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Miami Memory Image
Metascore
74

Generally favorable reviews - based on 12 Critic Reviews What's this?

User Score
8.2

Universal acclaim- based on 21 Ratings

  • Summary: The third full-length release for the Australian indie singer-songwriter was inspired by his relationship with Jemima Kirke and was produced by Jonathan Rado.
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Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 9 out of 12
  2. Negative: 0 out of 12
  1. Sep 12, 2019
    80
    At times, Miami Memory feels like a streamlined repurposing of pop music's warmest sounds – be it the glowing synth jabs on Stepdad or the crispest of snares on Far From Born Again and Divorce – all retooled with a new level of subtlety and honesty for Cameron. What you’re left with is ten great pop songs; bitingly funny, bombastically anthemic and gently sensual, often at the same time.
  2. Sep 23, 2019
    80
    Though it’s his third album, Miami Memory feels like we’re meeting Alex Cameron for the first time. This is the real him, not a perpetuated version masked by character. While unexpected, it’s not jarring in the least bit. It’s a warm introduction, one filled with familiarity with help from Cameron-world mainstays Roy Malloy, Kirin J. Callinan, Holiday Sidewinder and more.
  3. 80
    Miami Memory displays an increasing, albeit cautious, capacity to divert from a well-trodden trail; seeing Cameron’s confessional voice explored and defined to a degree previously unseen in his output.
  4. Sep 16, 2019
    80
    The 70s soft rock inspirations hit the hardest on two of the most interesting cuts here, Far From Born Again and Bad for the Boys. The two tracks combine a jaunty, easy-listening sheen, with lyrics in the former that discuss sex work positively, and in the latter, that talk about the reckoning of abusive men.
  5. Uncut
    Sep 19, 2019
    80
    These are tender anthems, even if some won't be readily singing lines like "eating your ass like an oyster" in a festival field. [Nov 2019, p.22]
  6. Sep 12, 2019
    70
    It can be difficult to digest the combination of super-catchy pop hooks and shocking or gross lyrics on Miami Memory, but both are essential for the complex, cynical fiction Cameron has been building on all his albums. This one is the best produced, most catchy, and most vulgar of his catalog up until this point.
  7. 60
    Melodically there’s consistent bombast – the record opens with ‘Stepdad’s wonky sound, sounding like an orchestra disco epic played on a Fisher Price keyboard. ‘Miami Memory’ becomes a slipperier prospect when Cameron’s usual ironic schtick reappears.

See all 12 Critic Reviews

Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 4 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 0 out of 5
  3. Negative: 1 out of 5
  1. Sep 16, 2019
    10
    Amazing album... great sound nice mixing I love it The lyrical content is upstanding too.. wonderful body of work
  2. Jan 21, 2020
    9
    Excellent album with great lyrical content and songwriting prowess. I thoroughly enjoyed this as much if not more than his first record.
  3. Sep 13, 2019
    9
    The whole damn thing is good. Not a rotten egg in the bunch. Easily his best yet
  4. Oct 18, 2019
    7
    Sydney, Australia’s Alex Cameron is an anomaly. He comes across as a pure singer a la Bryan Ferry or even Van Morrison—with a bit of CraigSydney, Australia’s Alex Cameron is an anomaly. He comes across as a pure singer a la Bryan Ferry or even Van Morrison—with a bit of Craig Finn’s storytelling knack. His music has a quirky, but commercially accessible, radio feel. But then there are the lyrics—brutally honest with an intent to disturb, they deal with the seedy side of street sex and relationship depravity. You’ll be listening to the songs and humming along, then realize he’s singing
    “Far from born again
    She’s doing porn again”
    or
    “Did you see where my love went
    Because it ain’t here in my hand
    You need to check there darlin’ between your legs
    I couldn’t bare another needy man”
    No doubt about it, Cameron (who is also in the electronic band Seekae) knows how to pull you in and lick all the good parts. He’ll entice you with soft 70s style synth-pop and a warm—if slightly sleazy—inviting voice, and then smack you silly with vulgar sensuality. “Miami Memory” is sweetly strange, twisted fun. Recommended.
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  5. Sep 18, 2019
    1
    Uninspired rinky-dink pop production meets laugh-out-loud-bad, clunkily-delivered lyrics, passed off as faux-sincere, an approach that is newUninspired rinky-dink pop production meets laugh-out-loud-bad, clunkily-delivered lyrics, passed off as faux-sincere, an approach that is new for Cameron and not well rendered on the tracks here. Lyrical choices include: “far from being born again / she’s doing porn again” and “but if you see my name in the headlines / and they’re pissing all over me / I’m your stepdad” and “eating your ass like an oyster / The way you came like a tsunami”. Series after series of abysmal syllables strung together and sung by the Sta-Puf Marshmallow Man to test your resolve in slogging through to the welcome end. Expand