I’ll be honest: I understand only a bit of Italian; just enough to recognize when someone is talking about love, death, food, or all three simultaneously, which is about 90% of Italian music anyway. And yet 21 Grammi, the new album from Giuseppe Cucè, completely disarmed me. It’s one of those records that bypasses language, […]
21 Grammi, the New Album From Giuseppe Cucè, Completely Disarmed Me Read More »
On my last deep-dive on Bastion’s Wake, you’ll remember his central argument: that the band’s debut showed a lot of potential. It was a blueprint, a proof-of-concept; the sound of musicians circling the perimeter of something bigger, stranger, and more emotionally ambitious than their own early confidence could fully articulate. Go Tell the Bees, their
With Go Tell the Bees, Bastion’s Wake Doesn’t Just Level Up; They Arrive Read More »
Bailey Grey enters the indie arena with Love It All, a 15-track debut that behaves less like an introduction and more like someone finally deciding to live with the lights on. It’s a near-hour of emotional overabundance; the kind of debut that refuses to politely occupy a corner of your listening queue and instead sprawls
Love It All Has Become Something Larger Than Its Components: A Person Read More »
There’s something refreshingly unpretentious about Shani Weiss’s All About Life. It’s not trying to reinvent folk-rock or redefine singer-songwriter introspection. Instead, it’s quietly confident; the sound of an artist who knows that small truths hit harder than grand statements when they’re sung with sincerity. Across six songs, Weiss pokes at the weird, tender machinery of
Across Six Songs, Weiss Pokes at the Weird, Tender Machinery of Adulthood Read More »
Here’s the thing about “Forsaken”: it’s not content to just exist as another riff-heavy alt-rock track. It feels like it’s arguing with itself; a slow-motion collapse disguised as a song. Rooftop Screamers, the ongoing project of Portland veteran Mike Collins, has always been a space for collaboration, but here, with Stephen McSwain on vocals, Collins
“Forsaken” Is the Kind of Song That Sounds Like It Was Built in a Thunderstorm Read More »
Every so often, a song comes along that doesn’t try to overwhelm you. It just sits beside you, patiently, until you realize it’s been saying something important the whole time. “Wasteland Whispers,” the new track from Indianapolis alt-rock outfit Pentrilox, is one of those songs. It’s not a cry into the void so much as
Every artist has one song that feels less like a career move and more like an act of preservation; a way to keep someone, or something, alive in sound. For Ashley Wolfe, the Denver-based artist behind Blind Man’s Daughter, that song is “Harbor Boulevard.” A departure from her usual genre-defying mix of progressive rock, metal,
Blind Man’s Daughter’s “Harbor Boulevard” Sounds Like Memory Itself Read More »
“I’m my biggest fan,” Trueclaw admits, and honestly, fair enough. If I wrote something this pretty, I’d probably be insufferable too. That line isn’t bravado; it’s survival. When you’re an independent artist from Uppsala, Sweden; writing, producing, mixing, and probably spiritually communing with your DAW at 3 a.m, self-belief isn’t a luxury. It’s a fuel
“The Ones Remembered” Is Proof That Sincerity Still Matters, Even When Written in Binary Read More »
When I reviewed Michellar’s “Never Say Sorry,” I called it a diary entry set to music; a song that quietly refused to play by the rules of modern pop vulnerability. It was small, deliberate, and human in all the ways streaming culture tends to erase. But with “Truth Over Lies,” Michellar flips that intimacy outward.
Lisa Lim’s “Lucky One” is one of those songs that sneaks up on you. It doesn’t hit you over the head with drama, and it doesn’t drown in sentimentality. Instead, it just breathes; slow, steady, confident. The kind of song that sounds like it’s been sitting by a river for an hour, thinking about life
Lisa Lim’s “Lucky One” Doesn’t Reinvent Anything; It Doesn’t Need To Read More »