Editors' Picks

Normally, I’d open one of my reviews with a brief introduction to the artist. While I still intend to do that, there’s one thing I must say and highlight: “Essence” has possibly one of my favorite hooks I’ve ever heard. I can’t stop listening to this song and even when I’m not actively listening to it, it’s like I still am because the hook is an eternal echo, haunting my ears and bouncing around my mind. As dramatic as that sounds, it’s accurate. Trying to type this is difficult because I have the vibrant bassline and memorable melodies permeating my thoughts and clouding my ability to write. 

Greek power metal legends Firewind have exploded back onto the scene with a stunning new live album, “Still Raging.” The release celebrates the band’s official 20th anniversary, recorded at Principal Club Theatre in Greece in 2022. 

Though piles of great music has been released this past Friday, I would feel remiss if I hadn’t talked about hemlocke springs’ “enknee1” from last week. In the seemingly infinite pool of music that was released on August 21st, this track stuck out like a sore thumb, in all the best ways. Every inch of its architecture, every detail of its design screams distinction. From the cover art, the song title, the production, the relative lack of information behind the artist, as well as her voice and delivery, are all unorthodox in their nature. “enknee1” (pronounced ‘anyone’) is hemlocke springs’ fourth single of 2023 and only her sixth song ever released on streaming! “enknee1” is the final single leading up to her debut EP, going…going…GONE!. After garnering a sizable following on TikTok with the songs “gimme all ur luv” and “girlfriend”, hemlocke has continued releasing extremely unique, yet immensely accessible songs. “enknee1” is likely my favorite of the bunch.

Ashley Kutcher is a Pop singer based in New York, who was born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland. Last Friday, she released a sentimental and emotionally compelling song entitled, “Matchbox”. Carried by somber and passionate acoustic guitars, Ashley offers an immensely vulnerable and authentic account of a relationship between two partners. They vastly contrast each other, yet fulfill the other’s missing pieces. 

Sid Sriram is an Indian Carnatic musician raised in America. His music career has global and international roots. For those like myself who might be unfamiliar with Carnatic music, it is a subgenre of classical Indian music that evolved from Hindu text and tradition. It is commonly regionally associated with South India. Sid Sriram was born in Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. His family moved to California when he was one and his Carnatic music teacher mother raised him on the music. Sid eventually found interest in and became a songwriter for both Carnatic music and R&B. This past Friday he released Sidharth, a 13 song album featuring a special song entitled, “Quiet Storm”. 

Conan Gray is an American singer and songwriter well known for songs like “Maniac” and “Heather” from his 2020 release, Kid Krow. This past Friday, he released a new single titled, “Winner”. Though he has billions of streams and over 20 million monthly listeners, this song is my first introduction to Conan Gray. Being that his music is completely foreign to me, the fact that I was immediately immersed and captivated by the track goes to show how powerful it is. 

Ahead of the release of his second studio album, VICTOR, Chicago rapper VIC MENSA dropped his newest single, “Blue Eyes” this past Friday. Produced by Bongo, this track runs at just under three minutes and utilizes inspiring guitar riffs, an angelic choir, and powerful storytelling from VIC MENSA. 

Last Friday saw the release of Jon Batiste’s new album, World Music Radio, and on it was a New Orleans anthem entitled, “Uneasy” featuring Hip-Hop legend and fellow Louisiana native, Lil Wayne. Jon Batiste is a music titan of his own, having worked with Stevie Wonder, Prince, Trent Reznor, Lenny Kravitz, and Ed Sheeran, and not to mention his several Grammys, Academy Awards, etc. The all-star list doesn’t end there, with production credits from Pop music mainstay, Jon Bellion, who not only has a growing list of his own hit songs, but has written and produced hits for Maroon 5, Halsey, Eminem, Rihanna, etc. With such a stellar cast of musical prowess, it only makes rational sense that these gentlemen would craft a masterpiece of a song. “Uneasy” can only be described as such. 

