Reviews

Effusion 35 storms into the holiday season with “ALL CAPS” wicked smugness on “Rockin’ Coal In My Stocking,” their delightfully unhinged Christmas single arrived this November 17. It’s a tongue-in-cheek blast shaped by songwriter Pat Manley, who set out to flip the Christmas-song script, ditching sentimentality and leaning into mischief,…

Fjällfolk plunge straight into the shadows with Trick or Treat, a full-throttle heavy metal album that turns folklore’s darkest creatures into nine blistering anthems. Released as a chaotic ode to myths, demons, and the entire Halloween spirit, the record leans into everything feral and fantastical. The band treats each track…

Cycamore’s revival of “The Heart of America” arrives like a warm torch passed from one era to the next. This song was first born in crisis, now reborn in a moment equally in need of unity. Though the band is a “new” name on paper, the players behind it are…

“Set Me Free,” the 2023 single from Vancouver singer-songwriter Michelle Rose, lands like an emotional breakthrough wrapped in cinematic intimacy. After relocating to Vancouver and stepping out of a toxic relationship, Michelle teamed up with multi-platinum producer Roy Hamilton III, known for working with icons from Britney Spears to Michael…

After a thirteen-year silence, Atlanta indie-rock band Last Relapse returns with Last Relapse – EP, a project built from unfinished songs that refused to die quietly. With their emotionally charged performances and dreamy guitar work through the late 2000s and early 2010s, the band stepped away while momentum was still…

Ripsime steps into a new era with the re-release of “I’ll Understand,” “Dare,” and “Colours of Your Eyes,” three early works now revived under her new imprint, RIP Records. After a year shaped by the spellbinding releases from Capsule II and a cross-continental creative stretch between Yerevan and London, she’s…

Energy Whores crank the voltage and the unease on “Electric Friends,” their latest electro-art provocation arriving ahead of Arsenal of Democracy. Formed in a DIY basement in New York by Carrie Schoenfeld and guitarist Attilio Valenti, the duo have carved out a lane all their own, with a caustic blend…

The Dawn Razor hits with another fierce strike of Paris-forged death metal, this time with the blistering single “Chiaroscuro Italiano,” from their last album, In Sublime Presence. It rolls out like a storm front and hits with the force fans of Dimmu Borgir, Children of Bodom, and Gojira will recognize…

Tej’s rise has been quick, loud, and unmistakably his own, and his new single “ALL I CAN DO (time)” feels like the moment everything snaps into focus. Dropped this November 19 through San Holo’s bitbird label, the track arrives as the third preview of the upcoming HEY ME, IT’S ME…

Sasha Joy’s new single “To Stay” arrives as a slow-burn that swoons you through sheer emotional gravity. Out since this November 14, the song takes Joy’s evolution as a promising newcomer to fulfilling it as a vocalist with genuine interpretive authority. Born in Shoreditch and later shaped at Studio Cryogene…