Category: Uncategorized
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From the Outside Looking In, Daisy Howard
Picture Daisy Howard’s “From the Outside Looking In” like a giant bubble of sound with strong but malleable walls. Sounds ebb and flow through the bubble, but the firm exterior maintains its shape, mirroring the story of the song: a character who stands fast in her convictions and carves a…
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Age of Dreams, Richard Green
Compared to the other types of music we normally write about on Up and Comers, you might expect a review of a track called “Age of Dreams” to be about an indie pop anthem or a pop rock ballad. Richard Green’s “Age of Dreams” is something entirely different: a richly…
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Doomsday Clock (85 Seconds to Midnight), Stephen Wicks
There are many different ways of coping with the threats building up against humanity these days, from climate chaos to war to the rise of artificial intelligence. For some, coping involves complete disconnection from the news, electronic devices, and anything else that reminds them of disaster. For others, digging in…
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Hard Times, The Communal Well
To truly capture a feeling through a song, the artist needs to bring together a variety of key ingredients: tone, lyrics, playing style, and rhythm must all be in sync. The Communal Well manage to do just that in their track “Hard Times” off the latest album “Willow”. A reflective…
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This Is Where, Eileen Carey
Finding the Grace in Goodbye Eileen Carey has built a career on navigating the spot between Country Pop and Adult Contemporary, so it’s nice to see her first single of the year pursue a different kind of navigation – the space between romantic ideal and realistic grace. Written alongside Lily…
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Evaporate, Bernice Marsala
Unpredictable feels like the right word to describe the essence of the genre-evading track “Evaporate” by Bernice Marsala. Unbound by formulaic song structures and conventional instrumentations, Marsala creates something that truly keeps us on our toes. Setting the scene with a description of a character who is hiding their pain,…
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Cocoon, GET BEC
Sweet Euphoria or Dangerous Fixation? Abi Bec aka GET BEC returns with “Cocoon“, a slice of neon-drenched tropical disco-pop that hides what could be an obsessive fixation in an easy summer hit. Rooted in the bounce of late 80s and 90s, the track opens with an immediate rhythmic energy before…
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Through Waves, Kavé
What happens when music and film are made in tandem, rather than one in response to the other? In Kavé’s “Through Waves”, we get a glimpse of this innovative approach to art making, where visual and musical effects flow together in seamless intertwinement. Set on the imaginary “Perpetua”, a failed…
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Disco Crush, King Booty Disco
There’s music that feels like it’s trying to be something, and then there’s King Booty Disco. A collection of artists from the Dallas-Fort Worth area, King Booty sticks to what they know how to do best in their debut album “Disco Crush”: leaning into swanky dance ballads that you’d expect…
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Song of Peace, NEBO
Can a Gentle Anthem Pierce the Noise of our Digital Age? NEBO’s “Song of Peace” translates a philosophy background into a grounded, accessible rock idiom. Emerging from Charlottetown, the band has crafted a track that suggest that the hostility of modern social media could be replaced with something much gentler…
