New music reviews: Tyler, the Creator grows up and Taylor Swift joins a supergroup

Tyler, the Creator, "Call Me If You Get Lost" (Columbia)

Tyler's sixth album is a beautiful mess: a free-flowing rumination that jumps abruptly from one style to the next, by turns braggadocio and anxiety-ridden, celebratory and introspective. Its packed-with-ideas songs last only as long as they need to, whether two minutes or 10.

The album is an homage to DJ Drama's popular "Gangsta Grillz" mixtapes from the '00s. On "Call Me If You Get Lost," Drama serves as hype man. "We just landed in Geneva ... We on a yacht, a young lady just fed me French vanilla ice cream."

Tyler made his name as provocateur of the bountifully talented Los Angeles collective Odd Future. He reflects on how far he's come. "Mom was in a shelter when 'Yonkers' dropped," he raps on "Massa" about his 2011 single. "When I got her out, that's the moment I knew I made it." On the delightful "Momma Talk," his mother makes clear how far she would go to stand up for her son.

Early on, he was unrepentant about homophobic lyrics. Now, he's open about dating men. "I came a long way from my past, it's obvious," he states plainly.

That's clear as he reconnects with the joy of rapping, expands his musical palette, and takes time to reflect. "Black bodies hanging from trees, I can't make sense of this," he raps in "Manifesto," wondering, "Am I doing enough?" "Call Me" is a formidable record that confronts the world with honesty and uncertainty.

Dan Deluca, Philadelphia Inquirer

Big Red Machine, "Renegade" (Jagjaguwar)

This is the project of Aaron Dessner — the guitarist in the National and a producer on Taylor Swift's "Folklore" and "Evermore" — and Bon Iver's Justin Vernon, who duetted with Swift on "Folklore." Swift sings two songs on the group's album due Aug. 27. She dominates "Renegade" with her melodic sense and personality: terse, symmetrical phrases carrying a coolheaded assessment of a failing partner, as she fends off attempts to "let all your damage damage me." "Renegade" would fit easily on a Swift album.

Jon Pareles, New York Times

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