Against a vast urban backdrop like the one we’re introduced to in the opening frames of Goodfella Uno’s new music video for “Peace,” the upstart rapper seems rather small, as any person would beside all of the enormous skyscrapers behind him. It isn’t until his vocal comes into focus that we start to realize the irony of the imagery; in Goodfella Uno, indie rap fans have a giant voice that…
Whether driving home a huge melody in “Way Far Back” or tying together the harmonies in the video for “Why Does It Happen,” the guitars that guide the lyrics in Wave 21’s Brace Yourself are indispensable. Although there’s a lot more to this record than the luster of its string section, there is certainly no downplaying the importance of the fretwork in Brace Yourself, and I think this makes it a bit superior to its…
Some people wait a lifetime for that special person. That instant connection seems like an impossible dream. For others, it’s an instant and feels as though it was there all along. Time doesn’t seem to pass and the world seems to stop in the song “Sweetest of Melody”. Sung by Rina Chanel, with duet parts courtesy of Senghor Robinson, “Sweetest of Melody” is a lush, smooth jazz piece with a…
For Hanna Olah, opportunities have only just begun to arise for her budding career within the music industry. Performing under the moniker Hannyta, a remix of her latest single “17” arrives fresh off the heels of two more impeccable entries within her early career: both ballads, “Make It to the Night” and “Breaking Up” feel like crucial steps forward for Hannyta to make it to the point of being a…
It’s important to pick the right singles no matter what the style of music an album happens to present the audience with, and Barry Muir knows this. If he didn’t, I don’t know that we would be talking about the majestic new single “She’s a Little Wildflower” from his album Gentle, the second such track to see formal release in this format. Next to the impeccable “Weathered the Storm,” “She’s a…
90s alternative rock is a classic genre within rock n’ roll now, and while there are some who would use the style as a model to cheat the basics of pop with, others like FiveDFit are using it as the aesthetical jumping-off point they should. In their debut single “Super Galactic,” FiveDFit takes the alt-rock simplicity of yesteryear and marries it with melody-forward conceptualism becoming increasingly common in the 20s.…
The Midwestern wilds of the Dayton, Ohio area aren’t renowned for producing memorable popular music acts but that changes when you take Ludlow Creek into account. The quintet once known as Southbound began playing together as a cover band. A few years passed before the band eliminated covers from their typical set list and, instead, promoted their own material. A successful first album as Southbound opened the door to a…
Country singer/songwriter Matt Westin has been on a roll lately. His last few singles have charted well while his general profile within the country music community seems to be getting quite popular with all the right folks. That said, adaptation is necessary to sustain any real credibility in this business, and in collaboration with country/rockers Tennessee Outlaw Country, Westin is arguably putting forth some of his best work to date…
Little Dance is a sunny sort of track that may portend the beginning of spring. Sitting at the nexus of pop, EDM, and Nico and Vinz-style R&B, Neon Dreams’s latest is something that could easily make it onto pop radio stations. Majozi’s contributions to this track ensures that there’s variation in the vocals as well as further depth to the overall arrangement of the single. Little Dance’s infectious rhythms will…
On their new release Hey There, Slow Down, Help Me”, Wild Giants are able to come forth and establish themselves as masters of all. There are so many twists and turns that fans will encounter on this extended play that multiple listens are not a suggestion, they are a necessity. The extended play begins with Souvenir, a fuzzy, dynamic rock track that is as much Franz Ferdinand as it is The…
Ryan Tennis’s “Oh Alexandra” is a wonderful composition that recalls all the formative artists of the singer-songwriter genre, with definite nods made to Dave Matthews, Ben Harper, and John Maher in the track. The instrumentation that one will find on Oh Alexandra is fantastic with multiple layers established, calling band to Paul Simon’s 1980s works in its eclecticism. Where the song will work perfectly as a surface-level, poppy track, Ryan…
Cam M.’s “Karma” is a slinky pop track that works perfectly on pop radio stations as it would on college/alt playlists. With the ability to go forth and simultaneously craft a cogent narrative and bolster the single’s arrangements, Cam M. truly exhibits a maturity that few can claim. There’s a raw passion and charisma that is interspersed during Karma’s runtime that listeners will fall in love with. The delicate tact that…
Nice Vice’s “Bloom” is a carefully-constructed piece of indie rock that immediately draws listeners in with a driving instrumentation. Whether the guitar, bass, or drums, there’s a singular purpose that is being achieved. Nice Vice is able to craft a single in Bloom that is utterly unique while touching upon the massive corpus of lt-rock from the 1990s onward. The distinct sections of Bloom ensure that listeners of fans like…
Self-discovery can often include a lot of conversing with deities and an internal quest for understanding, and when the subject is broached so vividly in the song “Bazar” from Mary Broadcast’s Panic, we’re reminded just how personal the journey to holding a complete psyche is. While she’s pushing the boundaries of what separates the diary entries from lyrics in a pop track here, it’s par for the course in Panic; whether it’s…
Despite what some critics might try to sell you nowadays, there just aren’t many rappers who can make the crossover into singing melodically with any real level of success. It’s more than a skill – this is as raw a talent as it gets, and those looking to cultivate this kind of duality would be smart to take a peek at what Dici is doing with his new single “u…
Cory Driscoll got some well-deserved attention for his 2018 LP Tropical Depression, but in the years that have passed since dropping that disc, I think it’s quite obvious that he’s grown exponentially – especially as a songwriter. In his new single, “Hope Changes,” we find a much more bucolic composer in Driscoll than we did around the time he released “The Sinking State,” and to me, his maturity bleeds into the…
Zuniga possesses a uniquely qualified affinity for world-building. Needless to say, part of the fun of The Elder Scrolls – Zaneta’s Chronicles: Part One: Vvardenfell isn’t just its strong and potent story, but the way it completely envelopes you three hundred-and-sixty degrees within its environments. In this regard, Zuniga’s smarts also pertain to contemporary references, including politics and a mysterious epidemic that is on the brink of overwhelming various societies.…
Despite being a one-man operation, Versal manages to produce a litany of colorful tones and textures in the new album Versal Volume 2 that sound like a symphony more than they do simple electronic melodies woven together by a steady hand. Where a lot of other electronica efforts have been leaning on the avant-garde in both the mainstream and the underground in the past few years, Versal’s latest release sees him flirting…
The breathtaking gaze of the piano is rivaled only by the perfectly timed tempos in the new album Singing the Nocturnes from Chopin impressionist Elizabeth Sombart, but this isn’t to say the record is lacking structural substance. Contrarily, I think that Singing the Nocturnes may well be one of the best homages to this classic composer I’ve listened to in the past year, which is no small statement to make by any means. INSTAGRAM:…
Buster Baer’s Sleepy Baby has a dreamy, poppy sound that calls back to the 1960s (e.g. doo-wop, Donovan). There is a sweet message that is furthered through the track that is matched by the instrumentation. Wholly unique in its sound, Baer’s new single will stand boldly out from the rest of current fare. We’re particularly in love with the horns that rise up during the track’s chorus. This is an…