Photo Credit: Kelia Anne MacCluskey “The second record I’m more buckled in because, God, how many times do you see people slump on their sophomore record? Nine out of ten,” said Katy Perry in the lead up to her soon-to-be record-breaking second album Teenage Dream. The threat of the sophomore slump is a familiar one for… Read more
Photo Credit: David LaChapelle Even in the age of virality – where the most unsuspecting of characters can be turned into worldwide celebrities overnight – Doja Cat still feels like an especially unlikely candidate for 2021’s biggest rapper. Yet, with nearly 60 million monthly Spotify listeners to her name, that’s exactly what she is. Having… Read more
Photo Credit: Travis Shinn Whoever thought it was a good idea to open Tom Morello’s second solo album in the Atlas Underground Fire series with autotuned vocals – and I’m afraid that this was Morello himself – were obviously wrong. I’m not sure if “Harlem Hellfighter” is his take on 100 gecs’ hyper-pop, but a brief check… Read more
Photo Credit: Brian Ziff Nicholas Miller creates under the name Illenium. If you look the word up in the dictionary, you will find no entries as the word, technically speaking, does not exist. It is a creation of Mr. Miller himself. But the sound of the word, Illenium, is quite evocative and suggests to those… Read more
Photo Credit: Dan Cunniff Eight minutes into Boston Manor’s new EP called DESPERATE TIMES DESPERATE PLEASURES and it starts to feel like it’s dragging on. Like if it would have been going on for maybe twenty minutes. When this phenomenon occurs in music it usually comes down to the same issue: the songs are too similar to… Read more
Photo Credit: Grant Spanier If you have ever heard of this Ohio-based indie pop band before, it is likely thanks to their 2014 smash hit single “Shut Up and Dance” from their Talking Is Hard album. Their following release What If Nothing lacked a new irresistible hit single to boost their sales and went largely unnoticed by both critics… Read more
Photo Credit: Nwaka Okparaeke When soul dominated the airwaves like in the days of Marvin Gaye and Smokey Robinson, and when hip-hop intersected the genre is where we find Little Simz: A British-Nigerian born rapper with an ear for old soul, and the tongue of an experienced MC. She takes hip-hop to the heights of… Read more
Photo Credit: Harper Smith After Silk Sonic (the super-duo of Bruno Mars and Anderson .Paak) released their debut album earlier this month, a Tweet went viral saying “Marvin Gaye’s family [are] listening to this silk sonic album looking for just one chord [to sue the duo for] ”. The tweet spoke, yes, to the infamous… Read more
Photo Credit: Tom Ham Ever since Bristol’s IDLES rushed to widespread acclaim with their second album Joy as an Act of Resistance back in 2018, they have arguably remained the most important band within the so-called post-punk revival. Like so many other groups, they are returning from the pandemic as a more reflective and wiser band, which… Read more
Photo Credit: Shawn Brackbill Philadelphia’s The War on Drugs return with I Don’t Live Here Anymore, their first new studio album in four years. With their last offering, they already set the bar pretty high for themselves simply by titling it A Deeper Understanding. The album became their first Top 10 release in the US, meaning that… Read more