by Shannon Smith
Reneé Rapp’s BITE ME is a sophomore album that realigns vocal charisma with production choices that finally match her natural intensity. Where 2023’s Snow Angel often paired Rapp’s voice with too much restraint, thin arrangements, and overly safe balladry, BITE ME brings her into a louder, rougher, and more stylized soundscape. This time, the production invites her to push, snarl, and smirk.
The album opens with “Leave Me Alone,” a genre-establishing track that frames the rest of the record: guitar-forward, percussive, and unafraid to let Rapp’s vocals sit hot in the mix. The fuzzed-out [...]
Gregor Barnett is releasing Don’t Go Throwing Roses In My Grave, the first solo record by the beloved frontman of The Menzingers. Barnett explores an electrified Americana side of his music, with yearning melodies, pushing beats, and unforgettable lyrical imaginings. The singer/songwriter tells his stories with a folkier style than in The Menzingers, but his stories are just as moving and compelling. “It was this perfect storm,” says Menzingers guitarist/co-vocalist Gregor Barnett. “The band couldn’t tour, I was going through a really difficult time, and I was stuck at home watching my [...]
Anaïs Mitchell is a singer and songwriter that is based in Vermont. Mitchell’s Broadway musical Hadestown has received a Tony and Grammy award. She was named to TIME’s prestigious TIME100 list in 2020, and her first book, Working On A Song – The Lyrics of Hadestown, was published by Penguin/Plume in the same year. Dubbed by NPR as ‘one of the greatest songwriters of her generation;,’ Mitchell comes from the world of narrative folksong, poetry, and balladry. Her 2010 studio album, Hadestown, is a folk opera based on the Orpheus myth. She released Young Man in America in 2012, which was described by the UK’s [...]
The Neighbourhood is an American alt-rock band that is now releasing their fourth studio album called Chip Chrome & The Mono Tones. Produced by Danny Parra and The Neighbourhood, the eleven tracks represent their first studio album in two years. Inspired by the iconic David Bowie album Ziggy Stardust, the band’s frontman Jesse Rutherford takes on the persona of the supposed character, Chip Chrome. Rutherford explains, “Before we started this album, I asked myself what my opinion was about our music, our band, and our fans, and I realized I didn’t really know—and that scared the shit out of me,” [...]
