DAYGLOW IS BRINGING IT BACK TO BASICS ON NEW RECORD BRADEN BALES FINDING CONNECTIONS IN EVERY CORNER
COIN ISN’T AFRAID OF MUSIC ANYMORE
EXPLORES FEMINISM & IDENTITY ON NEW ALBUM
OUR ORLA GARTLAND MIX
Take a listen to some must hear tracks from the artists featured in this issue as you flip through.
“Late To The Party” - Orla Gartland
“Summer so hot” - UPSAHL
“Moving On” - Sarah and the Sundays
“where I wanna be found” - NEEVE
“BRAINDEAF” - Taipei Houston
“Every Little Thing I Say I Do” - Dayglow
“Tucson Sky” - Anessa Rivera
“BADBADBAD.” - VITA
“Tears on the dancefloor” - UPSAHL
“Clueless” - Beach Bunne
“CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS” - Braden Bales
“Take It Or Leave It” - COIN
“Can I Call You Tonight?” - Dayglow
“Why Am I Like This?” - Orla Gartland
“Sex, Drugs, Etc.” - Beach Weather
“For Cryin’ Out Loud!” - FINNEAS
“Roll the Dice” - Fluorescents
“SAYLESS” - VITA
“Talk Too Much” - COIN
“Dumb Blonde” - rlyblonde
“All In My Head” - The Linda Lindas
“CINNAMON TWISTS” - Braden Bales
“prom dress” - mxmtoon
MEET THE TEAM
DIRECTOR + EDITOR-IN-CHIEF
Victoria Goodwin
ASSISTANT EDITOR
Avery Heeringa
DESIGN ASSISTANT
Spencer Dillree
COVER PHOTO
Shauna Hilferty
@shaunahilf // shaunahilferty.com
PRINT CONTRIBUTORS
Amelia Rodriguez
Ashley Cardenas
Ashley Osborn
Ashley Robinson
Avery Heeringa
Brittany Muldoon
Caity Krone
Caroline Safran
Christine Sloman
Cirsty Burton
Clare Gehlich
Emma Celenza
Josh Druding
Justice Petersen
Kelly Carciente
Kilian Seiler
Luke Rogers
Mollie Menuck
naz
Nolan Weinschenk
Phoenix Johnson
Samiee
Shauna Hilferty
FOLLOW US
WEBSITE melodicmag.com
SPOTIFY melodic magazine @melodicmag
melodicmag.com/zine
THANK YOU
Thank you to UPSAHL and Orla Gartland, COIN, Braden Bales, Dayglow, The Oriel Co, Universal Music Group, Capitol Records, Republic Records, Calling All Crows, Tallulah PR & MGMT, Grandstand Media, Local Chicagoans and all of our amazing journalist, photographers, staff, contributors, interns and readers.
Questions about joining the team or featuring your band? melodicmag@gmail.com
Interested in advertising your brand? advertise@melodicmag.com
ASHLEY ROBINSON
Ashley Robinson is studying journalism and mass communications with a minor in marketing at George Washington University in Washington D.C.
Ashley started at Melodic Magazine as a summer intern and soon after transitioned into a staff writer where she now covers singles, albums, conducts interviews and helps curate Melodic Music Monday, weekly.
This semester, Ashley is a news intern at FOX 5 DC and an active member of the varisty cross country and track team. She hopes to one day to become a broadcast sports reporter and cover the Olympics.
Ashley’s favorite artists include Noah Kahan, Mt. Joy and Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Seeing U2 with her dad in eighth grade was one of her all time favorite live shows.
Some of Ashley’s favorite artists she’s covered for Melodic have included: David Kushner, Beach Weather and Billie Eilish.
Read ashley’s review of cover aRtist orla GaRtland’s newest album everybody needs a heRo on page 58.
PHOTO BY Shauna Hilferty
ARTISTS YOU SHOULD KNOW
#ROCK #FUNK #JAZZ FUSION
SIMILAR ARTISTS: PINK FLOYD, SUPERTRAMP, STEELY DAN
LISTEN: “TEL AVIV,” “CRUDE CAMARO,” “EL FIN”
DZ RILEY
Chicago-based funk-rock group DZ Riley’s latest album Peak Panache is an ambitious project with a rich conceptual spirit that globe-trots across genres, themes and defies the limits of what a concept record can be. The album’s songs span topics including speed drives (“Crude Camaro”), plastic surgery (“Dr. Aphrodite”) and the ongoing conflict in Gaza (“Tel Aviv”), and are woven together with skits, including one from the late Jerry Springer. The LP’s overarching concept tells the story of aliens coming to earth and learning music as a way to understand human empathy. The group is immensely ambitious, but their finetuned precision pays off and demonstrates just how superb the quintet is.
