Released quickly in the spring of 2015,
To the Stars: Demos, Odds and Ends -- which is the first album released under
Tom DeLonge's name, although it's certainly not the first to be masterminded by the frontman of
blink-182 and
Angels & Airwaves -- doesn't make any attempt to disguise that this is, indeed, "odds and ends." It's likely that a good portion of these eight tracks were designed with the 2015
blink reunion in mind -- "New World" and "An Endless Summer" feel like spruced-up, vaguely mature spins on classic
blink, "Circle-Jerk-Pit" and "Golden Showers in the Golden State" remain proudly juvenile -- but the neo-New Wave of "Suburban Kings" and "Landscapes" is certainly within
A&A's wheelhouse. By showcasing the two sides of
DeLonge's musical personality,
To the Stars does feel like a solo album but it also does feel a bit like a warehouse -- a way to clear the decks as he preps for the next great project. ~ Stephen Thomas Erlewine