Melissa Kacar

"Angel Of My Dreams" is such an unexpected and unique direction for JADE to be taking with her debut single, in all of the best ways. To enter into a new chapter of her career as a solo artist with a song that serves as such a poignant and defiant commentary on how fickle fame can be and opening up about her own experiences in the music industry is such a powerful note to open on. Coming out of Little Mix - one of the most successful girl groups in history, who went on hiatus in 2021 - this song serves as a bold reintroduction of who JADE is as a solo artist. She opens up about the love/hate relationship she has with fame and the industry as a whole, with such an unfiltered approach. "Angel of my dreams, I will always love you and hate you, it's not fair, it's so bittersweet, I will always want you and need you, you don't care," she sings in the chorus.  The song is so captivating and doesn't follow the traditional pop song structure at all. It ope...

"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...

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...

"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 ...