Reviews

With Folklore, Irish rapper and producer GavinDaVinci reclaims one of Ireland’s oldest traditions, oral storytelling, and reframes it through the hard-edged reality of the 2000s and 2010s drug trade. Structured around the seven Catholic sacraments, the EP maps a cycle of entry, commitment, temptation, and reckoning, each track standing as…

Christian rock finds a fresh new voice in Reynosa, Mexico, where eight musicians came together earlier this year to form Él es Jesús. Their debut, Vol. 1 Side A or Vol. 1: A New Sound of Faith and Hope, released on September 12, carries the weight of years of careful…

Bristol-born singer-songwriter Harri Mason returns with her third full-length album, Reality of Expectations, released on May 10, 2024. Entirely self-produced in her home studio, the 13-track project carries forward the intimate thread of her earlier records New Normal (2019) and Shadows (2022), but this time with a sharper resilience and…

Scottish alt-rock trio Closer return with “Glimpses,” their long-awaited record dropping September 19th. Known since the early 2000s for their stormy riffs and chest-thumping live shows, Closer have walked through fire, setbacks, reinventions, and a bruising industry grind, to arrive here. Frontman David Wason describes the album as “fragments of…

Elisa V, known offstage as Elisa Järvelä, enters as a solo artist with her debut single “Love of Yesterday,” released on September 19. Though widely recognized as a world-class classical musician, with performances at the Vatican and for royal families, Elisa has never been afraid of expanding her horizons. A…

Kat Kikta’s latest single, “Was It Almost Love?” having arrived September 19, is an evocative dive into the space between heartbreak and healing. Known for her alt-pop sound that brings together lyrical intimacy and atmospheric production, Kat once again turns her experiences into a universal story, one that lingers on…

Larry Karpenko’s new single, “Ladybug Field,” recorded at Kreation Records Studio in Loma Linda and released this year, reflects on wonder, presence, and rediscovery. Remembering watching his children play among hundreds of ladybugs in a park, the track transforms a fleeting family moment into a meditation on belonging, joy, and…

Edie Yvonne releases her latest track, “Look Me in the Eye,” the lead single from her forthcoming EP of the same name. Known for her sharp lyrical storytelling and vulnerable delivery, the Los Angeles–based singer-songwriter takes a striking step away from her earlier pop sensibilities, and ventures into a grounding,…

Trauma Glow’s latest single, “million in one,” created in collaboration with Vienna-based artist Sakura Katsuura Chow, is a daring step for the Austrian alternative outfit. Since their 2023 debut, the band has carved a niche across Europe with their shoegaze-rooted sound, constantly twisting it with eclectic influences. Here, they take…

HMRC returns with their newest single, “Flat Circle,” turning towards darker, more existential territory. Known for their gritty rock edge and biting social commentary, the band now leans into something heavier, where singer Lloyd Holmes bares despair and empathy in a way that feels unflinching. Recorded intensely, the song plunges…