Melissa Kacar

Happy Record Store Day! To celebrate the semi-annual independent record store event, Icona Pop released a special limited edition glow-in-the-dark vinyl pressing of their iconic breakthrough hit, "I Love It". Originally released in 2012 as the lead single from their self-titled debut album, the track quickly became a defining anthem for the Swedish pop duo. Not only did it launch their career, but it also marked the first major hit for Charli XCX , who at the time was just 21 years old and an emerging songwriter carving her place in pop music. Charli had signed with Asylum Records in 2010 while still in school, spending her early years experimenting with different sounds and resisting the idea of mainstream pop, which didn't initially align with her vision as an artist. Her breakthrough came when she began collaborating with producer Patrik Berger, who was then best known for his work with Lana Del Rey and Robyn , and later worked with artists like Carly Rae Jepsen , ...

Wicked: For Good is such a beautiful celebration of the people who enter your life and leave an indelible mark on you forever. It's a powerful representation of friendship and sisterhood in their purest forms, as well as a reminder of the younger versions of ourselves that continue to live within us years later. Once again, Ariana Grande and Cynthia Erivo deliver truly incredible performances. I said this in my review of the first part too, but it bears repeating: there is no one else in the world who could have embodied Glinda and Elphaba the way Ariana and Cynthia did. They were made for these roles, and their commitment shines through every moment. Jonathan Bailey also stood out as Fiyero, bringing depth and growth to his character arc in ways that was so crucial to the overall story.  The second part of Wicked is undeniably darker than the first, but it builds beautifully on top of it, adding new layers of complexity to each character's journey. It's not only a creati...

The newly expanded version of Djo 's The Crux is more than just a regular deluxe album. As a whole, these additional twelve songs give so much more insight into the journey he took while writing this album and all of the different directions he could've taken with it narratively. The Crux (Deluxe)  is more so a companion project of songs that were written during the same creative period as the rest of The Crux , but didn't make the initial cut. That said, they don't feel like leftovers. Each track is truly like a natural expansion of the time in his life that inspired this music, and collectively, they feel like a culmination of some of the more unhinged parts of himself that he had to work through to arrive at the final version of The Crux . From working through the early aftermath and heartache of a breakup, to navigating some of the darker parts of fame, virality and newfound pressures of the music industry that he experienced when making this album throughout 2024,...