Reviews

“Smile” finds Kansas City artist Jon Henri doing what he does best, as he turns a real relationship drama into a smooth, radio-ready pop/rock groove. A songwriter, producer, and veteran crossover name, Jon’s long moved between pop, rock, and rap, with credits alongside Lil Jon, Tag Team, 2 Live Crew,…

“What Brings You Back” finds indie pop/pop-rock artist Lana Crow leaning all the way into the spiritual heartbeat that’s always pulsed under her music. Released just this January 7, 2026, the single imagines a loving, ever-present voice speaking straight into the ear of someone who’s hanging by a thread. Instead…

Oreaganomics kick off 2026 with Locked Out on Valentine’s Day, an album that feels like a late-night transmission from a parallel economy of the heart. The anonymous, underground collective, born in rural Kansas, sharpened in Chicago, now tucked away between Kansas and Nebraska, has built a reputation on refusing the…

“The Crow” finds Arn-Identified Flying Objects and Alien Friends circling back to the dusky Americana feel they explored on No Sweets for E, while hinting at the more folky, experimental paths promised for their upcoming 2026 album. The Stockholm project has long juggled power pop, folk, and indie rock with…

With “Troublemaker,” producer Cosmiq teams up with vocalist Lana to land a smooth and dangerous late-night club anthem. Dropping out of a home studio but built with global dance floors in mind, the New York–rooted track stitches together electro-pop sheen, Latin tech house bounce, loungey ease, and R&B silk, clearly…

“Golden Hour” finds Dallas artist J Terrell circling back to where so many people first fell in love with his voice: covers. After the storytelling swagger of his album Cowboy Tango, this standalone single feels like a reset button, as a gentle breather between big projects and a love letter…

“Sympathize” introduces Fred Presley as a modern protest voice with an old soul, stepping out from Wethersfield with an acoustic guitar, a weary conscience, and a debut solo album, Our Selfish Ways, in tow. Teaming up with longtime collaborator Eric Lichter at Dirt Floor Recording Studios in Middletown, CT, Presley…

“Fake It” finds St Ives singer-songwriter Megan Scott leaning hard into the messy, aching territory of the almost-relationship—the kind that never quite gets a label before it disappears—the kind that’s gaining quite the traction in love lives in modern society. Drawing on the confessional pop DNA of influences like Alessi…

“Rainbow Soul (Single Mix)” finds Puerto Rican-born, New York–rooted artist Chris Oledude doing what he does best: turning politics, history, and lived struggle into something you can actually dance to. A lifelong truth-teller who grew up harmonizing in a house full of classical, folk, funk, pop, and protest songs, he…

“Ruin Your Bliss” finds South West England’s The Boy Blue staring straight into the modern nightmare and refusing to look away. Written in the shadow of past and recent attacks on innocent people, the song wrestles with how terror seeps into everyday life, how it stains public spaces, memories, and…