Anna Tivel on Loneliness and Re-Recording “One Thousand and One”
One of the great things about music as a medium is that it allows for change and experimentation even after the original has been released. Sure, books may have subsequent editions after its original release, and films can be re-released with “Director’s Cuts” and what have you, but any one song can have infinite variations: […]
Switchfoot Is Leaning Into Tension on interrobang
I think when you dig to the heart of anything beautiful, you end up hitting the hard reality of paradox: two seemingly opposed ends that somehow make up a whole truth. You can’t love until you let go, and you don’t know what you have until it’s gone, and you grow from pain – that […]
Wren Wilder on “Egyptian Cotton,” Regina Spektor, and Finding Your People
“If you’re the coolest person at the table, you’re sitting at the wrong table.” That was a piece of advice Wren Wilder got from a friend of hers, and it’s a sentiment that runs through the songwriter’s lovely “Egyptian Cotton.” Egos are a fragile thing, and it can be tempting to surround yourself with a […]
Alyssa Murray on “thx,” Kansas City, and Going Electronic
In the video for her intriguing art pop single “thx,” the Kansas City-based songwriter Alyssa Murray plays with her food. Dressed in a stylish scarlet pantsuit, Murray beholds an egg, toys with fistfuls of barbecued meat (like any true Kansas City resident), and stares into a small refrigerator that flickers ominously like the television from […]
Joey Hines on “How to Love and How to Be Let Down”
The first thing that strikes you about “How to Love and How to Be Let Down,” a lovely, heartfelt new song by Vegas-based Joey Hines, is the vocals. The song is built on a doo wop chord progression, which already points things in a tender sort of direction, but there’s tender and then there’s this: […]
Gal Musette on “Honeymoon,” Her New Album, and Romantic Realism
The sounds of dream pop are usually used to convey a sort of blissful, starry-eyed romanticism–think Mazzy Star’s “Fade Into You,” Cocteau Twins’ “Heaven or Las Vegas,” or the Cure’s “Just Like Heaven,” an important forerunner of the dream pop sound. Gal Musette, also known as the California-based singer-songwriter Grace Freeman, has steeped herself in […]
Sade Fox on “Necessary Nostalgia,” the Songwriting Process, and Learning Experiences
Sade Fox shares a visceral ache for the past in their new song “Necessary Nostalgia.” The four and a half minute track is framed in a gentle piano loop, making plenty of space for the bright and enchanting vocals. Sade Fox boasts a clear, shimmering voice that will remind listeners of alternative artists like beabadoobee […]
At Last a Truth That Is Real: Sweet Trip’s Roby Burgos on the Band’s Journey and Their New Album
My parents, bless them, didn’t know why I was so excited. I told them that I would be interviewing someone from a band called Sweet Trip, a band whose music I’ve loved and admired for some time, and they were happy for me. But they didn’t quite get why I was grinning from ear to […]
Lem Jay and Charlyne Yi on “Stroll,” Voice Acting, and Heart-Shaped Baby Grand Pianos
“Stroll,” a new song by musician and songwriter Lem Jay alongside actress and singer Charlyne Yi (you may know her from House M.D. or her extensive voice acting career), is a song that hearkens back to the ramshackle roots of twee pop. Nowadays, the term is used to describe groups like Alvvays or She and […]
Lily Kelso on “DETAILS” and Balancing Study with Songwriting
After a brief period of stagnation in the latter half of the past decade, indie rock is in a particularly healthy place right now, due in large part to the success of female artists. While they haven’t crossed over in terms of radio hits, artists like Phoebe Bridgers and Mitski have captured the hearts and […]