WRITTEN BY Ashley Cardenas, Avery Heeringa, Clare Gehlich, Justice Petersen, Kelly Carciente
Austin-based five-member, indie rock band Sarah and the Sundays is quickly making a name for themselves in the alt-pop space. Since launching their career in 2017 with the single “Ghost,” they have released two studio albums: So You’re Mad About the Cups (2019) and The Living End (2021). These albums feature notable tracks such as “Moving On” and “Vices.” With a sound that blends upbeat rock with cinematic and heartfelt elements, Sarah and the Sundays deliver groovy, emotionally resonant music. They are continuing to expand their feel-good sound in 2024 with new releases “Cease” and “Skin and Bone,” making them a band to listen for.
#INDIE-POP #INDIE-ROCK
SIMILAR ARTISTS: Inhaler, Only The Poets, The Neighbourhood LISTEN: “where i wanna be found,” “Back for Good,” “PATIENCE”
#INDIE ROCK #ALT-POP
SIMILAR ARTISTS: Briston Maroney, flipturn
LISTEN: “The Cue,” “Ruby Fields”
NEEVE
South German indie-pop group, NEEVE, are the two pairs of brothers cultivating an energetic and euphonic atmosphere throughout their music. Inspired by the likes of Oasis, The National and The Kinks, their heartfelt lyrics about the tribulations of everyday life, NEEVE does not shy away at delivering honest storytelling with head-banging melodies. Their self-written and self-produced endeavor lead them to the recent release of MONOCHROME I EP. With a number of shows set up for the winter across Germany and Europe, NEEVE are ready to share their tunes with the world.
TAIPEI HOUSTON
Delivering a punchy and fuzzy approach to rock ‘n’ roll, Taipei Houston — composed of brothers Layne and Myles Ulrich along with Kai Smith — has proven to be a hard-hitting force since their 2021 formation. With Layne on vocals and bass and Myles on drums, the band has been a buzzy and highly energetic force of nature since their creation. Festival appearances at Lollapalooza, Download and Aftershock have garnered them positive response from audiences, and the band is currently on tour supporting English rock band Nothing But Thieves. Their new single “BRAINDEAF,” the group’s first release since their 2022 debut album continues to harness their signature sonic ferocity.
#ROCK #GARAGE ROCK
SIMILAR ARTISTS: The White Stripes, Dead Air, Arctic Monkeys
LISTEN: “As the Sun Sets,” “The Middle,” “Respecter”
Singer-songwriter, Vita, hailing from Sydney, Australia only released her first single “BADBADBAD” back in 2022. After her move to Los Angeles six years ago when she was 18, Vita only just signed to her first record label in May, Interscope Records. An up and coming artist in the R&B and pop scene, she has recently released two singles, “SAYLESS” and “BUTTERFLIES” which mark a new era in her music and as an artist. These new releases truly solidify her emergence in the music industry. Her music is often accompanied by stunning and intricate visuals on her social media that she helps create further proving the depth of her artistry.
DAYGLOW
brings it back to basics on new record
WRITTEN BY Shauna Hilferty
loan Struble, more commonly known as the indie-pop hitmaker Dayglow, is ready to reintroduce himself with his new self-titled album. Showcasing the similarities between his 2019 Fuzzybrain and his latest , both albums not only sound sonically alike, but both showcase a similar subject visually through the album art — one being a clay model of Struble, while the other is the singer himself.
Calling in from a hotel room in Nashville, Tennessee, the Texas-native wears a red shirt, color matched perfectly with the cover of Dayglow. In promotion and celebration of the distinctly 2010s-sounding indie-rock record, Struble’s self-titled Dayglow tour begins this fall. “I’m stoked to see it,” he says. “I haven’t gotten to see the production in person [yet,] so it’s gonna be cool.”
