Demeter’s “Joanie”: Power, Abuse, and an American Nightmare
I was taught to respect the police from a very young age. I grew up (and still live) on Long Island, where everyone’s related to a cop and where you’ll find Blue Lives Matter bumper stickers in even the most liberal areas. The police marched in Memorial Day parades, organized barbecues in the park, gave […]
Alyssa May’s “Picture It” is Energy Encapsulated
I’ve long envied the main characters in coming of age movies for the way the world seems to serenade them—always accompanied by a song to fit every changing mood, relationship, and accomplishment. Being the main character in a movie or acting as if you were the star of your own life requires a certain romanticization […]
Exploring the Existential with Titi Woo’s “Where Are You”
What do you do when you are alone with your mind? As the period of self-isolation extends further into the summer at the hands of COVID-19, I feel increasingly forced to partake in this ruminative pastime. It’s all at once a daunting, beautiful and transformative experience—my head a venue to relive past regrets, work through […]
Rowan’s “Big Wave”: A Song That Sparkles
2020 has been an eventful year, to say the least. It’s a wonder that these past four months or so haven’t sent us all over the edge, especially in this era of the angsty-est of angsty teens. Personally, my quarantine experience has already seen many a butchered hairdo (nothing like a hearty spontaneous hair color […]
Shasta’s “Roaming Hearts”: Off-Kilter Pop with Warmth and Charm
A lot of people view ‘pop’ music as formulaic: an overly systematic process constantly churning out music that all seems to sound the same. But I’d argue that pop music’s structural foundations actually force an artist to become more creative. It may seem paradoxical, but I feel that there is something about setting limits that […]
“Ground Zero” by Danny Starr: A Cry for Love from the Depths of Space
Space. The vast nothingness that stretches beyond what we, as humans, can even fathom. With all the technology currently at our disposal, we still do not know what is out there past a certain point. However, we do know that our existence on Earth is smaller than a grain of sand on the beach when […]
“English Morning” by Kowloon: Accepting Slow Changes
With the prevalence of information in the modern age, it’s easier now more than ever to discover you aren’t in agreement with how things are run. Whether it’s something small and local or large and global, thanks to the internet, we are able to see things from different perspectives all around the world. While this […]
Braille Face’s “Softly Spoken”: Modern Alienation with a Sensitive Soul
When quarantine started, I resolved to learn something new. I didn’t know what, exactly, I wanted to learn about (fashion? Film history? Art? Drag? The possibilities were theoretically endless), but I figured that, if I wanted to fully throw myself into something new, this was as good an opportunity as I was going to get. […]
Tired Runner’s “Port Song”: Restless Waters, Restless Minds
There’s something about water, particularly the untamed wildness of oceans, that has always piqued human interest. This is evident simply in the sheer amount of art, dating back centuries, that centers the ocean as its subject. Looking at seascapes, poems, choreography, books, photographs, songs and countless other representations, the influence of water is undeniable. It’s […]
“Take Me With You” by Emmrose: Spending Sunsets in a Different Sky
Every now and again I’ll come across an upcoming artist, much younger than myself, and think: “Wow, what am I doing with my life?” I’ve been playing the guitar and writing music since my early teens but have never had the confidence to put myself out there. A lot of people don’t realize how personal […]
