We often underestimate how much meaning a sound can carry before we even begin to interpret it. Certain sounds are inseparable from memory, geography, ritual, and cultural experience; others acquire new meanings...
Destructo Disk has been a fixture of Richmond's DIY punk scene since 2015, building a reputation on relentless touring and self-releases through their own label, Sockhead Records, rather than waiting for anyone...
Somewhere along the line, worship music became afraid of weirdness.
Maybe it happened when somebody discovered that four chords, an enormous chorus and enough reverb to fill Noah’s Ark could reliably make an...
The problem with empowerment songs is that everybody sounds empowered by the second chorus. Heart shattered? Fixed. Self-esteem missing? Located. Rotten boyfriend? Deleted. Three minutes later everybody's stronger, wiser, hotter, and presumably...
Some of the most interesting creative chapters begin when we least expect them. For 50mething, that chapter arrived at 58, with a decision to finally bring decades of ideas and a catalogue...
We often talk about music as an escape from reality, but sometimes it is less about escaping than figuring things out. “Bent Out of Shape” by Peter Manning Robinson emerges from precisely...
The finest folk songs have never promised easy answers. They have offered company. From the old ballads carried across oceans to the songs sung on front porches, picket lines, and kitchen floors,...
Born out of personal upheaval and long-standing friendships, Bitter Blue’s Levity carries the weight of real, lived moments, both unfiltered as well as unresolve. There’s no attempt to tidy things up here;...
Independent artist 50mething (Paul Jenner) confronts a disturbing reality with the release of his hard-hitting new single “County Lines”.
Inspired by the acclaimed film of the same name, the track shines a light...
A song about a 19th-century photographer doesn't immediately sound like the recipe for an emotionally resonant folk track. Yet that's exactly what Mark Moule achieves on “Eyes of Izzy.” While the song...
Written in the maternity ward shortly after the birth of her first child, Cicile’s “Je t’aime mon bébé” arrives with a story already woven into its foundation. More than a lullaby, the...
Few artists embrace musical cross-pollination as freely as William McLaughlin, better known as Billy G. Mac. His latest single, Summer Vibe, is an ambitious fusion of Latin pop, West Coast hip-hop, jazz,...
Polish artist Co.LeGa has built a reputation on dark electro-pop and concept-driven soundscapes, with an EP, "Nobody Goes to Heaven," that reached the NACC Top 30 for Electronic Music and a notable...
Phil Black has spent the last six years building Paper Swords, a dark sci-fi music and visual universe out of Casper, Wyoming, and "Breathe In The Light," released May 22nd, is the...
