Photo Credit: Marilyn Hue 28-year-old Albanian-American Ava Max has always felt like an oddity in the 2020s mainstream pop landscape. The maximalist pure-pop of her 4x Platinum-certified hit “Sweet But Psycho” stood in stark contrast to her chart-topping peers, who were either throwing it back to the ’80s (The Weeknd, Dua Lipa), penning stripped-back singer-songwriter… Read more
Photo Credit: Nate Lemuel of Darklisted Photography The political is the personal is the musical for Katherine Paul who has long made her Native American ancestry central to her artistry – so much so that it’s evident in her music before one even presses play, with album titles like At The Party With My Brown Friends and The… Read more
As much as people seem to dislike the Grammys and distrust their perpetually scandal-plagued decision-making body, there’s no doubting the authority the awards body holds. Even as viewership remains far below the 20 million+ it once regularly enjoyed, the performances still have the power to make waves, who wins still makes headlines and who loses… Read more
Photo Credit: Scott Dudelson David Crosby, the singer, musician, and songwriter best known for being the first name in long-running rock supergroups: Crosby Stills & Nash and Crosby Still Nash & Young, died on January 18th at age eighty-one. Uniquely recognizable by his heavy frame, long hair, and wooly mustache – a look he rarely… Read more
Photo Credit: Douglas Dahlström Still jet-lagged at the second stop of her In Holy Flux-tour, Natalie Mering – professionally known as Weyes Blood – certainly made Stockholm’s hearts aglow. Under the huge crystal crown inside of the big saloon at the sold-out, historical Berns Hotel & House of Entertainment in central Stockholm, Sweden, a crowd… Read more
Photo Credit: Michael Bailey Gates When Sam Smith first rose onto the music scene in 2013, they were marketed as yet another inoffensive, vocally impressive, soulful crooner – the sort that Britain has long excelled at generating. Smith, who then went by he/him pronouns, was seen as a sort of male equivalent to Adele –… Read more
Ever since I started to report regularly about new albums back in 2019, we’ve been graced with four great years for music with masterpieces such as Lana Del Rey’s Norman F*cking Rockwell!, Weyes Blood’s Titanic Rising, Fiona Apple’s Fetch the Bolt Cutters, Little Simz’ Sometimes I Might Be Introvert, and Beyoncé’s RENAISSANCE gracing our ears…. Read more
Photo Credit: Tommaso Ottomano It can sometimes feel like whoever asked for the return of rock music to the mainstream, made their wish on a monkey’s paw. Rock music had its comeback, but its standard-bearers [?] ended up being the chronically unlikeable Machine Gun Kelly and TikTok phenomenon Gayle – whose breakout hit “ABCDEFU” wasn’t… Read more
Photo Credit: Bryan Kirks Quantity doesn’t equal quality is undoubtedly an adage born out by the ongoing pop/rock-punk revival – we’re getting more releases from the genre than at any time since its mid-2000s peak, yet whereas the genre’s standard bearers were once My Chemical Romance and Avril Lavigne, it’s now Machine Gun Kelly and… Read more
Photo Credit: Zackery Michael On their seventh studio album The Car, the Arctic Monkeys continue the musical road trip that they set out on with their previous release, Tranquility Base Hotel & Casino (2018). The Sheffield, England quartet which became known (and renowned) for their brand of fast, kinetic, mile-a-minute Britpop delivered with a punk… Read more