hear how the complexity of Hahn's textures brings them alive. Braley and Le Sage do not miss a detail. These pieces appeared in 1915 when Hahn was serving as a clerk at the front in World War I, and they feel like an uncannily detailed look back into a past that was instantly disappearing. The program is filled out with interesting two-piano works by Chabrier and Hahn; especially charming is Hahn's three-movement Pour bercer un convalescent ("Rocking a Convalescent"), limpid despite the use of two pianos. A delightful release that may leave listeners wondering where this music has been all their lives.© James Manheim /TiVo

Demi Lovato is never shy with her album titles. She shrugged that her second album offered more of the same (Here We Go Again), she bounced back whole from a turbulent spell (Unbroken), then she found a new mature identity (Demi) and, now on her fifth album, she's all about being Confident. Deservedly so, too, because this 2015 album is Lovato's best all-around record since her 2008 debut, Don't Forget. Confident is steely, assured dance and shimmering electro-pop, as much a reflection of its time as the sugary blast of Radio Disney pop on Don't Forget. If that debut seemed somewhat driven by producers, Confident feels directed by Lovato, who seems to take some pride in being a bit of a pop magpie, sampling from every glittering sound flickering across the pop charts in the two years since Demi. She's fortunate to be aided by some of the best producers and writers in the business. Max Martin collaborates on three tracks, the same number as Steve Mac, with Stargate and Ryan Tedder showing up elsewhere, and while their work helps Lovato echo everyone from Katy Perry to Beyoncé, it never quite seems like the singer is mimicking her fellow divas: instead, she's carving out her persona -- something sexy, flinty, and impassioned, the stance of a survivor, not a carpetbagger -- through the best of what's around. Given this boldness, it's little surprise that Demi often fares best with the numbers that are brassy: the big, heavy swing of the title track, the same-sex seduction of "Cool for the Summer," the empowering "For You" and "Lionheart," the latter a gleaming wall of sound. When the tempo slows, Lovato can sometimes stumble -- "Father" is spare and skeletal but indistinct, a sketch that is nevertheless preferable to the shoehorned Iggy Azalea cameo on "Kingdom Come" -- yet here, she also illustrates how she can affect Lana Del Rey's affectless effect and conjure some of the lushness of Ellie Goulding's neon-streaked midnight anthems, so when these ballads are added to the brighter, swifter numbers, the cumulative result is a messy, colorful modern pop record that is greater than the sum of its parts.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

