On Becoming Something More: SHILPA’s Debut Album ESSAR
On her debut album, Shilpa evokes her environment as she explores what it means to grow into our humanity.
An All-American Hit: Dissecting The Guts Of Olivia Rodrigo’s Sophomore Album
After over two years since the release of her staggeringly successful debut album, SOUR, pop megastar Olivia Rodrigo has finally given the people what they want: her highly anticipated sophomore album, GUTS, released on September 8, 2023. Make no mistake, I am a huge Olivia Rodrigo fan. As a fellow musician and melodramatic, overthinking, obsessive…
Columbo Album Review
I have been a listener of Bruno Major since his 2017 album, A Song For Every Moon. His ambient musical style allows a person to sink into each song, landing at least one of his songs on almost all of my playlists. Columbo is Major’s third studio album and is arguably the most minimalist member…
“Self Control”: Seven Years of Frank Ocean’s Soulful Summer End
Some days when the sun goes down and the night’s muggy air sits on my shoulders, heavy as a phantom embrace, I find myself lying down alone in my neighborhood park and listening to “Self Control.”
Rediscovering Taylor Swift’s “reputation”
On November 10th, 2017, Taylor Swift released an album like nothing the world had heard from her before. A far cry from her clean-cut country days, reputation was enigmatic, glittering, and expansive. On the album’s lead single, “Look What You Made Me Do”, Swift leaves us an unapologetic voicemail: “I’m sorry, the old Taylor can’t…
The Sounds that Shaped Us: Norman F***ing Rockwell
You’re 16 and you’re gazing out at the sky. Your retinas are met with the glimmering lights of a magnificent Southeast Asian metropolis, contrasted by the subdued darkness of the night. As the average high schooler within this big city, you exist within a bubble of linear algebra, sneaking into 18+ horror movies & going…
Full of Sound and Fury
When I was getting ready to move into my college dorm and leave my lifelong home, all I could think about was the past. All I could think about were the friends I’d probably never see again, my younger sisters that I wouldn’t see grow up, the past that would always remain history. These were…
The Trials and Tribulations of Growing Up
Snail Mail @ Hollywood Palladium [4/27/2022]
Mystery Music Mosaic: Moodswings in This Order by DPR Ian
I’ll admit that K-pop is not my musical genre of choice. I didn’t grow up listening to it; instead, I was immersed in Joni Mitchell, the Police, and Depeche Mode, which are arguably as far as you can get from the peppy and catchy Korean pop that engages a young global audience with astonishing reach.…
Mystery Music Mosaic: Remind Me Tomorrow by Sharon Van Etten
Slow, rhythmic, atmospheric. These are the characteristics that jump out from the internal reverberations of a pair of headphones or car speakers when listening to “I Told You Everything” or “Jupiter 4” by Sharon Van Etten.