Last week, the rapper, singer, producer extraordinaire, Russ, released his fifth studio album entitled SANTIAGO. Described in a hand-written note ahead of this album’s release, Russ pens the album as a “journey to self love + self mastery,” then goes on to list some of the recurring obstacles he’s faced, not only in the last few years, but lifelong turmoil that he’s chosen to face head on. SANTIAGO runs at a solid 41 minutes and is a remarkably easy listen. Such an admirable characteristic is likely due to the seamless transitions between every track and the accessible nature of the music itself. This is perhaps Russ at his most honest and vulnerable. With a tracklist full of notable songs, the most streamed track thus far is the song, “No More”. 

Hozier is an Irish musician who needs little introduction. He is a phenomenal song-writer, hit maker, and has a decade of music under his belt. This past Friday, he released his third studio album, Unreal Unearth. Amongst the highlights for me is a song called, “Damage Gets Done” featuring the 9x Grammy Award-winning singer-songwriter, Brandi Carlile.

Has the taste and smell of a particular home cooked meal instantly transported you to a different time and place? Has one bite of an unsuspecting dish, shockingly revived a memory you had no idea you could still feel and touch? The force of nostalgia is unwavering and powerful. One whiff can immediately and immensely immerse you in a memory, a feeling, or a faint image of the past. The processes that occur when neurons fire are unfathomably complex, yet emphatically simple. It’s about the way that a pasta dish from a hole in the wall, mom and pop shop could bring you right back to being a kid with freshly scraped knees and a dirty Yankees shirt with a fresh plate of pasta, cooked by your mother, in front of you. This experience is difficult to articulate, but it's one that we’re all familiar with in some shape or form. It’s one of the many gifts of multi-sensory memories. For me, the most potent way to experience this phenomenon is through well-crafted music. Saturday Night Gym Club’s The Distance is just that. The soundscape that this album inhabits is like a tangible bridge to both nostalgic memories of my childhood and the memories of which I have yet to experience. The latter, being a truly mysterious phenomenon I have yet to derive meaning and or an explanation out of. The Distance in many ways, is a sonic portal, a time capsule, that upon opening it and immersing oneself in it, they are likely to be taken to another realm. As flowery as that sounds, it is an accurate description of the experience. Even the most untrained ear can recognize the amount of hours and effort that was spent, in attempts to tailor this album to each listener’s brain networks in a way that would fire synapses and carry them ‘the distance.’ Regarding an untrained ear, I am just that in this scenario. Electronic/Dance music is not a pocket of music that I am familiar with. Yet, this album works all the same. From the opening track, “U.V. Smile”, the album’s synths scratch a certain part of my brain, embellishing a classic 80s Sci-Fi movie. It gives me a world to live in that I don’t want to leave. Thankfully, this atmospheric energy is built into the very sonic foundation of The Distance. 

Hailing from Seattle with Japanese roots and musical prowess, UMI has released a new single entitled, “happy im”. I was digging into the depths of newly released music and felt like I was wandering hopelessly. I went from song to song, listening to each multiple times without getting an ounce of motivation to write about any of them. That all changed when UMI’s “happy im” entered the rotation. My ears were immediately captured when the layered acoustic guitars and lo-fi drums seemed to pour out of my speakers. I leaned forward in my chair, beyond intrigued. If nothing else, I knew this song had stellar production. And then UMI started her first verse. With a bright and warm voice with such a soothing timbre, UMI sings about the distinction between running from and accepting love. The moment you make the choice to stop running and allow yourself to be happy. In an interview with Numero, UMI described this type of love and happiness as, “the type that can be felt in many ways; love for a dream, family, career, a place, or a person. I wrote this song to remind myself, and those who listen, that it’s okay to be happy.”

LANY's latest track, "XXL-," delivers a delightful blend of wistful melancholia and heartwarming memories that instantly wraps you in a cool, indie pop embrace. The song opens with a guitar intro that chimes like distant bells, setting the perfect atmosphere for the emotional journey that's about to unfold.

Let me lay it down for you. "STRINGS" by MAX featuring JVKE and Bazzi is like this sweet musical mashup that's breaking all the rules and leaving us all in awe.