Holy Fvck is an absolute blast. True to the title, the most natural response to this stylistic pivot from erstwhile pop star Demi Lovato is one of shock and pleasant surprise. After years of headlines threatened to overshadow their musical output, it might be easy for detractors to be cynical about Lovato riding the pop-punk resurgence of the early 2020s. But Holy Fvck is so much more than trend-chasing: it manages to sound more authentic than anything they've done to date. Pissed off and throwing care to the wind, Lovato fully embraces this rebirth through jagged riffs and sticky leather, tackling gossip, trauma, mortality, and addiction with a snarl and a fist. Addressing critics and detractors, Lovato declares, "I came from the trauma/Stayed for the drama" on the lurching Flyleaf-esque opener "Freak" with fellow punk revivalist Yungblud. That "f*ck it" attitude pummels listeners on cuts like the raunchy "City of Angels," a quotable ode to reckless sex that channels Avril Lavigne-style pop-punk, and "Skin of My Teeth," an open confessional of their struggles with rehab and addiction that slaps together Celebrity Skin-era Hole, a shiny pop chorus, and a robotic Lady Gaga-stylized vocal bridge. That unflinching honesty abounds from start to finish, both in the form of frustrated kiss-offs (like the metalcore-meets-Muse attack of "Eat Me" with Royal & the Serpent) and raw reflection, with death looming over tracks such as the reflective "Happy Ending," which recounts their 2018 overdose, and "Dead Friends," which laments those who succumbed to their addictions. The most attention-grabbing moment arrives on "29," a scathing takedown of a past relationship with eye-popping lyrics like "Too young to drink wine/Just five years a bleeder." While much has been made about a "return to form" in the vein of early albums Don't Forget (2008) and Here We Go Again (2009), Holy Fvck rockets way beyond those relatively innocent pop-rock teen moments. "Heaven" stomps and pogos with glam scuzz bounce, while the turbulent "Bones" and Halestorm-sized "Help Me" propel the latter half of the album with driving rock sleaze courtesy of Los Angeles trio Dead Sara. For fans in search of less raucous material, Lovato pushes their vocals to the rafters with soaring midtempo power rock ballads such as "Wasted," "Come Together," "Feed," and "4 Ever 4 Me," rousing singalongs that could easily fit on a Kelly Clarkson or P!nk album. In the face of doubt and criticism, Lovato nails this drastic image shift. Whether it's a genuine transformation or just a brief exercise for the pop chameleon, the triumphant Holy Fvck is a refreshing change of pace and an utter thrill to experience for those willing to look past the headlines into the heart of an artist who continues to grow in the public eye.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Capitalizing on the creative surge set off by 2022's rock rebirth Holy Fvck, Demi Lovato takes aim at ten of their biggest pop hits, transforming them on the appropriately titled Revamped. As straightforward as that sounds, Lovato slaps some leather and eyeliner on a range of favorites culled from 2008's debut Don't Forget through 2017's Tell Me You Love Me. While the already-rocking "Don't Forget" didn't really need a remake, Lovato's updated vocal performance does make the track even more powerful. The rest of Revamped is more daring, as they dabble in punk rock ("Heart Attack"), metalcore ("Cool for the Summer"), stadium rock ("Tell Me You Love Me," "Skyscraper"), and old-fashioned rock & roll ("La La Land" with touring guitarist Nita Strauss). The chaotic "Neon Lights" with the Maine, the glam rock stompers "Confident" and "Sorry Not Sorry" with Slash, and a soaring duet with the Used's Bert McCracken ("Give Your Heart a Break") round out this rousing set, which could just as well be called "Greatest Hits (Demi's Version)." Revamped is great fun, and fans of both sides of Lovato's sonic personality will appreciate this bonus diversion from the main catalog.© Neil Z. Yeung /TiVo

Just prior to the launch of the album cycle for Tell Me You Love Me, Demi Lovato sat for an interview with MTV News to discuss their sixth album and wound up comparing their new record to Christina Aguilera's 2002 Stripped. Lovato intended the juxtaposition to highlight the album's heavy modern R&B influence, but the two records also share a candid carnality that sometimes feels a bit too blunt. It's not just that Lovato can't resist peppering their lyrics with profanity -- the album is littered with conjugations of "f***," arriving on both ballads and uptempo cuts -- but they dispense with niceties throughout the record, imploring a mate they should "Ruin the Friendship" and slide into bed, or telling a new love that "lucky for you, I've got all these daddy issues." Subtle the words are not, and while the music occasionally matches this braggadocio -- "Daddy Issues" blusters with its stuttering synth drops -- on the whole, Tell Me You Love Me is subtler musically. Lovato's assertions that Tell Me You Love Me is steeped in R&B prove true, and it's not monochromatic soul, either. Opening with the strutting empowerment anthem "Sorry Not Sorry," the album runs the gamut from churchy soul to seductive slow-burners to showstopping ballads designed to showcase every single one of Lovato's moves. Although there are ghosts of traditional soul threaded through the record, the production is firmly modern, filled with electronic flair and allusions to hip-hop rhythms. It's a sound that suits Lovato, who has never positioned themself as a retro-soul singer but has repurposed older sounds for a fresh audience. They've usually done this with a pop bent, but with its cool surface, sharply constructed songs, and Lovato's controlled performances -- all elements that more than make up for their lyrical stumbles -- Tell Me You Love Me suggests soul may be their forte.© Stephen Thomas Erlewine /TiVo

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Released to coincide with the 20th anniversary of his tragic death, Pour Me Comprendre is a two-CD, 40-track compilation celebrating the career of Michel Berger, one of the most popular French singer/songwriters of the '70s and '80s. Alongside his number one single "Mademoiselle Chang," it includes Top Ten hits "La Groupie du Pianiste" and "Voyou" and several duets with France Gall ("Ça Balance Pas Mal a Paris," "Les Elans du Coeur").© Jon O'Brien /TiVo