Photo Credit: Vincent Haycock Since Kesha sued Dr. Luke in 2014, her reputation has shifted from that of the party girl of pop to the genre’s survivor. In the near-decade that’s ensued, she’s alternately embraced and run away from that title; on 2017’s “Praying,” she offered a direct rebuke to her former producer in the… Read more
Photo Credit: Lindsey Byrnes The fifth full-length album by electronic music producer and DJ Nicholas Daniel Miller – known professionally as Illenium – opens with “Starfall,” an all-synth electronic instrumental. This is hardly the curtain-raiser a listener might expect if they choose to look ahead to the sixteen-song track listing, to see that upcoming cuts… Read more
Photo Credit: Jack Grange Could the timing possibly have been worse when Jessie Ware released her disco tribute What’s Your Pleasure? during the COVID-pandemic? Probably, yes. In fact, the album became a big success, giving people an excellent excuse to shake their hips indoors during the lockdowns. The album reached the Top 3 on the… Read more
Photo Credit: Madison Phipps Ellie Goulding has made a point of describing her fifth album Higher Than Heaven as her “least personal album” to date. In an age of pop music geared towards the confessional and emotionally weighty, many fans have welcomed Goulding’s embrace of a pop ethos that prioritizes massive hooks, earworm melodies, and… Read more
Photo Credit: Johannes Lovund EDM, perhaps more than any other genre, defined the commercial music of the 2010s. When you think about the biggest, most inescapable hits of the decade, you realize a majority of them belong to this genre – the late Avicii’s “Wake Me Up,” Major Lazer, DJ Snake, and MØ’s “Lean On”… Read more
Photo Credit: Savanna Ruedy There’s one track tucked in the middle of Gryffin’s 2019 debut Gravity that suggested the then 31-year-old could be EDM’s next great hope. “If I Left The World” begins, seemingly, as a traditional song about lost love, but in its second verse evolves into one about crushing isolation and even suicide… Read more
Photo Credit: Black Eye Peas via Facebook In the nearly two decades since they broke through with the 2x Platinum-certified Elephunk, LA trio the Black Eyed Peas have been the butt of many a joke – especially as their star continued to grow throughout the noughties. “What the f**k happened?” was the question on the… Read more
Photo Credit: Michael Bezjian The indelible public image of Aaron Carter, who died on Saturday, November 5th at age 34, will be that of the smiling child with bleach-blonde hair standing either next to his brother Nick (of Backstreet Boys fame) or next to Hilary Duff or Lindsay Lohan (his relationships with them as a… Read more
Photo Credit: Samuel Bradley In 2020, The 1975 attempted to take their music to new heights with an expansive, experimental double LP. Whereas many of their peers – from Taylor Swift to Fiona Apple – gained acclaim for branching off in new directions that year, The 1975’s Notes On A Conditional Form proved divisive; one… Read more
Photo Credit: Thurstan Redding The title of Rina Sawayama’s second album, Hold The Girl, is taken from a phrase she learned in therapy about nurturing one’s so-called inner child. Fittingly, it’s this theme that takes center stage on the LP – from the short and sweet introduction “Minor Feelings” and the glitchy title track to… Read more