Kinn’s “25 On 22nd Street” is as Intimate as It Gets
Imagine you’ve just walked into a club. You heard the music as you walked through the door, so you go past the bar and down the stairs, passing posters and objects that reflect little personal pockets of taste and cultural favorites. You walk into the small but spacious room to find three people singing the […]
Mon Rovîa Finds a Way Back with “Don’t Lose A Good Thing”
Change is the heart of Mon Rovîa’s “Don’t Lose a Good Thing.” The song pleads, “Change with me, baby.” Mon Rovîa sings the line with as much intensity as any more standard love song plaint, like “Kiss me” or “Don’t leave.” There’s room for those, too, sometimes you do have to beg. But acknowledging that […]
Imogen Clark is Iconic on “Big One”
I’m gonna go out on a limb here and proclaim that Imogen Clark is destined to be an international star with the release of her new album The Art Of Getting Through in May. Everything about this Australian artist screams “charisma.” Her songwriting, singing, production wizardry and everything else. Imogen’s latest single “Big One” is […]
Katy Kirby’s “Blue Raspberry” is Cubic Zirconia in the Rough
Katy Kirby’s new album is a languorous, poetic ode to artificiality and imperfection. Chronicling the end of a relationship and the bright, sparkling discovery of a new one, Kirby warbles, trills, and serenades over somber piano, understated guitar, and the occasional soaring strings. The album drawls in slow and almost hymnal with the syllabic, chantlike […]
Talker Finds It Impossible to Be “Easygoing”
In advance of her debut album, L.A. artist talker (Celeste Tauchar) has a new single called “Easygoing.” The song is an exploration of how her personality-type (earnest and all-in) has been a detriment in her relationships. The blood-soaked video for the song captures her anger and anguish when a five-year relationship ends. We can only […]
Vampire Weekend is Back with “Capricorn” and “Gen-X Cops”
For a long time, I deliberately avoided Vampire Weekend. I had my reasons, unfair as they were. From a distance, they seemed like the incarnation of every dream that went to East Nashville to die. They were a group of young Ivy League white guys with big shirts and no record label, cool because a […]
“The Last Great American Dynasty” is Taylor Swift’s Mirror, Confession, and Best Song
Like the rest of the world, I exclaimed “There she is!” every time the camera cut to Taylor Swift during Super Bowl LVIII. Some of us said it angrily, peeved that we can’t even watch professional sports without her showing up like an IRS agent to ruin the fun. Some of us said it with […]
Radiohead Bring the Strings and Paranoia with “Burn The Witch”
Radiohead are good at (and renowned for) upending people’s expectations. So their lead single from 2016 album A Moon Shaped Pool was what we might call an expected surprise. Radiohead are sometimes described as alt rock or indie rock. There’s often guitars somewhere, and whilst this album has that feel, the first song everyone heard […]
Novo Amor’s Experiments with What You Leave Out on “Years On” and “Land Where I Land”
The world is a frenetic place. Sometimes it’s overwhelming. Music can be an antidote to this, and in the case of Novo Amor’s new songs, it certainly is. There’s a meditative quality to the light, bubbling electronics at the beginning of “Years On” and a not quite whispered vocal that soon employs harmonies, multi-tracked voices, […]
Share the Nostalgia of Ben Shive’s “Here It Was”
A few years ago, I started noticing something that made me laugh. I was sitting in a coffee shop in midmorning, doing my best not to eavesdrop. But some people are loud talkers, bless their hearts. The group across from me was being entertained by one such person. He was telling a story as I […]
