Album Review Archives | The Gatekeeper Space

Of Keepsakes and Remembering in Emmy Gonzales’ “From Musings to Melodies, Vol. III”

From Musings and Melodies, Vol. III is an anthology of personal love letters; of 12 intimate pieces written for the muses in Emmy Gonzales’s life. The way she approaches songwriting is quite endearing with the apparent tenderness of someone from the inside looking further in. She writes with refreshing vulnerability and honesty in a way

Of Keepsakes and Remembering in Emmy Gonzales’ “From Musings to Melodies, Vol. III” Read More »

Twenty Years Later, The Wheel Workers Really Do Have “One More Thing to Say”

Album Review, Rock

It is quite serendipitous to have something tucked away and deep, only for it to find its way back to you many years later. Such is the case with The Wheel Workers’ One More Thing To Say. There is something inherently moving about an album that takes twenty years to find its way back into

Twenty Years Later, The Wheel Workers Really Do Have “One More Thing to Say” Read More »

The Art of Precision and Chemistry in DCxPC Live Vol. 50: Rebelmatic Live at Main Drag

Album Review, Rock

Rebelmatic stands at the forefront of a movement to bring underground independent music back into the spotlight with their latest album, DCxPC Live Vol. 50: Rebelmatic Live at Main Drag. In a music scene that often feels saturated with mellowed-out records and increasingly familiar sonic formulas, the album gives a refreshing yet old-school take. The

The Art of Precision and Chemistry in DCxPC Live Vol. 50: Rebelmatic Live at Main Drag Read More »

Sacha Mullin’s Social Touch Makes Pop a Little More Unpredictable

Album Review, New Music, Pop

Pop can be intelligent without being brainless; intelligent music doesn’t have to sound like a written assignment. And as for everything in between, that’s where Chicago-based singer-songwriter Sacha Mullin has lived since the beginning. Now, with Social Touch, his fourth solo album, he explores further into pop territory without sacrificing the idiosyncratic time signatures, experimental

Sacha Mullin’s Social Touch Makes Pop a Little More Unpredictable Read More »

Translucent Veil On Dreams, Change, and Becoming

Album Review, Rock

Translucent Veil is a self-titled album featuring six tracks that explore late-’60s and early-’70s psychedelic rock and hard-rock influences. Likewise, bands like Hotel Books, Two Door Cinema Club, and The Maine occupy a similar branch of the musical landscape to the one Translucent Veil sits in. Even so, the band seemed particularly interested in forming

Translucent Veil On Dreams, Change, and Becoming Read More »

SEGANA’s Midnight Masquerade Is More Than Dance in Disguise

Album Review, Pop

What sells the album right away is how retro-funk its sound is. It hooks you right in from the very first beat, and perhaps it’s SEGANA’s unique tonality, but there’s something about their vocals that seems to be laced with an infectious groove, the kind that makes it almost impossible to resist the urge to

SEGANA’s Midnight Masquerade Is More Than Dance in Disguise Read More »

Dorian’s “RECONNECTED” Is An Honest Conversation Between Generations

Album Review, Pop

If you miss the emotional honesty of early-2000s R&B, Dorian’s RECONNECTED might be right up your alley, a record about opening up, healing, and finding your confidence along the way. Artists like Brian McKnight and Usher have long understood how to turn heartbreak and yearning into something almost comforting and easily digestible, something you could

Dorian’s “RECONNECTED” Is An Honest Conversation Between Generations Read More »

Maybe 19 Years Was Exactly What Brendan Ranney Needed for “Slightly Out of Focus”

Album Review, International, New Music

There’s something so fitting about calling an album Slightly Out of Focus when the whole thing feels like it was pulled from the blur between memory and the present. And to think that it took 19 years for Brendan Ranney to release it to the world just makes the album feel more earned and personal.

Maybe 19 Years Was Exactly What Brendan Ranney Needed for “Slightly Out of Focus” Read More »

Wyatt Espalin’s “Lies From the Lonesome Valley” is What Happens When Americana Refuses to Feel Produced or Curated

Album Review, International, New Music

Let’s be real. It’s not every day you’ll come across music that sounds like it was a collection of stories overheard in county fairs, desert roads, and front porches long after midnight. That’s what makes Wyatt Espalin’s Lies From the Lonesome Valley stand out immediately. With 11 tracks in total, he steps on the stage

Wyatt Espalin’s “Lies From the Lonesome Valley” is What Happens When Americana Refuses to Feel Produced or Curated Read More »

Aeroplane Isn’t Trying to Wow You With Complexity

Album Review, International, Track Review

There’s a certain kind of album that basically introduces itself before you even press play. Like it wants you to know exactly how it was made so you’ll listen a little differently. Aeroplane by Connie Lansberg is very much that kind of album. In this instance, the setup is kind of the whole hook: one

Aeroplane Isn’t Trying to Wow You With Complexity Read More »