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: […]
“Whatever Works” by Roller Derby: Love, Sacrifice, and Desperation
A longing post-breakup reflection, “Whatever Works” by Roller Derby reminisces over a failed relationship and tries to figure out how to reignite it. With dreamy vocals and relaxing instrumentation, it sounds like Philine Meyer, the vocalist behind the song, is playing it cool. But when listening to the lyrics, you can tell it is anything […]
Patric Johnston’s Something Something Love Captures the Unity and Tension of Relationships
Love is a subject in art that is frequently used to depict unity and tension—sometimes both. Because it is a universal subject, it’s easy to relate to a song, a painting, or a book that makes love its main theme. In Patric Johnston’s EP, “Something Something Love,” Johnston writes about love as a musical triptych […]
Joel Ansett’s I Should Get Some Rest Gives Melody to a Restless Night
There is a kind of enticing destructiveness to staying up late – I mean painfully late – and giving entertainment to our most tangled thoughts. I was welcomed into Joel Ansett’s newest EP, I Should Get Some Rest, by the comforting sounds of a restless night. Joel’s first track, “Ease,” builds off of a simple […]
Zack Fletcher’s “The Traveler” Is a Beautiful Metaphor for Loss
The grieving process is sometimes unclear, vague, and complicated. You cry every day at the memory of someone’s laughter or a small moment the two of you had shared. In Zack Fletcher’s single, “The Traveler,” he composes a song about loss in a way that makes the grief easier to understand. By comparing the loved […]
“Some Sunny Day” by Lloyd Taylor-Clark: A Reflection on the Passage of Time
With his debut single, “Some Sunny Day,” Lloyd Taylor-Clark provides a peaceful tune with lilting guitar and ambient vocals. This song, with its reflections on the passage of time as well as the laments over the perpetual nature of feelings, stirs up emotions similar to that of an existential crisis (emotions I am probably a […]
“Real Pain” by Indigo De Souza: Glorious Communal Catharsis
There’s a scene in Midsommar, Ari Aster’s 2019 folk horror movie, that comes to mind when I listen to “Real Pain” by Indigo De Souza. Without spoiling too much, Dani (Florence Pugh) discovers a deep, personal betrayal, and staggers sobbing out into the rural Swedish commune whose macabre summer festival she was roped into attending. […]
“Blue Sky Baby” by Imelda Kehoe: Lovely, Earnest Songwriting
Irish/English singer-songwriter Imelda Kehoe struck a much different tone on her track “Blue Sky Baby,” compared with the other tracks that I have been reviewing for this blog. “Blue Sky Baby” is slow, anthemic, velvety, and creates a pulsating feeling of drama that crescendos as the track goes on, all while touching on jazz and […]
“Velocity in Celestial Mechanics” by Precarian: A Chaotic, Wild Ride
“Velocity in Celestial Mechanics” by Precarian has to be one of the most explanatory song titles of 2021. Explanatory not in the sense that the song is about velocity and physics, but explanatory in the sense that the song takes you on a ride that resembles getting jarred by a rocket ship and then floating […]
“The Wife of Bath: Alysoun’s Tale” by Deborah Stokol: In Chaucer, Medieval Feminism
The Wife of Bath is named Alysoun. She is not the only traveler in The Canterbury Tales to have a name–the Miller is named Robin, and the Prioress is named Sister Eglantine–but the inclusion of her name in the title of Deborah Stokol’s sprawling “The Wife of Bath: Alysoun’s Tale” seems purposeful. As with the […]
