Reviews

Sharon Eitan takes a strikingly direct turn with “Dario Amodei,” trading the reflective and philosophical tendencies of his songwriting for an unabashedly anthem-like pop-rock statement. An experienced composer of art music and musical theatre, Eitan has recently been exploring a different musical language, building elaborate demos before shaping their finished…

On ROCK N ROLL ANIMAL, the Toronto rocker, Emily Mac, turns heartbreak, toxic relationships and existential anxiety into a ferocious collection of classic-rock muscle, bluesy grit and glam-rock attitude. Produced by Dajaun Martineau, the debut EP sounds like Mac taking everything that threatens to bury her and throwing it straight…

ErickOscar has spent more than three decades using the acoustic guitar as a way to process life, and Hold The Light feels like the work of a songwriter who understands that music can hold both pain and hope in the same breath. Moving through balladry, country, Americana and Spanish-language influences,…

Kyoto-born, Oslo-based experimental electronic artist SIENNÁ returns with EMA, a nine-track journey where sound becomes a way of sketching the unseen. Drawing inspiration from solitary walks through Kyoto’s Kibune valley and Ischia island, the album explores interconnectedness, spirituality and the natural world through an adventurous East-meets-West palette. The album opens…

On “Christ Shaken,” the UK-based Christian pop artist, Michael Jei, turns his born-again testimony into a lively burst of groove, funk and contemporary pop, creating an invitation to move. The track immediately gets its energy from catchy funky horns, thumping beats and sparkling percussion, while the bass-led groove gives everything…

There is something inherently cinematic about standing on a train platform and watching the tracks disappear into the distance, not knowing when the next arrival will come. FOR YOU BROTHER turns that feeling of uncertainty into a faith-driven rock song with “Waiting on The Train,” bringing together the musical backgrounds…

At just 16, Moscow singer-songwriter Vladimir Buyakov is already turning everyday pressure into bright, groove-heavy pop. Всё получилось (“It All Worked Out”), his fourth original single, swaps the usual autumn gloom for disco sparkle and pop-funk swagger, built around the deceptively simple idea of letting go when life refuses to…

Jinishi turns personal adversity into something quietly searching on “Broken People, Break People,” an introspective single about the ways unresolved hurt can travel from one relationship into another. Drawing from an interest in sociology and psychology, the Chicago artist approaches emotional damage as a simple tragedy and more as something…

Maxwell Knowles turns personal transformation into a cinematic indie-pop odyssey on A Hero’s Journey, a 12-track sophomore album that maps a year of self-exploration onto Joseph Campbell’s famed monomyth. Following his Earmilk-praised debut Daydreaming In the Dark, Knowles returns with a record concerned with pain, uncertainty, self-discovery and, ultimately, the…

Meas & Riddie are stepping into the scene with the youthful energy that refuses to stand still. The two brothers are carving out their own approach to electronic music, mixing the familiar punch of old-school 909 sounds with newer synth textures to create something rooted in club culture and ready…