“collar” by sophie meiers: An Intimate Love Song Turned Askew
There’s something great about a song that doesn’t waste any time drawing you into its world. Take a song like “Jack” by U.S. Girls: less than a second in, and the listener is already immersed in a seedy, grungy glam underworld. It’s the mark of an artist in complete control, an artist who knows their […]
“The Rain” by Lunar Noon: Melodic, Eclectic Beauty
Now the rain has come again/I’d forgotten of it since/Now the rain is pouring in/Can’t escape, it’s everything Michelle Zheng’s musical project Lunar Noon shimmers with cosmic urgency in their January single “The Rain.” This three-minute track is couched in bone-chilling harmonies, Zheng’s voice circling around itself over a deliciously menacing bass played by Rodrigo […]
“Whittier” by Overnight: Dreaminess Through Tears
When I was first listening to this song, I expected Overnight to be another semi-well-known indie-rock band I’d just been missing out on. And while I suppose I’d been missing out, I was surprised to find out that “Whittier” was their newly released debut single. The band, coming from southern Massachusetts, highlights the difficulties of […]
“Cotton White Linen” by Deep Blue: Lush, Lovely Music Borne of Chaos
Historical unrest always leave a musical legacy: The rise of protest songs in the 70s, the advent of souls and blues through slave songs and spirituals, and the counter-culture of hip-hop and jazz in the 90s and 00s. At the start of the 2020 pandemic, many of those self-isolating turned to music. On a surface […]
“Best Life” by Alex Cameron Considers the Frustrations of an Obscure Content Creator
Yahtzee Croshaw, the video game critic behind Zero Punctuation, once described making content for YouTube as “throwing messages in bottles out into a churning sea made up entirely of messages in bottles.” That was back in 2007, when YouTube was only two years old; since then, the sea has become an entire water planet. In […]
Jacksonport’s “California Gold” Explores an Elusive Golden State Dream
The prompt, onerous, and ultimately devastating period of westward expansion that defined most of the nineteenth century remains one of the most dramatic and crucial chapters in American history. Even today, removed as we may be from the blinding ethnocentric hubris of the likes of John O’Sullivan, whose rousing words in the pages of the […]
Remy Boccalatte on “Kodama,” Songwriting, and Nature Hikes
Lonely. “Kodama” starts out lonely. It feels empty and bitter and cold, and the track stretches out before you in a way that feels daunting. Remy Boccalatte’s other work is similarly contemplative. It’s music that offers questions, occasionally provides answers, but mostly wanders. “Kodama” takes a contemplation on the natural world and communication and gives […]
“Honeybee” by Adrift: Effervescent Cool
Honeybees have swagger. That is an indisputable fact from any human who has seen a honeybee in action. My father is a beekeeper, and as a child I often sat in the grass and admired how these strange insects flew in lazy loops through the clover. There’s a thrumming playfulness and a careless confidence to […]
Catey Esler on “Amnesiac,” Production, and Her Influences
There are certain songs where the artist’s influences jump out at you. That’s not necessarily a bad thing: in fact, it offers an opportunity to see whether the artist has taken the right lessons from their influence. In the case of “Amnesiac,” an intriguing, evocative song recently released by Catey Esler, it’s safe to say […]
Retrospective Review: “I Trawl the Megahertz” by Paddy McAloon
Before we begin, I want you to keep this song’s title in the back of your mind. “I Trawl the Megahertz.” It’s the kind of odd, striking title that rolls around in your mind for a while before you even listen to the song itself. Maybe you’ve heard the words “trawl” (dragging nets through water […]
