It’s been 17 years since Alex Turner told the world “don’t believe the hype” on his band’s breakout single. Cocky as it was, dismissing the traps of the indie rock boom of the early 2000s, it’s actually harder to heed his warning now. Arctic Monkeys have become one of the most acclaimed acts in rock simply for letting hype build on itself. They do minimal press and understated album rollouts, as if they’ve waited for the rest of the world to catch up with whatever vibe they’re on at the time.  Now on their seventh album, the Monkeys sound like they’re waiting for the next phase of their c ..read more

Afro-Finnish band Maajo releases their third album, Water of Life, featuring two previously released tracks, “Better Days” and “Uelmissani,” via Wonderwheel Recordings. Maajo has evolved from a sample-based electronic musical project to a full-sized band, including African vocalists and musicians. The addition of two band members, Waina and Gilbert K, as well as featured artists Issiaka Dembele and Ismaila Sané, root the album’s stories in a diverse range of backgrounds, featuring vocals in no less than six different languages. Water of Life revolves around the three vocalists. Waina hails fro ..read more

Swedish singer-songwriter Tove Lo has returned with her latest album, Dirt Femme. Though it is her fifth studio album, this will be her first project released under her own record label, Pretty Swede Records. Known for painting dark hues over euphoric feelings, she sticks to her grunge-pop roots that we all know and love. She details the aftermath of falling in love, and the bittersweet nature of the phenomena that often makes us feel alive. However, some of the more intriguing moments are about challenging society’s tendency to put everyone into a box. Even if the confines of said box goes ag ..read more

The name Skullcrusher immediately conjures up suggestions of doom metal, sludge, or thrash metal. The paradox between the appellation, which is the project of Helen Ballentine, and the music gainsays the aggression of any category of metal. Skullcrusher’s debut album, Quiet the Room, sees her shifting from the sumptuous indie-folk sound inherent in her first two EPs to an ethereal ‘sad-girl-like’ sound that’s difficult to pigeonhole. On Quiet Room, Skullcrusher probes the complexity of childhood. Quiet the Room encompasses 14-tracks, beginning with “They Quiet the Room,” flavored with soft, gl ..read more

“I ain’t left off ‘Bad and Boujee,’ you think I’m left off ‘Bad and Boujee.” Dated meme aside, Takeoff not having a line in Migos’s biggest hit is the best thing that could’ve happened to the group. Not because he can’t hold a candle to his compadres, but because sometimes the Migos are too much for their own good. As good as songs like “Bad and Boujee,” “Versace,” “Stir Fry” and “Narcos” are, they’re specs of gold in the frequently-overstuffed slog of Migos albums that have no business being 18 to 23 tracks long. The Atlanta rap trio have a winning formula of Quavo’s auto-tuned hooks, Offset ..read more

The collaborative project of Brian Burton and James Mercer, Broken Bells releases their new album, Into The Blue, the first since After the Disco, which dropped eight years ago. Burton, better known as Danger Mouse, and Mercer, vocalist and guitarist for The Shins, decided to collaborate after meeting at Denmark’s Roskilde Festival in 2004. Yet they didn’t start working together until four years later, followed by releasing their self-titled debut album. Consisting of nine tracks, the album begins with the title track, opening on dirge-like tones topped by lysergic tones. Vaguely reminiscent o ..read more

Written and produced alongside Adam Thein, actor and musician Joe Keery returns for his second album under the pseudonym Djo with the impressively eclectic Decide. Showcasing a natural growth and progression from 2019’s Twenty Twenty, Decide plays with genre and style while maintaining cohesion throughout all 13 tracks. Demonstrating both playfully self-aware lyricism along with a willingness to tinker with genre from 8-bit sounds, throwback synths, and other retro elements, the sophomore album is a clear declaration of an artist’s intent. And it’s pretty good too.   It’s going to be ..read more

During the past few years, South Korea’s music industry has grown exponentially thanks to the help of global superstars BTS, who have emerged as one of the biggest boy bands of the 21st century. The fast-paced and exciting K-pop industry has reached far beyond the South Korean borders, becoming one of the biggest pop markets in the world. Today, we highlight the top K-pop releases during the summer of 2022. BTS – “Yet to Come” In a pre-taped special that was released as part of FESTA, an annual celebration tied to the anniversary of the BTS’ debut, the group announced that they will take ..read more

Ever since her debut studio album SAWAYAMA released just two years ago, singer-songwriter Rina Sawayama has seen exponential growth in her fanbase and artistic reach. She gained critical acclaim with hits like “STFU!” and “XS” gracing the airwaves. It was a collection of pop-punk and metal songs dedicated to nostalgia, family legacies, and confronting the state of the world in the most impassioned way and it was one of the best albums of 2020. Her latest album Hold The Girl is dramatically introspective in an incredibly different, more melancholic way. Riding the soft rock, dance-pop wave ..read more

Asian-American rapper Star2 recently unveiled his brand-new single/music video, “Run Away,” featuring HoodTrophy Bino. Born in a Thai refugee camp, cast off as a baby by his mother and father, Star2 moved to San Diego with his grandmother as a child. While growing up in SoCal, Star2 found solace in music, resulting in him becoming a role model for other underrepresented groups in music. Since releasing his 2020 debut single, “Hollup Gurl,” which has 300,000 streams on Spotify, he has demonstrated his innate talent for crafting captivating music, as well as evolving his sound. This growth is hi ..read more