Scaling back the stage set up will be an adjustment, as the new record calls less for keys and more guitar chords. This will be the first time Dayglow embarks on a tour sans a keyboardist, committing fully to the guitar-focused direction that this
PHOTOS BY Luke Rogers
Dayglow is the personification of a well-loved debut Fuzzybrain, an album including the platinum-certified single “Can I Call You Tonight?,” as well as other album standouts “Hot Rod” and “Listerine.” Struble explains, “A lot of [Dayglow] is very full circle and back to the basics. So I referenced myself and a lot of the unreleased Fuzzybrain music.” The new record’s first track is a formerly unreleased song from the archives of Struble’s SoundCloud, titled “Mindless Creatures,” a song that has gained a new life and a revamped sound from its original 2017 demo version.
SOMETIMES, YOU HAVE TO BE DRAMATIC
Going back to the basics with Dayglow includes scaling back on instrumentation, synths and the “bleep-bloop” accents that were found all over People In Motion, Struble’s 2022 album. Dayglow draws inspirations from Phoenix, Two Door Cinema Club and The Strokes.
When it comes to his art, the intention usually has more to do with its purpose than what equipment you use to carry it out. While Dayglow may sound simpler then its predecessor, in production it is arguably equally as intricate. “I love music gear and think they can be used as tools, but you can get so carried away when you’re making songs, [that] it doesn’t really feel like it’s coming from you. Getting rid of all the tools forced me to have myself be the source where the creativity was coming from.”
Struble says he sold most of the gear he used in making People In Motion, saying that, “sometimes, you have to be dramatic.” “Stripping back a lot of tools will help with [authenticity] and with this album, I want it to be indistinguishable … like, this is Dayglow,” Struble continues. “It’s so immediately identifiable and that was kind of the goal. I think it’s easier to do that when you have less tools.” For a true, raw and almost live experience, nearly every track was recorded in one take.
His songwriting process changed without the extra equipment, forcing songs to come from a more authentic place, one that not only sounds cooler, but also holds even more meaning. The singer says this switch was an adjustment at first, but ultimately led to larger rewards.
IT FEELS LIKE I’M LOOKING AT MY TEENAGE SELF
Part of being an artist or creative person involves striving for perfection. When adding numbers and chart position goals into the mix, the original purpose to create that art can become muddled. Struble says that when writing Dayglow, he had to let go of the idea of going viral and focus on being present. “It feels like I’m looking at my teenage self. It’s been really special to look back and look at Logic [Pro] files on how I made a song cause it’s so different from how I do it now,” he says. “It teaches me more about myself as an artist. I think it’s really fun.” This release allowed the singer to embrace what Dayglow was when it began, before the numbers and charts: just a kid writing songs in his room.
While it’s no surprise Struble’s songs began as a solo project — including writing, mixing, mastering and producing — he took off his producer headphones (though not for long) and traded them in for a director’s chair. “I love making music videos and how music can be visual,” he says. Beyond writing the songs, the music videos for “Cocoon” and “Ever Little Thing I Say I Do” were also directed and edited by Struble himself.
Struble explains that he takes one idea for videos and runs with it, so long as the idea is within reason and most importantly, within budget. “I want to take that one idea and make it an entire video, which is kind of the idea of a lot of my videos, is just one niche idea blown out of proportion,” Struble says.
The “Cocoon” music video, for example, features a pair of vintage headphones from eBay which he shot at golden hour on the beach. The video’s relaxed style cleverly calls back to all of the songs
being recorded in one take. “To me, that really matters down to the details of how something is edited or colored. I think it’s how personality is really shown, especially now with Gen Z. Details really matter. The way something is colored or how much film grain is on it, everything is all a vibe set. I just had a vision for the videos and it’s so much easier to do it [myself] than have to explain it. I just end up doing it myself.”
Internalizing the effect that your music has on others is something that’s still catching up to Struble. Fans see and hear Dayglow as an artist who is approachable and vulnerable — as reflected in the songs — but in reality, becoming these things remains a work in progress for the singer. When Struble wrote Fuzzybrain, his audience didn’t exist yet. For the new self-titled record, he challenged himself to return to that place of creating without considering how it might sit with listeners. “I really tried to make an album for myself and that felt really therapeutic,” he says.
