The brilliantly unsettling nature of Ophelia Moon in Avatar: Encryption Code is what perfectly captures our present day. This smooth, filmic song seems a caution in a beautiful package, a kind of cautionary story concerning artificial intelligence that is conveyed with the help of ethereal vocals that radiate above shimmering arpeggios and this tight cyberpunk beat. It is that type […]
EDM/Review Eylsia Nicolas – Glitter and Glam
Something about Eylsia Nicolas and her song “Glitter and Glam” is a glittering merriment that is almost pure celebration, but the fact that she has surmounted so much to create it makes it all the more luminous. The song is literally glowing with smooth EDM-pop, throbbing bass, and shinning synths that form this beautiful soundscape. It is the scream of […]
R&B/Review Eylsia Nicolas – Wake Up In The Morning
Something about Eylsia Nicolas and her song Wake Up In The Morning is incredibly touching that is more than just soulful R&B vitality. The awareness of the path to it, the wounds, the severe illness, the voice loss that came almost to stop her permanently, imposes this unbelievable burden on every word she utters. This is not just a song […]
Pop/Review Tracygirl – LA State of Mind
The LA State of Mind by Tracygirl has this beautiful aura that oozes out of the speakers. These glittering synths strike you at first, alongside this moving beat that gives you a push in actual motion. The very first bars make it clear that you are presented with something special- it has the hookiness of an instant hit- one that […]
Pop/Review Eylsia Nicolas – You’re My. Baby 2
It has that beautiful retro feel that is exuded by the Eylsia Nicolas in her song, Youre My Baby 2 that leaves you smiling immediately. It combines this clean groove with enthusiastic and emotional vocals that are nostalgic and entirely new at the same time. The fact that Eylsia has been through the international tennis court to finding her voice […]
Pop/Review David Raine – Pollack Splash
There is a pleasantness of David Raine in his Pollack Splash that simply envelops you at first. It has this indie heart beating in its heart, but a brightness is overlaid on it making everything somehow light, and making it feel very introspective and tenderly optimistic at the same time. It is, according to Raine himself, not to face the […]
Pop-Rock/Review David DeSantis – The Light You Know
This is the contagiousness of the energy of David DeSantis in the opening of his song The Light You Know that grabs your attention at the very beginning. You can feel that guitar riff right at the beginning–catchy and self-assured–it echoes the vocals in the verse in this witty yet natural manner, which is both intentional and natural at the […]
Pop/Review Micki XO – Power Outage
Micki XO has hit something that we can all relate to with Power Outage- that particular brand of being exhausted as you are, overloaded with media and loving everything that is going on in the world and somehow still expected to show up and work. The genius of this song is that it does not merely narrate that feeling but […]
Pop/Review Katie Belle – Bad Dreams
It is somehow paradoxical and beautiful that Katie Belle created a song about bad dreams, when she makes the tiresome fact of insomnia turn into an irresistible escape into the realms of electro-pop. Here, the Atlanta-based artist has created something special; a song that recognizes the restless, twisting-and-turning nights that we all had and at the same time provides three […]
Pop/Review Kelsie Kimberlin – Dream of Peace
It is something really touching how the artist does not sing of peace, but every risk in order to make the peace during the active war. Dream of Peace by Kelsie Kimberlin is not a cozy hymn that was recited in a safe place. It is shot in Kyiv when the war was at its peak and the air raid […]
Pop/Review Amara Fe – SHIFT
Twenty-four songs is a declaration. It is not just an album, but a universe, a mood board, thesis on what pop can be when an artist does not want to cut themselves down to the industry standard. SHIFT Amara Fe does not merely build on her first album Reborn, but rockets beyond it, with a collection that is both confidence, […]
Electronic/Review Luke Tangerine – Retrodelic
Some artists chase trends. Others build time machines. The Retrodelic EP by Luke Tangerine does so, with five straight tracks of nothing short of mirrorball euphoria and less nostalgia and more of rediscovery. It is the response of the golden age of disco and funk filtered through the modern production sensibilities without losing a drop of analog warmth, in Frankfurt. […]
Pop/Review DALE – Vertigo
It is very personal when an artist relies on music as a therapy and that is what Dale or Milan-based banker-turned-musician does with his first album Vertigo. The result of the highly stressful and self-aware time, this set of 80s inspired synth-pop songs is a record of one man attempting to learn about himself- and the kind of man he […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]