Reviews

At just 15, Ava Valianti is showing that you won’t believe that she’s 15, with her insanely mature performance and songs that resemble diary entries cracked open and set to music. Her latest single, “Buttercups”, is no exception. It starts off with gentle acoustic guitar plucking and Ava’s soft, high…

Greek singer-songwriter and Citizen Jim frontman Politis Dimitris kicks open a new chapter with his solo single “Born Into This”, from his evolving Politis Dimitris 2.0 project. The track, recorded in the heart of Nashville, Tennessee, takes gritty American rock with introspective lyricism and a cinematic atmosphere. From the get-go,…

Sasha Joy, with her latest single “Summer’s Come,” taps into something even more luminous. Released on July 11 and streaming everywhere, the track is easy on the ears but rich with detail and glows with golden-hour warmth, like sunlight filtered through glass. Right from the jump, you’re pulled into its…

Keeana Kee’s newest single, “Heal Me,” feels less like a song and more like a deep emotional unraveling, one that leads you out of a dark tunnel and into a slow, burning sunrise. Released on June 6, this cinematic pop ballad from the HEAL ME album hits with the emotional…

If you’ve ever craved a hot, smoky dose of soul-fried funk, Instant Soul has the dish, and “Pork Fat” is the sizzler on the platter. Guitarist Ari Joshua pulls longtime partners-in-groove Delvon Lamarr, Skerik, and Grant Schroff back into the kitchen for a fresh-cooked jam. This is the real-deal stew,…

Ottawa’s pop-punk outfit MAJORS are back swinging harder than ever with their latest single, “Etiquette,” a fiery, tongue-in-cheek anthem straight off their Songs in the Key of Golf EP. This loud, fast, unapologetically bratty song is about the nightmare of getting paired up with a golf-course menace. The band’s first-ever…

Detroit-born and California-based, Odelet is building a whole damn universe. Her latest album, Raindance, is a dreamy plunge into what she fittingly calls “Surrealist R&B.” This thing doesn’t sit still in any one genre. It floats, glides, and sometimes slithers through hazy vocals, lush keys, and dub-influenced rhythms. And just…

Out now on Don’t Play This at Home Records, HydraTek’s latest track “BioPunk” is an unapologetic plunge into a digital dystopia. Part of the compilation D.P.T.H., Vol. 2, this single is a fierce, high-voltage techno ride laced with the grit of electro, the breakneck edge of drum and bass, and…

What happens when your art is judged not by meaning, but by metrics? Xy Gala’s latest single, “The Algorithm,” tackles that exact question, and doesn’t hold back. Gritty, genre-blending, and biting to the bone, this track is a full-blown takedown of the system that chews up creativity and spits out…

Sleep Stage’s “Warning: Toxic” drags you through the scorched emotional wreckage you probably know all too well. Right off the bat with “Sick of Love Songs,” you’re hit with shredded guitar fuzz and driving drums. The reverbed vocals are sarcastic, like someone barely holding it together. And when the bridge…