SUPERNOVA is the soundtrack for collegiate a cappella in 2023. Freshman moving into the dorms should be given a copy and told, "Wanna be in the cool group? You should be a part of this."

Presented in three parts, SUPERNOVA is a thoughtfully designed release that begins at daybreak. We hear birds and distant voices begin to sing in the setting-piece, ASCENSION. It sounds like it's going to be an eventful day in Boston.

ASCENSION bleeds into Erase Me. Now we hear the crowning achievement of SUPERNOVA: fantastically imaginative arrangements (Shams Ahmed for Erase Me), focusing on complex enveloping lines with meaningful breaks, shifts, and silences. It reminds me of arguments in modern gymnastics and dance: should we award higher scores to technical difficulty or artistic presentation? Somehow, despite the long list of inside and outside arrangers in SUPERNOVA, we consistently get both the technical difficulty and the artistic radiance.

Another trait of SUPERNOVA: very high-energy delivery, often with dizzyingly demanding notes and rhythms. This is sweaty, athletic a cappella. With its retro-sounding disco soundscape against modern lyrics, Everybody's Gay comes across as timeless. Golden finishes off the first section of the release, a fast and spirited track with a big key change and power-chord ending. As listeners, we are simply breathless.

Wordless IGNITION carries us into the middle grouping of songs, featuring a crescendo to heighten intensity. Oh My God is lush and impossible not to move to. We then creep into Trampoline, a delightfully eerie and seductive track with gorgeous cascades and vocal swells. Dancing With The Devil really amps up the theatrics with a big stage show and a nimble lead (Juliana Perrino, a two-peat lead on SUPERNOVA and arranger, too), coupled with impressive register shifts and swagger. The desperation is authentic in the next piece, with a pleading, "Oh mother, can you hear me?". This grouping of songs in the middle section may feel spiritual to some, with flashes of God and the Devil. I'm Coming 'Round is the album's first truly soft, open-heart tune. The quiet ache delivered by a fantastic trio out front is certainly more poignant after all the previous vocal fanfare and funky beats.

AFTERGLOW, the third brief and wordless exposition, moves us to the last section of SUPERNOVA. These final three full-length songs aren't as thematically and sonically tied together (to this listener anyway, though I do hear the relationship aspect), but there's plenty to enjoy as standalone works. Ain't Love Strange has a big gospel-esque presence that really shows off the strength of the Dynamics as an ensemble. All For Us gives a fresh pop to the soundscape with a light techno edge. You and I is the only puzzler in the midst of the proceeding repertoire: a midtempo soft rock that grows at the end but feels static most of the way.

The Dynamics are no strangers to amping up their creativity and storytelling skills, having released several prior works segmented in thoughtful parts, too. The sound — with mixing by Ugolini, Boyer, and Daneke, with mastering by Hare — is as pristine as it gets. Big congrats on SUPERNOVA — a complex, riveting release.

As a longtime reviewer of the Boston College Dynamics, I have come to appreciate the group's progression over the greater part of the last decade. While not without its faults, SUPERNOVA is a clear step forward in the journey toward consistently putting the elements together to produce really impactful music.

There is a lot to appreciate on this album, from both musical and structural standpoints. There are more dynamics featured here than in previous releases, a solid balance of uptempo and ballad numbers, and arrangements with more rhythmic and harmonic complexity. The solo by Gabe Santos in Golden is quite impressive, including a great deal of vocal flexibility on an otherwise highly repetitive pop song. The song that most grabs me overall is I'm Coming 'Round, a beautiful take on the Thirdstory ballad, featuring heartfelt solos and harmonies traded by Emma Roney, Dan Kravitz, and Kyle Leonard over a masterfully inventive arrangement by Taylor Smith. The album's construction is a boon, featuring clear-cut sections outlined by composed introductions that thoroughly enhance the songs that follow.

But, if anything, SUPERNOVA could use more of the innovation and energy seen in the instrumental tracks (ASCENSION, IGNITION, AFTERGLOW), and those are my main points of contention with the album. Excellence is closer than ever for the Dynamics, but even in the tracks rated "4", there is something key either missing or disconnected from the rest of the number. In All For Us, there is a lack of vocal intensity in the background shout-chorus portion, and while the studio work on the album as a whole is excellent, energy is something that cannot be recouped in post. On the flip side, in the case of Can You Hear Me?, the excellent professional arrangement by Jared Graveley and interpretation by the background singers provide ample canvas for a monochromatic solo that sounds nice but falls flat energetically in a place where a brassier interpretation would be stronger. Solo work overall could use more specificity, nuance, and storytelling, especially in songs like Dancing With The Devil that provide such a canvas for those choices.

With more attention to detail and unification of the elements, the Boston College Dynamics would certainly have a hit, as their talent is so evidently displayed on SUPERNOVA which is quite pleasing to the ears and a worthwhile listen.

The Boston College Dynamics are not messing around with their newest album, SUPERNOVA! They employ top-notch production folks (Daneke, Ugolini, Boyer, Hare) and outside arrangers well-suited to their charts, which, combined with the high-level musicality of the group, creates a polished and enjoyable album. This jam-packed release feels more like a concert or a movie version of a rock opera than an a cappella recording: three carefully crafted thematic acts, energy turned up to the max, while covering a who's who of pop music today. However, questions about the organization in the third section still linger.

SUPERNOVA opens with ASCENSION, a minute-and-a-half introduction using vocables, written by Rob D'Alessandro and Isaiah Carter. It sounds like the music I want to hear while the production company title cards go by in films. By the time it smoothly transitions into the first song, I'm eagerly anticipating hearing the album unfold. I have already written at length about why I called Golden "the song of the summer" last year. Shams Ahmed delivers another perfectly paced chart for Erase Me that, with the group's sound and musicality, sizzles. Lizzo's Everybody's Gay is appropriately celebratory and groovy, showing off the whole group but especially the bass section.

We get a reset with IGNITION, a much shorter interlude than the first track, that leads directly into Adele's Oh My God. Though the background voices sound good, the arrangement by Taylor Smith gets a bit too repetitive as the song builds. Christina Solitro leads one of the best covers of SHAED's Trampoline that I've heard yet. Pay attention to all of the nuances captured by arranger Katherine Bodor and performed by the group because it's musical gold. Juliana Perrino nails the intensity of Dancing with the Devil and Carter outdoes himself with the chords and build of the arrangement. I can't decide if singer-songwriter Amber Mark's peppy Can You Hear Me? feels out-of-place here (why not in ASCENSION?) or if it appropriately breaks up a series of darker tracks. Speaking of broody, the poignant ballad I'm Coming 'Round, helmed by a trio with blend and earnestness for days, is like a breath of fresh air on an album with almost none — when has that ever happened before?? — and a great closer to the middle section.

I find the final section to be the least musically and thematically cohesive, prompted in part by questions about the song order. It begins with an ominous introduction in AFTERGLOW to set up Ain't Love Strange, another beautiful chart by Carter with a heartfelt solo by Perrino. All For Us shows off the ensemble's musicality as they skillfully execute Perrino's arrangement of the electronic chart. I would have switched it and You and I, a country-pop selection that feels too laid-back and ends too abruptly to definitively close such a high-energy album. Organization questions aside, in SUPERNOVA, the group delivers a sonically rich, dynamic (*insert rim shot here*) album that is a must-listen for all a cappella fans.