All the reviews are telling me I should be listening ton "Sour." Normally I tend to take the opposite tack (I tend to be skeptical of prevailing tastes--still haven't heart a Taylor Swift album), so when you frame the album instead as good but not great, I felt obligated to give it a try. Good sometimes turns out to be great. But not this time.

And in fact (I'm still listening), my overall impression is that the sum is less than the parts. This sounds to me like an album calculated to appeal to people who don't know what they like. So Rodrigo sounds like ABC in one track, then DEF in another track, GHI in the next, and so on. Because the album captures so many diverse artists, Rodrigo seems "classical" / "timeless."

But what people who don't know much about music don't know is that it's much more difficult to craft a decent album that's consistent (whether it's the Monkees or the Mothers of Invention or Miranda Lambert) than to craft a hodgepodge of different styles / artists.

The Swedish singer Amanda Bergman crafted a breakup album in "Docks," but the result is consistent and complex. Each song builds on the others. It's timeless. But without the hype machine of "Sour," it's doomed to be a niche effort at best.

So thanks for the advice. Once I've finished "Sour," I'll wear the t-shirt and never feel obligated to go back there. Unless another contrarian impels me to try her next work.