Founded in 2013, Jungle is a British Electronic group, started by producers, Josh Lloyd-Watson and Tom McFarland. This past Friday they released their fourth studio album, Volcano. The album’s outro, “Pretty Little Thing” features Dreamville signee (J. Cole’s music label), Bas. Uncredited and pitched-up vocals from Lydia Kitto are also provided for the hook of the song. 

Emotional Oranges is a duo that formed in 2017 between the members, V and A. Given that V was a vocal coach for Adele, and A was an audio engineer for Drake, one can expect an immense display of musical talent when the two join forces. V and A have expressed the desire to live normal lives, given the pseudonyms they release music under. For a while there, their real names and faces were largely unknown, but now that they’ve toured the world and grown to be quite successful, their identities have become public. This past Friday saw the release of their new album, STILL EMO. At just 8 tracks, all but 3 were released as singles ahead of time. Such a marketing run is no doubt an experiment motivated by our single-based industry. Among the 3 songs that were collected in the official project, the outro, “Better Apart” is a psychedelic gem. 

Viral TikTok sensation, Stephen Sanchez has dominated the internet over the last few months. His breakout 2021 single, “Until I Found You” is a song you can neither deny, nor hide from. Fast forward to now, Stephen seems to be working towards his first full length LP since his 2022 release, Easy On My Eyes. For this upcoming album, titled Angel Face (a title shared by a 1953 American noir film), Stephen has built a time machine for his listeners. Under the guise of an early 1960’s Pop Rock album, Stephen is telling a story of two fictional characters, ‘The Troubadour Sanchez’ and Evangeline. Based on the singles, cover art, and marketing, Stephen is borrowing the aesthetics from one of the greatest eras of music. That era being, late 50’s and early 60’s Pop Rock, be it Elvis Presely or The Beatles. The album art depicts the story’s two main characters. The framing, colors, even down to the text fonts used, reflect all the traits of a classic black-and-white romance film, or a dusty record you might find in your grandmother’s old vinyl collection in the attic. This past week, Stephen Sanchez released the third single for this upcoming time capsule of an album, “Be More”. 

Jorja Smith is a name that has swirled around my corner of music for quite some time now. Having been featured on numerous A-List Hip-Hop albums (Drake’s More Life and Kendrick Lamar’s Black Panther The Album) as well as having consistent fan overlap with Hip-Hop in general, the English R&B artist has been hard to miss. Though I haven’t dug deep into her catalog yet, I’ve never felt more motivated to do so. Last week saw the release of “GO GO GO”, a single from her upcoming album, falling or flying. It is… powerful, to say the least. 

Killer Mike released his opus, MICHAEL recently. This album is saturated with features, visionary production, and little to no bars wasted. Though Killer Mike is half of the legendary Hip-Hop duo, Run The Jewels, this album is a completely solo venture. The standout track for me is definitely the hypnotic, “SCIENTISTS & ENGINEERS.” This song is almost an assembly of the Avengers. With Killer Mike at the forefront, this track brings together Future, Eryn Allen Kane, and none other than André 3000. Future of course, is one of the pioneers of Trap music and has been a genuinely large voice in Hip-Hop for over a decade now. Eryn Allen Kane is a Blues musician with an ethereal voice. Lastly, the man who is widely considered to be one of, if not THE G.O.A.T., André 3000. André is half of a legendary Hip-Hop duo himself, hailing from the incredibly influential OutKast. Though the world has begged for an André 3000 album, that we’re still unsure as to whether or not it exists, he has given us feature after feature for a few years now. André has this deplorable tendency of entering a track, and stealing the show from whoever the headlining artist is. Whether it be Frank Ocean, James Blake, Kanye West, or Anderson .Paak, André just can’t seem to share the spotlight when he decides to grace us with a verse. 

Less than two weeks ago, Post Malone released his fifth studio album, AUSTIN. Surprising to me, just a week later, he released AUSTIN (Bonus). This “bonus” version of the album features all 17 tracks from the previous release, plus a brand new track entitled, “Joy.” While I have yet to listen to AUSTIN, my search for new music led me to this song and within the first few seconds, Posty earned my attention. 