WITH THIS ALBUM, I WANT IT TO BE INDISTINGUISHABLE…LIKE THIS IS DAYGLOW
Why We Feel
the fascinating world of parasocial relationships So Close
WRITTEN BY Christine Sloman
If you find yourself daydreaming over the singer of that emo band or swooning over the drummer from that indie group, you are not crazy. Musicians and artists are making music for everyone; their lyrics are powerful, their artistry is sensational and if you hear them everywhere you go, you are bound to form an attachment.
How can you feel close to someone you have only seen from afar or read about online? These critics might have a point, but this does not mean that real feelings cannot develop at a distance. But, when this does happen, it can be classified as a psychological relationship called a “parasocial relationship.”
It might start with a voice; the way they sing the words, the way they tell you what you want to hear. It might start with a face; you open up the latest issue of your favorite music magazine, flip through the pages and BOOM! you see the most gorgeous artist posing with their bandmates. Next thing you know, you have memorized the lyrics to all of their songs, have watched all their music videos and can list the things that they do on a day-to-day basis. A picture of this artist’s life and what they have to offer has been painted for you, and you feel as if you are connected to them in a personal way.
Parasocial relationships, or one-sided relationships that form through constant exposure to a stranger or someone that you do not know personally, are typically relationships between fans and public figures, such as models, actresses or famous musicians. It sounds a little ridiculous, but to the
person in question, it is very legit and natural.
When you are introduced to somebody for the first time, whether directly or indirectly, you experience a “parasocial interaction.” For example, you’re listening to the radio and a new song is playing: you hear it, you learn who sings it and then it’s over. But what if every time you got in the car, you heard this song and you are now investing your time into this artist. The more you invest, the more your parasocial interaction takes on the form of a parasocial relationship.
In today’s technology age and social media being as omnipresent as it is, parasocial relationships can form very quickly. This constant sharing of information — wherever, whatever or however much — feeds the parasocial relationship, prompting a fan to feel closer to this musician or artist. Soon enough, a fan can know what this musician has for breakfast, who their friends are, what they do for fun, what makes them sad — all as if this artist is speaking directly to this fan.
In fact, some artists speak directly to their fans, which directly fosters the parasocial relationship. When your favorite artist accepts a Moonman at the MTV Video Music Awards, for instance, who do they usually thank in their speech? Do they say they “couldn’t have done it without the support of my fans” and thank “all of you?” These speeches tend to feel personal and aimed directly at fans, even when they are generic and general speaking.
Speeches aside, musicians take to social media and interact with fans through a livestreams, simply addressing the fan. Sometimes artists or musicians will even tag fans in comments, bringing the parasocial relationship to a whole new level. This
seemingly direct form of communication makes the relationship all the more real.
Of course, a different factor in parasocial relationships with artists involves the songs — mostly the lyrics. An artist can be expressive with their lyrics, as if they are writing straight from both of your hearts. They could mention a city where they grew up or how they felt during a breakup, and the more specific they are with their words, the more the listener can relate.
How many times have you heard a song and thought, “wow, this is exactly how I am feeling right now,” or “this person feels the same way, too?” Even though they are not there to comfort you or validate you directly, their lyrics can do the trick anyway. If you listen to that one song enough, you are only making the connection you have with that artist stronger.
On top of the lyrics, there is a connection with the music itself. When you listen to music, you experience different sensations throughout your body –- your blood pressure lowers, your heart rate slows down and endorphins are released.
With all of these factors at play, a general calmness washes over you and you associate a band or an artist’s music with positivity and good feelings. These positive reactions may compel you to listen to a musician over and over again, thus building up that parasocial relationship, again.
As parasocial relationships between fan and artist are seemingly growing, you might be wondering — are parasocial relationships with artists good or bad?
It’s all about who you are — the artist or the fan — and what you get out of these relationships. If you are a fan whose mental health may improve as feelings of loneliness and doubt subside or even become empowered or inspired from these artists, that type of relationship can seem harmless.
However, parasocial relationships can also have a dark side. Fans may start ignoring reality and develop unhealthy attachments, believing they know the artists on a personal level — even though
the relationship is entirely one-sided. This can lead to obsessive behavior, such as monitoring the artist’s social media constantly and feeling entitled to their own personal information. In extreme cases, this can escalate into stalking or harassment, as fans feel “wronged” when their perceived bond isn’t reciprocated.
