The new single, Circles, is a strong exploration of the turbulent waters of the unhealthy relationship that demonstrates the further development of the UK artist. With the foundations of his midlands background and several years of genre exploration, Solum has created something truly powerful here, a track that is at once intensely personal and yet relatable to all. The bedroom […]
Pop/Review zukrassverliebt – Way Too Hot
There is an infectious element to music that does not take itself too seriously but still manages to provide a sincere entertainment value and zukrassverliebt has nailed that with Way Too Hot. This father-son German duo has made a pop song that is easy to dance to that also uses metaphors of attraction and heatwaves to make something both funny […]
Pop/Review Shelita – Fade
There is something heartbreakingly beautiful about music that accepts the impermanence of life and does not dwell upon it and Shelita has done that with her song Fade. This Seattle-based artist has created a reflection on momentary relationships that is both intimate and truly universal. The performance of the vocals by Shelita is enough to bring the emotional content of […]
Pop/Review Ferdinand Rennie – Someone to remember me (2025 Version)
There is something very touching about an artist reinterpreting their own work with decades of time under their belt, and Ferdinand Rennie has captured that in his version of Someone to Remember Me. It is not just a remaster or slight update but a reimagination of a song that obviously has a very special place in the heart of the […]
DREAM POP/Review Volcanic Shores – My friend lives on the coast
There are those times when you find a song that just takes you to another world in the first few notes of the song, and this is certainly the case with this song, the first notes of the vibrating analog synthesizer take you to another world. This London based project headed by electronic producer Chris Allinson has created something that […]
ROCK/Review John Lebanon– Mizuri
It is something particularly special to see a group grow in front of your eyes and John Lebanon’s “Mizuri” is a song that feels like you have made it just in time to see a band at its very peak. This Boston indie band has made something that walks that line of fragile-yet-truthful introspection with something real and heartfelt, which […]
ROCK/Review Love Ghost– Car Crash
At times the best music occurs when artists take everything away and leave their most fragile selves, and Love Ghost does just that in their song, Car Crash. This piano ballad sees Finnegan Bell moving a long way out of his usual style of eclecticism to create something that is heartbreakingly intimate and painfully effective. The shaking voice instantly pulls […]
ROCK/Review Jane N’ The Jungle– Parasite
Phoenix rockers Jane N The Jungle have hit the bulls-eye with parasite, a raging suggestion that gets the pulse of our technology-drenching culture, and the effects it has on us. The new song displays all the things that make the band so vital to today’s modern rock market. The first riff is a great demonstration of the musical cues between […]
ROCK/Review New Laconia– Journey to the Past
There is something intensely touching about a music that has the audacity to act as both a personal confession as well as a universal experience and New Laconia manages to get that balance so right with their song Journey to the past. It is an experimental project by Ukrainians who create an impression that they have stumbled upon a memory […]
ROCK/Review ESTRADA Music Project– I love when you see through my eyes
There is a certain disarming quality about total honesty in music and ESTRADA Music Projects I love when you see through my eyes has none of the pretense in it. It is not a song meant to impress with clever wordplay or a complex arrangement–it is a man speaking to his wife, and somehow that kind of simplicity makes it […]
ROCK/Review Fiona Amaka– Cowards and Shadows
I was not ready how emotionally heavy of a song that Cowards and Shadows would be. There is something about how Fiona Amaka takes you through the specific pangs of being ghosted that made me stop everything I was doing and just listen. Being there, we have all been there, haven’t we? The waiting, the wondering, the hoping, the being […]
ROCK/Review Fiona Amaka– No Daylight
It is always interesting to see an artist hone their vision, and Fiona Amaka has done just that with her reworked version of No Daylight. It is not merely a remix, but a song reimagined, with new production work by Andy Zanini and extra mixing by Stefan Antoinette that brings every flicker of Amaka dexterous artistry to the fore. The […]
ROCK/Review Haus of Sound– Madness
There is something intoxicating about a song that captures exactly that feeling of being pulled back to something you know is bad for you and Haus of Sound does that with stunning accuracy in their song, Madness. The Seattle group has come up with their most compelling song to date, a mixture of nostalgic 80s synth-rock with a highly modern […]
METAL/Review Nordstahl– Das Geisterschiff
The music of Nordstahl, Das Geisterschiff, cuts through the clatter of contemporary music like a specter-haunted ship rising out of the ocean gloom of nautical mysticism. This piece of work in German does not merely narrate, but rather haunts you with its narration, and makes the ancient mythos of the ghost ship thoroughly modern and intimate. With the first notes, […]
ROCK/Review Ophelia Moon– Color Me Dead
The Ophelia Moon project of Darren O. Moon is heading into some very unsettling territory with the track Color Me Dead, and there is an eerie beauty about the whole thing that functions like watching something both beautiful and horrible happen. This is not music that is out to soothe, but art that will force you to look into the […]
Folk/Review The Quiet North – The Distance I Needed
The Quiet North is the latest release by Fredrik Kristiansen and also a welcome change of pace as the project returns to its acoustic origins. Following the VHS-dream pop experimentation of Somewhere in the Static, this song represents an even more stripped-down approach, with finger picked guitars and field recordings that make the song feel hugely intimate and large at […]
Pop/Review Larry Karpenko – God Help Us
It is something very touching about coming across a song that is evidently the result of an inspired moment, and Larry Karpenko has just such a song with his God Help Us. It is not just another song, but a musical composition that has the burden of human connection and spiritual desire. As is the case with every song, the […]
ROCK/Review Wolfgang – Silvertruth
Silvertruth by Wolfgang turns out to be an enchanting adventure into the grey zones in which the truth is distorted and the reality becomes blurred. It is an intimate and expansive piece, something that seems to stick in your head long after the last note has played, a track created by this Norwegian artist. Even in the first few seconds […]
Hip-Hop/Review Dax– Man I Used To Be
With Man I Used to Be, Dax has delivered something that is deeply emotive, an experience which Lays bare all the pretense to get down to the bare bones of personal change. It is not just another song but a weak confession with a melody, which touches everyone who ever struggled with their past self. The staging decisions are highly […]
ROCK/Review Michellar– My Alma Latina
Cultural identity in music does not only mean using traditional sounds, but it is the ability to integrate some individual history into the common phenomenon. San Francisco-based artist Michellar accomplishes just this with her debut EP My Alma Latina, a five-song adventure that pays homage to her Spanish and Filipino heritage, but at the same time makes something entirely her […]
Pop/Review Exzenya – Regulator or My Dopamine
It is so gratifying to find an artist who will not be afraid to merge neuroscience and raw emotion and Exzenya is such an artist. Her most recent single, Regulator of My Dopamine, is a lesson in how to transform scientific ideas into emotional human ones and that smart pop music need not be soulless. The main metaphor of the […]