Melissa Kacar

Coming just a year after Short n' Sweet , Sabrina Carpenter is already back with a follow-up record and it's clear she's striking while the iron's hot. Man's Best Friend  feels like a playful extension of the persona she's been building, with a level of her signature humor and self-awareness that lies within each song. Much of the inspiration behind this album stems from her on-again-off-again relationship with her ex-boyfriend. It chronicles the emotional highs and lows she was experiencing in real time, and  Man's Best Friend  feels like it was a creative outlet born from that turbulence. It also became a space for her to experiment with sounds she hasn't explored before. Sabrina worked on the entirety of this album with her frequent collaborators, producers John Ryan and Jack Antonoff , as well as songwriter Amy Allen . Her previous releases were made with a much bigger team of songwriters and producers, but it's clear that this was a much more ...

"The Subway" by Chappell Roan The long-awaited official release of "The Subway" is finally here and it is absolutely the best song that Chappell has released thus far. There's so much emotion packed into every lyric. The song is deeply heartfelt and unflinchingly honest as Chappell recalls the kind of specific, intimate details of a love that got away. All of the memories still linger, almost as if she is haunted by them. After performing the song live for the past year, I'm so happy the studio version of it is finally out! "Ice In My OJ" by Hayley Williams Earlier this month Hayley Williams surprise released a seventeen standalone singles, which she later compiled into an official album titled Ego Death At A Bachelorette Party . It's already a very strong contender for my favorite album of the year so far, I'm continuously discovering new aspects of it that I love each time I listen to it. "Ice In My OJ" was one of my initial f...

"David" by Lorde A day as special as this only comes around once every four years! Lorde finally released her long-awaited fourth album,  Virgin ,   and it's everything I hoped it would be and more. It offers a glimpse into her mind in the most unfiltered, raw way. There are so many songs that I love and feel so connected to, but I was truly speechless after hearing the closing track "David" for the first time. There is something so haunting and cathartic about this song, it is such a powerful way to close this incredible record.  Check out my full review of Virgin by Lorde! "Times Like These" by Addison Rae "Times Like These" is one of the many standout tracks off of Addison's self-titled album , which is overall such a confident and clear debut from one of pop's most exciting new artists. This is one of the most vulnerable and heartbreakingly honest moments of the album, which feels so representative of the greater storyline of Addi...

"Don't Smile" closes out Sabrina Carpenter 's Short n' Sweet on a lush, understated note, which beautifully contrasts some of the more playful energy that made up so much of the rest of the album. It's a glittery, jazzy slow burn that is so full of emotion. This is such a refreshing sound for Sabrina to be experimenting with, especially as it allows her vocal range to shine so effortlessly.  I often think of it as if it were the song rolling at the ending credits of this album, fading out as the metaphorical party ends. On this song she takes the common phrase "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened" and reverses it to "Don't smile because it happened, baby, cry because it's over".  In an interview with Zane Lowe for Apple Music, she opened up about the inspiration behind the song; "That title is so... it's on every Pinterest board, on every sewn pillow, but the opposite; don't cry because it...