“Missing Cows & You” by Natalina: UFOs and Heartbreak
When I was preparing to write this article, I looked up whether there were any UFO sightings in my home area of Long Island – and to my surprise, there were quite a few. In fact, Suffolk County reported the highest number of UFO sightings of anywhere in New York state, with more than 800 […]
“Pictures” by Dan Petrich: A Complicated Reunion with a Complicated Mother
I have never been far from my mother. When I was younger, she was always there waiting to pick us up from school, clad in a black pantsuit from her job at a nearby college. She would smile and hug me close, and she smelled like clean cotton. She would later get another, busier (but […]
“Closer to Myself” by Rachel Angel: Self-Actualizing Through Golden Country Music
“Closer to Myself,” a new song by the Miami-based singer-songwriter Rachel Angel, starts simply enough: the click of drumsticks, and someone counting off “One! Two! One-two!” Then, after a quick drum roll, the song blossoms into its full, golden splendor. The retro-country sound is rich and appealing, with some nice Wall of Sound-esque production and […]
Fauness Laments the Death of “Mystery” on a Powerful New Album
Photo by Sylwia Wozniak Like her musical idols Judie Tzuke and Valerie Carter, UK artist Fauness is a consummate artist – a mesmerizing singer who tackles serious themes in a way that’s wonderfully soulful and engaging. Her new single “Mystery” is not about Agatha Christie. The song explores how mystery itself is ebbing away in […]
Samantha Margret on “Rage,” Stylistic Evolution, and the Lure of Broadway
There are very few songwriters today who are ready to step into the shoes of Aimee Mann, Sara Bareilles and Lana Del Rey…but Samantha Margret is one of them. She tackles important themes in an astonishing range of styles. It may be a cosmic coincidence, but the title track of her new EP RAGE was […]
Retrospective Review: Sinead O’Connor’s “Black Boys on Mopeds” Illuminates the Dark Corners of our Culture
It’s March, 1990, and the world is spinning at full speed. Mikhail Gorbachav has just been elected the first president of the Soviet Union. Boston’s Gardner Museum has been subjected to an early-morning heist which sees multiple Vermeer, Rembrandt, and other masterworks vanish. And elsewhere in the art world, tremors of an earthquake have begun. […]
“Easy As That” by Cara Louise: Sun-Dappled Agnosticism
“Nap in a hammock, pick some fruit/We’re halfway through the year.” That line comes just before the chorus in Cara Louise’s recent song, “Easy As That,” and it’s hard not to be won over by such simple, sun-dappled imagery. I’ve never found a hammock that wasn’t too taut or too saggy, but I admire them […]
“Trophy Thieves” by Ryan Hoffman: A Warm, Evocative Story Song
“There’s a man at the end of a dead end street/with a Bible in his hand like a trophy thief/I know, but I can’t say I blame him.” These are some of the lyrics in the first verse of “Trophy Thieves,” a thoughtful new song by the Pittsburgh-based singer-songwriter Ryan Hoffman, and it provides only […]
“Cathedral Swings” by Hush Bewlay: A Gothic Haunting with a Sweet Center
Not far from my house, along the route I take to my dermatologist, is a small white Anglican church that has a children’s playground overlooking a cemetery. From the top of the banana-yellow slide, you’d be able to see the whole thing: row after row of plots, solemn gray headstones going back hundreds of years, […]
Chayla Hope on “High,” Celebrity Mixers, and Brilliant Branding
Photo by Lindsay Poyar Let’s face it: there are a lot of tepid vocalists today who hide behind studio gimmicks. But that’s not the case with Chayla Hope, whose voice has incredible power and precision at the same time. She reminds me a lot of Suzanne Palmer, who had a 2005 club hit with a […]
