MUSIC REVIEWS

Changing her tempo, but not her core sound, Denmark’s Arina Mai is back with her new single “Relationship”. A departure from her previous single “Get Closer”, Mai unmasks a faster, more electric beat. What stays the same is her abundance of emotion in her ethereal voice. Always intimate and always …

The voice behind the new track “Rinse and Repeat” is not new for many. Suraj Mani, former lead singer of Indian rock band Motherjane, takes the reigns in this hauntingly beautiful track with the same confidence of a singer with more than a decade heading a rock band. With hints …

New Jersey’s Broken Past is a four piece heavy metal band embracing a wide variety of influences. Strands inspired by artists as diverse as Black Sabbath, Bret Michaels, Overkill, and AC/DC, among others, coalesce forming the basis of a highly individual sound and approach. Bassist Tony Rodriguez first formed the …

Musical artists with true distinctions are as rare as ever in our modern world, but there are still standout talents hitting the scene that remind us of music’s inexhaustible potential. Elz Bentley first left an impression on hip-hop audiences under the name Jay Ella with the 2018 release Take No Elz. Several …

Coming to us fully-loaded with a righteous riff that set off a hurricane if given the right set of speakers to be filtered through, Lavendine’s “Rapture” doesn’t waste our time with a long, drawn out introduction to its fireworks – it gets right into the business of dispensing pure color. …

Rising out of the silence with a warm growl of the guitar, there isn’t any doubt that Gary Burk III means business upon listening to the opening instrumental salvo that gets his new single “Two Lane Airplane” stated with a bang. The melodic fireworks are pretty potent, and even though …

There’s no understating how important a part guitars have played in the development of blues music, and in the new record Live At the Bluesberry Café, singer and songwriter Johnny Riley reminds us of how vital that part remains in the genre to this day. Though best described as an instrumentally …

With an alluring but rather mild swing and Thin Lizzy-reminiscent overdrive over the guitar, the beat that starts off Insane in “Good Ol’ Stupid Me” is definitely the kind of scene-stealer that would normally make it impossible for us to focus on anything else, but under Tom Tikka’s command, it’s but one …

Rising from the darkness like a new day’s sun breaking the horizon, Austin English’s “Willie Nelson T-Shirt” gets rolling with a pulsating, palm-muted strum that immediately lets us know what kind of excitement is waiting around the bend. English starts to sing, and while his vocal is wildly melodic, it …

Skulking into focus with a pendulous swagger, we find the opening cut in Daniel Tortoledo’s Through out These Years, “Dark Times (Brothers and Sisters),” ready to crush us with its sonic presence just as it would the grim-shaded imagery of its music video. Tortoledo’s voice meshes with the melody of the …