Melissa Kacar

Deeper Well  by Kacey Musgraves sounds like the first blossoming of spring after a long, cold winter. An aspect that shines the most within this music is her talent for sweet and simple songwriting. Every song is very rooted in nature and uses vivid imagery to paint such a stunning, honest and reflective portrait of this current phase of her life. The production is very stripped-back on most of these tracks, with the focus mainly on her vocals and lyricism. This is among her most introspective work yet, chronicling her inner-most thoughts and emotions from where she last left off in 2021 with  star-crossed . She worked on this album primarily in New York City at Electric Lady Studios , which is an environment that played into her wanting to make a softer, more subdued album this time. "There’s the smell of marijuana, pizza, people talking, skateboarders, loud music, everything at 220. And I think you take some of those things to the studio. When the outside environment is so...

Tough" // Lana Del Rey & Quavo Lana Del Rey and Quavo teamed up for "Tough", a dreamy Americana summer anthem released right before the Fourth of July. It reminds me of something that could have been included on one of my all-time favorite albums by Lana,  Lust For Life , which is a sound I love to hear her channeling again. I also love the resilient message of the lyrics and the varied influences they draw from in this song. Their voices unexpectedly blend so well together and they truly make a great pair on this song. It's one of my favorite songs of the entire year so far, I love it so much and hope that we get more new music from Lana soon! "Juna" // Clairo I absolutely love every single song on Clairo 's latest release,  Charm , it flows together so beautifully into such a calming and transcending listening experience. "Juna" is definitely a highlight for me, it is such a sweet and simple jazzy song that feels like it could have been...

"Lonely is the Muse" // Halsey I am continuously blown away by Halsey 's stunning artistry and vivid world-building in their music. "Lonely is the Muse" is so powerful and sharply written, sonically drawing from rock and grunge aesthetics of the 1990's. That is a style that I always felt suited her best, especially after the incredible  If I Can't Have Love I Want Power   in 2021 . The song is about the way she always falls in love with artists and creative types, only to realize that time and time again she ends up feeling commodified and put on a pedestal as a means of inspiration for that person's art. I never heard this described before in a song and it truly gives me chills every single time I listen. Dare I say "Lonely is the Muse" is her best song yet?  It is so poignantly written, so many lyrics stand out to me as among their greatest ever. "I will exist in every second just to decorate your life and when you're done, you c...

2024 was such an exciting year for new music! From long-time favorites to new discoveries, this list includes a little bit of everything. It's been such a fun year to be a fan of all these amazing artists and I can only imagine what 2025 will bring next. This is always one of my favorite posts to write at the end of every year, I love getting to look back on all of the artists that were the soundtrack of my year. It feels like there was a period of time from around March through July that was stacked with back-to-back new music every single week from all of the best artists out right now. It's been such a fun year to be a fan of all these amazing artists and I can only imagine what 2025 will bring next.  This list is loosely ranked, but these are the truly the best of the best from 2024. I have covered many of these albums in-depth throughout the year, so if you are interested in reading more about any of these, be sure to check out the links throughout the post & at the en...