Melissa Kacar

"We Belong Together" by Mariah Carey   was released in 2005 as the second single of her tenth album,  The Emancipation of Mimi . It is widely credited with reviving her career in the new decade, following her chart dominance throughout the 1990s. It now serves as a testament to her strength artistry that she turned such a challenging period into a story of redemption and perseverance.  It also served as a significant new chapter in Mariah's career, following the release of two commercial failures with  Glitter  in 2001 and  Charmbracelet  in 2002. These records were released at a particularly low point in her personal and professional life, which was highly publicized at the time and she has since opened up about through the years. Despite these struggles, Mariah's resilience through that difficult period of her life shined through so brightly in her 2005 comeback album  The Emancipation of Mimi . This album fully represented a rebirth of Mariah a...

"Open Wide" // Inhaler The title track of Inhaler' s upcoming album Open Wide is such a mesmerizing and hypnotic performance from the band. I love the psych rock elements incorporated throughout, it is truly one of their best songs yet and I cannot wait to hear the rest of their new album very soon! "Dance The Night (Live from the Royal Albert Hall)" // Dua Lipa At Dua Lipa 's recent show at Royal Albert Hall, she performed "Dance The Night" live for the first time ever! I cannot think of a better debut live performance of this amazing song than with an entire orchestra at Royal Albert Hall! This song played a pivotal role in  Barbie   last year and she brought the glittering energy to life with this performance so well.   The entire album is so amazing and magical - it may honestly be one of my favorite live albums ever! Every song is so masterfully performed by everyone involved. These arrangements completely elevated the perfection of the ori...

Over the past thirty years, Mariah Carey has fully solidified herself as the Queen of Christmas because of her timeless renditions of holiday classics, as well as modern hits that define the season every year. Although she has made so many great albums throughout her decades long career,  Merry Christmas  is undoubtedly one of the brightest shining moments of her entire discography. It showcases a versatile range of influences, with much of this album drawing from her love of gospel and soul music, as well as pop and R&B. The entire album is so full of joy and is essential listening every year during the holiday season.  Merry Christmas  was Mariah Carey's first holiday album and her fourth overall, released at a major peak in her career in 1994. It featured covers of classic Christmas songs, as well as three of the greatest original holiday songs ever. Even though she was one of the biggest artists at that time, Merry Christmas  wasn't guaranteed to be a co...

Justin Bieber 's  Under The Mistletoe  features several original holiday songs, as well as covers of Christmas classics with a unique twist. I love the way so much of his personality and musical influences is within this music too, with blends of pop and R&B. There is also so much whimsy and joy for the season embedded into every single song. The album was inspired by his personal favorite holiday music and the artists that made them. "I just picked my favorite Christmas songs. I picked 'Silent Night,' I picked 'Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,' because everyone loves those songs. Those are classics," Justin told  MTV News in 2011. "And then, for songs that we wrote, we wanted to make enough new songs for people to hear new music and not just hear some classics. There's a lot of new stuff on there." This album also features several collaborations throughout, some of which were interesting creative decisions that many probably wouldn't h...

"Training Season (Extended)" // Dua Lipa Training season's (finally) over! Dua Lipa is back with another smash hit, "Training Season", which serves as the second single for her upcoming album. She previewed it at The Grammy's this month and I was counting down the days until I would be able to listen to it again! It's been on repeat ever since!  Much like "Houdini" , she also released an extended cut of the song, which I absolutely love even more than the standard version. The production is absolutely incredible!  I am so excited for the rest of her album ! "Deeper Well" // Kacey Musgraves Last month I mentioned that we were long overdue for new music from Kacey and it seems like she heard my call! "Deeper Well" is the title track of her upcoming album and it feels like a return to the Golden Hour sound. It is such a beautiful and reflective song, that lets her talents shine so brightly. Her album is coming out next mon...