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 […]
Pop/Review Exzenya– Intermittent Love
There is this weird thing about music that makes us face the truths that we would prefer not to see, and in this case Exzenya in her song called Intermittent Love does precisely that with a style of precision that is as striking as it is correct. It is not your average pop song about a breakup; it is a […]
ROCK/Review Exzenya– Scansion
There is something mesmerizing about an artist that does not conform to labels and Exzenya is no stranger to this non-conformist approach to her music with her new single, Scansion. At 55, this genre-fluid storyteller demonstrates that artistic authenticity cuts across age and produces a track that hums with technical proficiency and raw emotive power. Even the title of the […]
METAL/Review Daniel Bohn– Bonfire
It is very cathartic to see something burning and knowing it is supposed to. That is the precise feeling that Daniel Bohn, in his song Bonfire, captures: the destruction that is an intentional precursor of a new beginning, the chaos that is controlled and turns suffering into strength. The St. Louis artist has created something which is both ancient and […]
Pop/Review Baicikeul Benoit – A VELO
It is somehow very French to make environmental activism a party, and that is precisely what Baicikeul Benoit does in his song ” A VELO”. This inventor of Velectro music has created something that is politically aware and yet irresistibly fun-a rare quality which shows his maturity as an artist and his sincere interest in making a difference. The song […]
Afrobeats /Review OB1 – Miss you
It is somehow heartwarming to see a young musician explore previously uncharted emotional waters, and that is literally what OB1 did with “Miss You.” This 18 year old American born, UK raised musician has created something that is very mature feeling yet with the same honesty of being young and in love and in self reflection. The first thing that […]
ROCK/Review Garry Pitcairn– People Eat People
There are songs that strike you when you hear them; there are songs that crawl into your head like slow poison. People Eat People by Garry Pitcairn is squarely in the latter camp–a vicious, simmering anthem that sounds like a message sent by the doomsday, and it is hauntingly beautiful. The product of the bleak solitude of an island in […]
Hip-Hop/Review W2S Rank– All I Can Take
W2S Rank is only 18 years old yet his emotional maturity is that of a person who has experienced far more than his years would indicate. All I Can Take is not simply another R&B song released by a young man, it is an unfiltered confession between smooth production that highlights why this once known Lil Rank is bound to […]
EDM/Review Sundrift Sky – Jump into forever
Sundrift Sky have always considered music to be emotional alchemy, turning raw emotions into sonic gold, and Jump Into Forever is the most intense change of theirs so far. It is not a mere EDM song, it is a diary entry on music, the song is the moment when love overcomes fear and the hope silences the despair. The song […]
ROCK/Review Tom Minor – The Loneliest Person on Earth
The latest single of Tom Minor has something heartwrenchingly familiar about it that slaps you in the chest. The Loneliest Person on Earth sums up that particular type of heartbreak we are all familiar with- when the person you love most of all becomes a mirror of your own loneliness that is turned back on you. Here the London singer-songwriter […]
ROCK/Review Ulrich Jannert – Inner COMPASS
There are times when you hear a song that is less of entertainment and more of a casual chat with a wise friend and Ulrich Jannert’s “Inner COMPASS” is one of such meaningful music experiences. This Scandinavia-based artist of German origin has created something that does not fall within the confines of a standard Soul rock song, and instead produces […]
Pop/Review MaKeyla – Woman
It is a very gratifying experience when you get to hear an artist who has really discovered her voice and MaKeyla is just that kind of an artist with her song “Woman”. Born in Stockholm but raised in the hip-hop clubs of Los Angeles, this powerhouse has taken an impressive journey-one that started with her teenage Swedish Idol performances, and […]
ROCK/Review Rosetta West – God of the Dead
Other times you come across an album that alters everything you knew about a band. The God of the Dead by Rosetta West is just such a revelation–a daring artistic declaration that finds the Illinois blues-rock band at their most adventurous and emotionally bare. It is immediately evident that this is not merely another album full of songs, but a […]
Hip-Hop/Review Proklaim– CREEPIN/FURTHER (2 IN 1)
CREEPIN/FURTHER (2 IN 1) by Proklaim is a genre-bending manifesto of purpose; unruly, unadulterated, and full of emotional fuel. And what he brings here is not merely music, but a twofold experience that is simultaneously intimate and culturally broad. Proklaim · CREEPING:FURTHER 2in 1.wav The track is a two-part piece, and is a dynamic experience, CREEPIN establishing a haunting and […]
Pop/Review The New Citizen Kane – Ratbag Joy
Ratbag Joy is a tempest of contradiction, the best kind of contradiction, bright, bouncy and irresistibly danceable on the surface but with an undercurrent of emotion just under the glitter. The New Citizen Kane (Kane Luke) provides something that is euphoric yet bruising, that particular emotion of celebrating pain, of smiling through the entropy. As soon as the beat comes, […]
Hip-Hop/Review Bloodlin3 – No Mercy
It is interesting to listen to an album which does not want to remain on the same emotional plane, and this is precisely what Bloodlin3 does in their album No Mercy. Key contributors include Stephen King (2Severe), Mallachi (Miggidy), and Reinman Quiji (Blackrein), whose diverse talents and unique perspectives helped shape this fully realized artistic statement about the intricacies of […]
ROCK/Review Shyfrin Alliance – Colours of Time
It is so poignant when the music is willing to address the greatest questions in life and the Colours of Time by Shyfrin Alliance is no exception as it does it with such elegance and refinement. With Eduard Shyfrin, whose life story as a classically trained pianist, award winning mathematician, and masterful musician is a tale of modern renaissance, this […]
FOLK ROCK/Review Wattmore – I Don’t Miss That Woman
Brisbane brotherly combo Wattmore has produced a real gem in the form of I Don’t Miss That Woman, which is a breakup song but one that does not rely on self-pity but steel capped boots and sarcasm instead. This is not the usual heartbreak ballad, this is an all-out emotional exorcism in twangy guitars and presented with the same deadpan […]
ROCK/Review Adam Wedd – Merchant Man
Adam Wedd has a rare type of honesty in his EP, Merchant Man, the sort that does not aim to be overly dramatic or pretentious, yet still, manages to hit the bulls-eye. Listening to this project is like turning the pages of a journal of a person and each song is a different chapter, a different emotional line. The Merchant […]
Pop/Review Ava Valianti – Buttercups
The Buttercups by Ava Valianti is an artistically effective work on the disquieting reality of young love, rich in details of a tidal wave which engulfs the listener into its maw. The song reflects the emotional experiences which are very intense and produce a sensation of exaltation and helplessness. Valianti is only 15, but her emotional maturity is shocking and […]