Reviews

Devastation runs through JK Jerome’s debut single “Profanity,” as the UK singer-songwriter makes a track that slowly seeps under the skin with every listen. Rooted in memories of growing up poor in 1990s Britain and shaped by the realities of a single-parent upbringing, “Profanity” feels deeply personal while still speaking…

There’s a restless, glitching anxiety running through Mono Modern, the latest album from South Carolina experimental artist Xeno Ray JNB. Drawing inspiration from the technological dread of OK Computer while filtering it through the overstimulated chaos of the mid-2020s, the project comes off as a corrupted transmission from someone watching…

Trail Hawk’s “The Place Called No Way Out” bears the emotional weight that can’t be manufactured in a studio booth. Written from the wreckage of losing his son to addiction, the Frankfort-based songwriter turns grief into something painfully human and deeply compassionate. The track doesn’t sensationalize suffering or romanticize self-destruction.…

Peachy Q’s “Coulda Been the Man” feels like the sound of resentment sharpening itself into confidence. The Winchester-based independent artist has been steadily building his own lane through X Caliber Productions, handling everything himself from beat-making to mixing, and that hands-on control bleeds into every inch of this track. The…

At just 23, Malaysian-born, London-based artist Jemerine Chan is already wearing more hats than most musicians twice her age. Singer-songwriter, producer, pianist, arranger, sound designer, recording engineer, she’s built her artistry from the ground up after leaving Malaysia to pursue music independently in the UK. That emotional grit pulses through…

There’s something wonderfully unusual about JesFotoArt’s METISSIREN project. Rooted in the centuries-old tradition of Minnesang yet dressed in cinematic modern production, the music feels like an old soul wandering through a futuristic dreamscape. Austrian artist Jörg, a lifelong musician shaped by classical vocal training, choirs, accordion, and saxophone, teams up…

Twenty years after its original release, Russ Lorenson revisits A Little Travelin’ Music, that seasoned wisdom only time can bring. The jazz vocalist goes back to the source, rebuilding and refining portions of the album with richer arrangements and warmer instrumentation. A Little Travelin’ Music (20th Anniversary Edition) comes off…

Crunch’s “Lost for Words” arrives carrying the grit of lived experience, and you can feel it in every bar. The Los Angeles rapper has spent decades orbiting the music industry from the inside out — from working alongside Tupac Shakur during the filming of cult classics like Poetic Justice and…

There’s a dusty, road-worn ache running through “Keys To The City,” the debut single from Rose Hound, and it hits like a late-night drive with the windows down and the engine rattling harder than your thoughts. Built from gritty alternative rock muscle and indie-rock urgency, the track barrels forward with…

art pop’s housecAt sounds like the aftermath of a party where the strobe lights are still flickering, the floor is sticky with spilled drinks, and someone in the corner is quietly having an existential crisis. The Austin-based duo, brothers Max and Miles Grossenbacher, take indie rock melancholy and shove it…