Ela Minus DÍA
Ela Minus's DÍA arrives as a taut, club-ready reckoning that pairs handcrafted synth work with candid lyricism, and critics largely agree it succeeds at turning pain into propulsion. Across six professional reviews the record earned a 79.5/100 consensus score, with reviewers repeatedly pointing to the emotional core of songs like “BROKEN”, “UPWARDS” and “I WANT TO BE BETTER” as the album's clearest highlights. The most praised tracks transform vulnerability and dislocation into dance-as-therapy moments, where throbbing bass and arpeggiated synths meet confessional vocals.
Critics consistently highlight production craftsmanship and the tension between club energy and introspective lyrics. Pitchfork and Clash both single out the three-song sequence that includes “UPWARDS” as a production centerpiece, while Beats Per Minute and NME emphasize “IDOLS” and “I WANT TO BE BETTER” for vocal emergence and emotional payoff. Sputnikmusic notes the record's strongest wins are its dancefloor immediacy - the "fattest beat" on “UPWARDS”, the arpeggiated grooves of “BROKEN” and the explosive closing of “I WANT TO BE BETTER” - even as a few slower cuts register as less convincing.
Taken together the critical consensus frames DÍA as a compelling step forward: a work of production finesse and personal reckoning that makes the case for dance music as catharsis. While some reviewers flag occasional unevenness, professional reviews agree the album's best songs reward repeated listening and mark meaningful growth in Ela Minus's sound and voice.
Critics' Top Tracks
The standout songs that made critics take notice
BROKEN
5 mentions
"‘BROKEN’ leans further into this vulnerability."— Clash Music
UPWARDS
4 mentions
"the three-track segue (‘ONWARDS, ‘AND’, ‘UPWARDS’) culminates in the best of Minus’ impeccable abilities as a producer."— Clash Music
I WANT TO BE BETTER
4 mentions
"never more so than on “I Want to Be Better,” which is the closest that Minus has come to writing a love song"— Pitchfork
‘BROKEN’ leans further into this vulnerability.
Track Ratings
How critics rated each track, relative to this album (0-100). Only tracks that made critics feel something are rated.
ABRIR MONTE
BROKEN
IDOLS
IDK
QQQQ
I WANT TO BE BETTER
ONWARDS
AND
UPWARDS
COMBAT
What Critics Are Saying
Deep insights from 9 critics who reviewed this album
Critic's Take
Ela Minus’s DÍA finds its strongest moments in the morning-lit immediacy of “ABRIR MONTE” and the cleansing catharsis of “BROKEN”, songs that stake out the album’s best tracks with both dancefloor propulsion and emotional reckoning. Stuart Berman’s tone is admiring and exacting, praising how “I WANT TO BE BETTER” turns vulnerable confession into clapping-house intensity while the three-song suite “ONWARDS”, “AND”, “UPWARDS” maps a clear path to self-improvement. If you search for the best songs on DÍA, the record gives you pop-ready hooks that never forgo the interior work behind them. The result is an album where the best tracks balance festival-scale brightness with the hard graft of healing, making the question of the best songs on DÍA answerable by the emotional payoff of these specific cuts.
Key Points
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The best song work is where dance-pop propulsion meets emotional confession, notably on “ABRIR MONTE” and “BROKEN”.
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DÍA’s core strength is marrying festival-scale brightness with inward-looking themes of healing and self-care.
Themes
Critic's Take
In his exacting, image-rich voice Jasper Willems presents Ela Minus’s DÍA as a panoramic leap where the best songs - “COMBAT”, “BROKEN” and “IDOLS” - distill her combative, handcrafted electronic language into vivid moments. He lingers on “COMBAT” as a "gorgeous, meditative piece" that trades techno brio for stormy dissolution, and treats “BROKEN” as an arpeggiated vault between reverie and melancholy. “IDOLS” is framed as a Knife-esque, mid-tempo stomp where Minus’s voice "gasp[s] and bite[s]" through the center, proving these are the best tracks on DÍA for showing her growth as vocalist and builder. The narrative keeps Willems’s tactile metaphors and measured admiration intact while answering which are the best tracks on DÍA.
Key Points
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The best song, "COMBAT", is best because it subverts expectations with meditative, glassy textures and evocative lyricism.
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The album's core strengths are its handcrafted synth sound-design, vocal emergence, and thematic tension between freedom and confinement.
Themes
Critic's Take
Ela Minus frames DÍA around a handful of songs that do the heavy lifting - the bruising “IDOLS” and the emotional core “I WANT TO BE BETTER” stand out most. Jolley writes with a clear ear for how Minus turns difficult experience into propulsive club music, noting the space-shuddering hooks of “BROKEN” and the redemptive transition into “ONWARDS”. The best songs on DÍA are those that marry raw lyrics to adventurous production, and here “IDOLS”, “I WANT TO BE BETTER” and “BROKEN” emerge as the album's highlights. This is an album that is angry, difficult and energising, and its top tracks reward repeated listening.
Key Points
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The best song is the emotionally raw "I WANT TO BE BETTER" because it functions as the album's core and drives a redemptive sequence.
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The album's core strengths are frank personal lyricism married to adventurous, hook-heavy production that creates catharsis.
Themes
No
Critic's Take
The review for Austra's Chin Up Buttercup in Northern Transmissions is terse and informational rather than song-by-song praise, so there is no clear list of best songs like “Amnesia” or “Chin Up Buttercup” singled out. The outlet frames the release within a fan-focused context, which suggests modest approval but stops short of detailed acclaim. For readers searching for the best tracks on Chin Up Buttercup, the review does not provide the customary highlights or rankings, offering background about the site and its mission instead.
Key Points
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No specific song is identified as the best because the review contains no track-level commentary.
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The review offers general context about the site and modest approval, but lacks detailed critique or highlights.
Critic's Take
Ela Minus’s DÍA finds its strongest moments in honest vulnerability and immaculate production, with “COMBAT” and “BROKEN” standing out as the best tracks for their emotional directness. Jamie Wilde’s tone is admiring and measured, noting how “COMBAT” introduces the record with sombre clarity while “BROKEN” digs into suffering that had been hiding in plain sight. The three-track segue “ONWARDS”, “AND” and “UPWARDS” is praised as a production centerpiece, showing how Minus turns introspection into dancefloor heat. Overall, the album succeeds by marrying candid lyricism with meticulous, techno-infused pop production, making these the best songs on DÍA because they crystallise both feeling and sonic ambition.
Key Points
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The best song is "COMBAT" because it serves as a sombre, vulnerable introduction and emotional centerpiece.
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The album’s core strengths are its candid introspection paired with meticulous, dancefloor-ready production.
Themes
Critic's Take
Ela Minus's DÍA makes its case for the best tracks as club-primed catharsis, and the review points squarely to “Upwards”, “Broken” and “I Want To Be Better”. The reviewer revels in the album's "fattest beat" and throbbing bass of “Upwards”, praises the arpeggiating synth grooves of “Broken” and calls the final minute of “I Want To Be Better” explosive. At the same time the voice notes that slower cuts misfire a little, but that the Spanish-language “QQQQ” serves as the climactic, cathartic apex. This reads like a record that wins on dancefloor immediacy even as it channels inner turmoil through club music.
Key Points
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The best song impressions hinge on dancefloor immediacy, with "Upwards" delivering the biggest beat and impact.
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The album's core strength is marrying club-ready production with personal, existential lyrics, culminating in the Spanish-language climactic track.