Melissa Kacar

"Starting Line", Luke Hemmings ' debut single released in 2021 , perfectly captures just how introspective and emotionally raw the rest of his solo work would go on to become. It serves as such a powerful reintroduction to who Luke is as an artist outside of his work with his band, 5 Seconds of Summer . With this song and the rest of his debut solo album, When Facing The Things We Turn Away From , he stepped into a new space musically that allowed him to explore new influences in a way that is completely unguarded and all his own - often circling themes of feeling paralyzed by the bittersweet passage of time while entering adulthood. The song starts off as a beautiful ballad, immediately highlighting what an incredible vocalist he is. This may even be one of his top performances ever. "In and out of focus, moments that I keep, something for the pain and something so I sleep, won't you comfort me? Warm the air that I breathe?" he sings in the opening lines. ...

5 Seconds of Summer 's fourth album, CALM ,  serves as an important reflection of the band's evolution from where they started and where they're going as both artistically and personally.  CALM  was the follow-up to their biggest album to date,   Youngblood , which first introduced this more mature and developed alternative rock sound for the band. It is the foundation that all of the music they released after is built upon, both collectively as a band and as solo artists. Much of it is made up of a blend of influences, pairing it with both emotional depth and layered instrumentation.  The album's title is derived from an acronym of the member's first initials, Calum, Ashton, Luke and Michael. "And it's also a nod to our fans that coined us that name in our early days," lead singer Luke Hemmings said in an interview with New York Post . "They've been using that acronym for a long time. It kind of just sums up we're a little bit older and a...

After stepping out in 2021 with his first solo venture outside of his band, 5 Seconds of Summer , Luke Hemmings is back again with a stunning new EP called  boy . Much of this seven song EP picks up where his debut album,  When Facing The Things We Turn Away From ,   left off with looking back on his youth trying to process all that he went through, while still looking onward into the man he is becoming. Every song was produced and co-written with  Sammy Witte , who Luke also worked with on his debut album. Sonically, they also build upon the foundation of that album throughout boy . Now that he's in his late 20's and entering a new stage of his life with his wife, Sierra Deaton , it seems that this is the perfect time to try to move through some of the heavy emotions and experiences he has gone through in the past decade. Sierra is also such a talented songwriter and vocalist who collaborated with him on a few of these songs too. I have loved hearing the music...

"Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call" // Bleachers Is it too soon to say this is one of Bleachers ' best songs yet? Because it is! "Merry Christmas, Please Don't Call" is a song draped in nostalgia and really captures some of the melancholy feelings this season can bring. I never heard a song quite like this though, it evokes such a specific emotion in me that I don't even know if I can fully describe, but just feels like something that I needed to hear. All of the best Bleachers music does that for me though. While it is technically a Christmas song, it isn't overtly festive, which is a genre that is so hard to pull off but Jack and the rest of the band did it perfectly. I have been looking forward to finally hearing this song for a couple of years and it came at the perfect time. I have been listening to it on repeat every single day ever since it was released, I truly cannot get enough of it! "Defying Gravity" // Cynthia Erivo & A...