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Jul 22, 2024There is a wealth of emotions in the material -- some of which is self-critical -- along with some abrupt changes in style, such as the transition from the scruffy ballad "Spite" to the speedy electro-disco track "Less of You," two of many highlights. Even so, there's a flow to God Said No that rewards start-to-finish play.
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Jul 15, 2024‘God Said No’ is profound and romantic, decadent and suave, and as ever, Omar is at the helm.
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Jul 1, 2024Most of the new album sounds deliberately modest, verging on low-fi. Its tone suggests troubled thoughts and uncomfortable conversations, small-scale and introspective — seemingly private, not overtly theatrical. One model for “God Said No” is probably Frank Ocean’s 2016 “Blonde,” another heartbreak album awash in vulnerability; Apollo’s reedy tenor often resembles Ocean’s voice.
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Jul 1, 2024With the success of his previous albums, Apollo could have easily stayed in the mainstream bedroom-pop genre, but the vulnerability and experimentation displayed on this album makes for an impressive, mature step forward in his career.
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Jul 1, 2024What on the surface can feel like a lack of cohesion makes space for an eclectic, expansive sonic palette that constantly drifts between genres yet is anchored in his diaristic musings on finite romance.
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Jul 1, 2024God Said No is an emotionally harrowing look inside the psyche of a musician wringing every drop of meaning from the old adage that great art comes from great pain. As a lyricist and vocalist, Apollo emerges as an artist not tortured, but transformed.
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Jul 10, 2024God Said No stands apart from Apollo’s previous releases not only because of its genre experimentation and its stickier choruses, but for its willingness to get ugly.