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: Annie Leibovitz In a recent interview with Rolling Stone, Ed Sheeran confessed that he no longer saw the need for music critics in the age of streaming. However, his most recent album, – (Subtract), suggests otherwise – its slow, restrained, tasteful ‘adult’ sound reading as a deliberate attempt to win over critics. After… Read more
Photo Credit: Dennis Leupold Bebe Rexha has always been an artist who straddles different genres and even subverts them, making her a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. And after a year filled with personal and emotional upheavals, it’s no wonder she has finally shed the past almost entirely for her eponymous… 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: Kurt Iswarienko When Taylor Swift decided to re-record some of her earlier albums (most recently, Red), she was a woman on a mission. “I do want my music to live on,” she told Billboard in 2019. “I do want it to be in movies, I do want it to be in commercials. But… Read more
Photo Credit: Anton Corbijn In music journalism, there’s a concept known as the five-album-test: any band that has released five consecutively great albums passes. The test is imperfect and controversial – rewarding consistency over irregular bursts of excellence – but the bands who pass it, undeniably, belong to the very highest echelons of music. Most would… Read more
Photo Credit: Grant Spanier THEY. is an R&B duo with music that is characterized by a unique blend of soulful vocals, hip-hop beats, and electronic production that sets them apart in the world of R&B. The group’s lyrics explore the complexities of love, relationships, and self-discovery, and their songs are both catchy and thought-provoking. Unfortunately,… Read more
Photo Credit: Samantha Harter Ever since 2018’s “Only One,” Wisconsin’s Carlie Hanson has felt like an indie cult star perpetually on the brink of a major breakout – the charms of her evocative, homespun indie-pop and pop-punk immediately obvious. Her sophomore album, which shares a name with her home state, might be too quiet and… Read more
Photo Credit: Jack Bridgland Chlöe Bailey, one half of the R&B duo Chloe x Halle, has just released her highly anticipated debut album In Pieces. With the success of her previous singles such as “Have Mercy” and “Treat Me” (which weren’t included on the album), fans have been eagerly anticipating this project. The album explores… Read more