Consider instances where artists such as Taylor Swift, Sabrina Carpenter or even Chappell Roan have had to deal with fans crossing boundaries — whether it’s stalking, threatening behavior or even overstepping privacy. Taylor Swift, for example, has experienced numerous cases where fans tracked her down in real life due to their deep, often unhealthy parasocial connection. Similarly, Chappell Roan has spoken about the invasive attention she received after gaining her quick popularity, stating, “please do not assume you know a lot about someone’s life, personality and boundaries because you are familiar with them or their work online.”
These rare, yet seemingly more common cases (due to social media) illustrate the potential dangers of parasocial relationships as a whole, where fans forget that artists still have personal boundaries that should be respected — no matter how open to their fans they may seem.
There is nothing wrong with letting a parasocial relationship blossom, just as long as it does not become harmful for all involved. Maintaining awareness of the boundaries between admiration of an artist and obsession is key to keeping these relationships healthy.
IN YOUR CITY CHICAGO
Voted on by Chicago natives
From originating house music to its deep history surrounding some of the most influential rock bands, Chicago is known to be a pioneer in the music scene. Also known as the birthplace of modern architecture, Chicago is also recognized for timeless classics like deep-dish pizza and the Chicago-style hot dog.
Visitors are always surprised by the Lake Michigan beaches and world-class museums, including the Art Institute of Chicago, the Field Museum and the Museum of Science and Industry. There is a lot to see, hear and taste out here.
FAVORITE PHOTOGRAPHER
Athena Merry
Josh Druding
Liz Brown
Nico Beauchamp
Roman Sobus
Scott Teresi
Taylor Regulski
FAVORITE LOCAL MUSICIAN
Anessa Rivera
Beach Bunny
Brigitte Calls Me Baby Fluorescents
Julian Saunders
Neptune’s Core
We Weren’t Invited
TIMELESS BANDS
Buddy Guy
Chicago
Earth, Wind & Fire
Mavis Staples
Ministry
The Smashing Pumpkins
Steve Goodman
Wilco
MODERN MUSICIANS
Andrew Bird
Beach Bunny
Chance the Rapper
Disturbed
Fall Out Boy Gracebloom
OK Go
Plain White T’s
Allstate
Aragon Ballroom
Beat Kitchen
Cobra Lounge
Empty Bottle House of Blues
JOURNALISTS
Avery Heeringa
Amelia Rodriguez
Christopher Borelli
Jim DeRogatis
RADIO STATIONS VENUES
Thalia Hall The Metro Ravinia
The Salt Shed Subterranean
Josh Terry
Justice Petersen
Kimberly Kapela
Mina Bloom
FESTIVALS
Chicago Jazz Festival
Lollapalooza
Pitchfork Music Festival
Riot Fest
WHAT THE LOCALS SAY
Justice says, “Reckless Records is the most magical place in the world. Also, Chicago is mostly known for its history in Blues and industrial music genres, but currently, it has such a thriving underground punk scene that is iconic.”
Soleil says their favorite record store is “Beverly Records.”
Haven said that “Dorian’s Through The Record Shop” is a bucket list stop!
THE SALT SHED
saltshedchicago.com
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
WRITTEN BY Amelia Rodriguez
PHOTO BY J osh Druding
For passionate concertgoers accustomed to traditional theaters and grand arenas, the Salt Shed, which opened in 2022, represents something remarkable — a unique sound and captivating architecture.
The Morton Salt complex has existed for nearly 100 years in Chicago and has been packing and distributing the local salt for decades. Operations concluded in 2015, leaving a shell of opportunity to be filled. The work done by developers 16OC, Blue Star Properties, R2 and Sky Deck to transform this building can only be described as surreal. They created a new entertainment landmark while retaining a piece of Chicago history. Now, it is not only a home for many musicians but a convergence of creativity.
On site, you will find vintage markets, food festivals, concerts and more. You can shop
@saltshedchicago
VENUE HIGHLIGHT
at the Umbrella Vintage Collaborative and FRET12, a guitar and tour culture brand year-round. The fairgrounds, described as an “elevated festival-style communal space,” is one of the most fun and beautiful places to catch a show. You could almost reach out and touch the city’s skyline.
The Shed, the indoor space for shows, is the legitimate old Morton Salt factory. It is easy to forget the part of history you’re standing within while guitars are blazing and your ears begin to ring.
