Reviews

JJ Sweetheart’s latest single, “Lavishly,” from the upcoming debut album, gets you vibing and floating on heartbreak-pop. Released on July 18, 2025, the Minneapolis-based solo project of Jay Simonson (ex-Howler, France Camp) offers up a dreamy and emotionally cracked track, like a voicemail from someone trying their best to move…

James Ellis is wearing his heart on his sleeve and orchestrating it into a full-blown rock-opera tapestry. With his self-titled debut album The Earth & All Within, the Philly-based singer-songwriter jumps headfirst into the deep end, with a wild, beautiful splash. The emotional gut-punch of mid-2000s emo, the stadium roar…

Produced by Sean Beavan (yes, the mind behind Nine Inch Nails and 8mm), the latest industrial-electronic release, “Headache” by Staytus dives headfirst into the chaos of emotional burnout, and echoes your darkest thoughts right back at you. From the first beat, the track pulls no punches. The cymbals crash like…

If there’s one word to sum up Proklaim’s latest double-edged single “CREEPIN/FURTHER (2 IN 1)” from the album CREEPIN/FURTHER, it’s explosive. Dropped on July 17, 2025, this track is a time machine blending old-school boom bap with the pulsating heartbeat of South African Amapiano. Hailing from Windhoek, Namibia, Proklaim is…

With his newest single, “Bottomless Emotions,” Lexington-based artist Trevor Drako lays his soul bare. It’s gritty, emotional, and raw, with no sugarcoating. Right out of the gate, the track hits you with a churning guitar loop that cuts out just in time for the bass to slam in. Drako’s grainy,…

Ettie’s “You’ll Never See Me Cry” is a defiant, gut-punching anthem wrapped in vulnerable vocals and shimmering indie-rock textures. It sounds like it was written at 3 a.m., somewhere between heartbreak and liberation, with the volume turned up just loud enough to drown out doubt. Opening with thumping drums and…

The Malaysian-Bornean artist based between London and Cambridge takes us on his time capsule with his alt-pop debut album, young adult fiction. This diary entry is for every emotionally constipated twenty-something trying to make peace with a youth who never quite fit the mold. Opening with the dreamy “autumn city,”…

CS Hellmann’s new single “Burned Romances” hits like a smoky, tender, brooding, and unexpectedly anthemic memory set to a post-punk fever dream. Released on July 17th, this Nashville-born track leans heavily into moody textures and big emotion, offering a swirling sonic cocktail of War on Drugs-style momentum with flashes of…

Karen Salicath Jamali’s latest release, “Angel Raphael’s Touch,” floats into the listener’s consciousness like a breath of fresh air after a long storm. Nestled within her spiritually resonant album Hope of Angels, this gentle piano piece meditates in sound, a moment of stillness in a world that rarely pauses. Karen,…

The New Citizen Kane is back at it again with this downright danceable banger “Ratbag Joy,” with an emotional undercurrent. Serving as the second single off the upcoming multi-sensory album Psychedelika, the track is a masterclass in contrast, where glittery beats and euphoric grooves mask a much darker emotional undercurrent.…