by Shannon Smith

Paul Kelly is one of those songwriters who moved beyond writing catchy songs. Instead, he paints vignettes of the human experience with his lyrics. With Fever Longing Still, the iconic singer-songwriter embraces a timeless rock ethos, blending poetic lyrics with melodies that strike the heart like a well-aimed arrow. The result is a record that is alive with unflinchingly honest, a testament to Kelly’s mastery of his craft.

The album opens with “Houndstooth Dress,” a vibrant and emotionally charged track that sets the tone for the entire record. It’s a bittersweet love song wrapped in [...]

by Shannon Smith

Released in October 2024, Kelsea Ballerini’s fifth studio album, Patterns, marks a significant evolution in her blend of country roots and mainstream pop appeal. Ballerini steps into a more introspective and sonically adventurous space with this release. Co-produced with Alysa Vanderheym, the album collaborates with artists like Noah Kahan and boasts her highest charting debut yet. Beyond its commercial success, Patterns invites a deeper reflection on the cyclical nature of relationships and self-discovery, an aspect that permeates the album but has yet to be fully explored in reviews.

The album’s title, [...]

by Steven Miller

Jazz and Christmas music have a long history of harmonious interplay; Rich Willey’s Boptism Christmas celebrates this spirit. Released under Willey’s Boptism Music label, the album merges beloved holiday standards with the harmonic colors, improvisational vigor, and rhythmic drive of jazz. Drawing on decades of performance experience and arranging skills, Willey brings a lively set of some of the season’s most familiar melodies.

Willey’s genius shines through his arrangements, transforming time-honored tunes into relatable jazz statements. His four-horn voicings—featuring alto and tenor [...]

by Shannon Smith

Few bands can summon a sense of timeless longing like The Cure. Their music has been the soundtrack to heartbreak, introspection, and nocturnal wanderings for decades. With Songs of a Lost World, their first album in over a decade, The Cure returns with a sonic expression that feels achingly familiar and strikingly current. This album, steeped in shimmering synths, textured guitars, and meticulous production, invites listeners into a labyrinth of sound and emotion.

“Endsong” exemplifies their new sonic world with its sprawling structure and moody atmosphere. The interplay between Simon Gallup’s [...]

by Steven Miller

Ric Harris’ journey from North Carolina to Chicago was a calling—a desire to soak up the rich blues traditions of the Windy City and to grow beyond his roots in jazz. His latest album, Along The Avenue, is the culmination of decades of dedication to the blues, exploration of jazz improvisation, and the kind of joyful expression that only comes from a musician who knows his way around a guitar and a lyric. The fourteen tracks on this self-released album reflect Harris’ skill as a player and a songwriter, blending the blues tradition with a twist, and creating a sound that is refreshingly influenced by other [...]

by Shannon Smith

Father John Misty—born Joshua Michael Tillman—has made a career as an enigmatic figure, both a purveyor of biting social satire and a seeker of deeper existential truths. His journey from J. Tillman’s introspective acoustic folk roots to the lush, expansive sonic palette of Father John Misty has been marked by continuous reinvention. Mahashmashana, his sixth album, is the latest chapter in that evolution. The album speaks with a voice more intimate than Pure Comedy, but more expansive than God’s Favorite Customer. This album, co-produced by Tillman and Drew Erickson, invites listeners into an exploration of [...]