Photo Credit: Press British-Australian pop singer and actress Olivia Newton-John died on August 8 at age seventy-three, after a long and recurring battle with breast cancer. Though less in the public eye for the past few decades, the singer made a huge impact during the ’70s and early ’80s: she became one of the few… Read more
Photo Credit: Press via Calvin Harris Calvin Harris first broke out in the UK a little over 15 years ago, with the now-Gold certified “Acceptable in the 80s” – an intriguing and singular, if anachronistic, cut of electro-funk. Four years later, he broke out worldwide as a featured artist on Rihanna’s “We Found Love.” The… Read more
Photo Credit: Pip Upon hearing the song “Lies,” some listeners might at first think that their ears are lying to them, and that they’re not in fact listening to the opening cut from Pale Waves’ third album Unwanted, but rather to veteran pop punk princess Avril Lavigne. Indeed the similarity – of both the musical… Read more
Photo Credit: Mason Poole As of mid-2022, Billie Eilish is still too young to legally buy beer, yet she’s achieved more than many can ever hope to do. Her 2019 debut album When We Fall Asleep, Where Do We Go? certainly went someplace: namely, to number one all over the world and to eventual sales… Read more
Photo Credit: Kate Biel / Press Ari “Lauv” Leff has a pleasant voice – it’s not the most instantly recognizable, nor the most dynamic, but at its best, it effectively communicates the malaise of Lauv’s Gen-Z audience. I say this because, on his third studio album, Lauv seems adamant about submerging his voice in layers… Read more
Photo Credit: Sanjay Parikh At the relatively average album length of forty-eight minutes, there’s a heck of a lot crammed into Shinedown’s seventh full-length release. Planet Zero is a concept album with an outward science-fiction theme (a rock trend that seems to be coming back, as suggested by Bastille’s latest release Give Me the Future)…. Read more
Photo Credit: Empire/Atlantic Records With her 2018 debut Expectations, former Disney star Hayley Kiyoko was crowned Lesbian Jesus. Now, with Panorama, she offers up her second coming – in the form of 13 sleek, ready-for-radio pop numbers. Kiyoko’s LGBTQ+ identity has always been central to her music and to her core appeal. The embrace of her… Read more
Photo Credit: Mason Poole for Parkwood Entertainment The story of house music is one of liberation; of marginalized communities carving out a space where they could unapologetically be themselves. As a genre, its roots are radical – its formation can be credited to Black and Queer individuals who refused to conform to a society that… Read more
Photo Credit: Vulture Culture Photography Sometimes a band’s sound gets inextricably linked to where they hail from, whether they wish it to or not. X made the soundtrack for any down-and-outer in Los Angeles county. Outkast is Atlanta to the core, and despite the fake English accent, the Ramones always sounded like you just crossed… Read more
The concept album hit its stride after the 1960s when large, well-funded bands had the cash and carte blanche to explore, at length, any idea that crossed their addled brains. Whether a bloated 1970s ineffectual gesture or a coherent and brilliant bit of storytelling, the concept album has fans and detractors in equal measure. Here… Read more