Alright peeps, jump into your dancing shoes and get ready to move because we're diving into the electrifying world of "One in a Million" by the dynamic duo Bebe Rexha and the EDM maestro David Guetta.

Blindside by James Arthur is a real gem of a song that takes you on a journey through some deep feelings.

“Death Wish” is both the intro and the leading single to Jason Isbell and the 400 Unit’s new album, Weathervanes. This new album is the first full length LP from the band since 2020’s phenomenal record, Reunions. Though there was a cover album entitled, Georgia Blue that was promised to fans if the state of Georgia voted blue in the 2020 presidential election, Weathervanes is the first collection of new songs from Jason in quite some time. Such a return could not be more welcome. Jason Isbell (pronounced Is-BULL) is known for his eloquent song writing, his deeply Americana sound, and his not being afraid to either get personal, political, or downright depressing. This new album is no different, “Death Wish” being not just the album’s intro, but among some of Isbell’s greatest works. 

Certified Hip-Hop legend, Nas and veteran producer, Hit-Boy have been on a constant run of releasing nearly two albums a year, for three years straight. Starting with King’s Disease in 2020, the duo have yet to slow down. So far, we are on our third album in the King’s Disease series and two weeks ago, Nas and Hit-Boy gave us a sequel to 2021’s Magic. This new album, Magic 2, is another great addition to Nas’ already stellar discography, and further establishes Nas as quite possibly the rapper with the greatest longevity in the history of Hip-Hop. Truth be told, Hip-Hop, culturally, seems to have always been synonymous with Nasir Jones. In fact, Nas draws an interesting parallel between himself and that of Hip-Hop on the track “Bokeem Woodbine” where he says, “Hip-Hop 50 celebration, funny we the same age and / We just keep on getting iller, word to Heavy, word to Dilla.” Nas and Hip-Hop being the same age just goes to show how both have grown together, and molded one another. Hip-Hop is everything that Nas breathes and his influence on artists of every generation is undeniable. Nas is likely in your favorite rapper’s top 10, if he isn’t already in your’s. Nas is the only rapper whose career was born and bred in the 90’s and is still releasing consistently in both quantity and quality. As Nas says on “Abracadabra,” “2020, when we did the first one / Five album run, not a cursed one, it's a blessed one / By the time y'all hear this, we’ll be half way through the next one.” Nas and Hit-Boy are producing more supply than we knew we could demand. And I’m all here for it. When it comes to exhibiting his longevity, Nas’ lyricism has stayed top notch, his flows are becoming more creative, and his subject matter stays interesting. One way to truly understand just how far we’ve come on an artist’s journey, is when they take a step back and reminisce on his or her career. There’s a few cuts on this record that do just that, “Slow it Down” and “Pistols On Your Album Cover” are great examples of such. However, my favorite is the 8th track, “What This All Really Means.”

If you’re like me, “In Your Love” might be your first introduction to Tyler Childers. But it’s a welcome one. “In Your Love” is the first single from his upcoming album, Rustin’ In The Rain. It was released just a few days ago with a music video starring Colton Haynes and James Scully. While the song itself is fairly vague and gender neutral, the music video depicts a romance between two male coal miners in the 1950’s. Their occupation may not come as a surprise to those who are familiar with Tyler Childers and his music. Tyler was born in Kentucky and his father was a coal miner. Culture and industry in the Appalachian region, as well as the prevalent issues in those communities, are discussed and explored often in his music. So much so, that all the proceeds from his 2020 album, Long Violent History went directly to Childers' Hickman Holler Appalachian Relief Fund which supports underserved communities in the region. In the music video, we are offered a glimpse into some of the lethal consequences of coal mining including “black lung disease,” a disease that coal miners often develop overtime due to exposure and inhaling of coal dust. Furthermore, Tyler intentionally chose to depict a gay romance because he was inspired to do so by his gay cousin who also grew up in Kentucky, worked as a coal miner, and has had a very close relationship with Tyler. When describing the inspiration behind the music video, Childers (in reference to his cousin) said “He taught me so much about singing; he was my first tough critic. And just thinking about him not having a music video on CMT that spoke to him.” 