The moment the concertgoers in Chicago saw the stunning photos of the transformed space, the excitement only grew. As Morton Salt’s motto says, “When it rains, it pours,” and we can only hope for a continuous downfall of music in the city.
PHOTOS BY Phoenix Johnson
WRITTEN BY Avery Heeringa
“A lot of times you make something and you kind of have a funeral for it when you release it, and this has been almost like a celebration,” says Chase Lawrence, lead singer of alt-pop band COIN. On this early Friday morning in late September, Lawrence talks through Zoom while on a walk at the park where he and his wife’s first date took place, and is joined on the call by the group’s lead guitarist Joe Memmel. Exactly a week prior to our conversation, the band released their sixth studio album I’m Not Afraid of Music Anymore, a collection of 14 songs that served as a rebirth of sorts for the group nearly a decade since their debut.
The band’s frontman speaks with unmistakable excitement about the new LP and their I’m Not Afraid of Tour Anymore run of shows across the states this fall and early next year, which is scheduled to commence roughly a week after our conversation.
Originally formed as a foursome in Nashville, Tennessee, Lawrence, Memmel, drummer Ryan Winnen and bassist Zachary Dyke broke onto the scene with their 2015 single “Run” from their fulllength self-titled debut. Two years later, songs such as the guitar-forward romp “Talk Too Much” and the languidly sentimental “Malibu 1992” emerged as fan favorites from their second LP How Will You Know If You Never Try. These songs, and their sophomore record as a whole, continue to garner acclaim from fans years later. Comments such as “‘Malibu 1992’ needs to be on the setlist because it altered my brain chemistry at 14 so like please,” can be found on the band’s TikTok posts, in addition to the likes of, “If there is a higher being they are in this song.”
The three-piece group (Dyke left the band in 2018) have woven themselves into the vibrant tapestry of contemporary alt-pop with each consecutive record. I’m Not Afraid of Music Anymore follows 2022’s Uncanny Valley, a project that the band describes as a “spillover” record consisting of songs written during quarantine that highlighted the increasingly digital and isolated nature of life in those early days of lockdown — a popular theme in music at the time.
Near the end of their 2022 tour for Uncanny Valley, the band’s longtime producer Gabe Simon, who has worked with the likes of Lana Del Rey, Noah Kahan and Dua Lipa, attended a show and told the band afterward that they seemed almost robotic onstage. Though the feedback may have been jarring for the group to hear, they realized that a change in how they both made and performed music was in order.
“Each of us were kind of isolated on the stage, in our stations, and we weren’t really playing music; we were just being pieces of a little machine that were just running,” Lawrence says. “We saw [this album] as an opportunity to not treat this as a mechanism.”
The advancement of their sound and creative process is what Lawrence calls a “lack of evolution,” a kind of back-to-basics, if you will. The group spent time reconnecting as friends, rather than bandmates and by extension, business partners. “We really cleared out a lot of communication channels and were able to write about a lot of real stuff,” Lawrence says. “To experience anything new as a band after 10 years of doing this thing is the only key to continuing to do this.”
Many artists gained a newfound sense of productivity despite the challenge of making music during lockdown, but there came a point when the band realized they had to prioritize their humanity over the digitized, isolated state of being so many had naturally become used to. “It became novel to be human,” Lawrence says. “I’m sure it’s an inverse reaction to what we had been through for the past four years [involving] that isolation.”
WE WERE ABLE TO WRITE ABOUT A LOT OF REAL STUFF
A few weeks before our chat over Zoom, the band began rehearsing for their tour as a three-piece without any additional production elements. As Memmel plugged in his guitar and warded off a faint sense of dread over having to “re-learn” the group’s music for the stage, he says the first notes that rang out of his instrument sounded just as they do on the album. “I didn’t even have to try,
it’s, like, right there,” he says. “I had this moment where I was like, ‘Oh, wow, this is the most natural thing,’ because this is the most COIN thing we’ve done.”
