Melissa Kacar

"Mr. Mountebank" by Djo The Crux (Deluxe) gives so much more insight into the journey Djo took while writing this album and all of the different directions he could've taken with it narratively. It's more than just a regular deluxe album, it's more so a companion project of twelve songs that were written during the same creative period as The Crux , but didn't make the initial cut. That said, they don't feel like leftovers. Each track truly feels 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 . "Mr. Mountebank" is one of my many favorites, he goes fully Djo XCX on it, diving into a wild and abrasive hyperpop sound that's completely different from anything he's made before. It offers a sharp commentary on fame and virality, especially in the wake of ...

With So Close To What , Tate McRae showcases herself in a way like never before, making it her strongest and most confident body of work yet. This album not only highlights her growth as a vocalist and songwriter but also reveals a deeper emotional and artistic maturity. It is bolder and more candid than any of her work thus far, as she opens up about her newfound sense of womanhood, falling in love, and the complexities of navigating relationships and personal growth in the spotlight. The ambiguous title of this album embodies both sides of Tate that this record explores. "While I was writing the album, I was on tour, living the same day over and over again. It felt like I was trying to change, but I couldn't quite," Tate said in an interview with Vogue.  "I was feeling grown up for the first time, but I'm still 21, which was confusing. I really felt like a woman for the first time - feeling confident about my sexuality and empowered - but then some days waking...

"Scared of Loving You" by Selena Gomez & Benny Blanco Selena Gomez and Benny Blanco , her fiancé and the producer of some of the most iconic pop songs of the past 15+ years, announced a brand-new collaborative album titled I Said I Love You First   that is set to be released in March! The album is going to chronicle their entire love story, starting with the first song released from their project titled "Scared of Loving You". It is a simple and sweet ballad about wanting to finally fall in love again but fearing that the past may repeat itself. It was also co-written and co-produced by Finneas , who is another one of my favorite artists ever and takes the song to a whole new level. Just last month in my anniversary review of Selena's 2020 album Rare , I wrote that as much as I would love for her to come back and make more music again, I assumed she would be taking a long hiatus from it because of how vocal she's been about wanting to focus more on act...