Track Review

Ryan James Monroe’s “MIRROR BALL” Wants You to Dance Through the Identity Crisis

Credit: Original Painting by Perri Neri There’s a very particular type of optimism that can only be sustained after so much of it has been exhausted. “MIRROR BALL,” Ryan James Monroe‘s new glam-rock single, is more or less a prayer to the notion that the years somehow make you less appealing. The track reimagines the

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There’s A Certain Ache To Remembering in Starboard to Sunset’s “Without You Here”

Grief is one of those feelings that seems impossible to put into words without making it sound bigger or smaller than it really is. Somehow, Starboard to Sunset finds its own way to navigate it with their latest single, Without You Here. That ability to express something as deeply personal as grief feels fitting for

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franxie’s “Stone” Turns Imperfection Into the Point

Franxie’s “Stone” could have gone in the way of a particular kind of singer-songwriter who treats emotional distress as an opportunity to place one sad piano chord beneath another until the listener understands that sadness has occurred. Instead, it finds something more interesting in the familiar territory of anxiety, exhaustion, and the difficult business of

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The Ruffles’ “Baby Blue Bronco” Feels Like A Memory You Get To Borrow

Let’s be honest. A baby-blue Bronco, a few questionable driving decisions, and two sisters figuring out life behind the wheel sounds like a bad idea. But something about Baby Blue Bronco by The Ruffles makes it sound so, so damn fun. And perhaps this latest single feels so adventurous because of the bond shared by

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Love Songs Should Sound More Like “End of the Day” by CAR287

Falling in love doesn’t always sound like poetry or candlelit dinners. Sometimes, it’s as mundane as End Of The Day by CAR287—like knowing someone’s favorite bands, hockey teams, or exactly how they like their eggs. This is the first single from their five-song EP, set for release in the new year, and it’s already sounding amazing.

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M & J’s “NOT A LOVE SONG”: Between Confession and Retrospection (But It’s Definitely Probably Not About Love)

There’s a certain vulnerability to songwriting that is remarkably similar to love. In a way, both are acts of creation built from a series of deliberate choices. You begin with something small (a feeling) then you shape it. Along the process, you may find yourself with something entirely different from what you initially intended. That

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Listen to “West Palm Beach” By Crosby Cash If You Feel Like Living Fancy

To write a song about Palm Beach Island is one thing, but to make it sound as glamorous and slightly untouchable is another. That’s where Crosby Cash gets it right. If Michael Bublé, Adele, and a James Bond film scorer met at a Bossa Nova lounge, independent Huntsville artist Crosby Cash is probably the result.

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