The name Dominic Fike is likely familiar to a lot of people because of his recent contributions to both the Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse soundtrack as well as the Barbie soundtrack. Due to this, though I find it surprising, I believe some people may have missed his most recent release. Dominic Fike is an artist that I don’t often listen to. I have several friends who are always sending me his music when it comes out, and I always listen. Furthermore, I always end up being impressed with his projects, What Could Possibly Go Wrong in particular. He’s ambitious, creative, a skilled song-writer, and incredibly entertaining. For whatever reason however, I have yet to consistently return to his music. A few weeks ago he released Sunburn and I feel foolish for ever having been so neutral regarding his work. With only a 39 minute runtime, Sunburn is an extremely accessible listen. Such a unique and pleasant experience all begins with its opening track, “How Much Is Weed?”

Last week, the world was awarded the long awaited arrival of Travis Scott’s fourth studio album, UTOPIA. This new album from Travis is triumphant, ambitious, wall to wall with features, and a blinding subversion of expectations. Due to such ambitions, the album has had quite a clash of varying reception. Some fans claim it to be his best work yet, while others insist that it’s far from the quality of his previous works, ASTROWORLD being the common standard of comparison. I find UTOPIA to be a breath of fresh air in the world of A-List Hip-Hop. Given its inventive nature and its mixed reception, the album’s title is more than fitting. Such is perfectly captured in the outro of “SIRENS,” performed by Drake and an (as of yet) unknown woman:

“SNAKE EYES” is the first single released by Aries since his triumphant sophomore album, BELIEVE IN ME, WHO BELIEVES IN YOU, released back in 2021. Aries has amassed a sort of cult following in the last few years, built off of his unique take on genre fusion between Hip-Hop, contemporary Pop, and a little secret sauce somewhere in the middle. “SNAKE EYES” is no different. With thunderous guitars, incredibly catchy yet soothing melodies, and masterfully arranged production and mixing, this song offers its listeners just over 2 minutes of song length, but a lifetime of replay. “SNAKE EYES” is frankly, quite addicting. Aries pulls no punches with well written verses and an impeccable hook. It was produced by Aries and his two talented friends, Wyatt Otis and Pharaoh Vice. It was written and engineered by Aries as well. “SNAKE EYES” was released independently through DistroKid, a great tool that many up and coming artists utilize to distribute their work. 

The last single from the new album of UK's masked group, Sleep Token, is a surprise to say the least, and an excellent offering for those willing to make room for something different.

Nines is the professional name of Courtney Leon Freckleton, a 33 year old rapper from Harlesden, London. His first appearance came in 2007 as a young 17 year old prodigy, but he has taken time to build an image and sound over the intervening years that has now put him more into the mainstream of the UK rap scene. Calendar comes from his fourth studio album, Crop Circle 2. 

Keaton Henson is possibly one of the luckier musicians to break into the industry. With an undeniable talent for the creative, his initial foray into music was more for personal pleasure than anything else. However, 13 years since his initial release, he has gathered a strong reputation as an artist who provides depth to his work, and his multi-talented catalogue of work has launched his name to a wider worldwide audience.

The Chainsmokers are an American electronic DJ duo. Formed in 2012, they have gathered a huge following in the last 11 years and are now billed as one of the most successful DJ artists in the world. The two members, Alexander "Alex" Pall and Andrew "Drew" Taggart, have developed a unique sound and partnership that will continue to influence music lovers for years to come.

The Foo Fighters need little introduction, having been one of the world's biggest bands for over 20 years. Led by Nirvana's Dave Grohl, they faced tragedy this year with the sudden death of Taylor Hawkins. Tribute concerts to him have only increased the band's appeal, and the news that they would continue as a group despite Hawkins' absence on drums was greeted with delight.

Patrick Wolf, the 39-year-old English singer-songwriter, has been making waves in the music business for 20 years! His style is unique, and his eclectic history in music and fashion during his stay in the limelight has meant that he has gathered a wide range of followers from around the globe.

Bear's Den have released four studio albums, with their debut album being released in 2014. With some line up changes, the two main driving forces of the current lineup are Andrew Davie and Kevin Jones.