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…
On Zach Churchill’s Would You Believe Me, touching vocals blend with complex instrumentation to make something that will stick with listeners long after the song ceases to play. There is an honesty that drips off each second of this single, a rarity in modern music that will undoubtedly make converts of listeners. Would You Believe Me gradually moves into a style that draws upon Ben Harper and Tonic with just…
TheDropout Spectrum’s Take Off is a hard track to suss out. During the track, TheDropout Spectrum is able to boldly forge through with his own unique style of rap music. There’s a ton of harmony that is inserted into the mix with this patois, making the song have a whole different feel than the vast majority of songs that are currently populating pop and rap charts. The arrangements present on…
See It is one of those crazy EDM tracks that will bounce around listeners’ heads long after the song ceases to play. The driving beat and vocals are intertwined to immediately draw fans in, while the progression of the single is enough that fans will be eagerly anticipating the drop from the single’s first note. ;The track is one of those that will gain a lot of attention from DJs…
Jim Waneka’s “I’m Coming Home” is a track that builds upon the proud 1990s country tradition laid out by Randy Travis and Travis Tritt. There’s considerable vocal range brought here by Jim, while the honky tonk backing instrumentation of the guitars and drums impart further legitimacy to the composition. The tautness of the vox and music working together mark for a track that could easily have made it onto CMT’s…
On Outta Town, Bruce Lii is able to \immediately draw attention with his rapid-fire flow and a supreme sense of confidence that separates his single from the rest of the music cluttering rap radio. The booming bass beats that play in the background of Outta Town provide a solid jumping-off point for Lii’s lyrics. The two sections combine to make a track that even the most weathered rap heads can…
Rap is no longer on the alternative end of the spectrum – truth be told, it’s the definition of mainstream in 2021. Even with this being the case, there’s still a lot of artistic credibility to be found in the underground pulse hip-hop has always prided itself on; take for instance the emerging talent of one Vikki Sota, whose new EP Genesis is making noise before sharing a single note…
When he’s crooning in songs like the title cut of his new album Philadelphia, singer/songwriter Eric Colville isn’t cutting lyrics that sound like they’re coming from someone else’s heart. He doesn’t want to tell the stories of the past, and his romanticism for the folk/rock genre ends at the line between influence and impersonation, and considering the depth of originality there is to behold in Philadelphia, it’s a wonder why…
Real Life is a hopeful track that adopts hints of Pop Smoke and Akon in creating something that is eminently playable on rap rotations. Fans of performers like Sean Kingston and Fat Joe will be able to sink their teeth into Real Life. The piano that plays as the backing instrumentation is given further highlighting with booming bass beats and an on-point snap track. Star 2 has the confidence necessary…
Love Again has a funky, alt-pop vibe to it that will work equally well no matter whether it garners airtime on indie playlists or pop radio stations. The driving beat that plays at the background of Love Again will tattoo itself deep into the minds and hearts of listeners, while Milky Chance are solid enough hands to keep things interesting from the first note until the last gasp of the…