Most rock musicians who embrace the art of overdrive end up using distortion as something to hide behind. That isn’t the case with Vuola, and in his new record Alouv, he uses this crucial element of tonal augmentation to make his emotions even clearer to the audience. His skills are brought to the spotlight in tracks like “Vapaa Uljas Onnen Lapsi Aaamun” and “Omana Omala Ogana Odati Ojoda,” and at the…
Acts like the Toronto Tabla Ensemble are more than rare. They are singular anomalies in an increasingly polarized world seldom capable of seeing past the end of its nose. The organization’s selfless dedication to expanding the profile of Indian culture, music, and history in such a way that it attracts interest from every social stratum. They are self-reliant and take on that mission in unpredictable ways; the ensemble’s artistic director…
There’s a certain kind of musician and/or songwriter who will play and write even if there’s no immediate hope for their music to ever find an audience. They aren’t doing this for fame or critical acclaim. Composers and musicians like Ontario’s Bonnie Milne are doing this to heed the call of an inner voice she’d likely heard all of her life and give back the gift she’s been given in…
SunniLong and Stacccs are on the move in their new music video for the single “Keep Going” this March, and even without the cinematic appeal of the chase sequence in the visualizer, this is a song that was meant to get our hearts pumping from the jump. Between the tempo of the percussion and the smoothly delivered adrenaline SunniLong is popping off with his vocal, we were always bound to…
A rollicking groove and a swanky guitar riff are waiting to whisk us away to a dreamy harmony in the new single “Firefly” from Ethan Gold, and while I half-expected to be enamored with the compositional backbone of this track, just based on my experience with this artist’s content, I didn’t think the beat would be nearly as gripping as it is here. Gold’s other single out right now, “Storm…
Baker Grace has that “it” factor. Formerly recording under the name Bitter’s Kiss, the New Jersey-born pop singer serves up a winning combination of an irresistible chorus and enviable vocals in “Lullaby”. This fresh hit has a flow that feels just right for the listener in the search for something that doesn’t sound familiar but doesn’t lead them astray. “Lullaby” is an example of an artist wearing their heart on…
Rap has been collectively moving to the left of pop standards for a minute now, as more and more crossovers come into the primetime spotlight, but for Arkadian, the time is right to bring forth an old-school straightforwardness that few have been experimenting with. His new single “Life of Arkadian” has a certain retro quality to its presentation, but relative to the other content that’s been coming out on both…
Vancouver Island’s LNDN values artistic brevity rather than the all too typical ostentatious pop architecture so many other artists erect. The introspective message behind his new single “Life Like That” is universal enough that it will strike a chord with a wide audience and the accessible arrangement is a perfect vehicle for LNDN. He’s released an accompanying video for the track. Graham Dorsay directed the video and it’s a notable…
Magic is in the air in the new music video for Fresh Da Zoe’s “Voodoo Flow,” and although the wicked imagery on screen is quite the reference to the occult on its own, the hypnotic nature of the beat in this single is a far more powerful element. Fresh Da Zoe is pulling out all the creative stops here – visuals, a punchy rhythm, even a linguistic fluidity that makes…
High-quality collaborations take us somewhere we wouldn’t expect any of the involved parties to venture on their own, and in their new single “Lit Life,” Selfish Ways and Maahez definitely jettison into concepts that I was not expecting to encounter from either act. Selfish Ways just dropped Gotham City Vibes in 2022, and among the tracks that are sporting features, “Lit Life” probably has the most experimental feel to its bones. Maahez…
Deconstructed rock is all the rage at the moment, and no matter what you call this emerging style, it feels so much more stripped-down than anything to have come out of alternative music since the late 1980s. Foundry Town Survivors play a pretty interesting blend of Americana, psychedelia, and indie rock in their new single “Hopes and Dreams,” the first song I’ve heard from the group since their inception, and…
“Sunny Days” is the wonderful new track from singer/songwriter Stacy Gabel. Just as warm as the title suggests, Gabel successfully catches sun rays and puts them to song. She spreads love and optimism and one would be hard pressed to not fall under her spell and the catchy chorus. The multiple-Lehigh Valley Style & Music Award Winner, continues to represent her home state of Pennsylvania with songs that make you…
Alabama has always had one of the most underrated music scenes in all of the American south, but if a rapper like Nina Chanel is able to have it her way, that isn’t going to remain the case for very much longer. Chanel reps the Bama underground like nobody’s business in her new single and music video “Big,” a track which underscores many of the aesthetical foundations that gave birth…
“Come Thru” is the poignant new single from Indie-pop singer/songwriter Dynamyte. Although the lyrics allude to an ill fated romantic relationship, the origin of “Come Thru” came from a night where her friends bailed on her last minute. Dynamyte had nothing to do but think about other peoples commitments and values, vs. her own. She finished writing “Come Thru” a year later, alongside co-writers Myah Marie and Zak Waters. As…
In modern country music, the lines of the genre are becoming more and more blurred with every passing year. Some will argue that the genre has never had distinct boundary lines, but with the invention of starlet Taylor Swift, it’s safe to say that the nondescript lines of country and pop became eviscerated beyond recognition, regardless of what the 80s and 90s country stars had to say. URL: https://coreystapleton.com/ Even…
Introducing a concept of faith through more than lyrics is a task every Christian contemporary songwriter has to deal with, but rarely does a player do it quite as well as Lady Redneck does. Her new single, the simple “After the Rain, You’ll Find the Son,” has a lot in common with the surreal country movement we’re hearing more and more out of in 2022, but with one caveat; it’s…
Judging from the pristine keys that greet us as we step into Bruce Lii’s world ala the new music video for “Toxic,” you would think we were in for a much more elegant number than this rocky, uncompromising performance is, but if you’re a fan of this player’s music, you know exactly what you’re getting in a piece like this one. “Toxic” pulverizes with its brute strength, most of it…
Introspection is a key theme in the music video for Bosco’s ballad “Wicked Woods,” and while the imagery contained within it seems to couple regret with a fleeting sense of reflection, it never extends itself outside of the self-awareness realm. Bosco doesn’t want to give us a sob story in this performance, but instead something tangible and relatable from an external perspective. His words are as heavy as bricks, but…
Coyote Red is a brilliant debut album from wildly talented singer/songwriter Bailey Bigger. Born and raised just outside Memphis, Tennessee Bigger started playing guitar and writing songs at the tender age of nine. Her original song “Wildflower” won “Memphis’ Best Song of 2017” when she was just 17, she’s been playing at venues and festivals ever since. Coyote Red is a beautiful album that highlights Bigger’s honest songwriting and artistry.…
The irreverent Project213, just one of Jared Hallock’s several artistic endeavors, is an idea that finds difficulty sticking to one lane — those of us that have been internet savvy throughout the aughts and beyond might remember the group’s nearly decade-old proto-meme “Everybody Masturbate,” but a quick check of Hallock’s own YouTube page shows that the band has been all the more active since, with their most-watched release gaining an…