Melissa Kacar

The Japanese House 's "Sunshine Baby" has a certain warmth and glow, while also carrying the weight of inevitable change and the conflicting feelings that come with it. Amber Bain, the British singer-songwriter behind The Japanese House, captures that feeling in such a stunning way. Her vivid and introspective songwriting captures the mundane, small details and translates them into an intimate and profound snapshot of a moment in time. "I wanna be a part of it, I wanna sing along, the feeling when the windscreen wipers line up with the song, perform my stupid rituals, everything is cyclical, hold on to this feeling 'cause you won't feel it for long," she sings in the opening verse.  This song has such a wistful, golden feeling that is also full of longing. It's deeply rooted in nostalgia, while still looking onward with optimism. "Sunshine Baby" captures the complex feelings that come with knowing that one chapter is closing and the future ...

Cruel World beautifully depicts the complexities of what it means to be a young woman in the modern age, facing all of the expectations and pressures that inevitably surface at this point in life. As an artist, Holly Humberstone thrives in the most introspective and honest facets of who she is and the experiences she has gone through. Instrumentally, this album is so lush in its composition, drenched in synth‑pop elements that build upon such an interesting blend of influences. The shimmering, dark fairytale aesthetics are also so central to the entirety of this album as well.  As an entire project, Cruel World really does stand among so many of the best alt‑pop records of the past decade, evoking the feelings of Melodrama by Lorde or Punisher by Phoebe Bridgers in its distinct world‑building and emotional intensity. Coincidentally, all three albums are also these artists' sophomore releases, which feels fitting, as each one captures the distinct moment they stepped deeper int...

To celebrate the end of this incredible year of music, I compiled a list of my top 30 favorite songs that were the soundtrack of my 2024. I only included one song per artist, otherwise this list would have ended up being twice as long - plus it probably would be made up of half Billie Eilish and half Charli xcx songs! It was the year of the  BRAT for sure, their music really defined the year for me. The rest of this list is made up of more of my long-time favorite artists who released so much incredible music this year, as well as many new artists that I discovered in 2024 and fell in love with.  Honestly, 2024 has been one of the best years for music in a very long time. I initially tried to narrow this list down to the best 24 songs of 2024, but this year was just  too  good for new releases! 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...