It is disturbing to bring to light the darkness behind a song everybody knows well. The7thGatekeeper does just that with You Are My Sunshine by turning a lullaby into something nostalgic into something raw, uncomfortable and brutally honest. This version, which was recorded in what the artist refers to as the chaos room, does not want to play nice. The […]
Folk/Review Exzenya – Captivity
Some songs tell stories. Others drag you into them and you are left dazed and rattled. Captivity does the latter–and is not disposed to yield kindly. The song creates the mood of deep discomfort even at the very beginning. Exzenya reinvents a folk refrain of the old with a vocal richness that paralyses you–the lower range of her voice, the […]
Dream Pop/Review Ophelia Moon – Taste Your Rose
Taste Your Rose by Ophelia Moon is not a song, it is more of an experience, and an immersion into the realm of the sensually dark and poetically charged. This new issuance of the Philadelphia based project takes possession of that illusive fleeting space between sound, emotion and story-telling to create something deeply personal and surreal at the same time. […]
Pop/Review Eylsia Nicolas – Forever Can Wait
There is a strong and very personal comeback of Eylsia Nicolas to the limelight with Forever Can Wait, a song that is as personal as it is a triumph. Having earned her fame as a professional tennis player and a record executive, Eylsia transfers the same level of discipline and determination to her music in these parts of her life […]
Hip-Hop/Review Fetti Bagz – Stevie – Radio Edit
Fetti Bagz positions himself in the limelight with a track called Stevie (Radio Edit), which incorporates the elements of homage, hustle, and high energy into one head-banging and seamless track. Being a Dallas-based artist, the spirit of the old-school soul combined with the rhythm of the modern trap, Reezie Fettachini honors the legends of such artists as Ray Charles and […]
FOLK ROCK/Review Albert Ahlf – The MAGA Song
It takes a certain sort of bravery to do political satire in the contemporary world–the bravery that combines acuity with real musicianship. Albert Ahlf strikes that balance with “The MAGA Song” which is simultaneously cabaret throwdown and folk-rock sermon. The very first chord of the piano tells you that you are in the hands of a serious time behind the […]
Pop/Review Eylsia Nicolas – A Beautiful Mess
The vibrant pop that Eylsia Nicolas has released in her song A Beautiful Mess is precisely the type of club pop that you want to dance to. It is not a mere electro-pop song that tries to squeeze itself into a mould – it possesses authentic personality and catchy energy that helped it to stand out in an already over-saturated […]
METAL/Review Brian Hunsaker– Power Over You
Even though it may seem like a lesson in itself, Brian Hunsaker’s Power Over You qualifies as a bold feat in the art of writing power ballads, and it does so by showing that an independent artist can indeed create a full-fledged cinema musical. After his famous debut Haunted, Hunsaker provides even something more spacious – a song that exists […]
COUNTRY/Review Michellar – Never Say Sorry
The newest single of Michellar, Never Say Sorry is more of a turning point in the career of a songwriter rather than another release. She is based in San Francisco and has a talent of transforming raw vulnerability into the music that actually resonates and the track is evidence of how far she has come. Michelle Bond · Never say […]
Electronic/Review Ophelia Moon– Muse Maestro Melody Maker
The Ophelia Moon project is not planning to cease its journey into the depths of life and its mysteries with the song Muse Maestro Melody Maker, possibly their most alluring contribution so far. This partnership between Darren O. Moon and Maya Mikity reflects the interest of the project in analyzing the transformative strength of creativity in the form of truly […]
Pop/Review The Quiet North – Borrowed Light
The most recent addition of The Quiet North by Fredrik Kristiansen is the masterpiece of Nordic self-reflection and worldly musical sensationalism, Borrowed Light. The production of the track is also worth mentioning as the Norwegian base of Kristiansen is mixed with input of session musicians in Ukraine, Spain and South Africa. This cross-border alliance produces an exceptionally broad sound that […]
Hip-Hop/Review Mogal– click clack
One of the most shocking of the joint struggles by Mogal and Teck-Zilla, Away With Words, finds the Cornwall-based rapper just as assured and technically assured as possible in his solo song, Click Clack. This song is ticking with energy that is electric and it picks your attention in the shortest duration possible and holds on. The best in “Click […]
Hip-Hop/Review Hevewae– Wurrd (Can I Get A)
Challenge is a rarest energy when the artist prefers to extract fuel out of a struggle, and this is what Big Zaddy Hev embodies in the track to create a perfect capture of that fuel on the song Wurrd (Can I Get A). It is not simply a song, it is more of a declaration of purpose: it is scrawny […]
Pop/Review The Quiet North – Carry The Quiet
The Quiet North has something about its song, Carry The Quiet, which feels so reassuring that I did not anticipate at the time I hit the play button. Fredrik Kristiansen has made it look as though he took a hand, in the middle of the commotion–this is what we have all needed now and then. The overall atmosphere of the […]
ROCK/Review Anupam Shobhakar– Liquid Reality
Liquid Reality by Anupam Shobhakar is as revelational as it is classical and dystopian–a sound experience that is both archaic and cybernetic. The revelation that he had made to the interpretation of Indian classic music with fretless guitar, I was at once tempted to know how he would expand upon his already impressive palette. The answer is breathtaking. The album […]
Folk/Review Michellar – September
A certain magic is present when an artist manages to capture the fleeting sense of movement, and that is precisely what Michellar does with September. Here, the San Francisco-based artist has created something truly beautiful–a folk meditation that is timeless and incredibly intimate at the same time. The DNA of this song is filled with the impact of such classic […]
Dream Pop/Review The Music Of Sound – Butterfly Heart
I was absolutely surprised with Butterfly Heart by The Music Of Sound in the most good way possible. I wasn’t anticipating much when I first pressed play but within a few seconds I was already glued to those gorgeous shimmering synths that in an instant transported me back to the golden age of 80s pop-except that it does not feel […]
Hip-Hop/Review K Frxsty– Knock Knock
Knock Knock by K Frxsty is pounding you like a freight train during the first few seconds, and frankly speaking, that is what you want in underground hip-hop. This is not music to listen to when you are in weak health because it is raw, pure street energy that makes you sit up and listen, and they are not going […]
Folk/Review The Muster Point Project – Brand New Day
Brand New Day by The Muster Point Project is a song that takes a bit of time to settle on your skin. But when it does, the truth is that it embeds like few songs can. In an age where music is churned out for clickbait reactions, the organic feel of this self-recorded track will take you by surprise. With […]
ROCK/Review Tom Minor– Next Stop Brixton
There is a certain irresistible power in music that turns a mundane train ride into the epic tale of redemption and Tom Minor captures that power in his “Next Stop Brixton” with the energy and emotional depth that are altogether surprising. This songwriter/singer has created an upbeat indie rock song that is both jubilant and sorrowful, and takes all the […]
Pop/Review The New Citizen Kane – CAUSING A COMMOTION
CAUSING A COMMOTION by The New Citizen Kane is one of those releases that creep upon you. What at first seems to be yet another electronic collection soon turns out to be something much more than that- an emotional rollercoaster that is somehow introspective and at the same time impossible to resist at the same time. Something truly fascinating about […]