The process of writing, recording, mixing and mastering music can sometimes result in a product different than the artist’s initial vision, and can flirt with sounding contrived at times. The band says that bringing these songs to the stage will be more of a more natural progression than ever before, considering the studio recordings themselves encapsulate the human touch and natural feel that
the group aimed for. According to Lawrence, the guiding principle for much of this new era has been to not “ reinvent the wheel, just keep it rolling,” which is something that Simon encouraged the band to do. “To me, when I listen to this [album] I see us,” Lawrence says. “It’s such a celebration of a life lived.”
With an impressive catalog of albums and extensive touring experience, the group is determined to make their latest trek their most authentic and memorable to date, stripping back the theatrics and putting the music centerstage. “We always kind of wanted to
hide behind fog and backlights, and this show is so much [more] about us,” Lawrence says before reassuring, “But the production’s still insane, it’s like our greatest production ever.”
Nodding to the title of their latest LP, Lawrence beams that, “I’m not afraid of music we’ve made anymore,” essentially, “because all [of] the music we’ve made has made us exactly who we are today.” This newfound sense of appreciation and love for their catalog, rather than looking back and wishing they could tweak things, will especially be a treat for longtime fans who have yearned to
hear some lesser-played cuts live. “I love that we’re touring this album and we’re going to play a ton of songs from this new album because we love it so much and it brings us so much joy,” he continues.
“But at the same time, I think it’s huge for us to also play some songs that maybe we wouldn’t [usually] play.”
I LOVE THAT WE’RE TOURING THIS ALBUM AND WE’RE GOING TO PLAY A TON OF SONGS FROM THIS NEW ALBUM BECAUSE WE LOVE IT SO MUCH AND IT BRINGS US SO MUCH JOY
The core of the band’s excitement with this tour is to recapture the magic they felt when making it.
“I’m excited to encapsulate myself in the energy in which I was surrounded by when recording the record,” Memmel says. “I’m truly so grateful to be able to go to a different city and feel that same thing I felt in RCA studio A.”
Two weeks after our conversation, COIN takes the stage at Chicago’s Aragon Ballroom in front of a crowd spotted with blue dad hats emblazoned with the band’s logo. Underneath the venue’s whimsical ceiling painted to depict a night sky, the band stays true to their word and delivers a performance filled with indisputably electric energy that demonstrates
the kind of liberated, human quality that they’ve used as their guiding principle. Just five songs in, three light panels hung above the group — which float up and down, framing the top of the stage with beams of colored LED light — begin to descend closer to the band’s heads than intended, and Memmel ends up getting whacked by one of the faulty panels mid-song. Without missing a beat, the group continues to perform “Asking For A Friend,” but becomes increasingly hyper-aware of the malfunctioning set pieces that continue to gain a mind of their own. The show eventually pauses for five minutes to allow lighting engineers to remove the rogue fixtures from the stage.
Returning with a performance of “Valentine” from 2020’s Dreamland, the group remains cool and largely unphased by the malfunction. Lawrence shakes off the technical mishaps with a light-hearted embrace of the spontaneity that comes with live music, and assures the crowd that really, the evening is about the music itself, not some unruly lights.
Throughout the show, Lawrence dances around the stage while Memmel and his guitar also roam freely. Both consistently engage with their bandmates and the audience. Near the end of the show, Lawrence jumps into the crowd, greeting fans and embracing them in all of their shrieking excitement. As COIN took their final bows, it was abundantly clear that they really aren’t afraid of music (nor set malfunctions) anymore.
I’M NOT AFRAID OF MUSIC WE’VE MADE ANYMORE
musicians in business
with carina of hot creative & rlyblonde
WRITTEN BY Justice Petersen
O
nce serving as a creative mind behind New York’s favorite rising indie acts, Carina Allen has now gone from behind the camera to in front of a microphone. Under the name rlyblonde, Allen has defined herself as Brooklyn’s favorite alt-rock songstress, creating a world that leans into divine femininity, queer love, and an ultimate fantasy. Not only is there rlyblonde, the iconic sweetheart, but Carina Allen — the passionate business owner — still remains, and in both worlds, she is often a “one-woman show.”
By day, Allen is a full-time wedding photographer and the founder of her own production company, Hot Creative. By night, she’s your favorite indie popstar. Now, going into her second year photographing newlyweds, Allen admits that her Hannah Montana-esque double life is nothing short of on the nose for the character of rlyblonde. “Who else gets to brag that their wedding photographer is a rockstar?,” she asks.
