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. ...

  "The Tortured Poets Department" // Taylor Swift The entirety of  The Tortured Poets Department is such a masterpiece, I can't even begin to express how incredible it all is! It's honestly still too overwhelming to even narrow down my favorite songs from the album so far and I have so many thoughts to share about it in my upcoming review. Until then, I thought it was fitting to first highlight the title track. It both captures the deep, raw emotions she was feeling at this moment in time, but also incorporating the hints of humor that are present throughout the entire album. It's a song that stood out to me from the very first time I listened to it and I haven't been able to get enough of it ever since. I still can't believe she released not one, but two, albums worth of music at once this month! "The Manuscript" // Taylor Swift Since Taylor technically released two albums worth of music this month, I feel it's only necessary to also includ...

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...

For my first post of the new year, I wanted to take a look back at all of the amazing music of 2021. So many of my favorite artists released music this year which I'm excited to share today! These albums are in no particular order, it would be way too difficult to rank them!  Chemtrails Over The Country Club // Lana Del Rey Chemtrails Over The Country Club was a highly anticipated album for me and it exceeded all of my expectations! Many of these songs were my most-played of 2021, with the title track at the very top! This album marked a new chapter for Lana and her career, it expresses a more personal and introspective side of her in a way she hasn't shown before. Her evolution as an artist and as a songwriter in the past year is so admirable. I love all of her albums so much and I have a strong connection with each for different reasons, but with Chemtrails Over The Country Club , Lana is truly at her best (yet). It is a beautiful celebration of the stage of life Lana is in ...