Reviews

James Shumway returns with another deeply intimate composition in “So Glad You’re Mine.” Hot off the acclaim of his award-winning piece “To the One I Love,” Shumway continues to carve out a space where classical romanticism meets modern emotional clarity. Known for writing from the heart rather than the ivory…

Lois Leon’s new single “Slow Motion” arrives like a steady exhale after years of turbulence, as a song shaped by upheaval, grief, and the strange clarity that follows when life suddenly tilts off its axis. Written during a difficult period marked by major transitions and lingering grief over the sudden…

John Michael Hersey steps back into the spotlight with “Democracy,” a standout track from his twenty-first album, the rock musical Democracy. The album’s concept is classic Hersey, picturing a dive bar somewhere in America on election night, a handful of ordinary people, a singer/songwriter past his prime, an actress between…

Melbourne heavy-rock upstarts The Cyber Project crank the voltage straight into the red with their new single “Dejavu,” arriving November 14, 2025. The band have been steadily carving a reputation for big, cinematic aggression paired with hook-driven modern rock, and this track doubles down on every one of those strengths.…

Broken Romeo come roaring out of Tucson with “Chaos Habitual,” the newest single from their album Infirmus Orbis, and it lands like a controlled detonation. The track arrived just this November 25, 2025, as part of the band’s ongoing short-film project of the same name, which blends their music with…

Swedish alt-metal outfit Die in Void returns with a heavy emotional punch on “Bloody Daylight,” a cinematic metal ballad released October 31, 2025, that cuts straight to the bone. Written and produced by Mikael Hallgren, with co-production and mixing by Christoffer Borg, the track is the most distilled version yet…

Aspen’s ever-eccentric cultural collective Staunch Moderates swings for the end zone again with “Bigfoot’s Football Live,” a tongue-in-cheek hip-hop sports anthem that folds satire, spectacle, and smugness into one spirited rally cry. The group, founded by Greg Simmons and Bo Persiko as a grassroots movement for civil discourse, has spent…

SERIOUS VOICE comes in swinging with “99 PROBLEMS,” a blistering confessional cut pulled from her forthcoming album Tessa’s Daughter, and she delivers it with the exact mix of grit, truth-telling, and spiritual fire that’s kept her at the forefront of New York’s hip hop underground. The Brooklyn emcee, shaped by…

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…