Adam Melchor releases new single, "Last Time"

Adam Melchor released his new single, “Last Time” on Friday. The single is to be coming off of his anticipated project Melchor Lullaby Hotline, Vol. 1. The song starts off with gentle and warm finger-picking, complemented by what appears to be reverse vocals. The understated intro flows into an incredibly powerful and emotionally heavy verse as Melchor states, “‘Cause everytime I go I’m scared it’s gonna be the last time.” The stanza is reiterated throughout the tune showcasing the fragility that comes with long distance relationships or feeble human connection. As the track picks up pace with a beating drum, Melchor’s conviction remains consistent.

Moreover, the forthcoming project is inspired by the Lullaby Hotline. Last February, Melchor asked fans to email or text him to hear new tracks. “welcome to the LULLABY HOTLINE :) text me and i will send you a song every sunday at 5pm PST ! i write about 50 million songs a week and i love all of them but i just can’t put everyone out officially so this is my way of sharing them with you <3 text me!!!, Melchor tweeted on February twelfth.

Melchor states, “I wrote ‘Last Time’ in Late February of 2020, before the pandemic hit. I started the Lullaby Hotline that same week and always had this song in mind to put on the project. The song is about leaving someone at an airport and the feeling of watching them walk away from you. In that moment, I ask myself ‘is this the last time I’ll see this person?’ I remember thinking while writing this, ‘will there ever be shows again?’. Hopefully someday soon we’ll be able to laugh at how much we cried this year and be around the people & communities we love that bring us light.”

The music video perfectly captures the vibe of the tune: stone fruit, a large field, nature, a guitar and a pickup truck. Melchor’s songwriting is like a warm hug, fans can find solace in their own misgivings.

Listen to “Last Time” on all streaming platforms!

WENS' new single "love blind"

WENS delivers a beautiful, solemn and heartfelt message with her new single “love blind.” WENS explains, “falling in love for the first time is completely terrifying, it's all consuming and the most beautiful thing until it isn’t. I wanted my relationship to work so badly that I slowly chipped away at myself till I lost who I was without that person. I was trying so hard to bring us back to life but my harsh reality was that it’s nearly impossible to repair something that is past the point of being fixed.”

Layered synths, a simple chord progression and WENS’ powerful vocal invite you into a soundscape of heartache as the tune begins, “feel so out of focus, trying to recall who I was before we met and why I feel so small.” Yet through her own introspection of a relationship that is slowly tearing her apart Wens yearns for ignorance. She yearns for the days she was happily in love, when the relationship was simple and she was love blind. It is an ignorance also known as the honeymoon phase, but soon the facade slowly fades and we are welcomed with the messy truth. Wens yearns to hold on to what she thought was happiness and love, but the relationship has rotted and she must grapple with reality. 

WENS’ own introspection invites us to look into ourselves. In what ways are we holding on to harmful relationships? Who should we be letting go of for the sake of our own growth? It is a painful but necessary truth we must ask ourselves. The music video creates a visual ether of blurred images and flashing lights showcasing melancholy images of WENS. Her pain is apparent and the visuals showcase the darkness that pervade her brain. Heartache is confusing and WENS captures it artfully.

Listen to “love blind” on all streaming platforms!

Watch the “love blind” music video below!

Emma Taylor gets candid with "Makeup"

Emma Taylor’s songwriting is pristine, poignant and truly meaningful. 

The first nineteen seconds of her new single, “Makeup” are incredibly rich in harmony and synth. The trance-like introduction paves the way for Taylor’s beautiful opening vocal, “I hate this part. The bittersweetness. When you say you miss me and I can’t repeat it back. I had your heart, thought I would keep it. But then I let it go, ‘cause I knew you loved me so much.” 

It’s relatable. As a twenty-something-year-old our identity is on the line. We are treading water as we compartmentalize every facet of our life in hopes of acquiring our deepest desires. So what happens when a relationship is good? When the love is kind and the way you like it. Taylor sings, "I need you to hurt me. Cause I don’t feel worthy. Just give me a reason to be through.”

The chorus is especially anthemic as Taylor sings, “I don’t want to wake up twenty years from now, putting on my make-up missing you somehow. Let me leave it lonely. I know you’re better off. You'll find yourself a new girl who doesn’t have my flaws.” 

It’s a song of self-betrayal as Taylor wishes her partner someone ‘better’ and unflawed. However, there is gloom in her assertiveness enabling us to wonder if this is what Taylor truly wants: to break free. What about twenty years from now, when Taylor is putting on makeup and looking at herself in the mirror? Will the woman then regret her words of today? It is something Taylor grapples with as makeup slides down her face in the music video showcasing deep emotional angst amongst an oceanic background. 

The bridge truly reaches a pivotal point of catharsis as Taylor sings, “It’s not you it’s me. I’ve been tormented all of my life so go and be free.” It appears that Taylor hypothesizes that she is a burden to her lover. She feels her lover deserves better: to be free from her own self-torment and dark truths.

The last thirty seconds of the tune are similar to its beginning. Peaceful harmonies, synths and strings bring us out of the sonic landscape of hope and fear. Taylor reminds us that makeup only covers up our surface. For we are creatures who feel deeply and in order to heal we must confront our inner demons daringly, honestly and transparently.

“Makeup” is a testament to our formidable years as we are most vulnerable and unsure with an unforeseen future ahead. 

