For a debut album, Alice Merton's Mint plants itself in the listener's ears starting off with a strong bass line in the first track, "Learn to Live".  Alice Merton's voice layers itself as the song progresses building an edgy and heavy first track for an indie rock artist.  The songwriting preaches about life (and very little about love) with catchy choruses and fun guitar riffs.  

The album as a whole appears to be a background for Merton's adventures in life.  "2 Kids" is an ode to her manager and his relationship with her.  Merton's music was not accepted by major record labels, causing her to start her own.  This rebellion against mainstream art has created her success as an indie artist.  "2 Kids" provides nostalgia for her early beginnings and career.

Right after "2 Kids", Merton hits the audience with her biggest song.  "No Roots" is a catchy song with a constantly moving bassline, bringing us into the world of Merton.  As the song states, she has "no roots" constantly moving between countries.  All of her experiences have built the music that she tours with today.

The fourth track on the album, "Funny Business" gives off a fun vibe before the album leads to a bit of a darker tune.  "Homesick" discusses Merton's constant travel and the effect that her relationships have had on her life.  Clapping noises underneath her voice bring the listener into the song with an interactive aspect.  The rhythm is nice to listen to, but hard to repeat since it is unique.  Her creative rhythms continue through the next two tracks, "Lash Out" and "Speak Your Mind".  "Speak Your Mind" brings an electric tone to the forefront of the song, showing a diversity in instrumentals.

The electric instrumentals continue through the next song, "I Don't Hold A Grudge", before Merton slows down the pace with "Honeymoon Heartbreak".  Her intimate vocals soar in this love song as the instrumentals tone down to make space for her.  The song has an ease and smoothness that is incomparable with the rest of the album.  It is a relieving change of pace for an album that is stacked with constant bass lines.  Merton gets a chance to show off her range at the end of the song as well.

To me, "Trouble In Paradise" is a reflection on the rest of the album.  This penultimate track leads us to the final track on the album, "Why So Serious".  The final track reminds us that life does not need to be taken so seriously.  This is a nice message to end the album for an artist that is sure to sell out many shows on her current tour.  I also highly recommend checking out her No Roots EP!

Score: 8/10

Favorite Tracks: "Learn To Live", "No Roots", "Homesick", "Speak Your Mind", Honeymoon Heartbreak", "Why So Serious"

Least Favorite Tracks: "Lash Out", "Trouble In Paradise" 

Image credit: By Justin Higuchi from Los Angeles, CA, USA - Alice Merton 12/11/2017 #7, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=75343734   

After a decade, this film is exactly what audiences need to move forward.
 
​Grandiose character performances from the lead cast, an emotional plotline, the harshest purple villain of all time, and of course CGI action-shots galore bring us straight to a satisfying ending of a chapter.  Surely this is not the last film in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but it definitely feels like the end of an era. 
 
The heroes that we have grown to love are stuck in a final showdown with the heavy-handed Thanos.  While the film stands out as a blockbuster action flick, there is a lot of emotion involved and tears will fall.  For a three-hour-long superhero movie, the run time feels shy of two hours, leaving me wanting more action and more time with these characters.  There is just enough time for the film to solve the situation that they are left with at the conclusion of Avengers: Infinity War.  It’s not an easy task to move forward after half of the cast is turned to dust, but Anthony (Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: Civil War) and Joe Russo (Avengers: Infinity War, Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Captain America: Civil War) direct the film towards a proper resolution.
 
At the end of Infinity War, we are left with a cast of MCU founders including Robert Downey Jr. (Iron Man, Sherlock Holmes, The Avengers), Chris Evans (The Avengers, Captain America: The First Avenger), Chris Hemsworth (The Avengers, Thor: Ragnarok, Snow White and the Huntsman), Scarlett Johansson (Her, Lost in Translation, The Avengers), Mark Ruffalo (The Avengers, Spotlight, Foxcatcher), and Jeremy Renner (The Town, The Avengers, Wind River).  While everyone in this cast has been a dud in one of the previous films of the MCU, they are all perfect in this film.  After witnessing their friends and families die, they wear their emotions on their sleeves.  This is not something we often get in superhero films.  Usually, our fictional superheroes are emotionless robots.  Luckily, Marvel has finally fixed this lack of character.
 
The dynamic between Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans leads this film to victory and emotional payoff.  Without going too far into spoilers, the ending is clearly a tool that Marvel can use to move on from the franchise that has been built thus far.  The end is worth the ride that fans have been on for the past 11 years.  Of course, Thanos leaves his mark on the universe and everything is not left perfectly normal. 
 
It will be interesting to see where the MCU progresses from here.  With a Spider-Man movie just months away, Endgame will forever impact the future of the franchise.  Sacrifices are made, battles are fought, relationships are broken, and overall this is the most meaningful film for the franchise.
 
The Bottom Line: If you are a die-hard Marvel fan, bring tissues and get ready for the longest and most rewarding end of an era.

Score: 9.5/10