Today, we are speaking with Bérénice. Can you give us a little background information about yourself? My name is Bérénice and I’m sixteen years old, almost seventeen. I sing since I’m born it feels like. Singing is my everything since forever, and I work so hard everyday to perfect my skill. I love it, in a way that makes me feel powerful. I also play the clarinet since I’m nine…
I’m So Black has a downright dark, horrorcore-infused backing beat to provide a solid counterpoint to the rapid-fire lyrical flow laid down here by Emcee Monte. The confident, assertive patois of EM will tattoo the song deep into the minds and hearts of listeners. The heartbeat-like beat acts as a solid counterpoint for the spontaneity exhibited here by Emcee Monte. The song is easily able to slot into rap playlists…
Shayne Cook’s Epiphonetics is a welcome addition to a tumultuous year. Creativity continues thriving despite an ongoing pandemic claiming untold lives and this, if nothing else, confirms some aspect of mankind’s eternal optimism. The circles and cycles of life continue to spin, the world does not grind to a complete halt, and the human heart is subject to the same litany of travails, joys, lunacies, and peaks it experiences through its waking…
Sometimes the smallest things can have the biggest impact. Located on the historic tip of Lulu Island in British Columbia, the village of Steveston is a suburb of Richmond, Vancouver. Known for its scenic views and salmon, it’s also home to singer/songwriter, Jasmine Bharucha. The impressionable town is just one of the charms to Bharucha’s song “Fog Horn Blowing”. Joyful and having a catching chorus, “Fog Horn Blowing” rolls-in like…
On Paper Cha$e, Ray Lugar & the Collective Force are able to blend together so many distinct approaches and styles that listeners cannot break themselves from the track This means that the guitar / drum dynamic builds off of the tradition of Rage Against The Machine, while there are nods to Danny Brown and Killer Mike in the furious, politicized lyrical content that bludgeons with each line. The amount of…
All Amped Up’s guitars build upon the momentum tradition of hard rock acts like Judas Priest and AC/DC’s. Keifer’s vocals sound as vibrant and intense as they did back in 1988. Hitting fans over their heads with the titular phrase, Keifer is given additional oomph through splashy drums and some seriously sick bass interlacing itself through the instrumentation. With each side of #keiferband playing through on high gear, it’s no…
Potter’s Daughter’s new single We Could Be has a very laid-back sound that links together easy jazz and R&B with a bit of funk and soul. Dyanne’s vox here point toward a world that could be “so much better than this”. The video (attached below) for “We Could Be” shows a collaboration between individuals from all walks of life. It is this practice that Potter’s Daughter encapsulates in their performance.…
A Dream I’ve Had takes its inspiration from 1970s rock (Air Supply, Cat Stevens) with more modern sensibilities. Thoughtful, engaging guitars and drums interact with emotive bass to make something truly tender. The insistence of the vocals and keys that occur as The Sun Harmonic move towards the song’s chorus is quite the sea change for song. As quickly as this intensity began, it immediately recedes to allow for some…
Crashland, Pennan Brae’s latest single, is able to keep a high energy and quick tempo. The song builds upon the album-rock of late Who and The Kinks while interspersing hints of 1990s alternative. Brae’s charismatic vocals sit upon the top of sizzling guitar work and splashy drums. The brief interlude which hits listeners at around the three-minute mark looks back a bit to Apple Records acts while whipping the guitar…
I Ain’t Impressed has some sick flow from the onset. Coming in with a hard-hitting, head-bopping sort of lyrical content is a hard art to master, but iHateJulian is able to immediately draw listeners in during his newest track. The simply-stated backing beat rises at falls in the right places, building off of the tradition of Three 6 Mafia. The back and forth between IHJ, Starling, and Lee Cavalli ensure…
Crast brings back the early-oughts midwest emo style of Deep Elm acts with emotive vocals, tremendous instrumentation, and a wall of fuzz that wraps up the resulting composition into something sublimely compelling. Splashy and complex drums, angular guitars, and hints of influences as wide-strewn as Strike Anywhere and The Appleseed Cast ensure that fans will be tapping along to the song a few brief seconds after first turning it on.…
Democracy 4, the highly anticipated political strategy game for PC, delivers an immersive and engaging experience that puts players in the driver’s seat of a virtual nation. Building upon its predecessor’s success, Democracy 4 offers an even deeper and more realistic simulation of political decision-making, making it a must-play for fans of the genre. One of the standout features of Democracy 4 is its complexity. The game presents players with…
Get By has MAAD call back to the 1990s. There is a sense of chill and airiness that permeates the single. Pulling double duty here, MAAD is able to give fans a fun set of vocals and an additional level of harmony. There’s a bit of Pharrell, a hint of Mya, and a whole dollop of MAAD’s own singular take on pop music. The chattering, horn-infused backing beat will undoubtedly…
Golden Days is a thoughtful effort that showcases alluring vocals with atmospheric synths and guitar work. The resulting effort is able to touch upon a wide swath of alternative rock, spanning the gamut from Rufus Wainwright to Elton John. The harmonies brought here by Leo’s vox push the instrumentation to an entirely higher plateau. What results during this single is nothing less than fantastic; the skilled arrangements will stick around…
ON What You Think, Malcolm Kay is able to pop off with a fresh style while adopting some of rap’s best pieces from the better part of the last twenty years. This means that there are sirens that punctuate the backing instrumentation of the song, insistent drum hits, and a lyrical flow that has Kay deftly blend together rapid-fire bars with an ample amount of swagger. What You Think’s titular…
CodeX is an engrossing, epic sound that uses deliberate keys and percussive elements o keep listeners firmly on the edges of their seats. The different segments of Sonarpilot’s track are bolstered mightily through a visual component that blends geometry, ancient texts, and celestial bodies. There’s no way to easily categorize what the act does here; there are nods to 1970s electronic performers like Klaus Schulze and even hints of the…
Summertime in New York City is a timeless track that links together the inimitable R&B approach of Brian McKnight with the soulful, sizzling jazz of Koz. There is a complexity that is present during Koz’s latest effort that ensures that listeners will have to play back the song multiple times before being able to pick up each and every nuance that is contained within. Of particular note during “Summertime…” has…
On Peace Will Come, Teddy Wender is able to immediately draw attention with his calming, surf and blues-infused instrumentation. Taking nods from performers like Huey Lewis and B.B. King, Wender is able to call forward to a hopeful future that is miles away from the current situation we find ourselves. With a secondary set of vocals lifting Teddy’s vocals up to a higher plateau, the song is able to draw…
American Sunset is a touching track about the downfall of America. There’s a bit of a chiaroscuro between the soulful guitar work and the starkness of the lyrics that Sudano puts forth here. The vocals build upon the folk-rock tradition and carry the same gravitas of an early Bob Dylan or Phil Ochs. The urging of Bruce to bring us back to the halcyon days of the 20th century is…
On Bang Bang, McNally Waters create a song that is eminently familiar but completely unique. There are nods to swing, country & western, and blues weaved throughout with even hints of jazz present. The combined vocals are so catchy here; listeners will be falling over themselves to capture each and every word. The band’s able to make a composition that ferries along the vocals in the most delectable way possible.…