Chatting with Maya Lavelle about “HOBO”
The video for Maya Lavelle’s fascinating new song “HOBO” comes with an eye-catching parenthetical: “picnic with a real bear”. That’s not something you see every day, especially not in an indie pop music video, so I watched and listened to see if it delivered the goods. I’m pleased to report that there is still some […]
“Prom Night Blues” by NRVS LVRS: Teenage Angst in IMAX Proportions
I didn’t go to prom in high school. I didn’t have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, for one thing, and my two best friends at the time were occupied with their own significant others. (I’m still friends with one, while the other has become an extremely online quasi-libertarian who I don’t talk to anymore.) Even […]
John Wages & Junior Cheyne’s “Close Enough for Jazz”: Classic American Pop
Reader, I have a confession to make: I have been growing tired of Americana. I’m not necessarily tired of American iconography, or even of the musical genre that traffics in that iconography; America, whatever else you’d care to say about it, is a goldmine for a creative songwriter. I’m talking about the bland, mannered Americana […]
Chatting with Rikky Gage of The Memories about “In My Heart, I Am Sailing”
“In My Heart I Am Sailing” by the Memories is a bubbling cauldron, a breaking surface, a sharp breath full of water. Flooded lungs, heavenly gasping, reaching for a handful of sky. It’s a deeply peaceful song – a song about giving in to the currents of life, about sharpening your vision and looking both […]
Frank Rensen’s “Someday”: Like Sands Through the Hourglass…
I cried the first time I stayed up until midnight on New Year’s Eve. This wasn’t unusual in and of itself; I was seven years old at the time, and I was a sensitive kid who was easily overwhelmed by big crowds and loud noises. But that wasn’t why I was crying that night, standing […]
“Same Way” by Victoria Reed: Dreamy, Overflowing Beauty
I first listen to Victoria Reed’s “Same Way” in the car, under a dark and sprawling sky. Mosquitos crackle against the glass. No one else is with me. The song unravels first with synth layers – warm, rising, a gentle warning – and melting vocal riffs, setting the tone of the song in clear terms. […]
“Évanouie” by Meryam Aboulouafa: Expand Your Horizons
On October 3rd, 1999, ex-Talking Heads frontman and inscrutable delight David Byrne wrote an article for the New York Times called “I Hate World Music”. This would be a bold statement from anyone–we all hate something, but few of us get published in the Times for it–and it was particularly bold coming from David Byrne. […]
Chatting with Jared Celosse About “Hold”
Jared Celosse’s “Hold” is almost six minutes long, which is a bold, risky choice for a young songwriter. There’s nothing inherently good or bad about long songs, but in a world of impatient listeners, taking your time to build your song up could result in a roll of the eyes and a press of the […]
Mary Confurius’ “Cock Tale”: Bold, Unapologetic Sexuality
The title, of course, is a pun of sorts. Mary Confurius, the Dutch artist behind the brooding, bracing “Cock Tale”, is singing about an actual cocktail when she sings the title phrase in the song’s coda. “Let’s have that cocktail/It’s on me,” she sings, the friendly sentiment turned into a veiled threat thanks to her […]
“Evil Elephant” by TTRRUUCES: Down the Rabbit Hole and Into a Dystopia
“We live in a society” might have started life as a quote from a frustrated George Costanza, but it’s since become a devastatingly accurate internet meme. It pokes fun at certain galaxy-brained individuals who think that simply acknowledging the hypocrisies and injustices of modern life counts as enlightened activism. These people are broadly correct about […]
