Amelia Ray’s “Hambone Says”: A Harrowing Role-Reversal on Race
In February, Ahmaud Arbery was shot and killed by three white men as he jogged in Georgia. In March, Breonna Taylor was killed in her own home by three white plainclothes officers in Kentucky. In June, the Black Lives Matter movement re-erupted amidst widespread outrage over systemic racism in America, tensions that stoked both civil […]
Brother James Displays Thoughtful, Literary Songwriting on “Give Yourself a Break”
I love the fall. The leaves start to change color, the temperature dip just enough for you to whip out that sweater you’ve been eyeing all summer, you can feel a little less guilty wasting all of your money at Starbucks. But fall is also a pain—with every latte there’s another assignment due, another exam […]
“Montana” by Slow Pulp: Warm, Emotional Dream Pop
So, I’m pretty much known to my friends as the emotional one. We all have at least one of these friends – the one who kinda just cries over everything. Happy, sad, shocking, horrifying – it all makes them a little weepy. It’s not so much that I enjoy being sad, or that I’m for […]
“Kodachrome” by Jealous of the Birds: Gorgeous, Lush Pop
Naomi Hamilton turned heads in 2016 with her debut album Parma Violets released under the name Jealous of the Birds. In her debut, she put on a show of minimalist grandeur, using just her voice, a guitar, and a few other instruments to craft a captivating sound, somehow both tiny and expansive that drew listeners […]
“Hours” by Tomberlin: A Careful Exploration of Love and Longing
A lot of people don’t like love songs. Some people find them too sappy, others prefer the emotional turbulence of breakup songs. Some artists churn out love song after love song, while others avoid them like the plague (too soon?). Sarah Beth Tomberlin’s discography up to this point has given us little indication that she […]
Andy Bell’s “I Was Alone”: An Astounding, Atmospheric Slow Burn
How many of us set way-too-lofty goals at the beginning of quarantine? Like, was it just a thing that we all set out to achieve some longtime aspiration just because we were forced to stay home for a few months? I mean, for me it was learning to play guitar, and although I can proudly […]
“Birds” by Surf Tapes: Summery, Idiosyncratic Pop
When I first moved from my little hometown in Pennsylvania to start college in downtown Los Angeles, I don’t think I was as prepared as I made myself believe for the inevitable cultural shock I was in for. I’d long dreamed of living in California one day, but adjusting to life in a new city […]
Honey Joy’s “The Healer”: Noisy Yet Life-Affirming
For those who have struggled with mental illness, sometimes you can look back on a particularly turbulent period and find it tough to recognize the person that you were. Piecing together the person that you were during and after struggles with mental health can be a painful experience, but in some ways it can also […]
Emily Barker’s “Where Have The Sparrows Gone?”: A Haunting, Timely Tale of Environmental Collapse
Last week in California, the skies turned orange, a sight that seemed taken straight out of everybody’s post-apocalyptic nightmare. Except for it wasn’t a nightmare, but a reality: a harrowing reminder of the wildfires raging across the West Coast. The scariest thing is that these disastrous headlines seem to be becoming less and less surprising; […]
“Crying In Your Sleep” by Iska Dhaaf Reminds Us To Let Go
I feel like one of my personal themes in the past few months has been self-improvement. One of the habits I’ve forced myself to pick up has been dream journaling. Admittedly, like most of the overly ambitious goals I dreamed up this summer, this one didn’t really take as much as I’d anticipated. But, I […]