Listen to “Makeup” on all streaming platforms!

Bruno Major's Most Beautiful Song

I’m not sure what streaming service I was using, nor do I remember how I came across it, but I arrived to the Bruno Major party very late. The song that hooked me in was “Nothing” and I heard it for the first time last month. The song features Major’s smooth velvet voice as he sings about the joy in doing nothing with another. The rhymes are particularly clever and though it never reaches a full moment of catharsis, the feeling of floating down a river will suffice.

Although “Nothing” is extremely relevant to our current global circumstances, Major has gifted us with an alternative song to listen to during this time of social distance and isolation. The song is the product of a collaboration between Major and four time Grammy-Winner Finneas which came together through a personal note sent by Finneas requesting they write together.

Offering a sweet-tempered guitar-driven ballad that sounds like a lullaby, “The Most Beautiful Thing,” poetically navigates our innate curiosities when it comes to love. Major wonders how he’ll meet his soulmate,  “Will it be a pavement or a sidewalk...Will we meet on Baker Street, Or find ourselves on Melrose Avenue?” The track is glossed with soft harmonies and guitar slides which congruously anticipate love under a hopeful light.

The YouTube video aptly titled as a lyric and chord video takes the narrative one step deeper. The visual is of space enabling us to reconnect with our childlike wonders and remind ourselves of our finite time and smallness in relativity to the universe. The chords to the song are kindly incongruous to the lyrics at the bottom of the screen allowing those of us at home to play along. Although music offers us a profound auditory experience there is something special about playing a song. Playing brings us closer to the lifesource of the song enabling us to fully feel the music in our bones. Major offers us a beautiful visual experience as well as the opportunity to actively participate. 

Do yourself a favor and listen to Bruno Major’s single, “The Most Beautiful Thing.”

Bryce Vine's "Problems" Can Ease Ours

Bryce Vine is back with his new single “Problems” featuring Grady. The track is the perfect social distance jam as the singer relatably “just found out it’s Saturday” while he was hiding out in his room. He shares that the world outside of his bedroom is full of problems that he cannot control, however, he finds gratitude in mundane things like playing his guitar and texting his mom as seen in the music video. The song is very much a stream of the songwriter’s consciousness allowing listeners to find solace in his mind’s meanderings.

The music video is a homemade masterpiece showing Vine at home simply existing and coping with our current circumstances. Vine continues to share inspiration with his new YouTube series, “6 Feet of Separation.” The episodes aim to highlight individuals who are positively contributing to society. He’s interviewed model and photographer Koreen Odiney of We’re Not Really Strangers and Dan McKernan of Barn Sanctuary. Be sure to look out for Vine’s new video series on his YouTube channel every Tuesday at 2pm PDT.

Listen to “Problems” on all streaming platforms and tune into Good Morning America tomorrow morning (5/9) to watch his live debut of “Problems.”

Eight years later, Fiona Apple gifts us her album "Fetch The Bolt Cutters"

Five minutes after its release, my best friend texted me, “Listen to the new Fiona Apple album.” Two days later my father texted me, “Check out Fiona Apple’s new album.” His good friend thought I’d like it and recommended we listen to the album in its entirety. My dad grabbed a small portable speaker and we sat in the living room as the sun was setting. The room was dark as the flames from the fireplace offered a soft glimmer of light. My dad sat on a chair and I sat on the couch. I closed my eyes and pressed track one, “I Want You To Love Me.”

I usually like to know everything about an artist before I listen to their work. But recently, a friend of mine introduced me to a different way of consuming art. He will not watch a movie trailer or read the synopsis on a book cover. Instead, he commits to the art form with zero expectations. I found it peculiar at first, but the more time we spent together, the more I began to embrace not knowing. I decided to approach this album the same way. The only knowledge I had of Fiona Apple was that she once dated Andy Samberg. But I later found out I was wrong and I somehow confused Apple with Samberg’s wife and talented harpist Joanna Newsom.

“I Want You To Love Me” begins with what sounds like an obscure assortment of percussive instruments which flows into beautiful melodic piano. My breath began to deepen as I rested my head on the back of the couch cushion as Apple began to sing with conviction and depth. Her tone is unlike any artist I have heard in the past six months: it emits struggle, perseverance and within it I found commonality.

Her storytelling in “Under The Table,” sounds like we, the listener, are a wallflower in Apple’s brain as she conveys her defiance to some prior lover, “Kick me under the table all you want. I won’t shut up.” In many ways the album speaks to the #MeToo movement by promoting female autonomy and encouraging women to speak up.

The album’s title “Fetch the Bolt Cutters” was inspired from a scene in the British drama series, “The Fall.” The scene portrays a sex-crime investigator yelling “Fetch the Bolt Cutter” after finding the locked door to a room where a girl was tortured. One could conclude that the bolt cutter conveys hope and liberation as the tortured girl in the room will finally be freed. Apple seems to be responding to the long struggle yet recent progress of the women's movement as women have begun to share their stories as they continue to vouch for equality in the workplace opening the door to a more tolerable society. 

Today’s emerging artists appear to have a care-free attitude that is charged with vocation: addressing contemporary issues from mental health to politics. Today’s generation appears to be more fearless than ever and it is icons like Fiona Apple who have fetched the bolt cutter and opened the door reminding us it is ok to be defiant, authentic and opinionated.