Melissa Kacar

"Aperture" by Harry Styles He's baaaaack! The lead single off of Harry Styles ' long-awaited new album,  Kiss All The Time, Disco Occasionally ,  introduces a new sound and direction for him. It leans into a more electronic house sound than ever before, a clear vantage point for "Aperture" being Robyn's "Dancing On My Own" , with hints of LCD Soundsystem as well. It is a long and sprawling five minute confessional, almost feeling like a status update for where he's been for the past few years. He always writes from his own distinct perspective, shaping a narrative built around living in the moment, loving and embracing togetherness. There are so many ways for this song to be interpreted, it largely connects to "Lights Up" in the way it is a thesis statement for who he is as an artist and the encouraging environment he creates with his music, inviting the listener to just let the light in and spread love. The repeated phrase of ...

"Sold Out" by Gracie Abrams, Bon Iver & Aaron Dessner Gracie Abrams , Justin Vernon , and Aaron Dessner came together to create a deeply special song honoring the lives lost to gun violence. It's a heavy and important piece of music, written with such clarity and emotional weight. "Sold Out" captures not only the grief of where the world is right now, but the tragedies that continue to happen far too often, in the US and beyond. Alongside the release of the song, they shared; "We made this song last year in the wake of a school shooting. I was reminded of it this week as our hearts were broken yet again. It's a sad one to share during the holidays, but the world is hurting and we shouldn't look away." The song isn't available on streaming services currently, but you can purchase it through Gracie's Bandcamp . All proceeds are going to Everytown, which is an organization committed to reducing gun violence.   Buy the song here + fin...

While the pandemic era saw a wave of music born from isolation and uncertainty, Charli xcx 's how i'm feeling now remains one of the most innovative, immersive and deeply personal projects to emerge from that time. Charli embraced a fully DIY approach over the course of five weeks, turning this forced isolation into a unique opportunity to produce an album entirely from home while documenting every step of the process in real time through social media. "The nature of this album is going to be very indicative of the times just because I'm only going to be able to use the tools I have at my fingertips to create all music, artwork, videos everything," Charli revealed in a public Zoom call with fans in 2020.  From pitching the idea to her label, to writing, producing, conceptualizing, filming music videos and creating album artwork, Charli shared all of the ups and downs through social media, offering fans a unique look into the process behind making an album. This a...

brat and it's completely differe nt but also still brat totally redefined the concept of a remix album. To top off the massive year Charli xcx had following the release BRAT , she took the concept of that album and every single song and completely transformed it into something brand new. It takes the idea that every song's concept, or even just song title, can have so many different lives that can be (and should be) explored further than just the original version of it. Many of the songs don't even feature a single lyric or melody from the original versions, but still find a way to expand and evolve the meaning behind each. Charli's approach to this project is as artful as it is groundbreaking and its long overdue for her to finally get her flowers. By embracing the reworking of concepts, Charli showcases the dynamic potential that exists within her music. "I think what's interesting about the remix album... is I was writing the original record when I was in ...