WHO ELSE GETS TO BRAG THAT THEIR WEDDING PHOTOGRAPHER IS A ROCKSTAR?
PHOTOS BY Caroline Safran, Cirsty Burton
the
business: hot creative
A wearer of many hats, there is never a dull moment in Allen’s life. Currently in the full swing of booking wedding clients, Allen is happy that after two years, she is able to expand and continue building up her network.
“I think every freelancer can relate to always craving some sort of stability,” she admits. “So this is kind of my option for that. And while I do, on a bad day, feel very frustrated by how much I’ve signed myself up for, it is kind of the thing that allows me to plan my calendar a year in advance and do all the other creative things that I want to do.”
Outside of her full-time photography career, Allen is the founder of Hot Creative, an LA and NYC-based production company that offers photoshoots, creative direction and video production for other creatives. With Hot Creative, Allen can still fuel her passion for creating for other artists.
“Hot Creative is sort of like a great hub for all of my other creative work that isn’t necessarily for rlyblonde, but also kind of all-encompassing,” she says. “But it’s just given me a nice separation between my artist persona and then who I am as a director and a creative.”
the beats: rlyblonde
Step into the musical universe of rlyblonde, and you’ll find a bubblegum pink alt-rock world full of romanticism and charming honesty. An artist in every sense of the word, every rlyblonde project is created through Hot Creative, where Allen has a hands-on approach to her visuals and music. “I feel like when I get a little too bogged down in ‘e-mail world’ or wedding photographer world, it’s nice to have a break and do a show where I get to do my full glam and be rlyblonde,” she says.
rlyblonde made her debut in 2023 with her Fantasy EP, which conveys the star’s yearning for her ultimate dream life. Currently working on her sophomore EP, Star of the Show, set to release later this year, rlyblonde exudes a heightened level of maturity, confidence and edge compared to her debut project. “The new project’s a little more indie-rock influenced, a little grungier,” rlyblonde says.
“I feel like Fantasy was very much a daydream of ‘this is who I could be maybe in another life.’ It was sort of this thing that existed inside my brain, thinking about identity and the performance put on for men, and I think I’ve really come into myself a lot over the past couple of years. It’s playing with the same idea of performance, characters and world-building, but it’s my real life now. I brought it from a place of a fantasy into real life, which is really exciting, you know?”
explores feminism, monogamy and identity on new album Everybody Needs a Hero
WRITTEN BY Justice Petersen
PHOTOS BY Shauna Hilferty
Unapologetic in her vulnerable navigations through love and relationships, Dublin-born, London-based artist and producer Orla Gartland is a modern-day indie-alt hero. Renowned for her raw musicality, brash charm and unique aesthetics in her work, Gartland has become one of the most prominent and successful names within the world of indie music.
Since releasing her debut album Woman of the Internet in 2021, Gartland has amassed a devoted fanbase and enjoyed raging success. Her debut earned massive praise, reaching number three on the Irish album chart, number one on the U.K. Indie chart and number 10 on the U.K. album chart.
Dedicated to her own independence, production and artistic freedom, Gartland has become a highly skilled producer while rising to fame. Forming her own record label, New Friends, in 2021 under which she released Woman of the Internet, Gartland has taken artistic control over her work, a notable feat in an industry largely composed of men.
Gartland is currently gearing up to embark on her first ever headline tour across North America, which starts next month, has completely sold out. With such a profound artistry, one that balances a fiery spark with compassion and empathy, it’s no wonder Gartland has garnered such a devout following. When her tour nearly sold out shortly after tickets went on sale, Gartland says it finally gave her a clear idea of just how many people listen to her songs.
“I think so much of releasing music now is a very abstract thing,” she says. “So much of it’s online and it just all feels a bit intangible and sometimes a little bit hard to digest that people might actually be even listening to your songs at all. I think the most obvious way that you can show up for an artist that you like is to buy a ticket and be physically in the room singing their lyrics back at them. It’s such a direct exchange and I definitely just was so bowled over by the tickets [selling out] and feeling in that moment that it was really tangible.”
WE ARE JUST THIS TAPESTRY OF ALL THE EXPERIENCES THAT WE’VE HAD
Recently releasing her much-anticipated sophomore LP Everybody Needs A Hero on Oct. 4 via New Friends, the record conveys her signature cheeky bite and playful vulnerability as she explores what it means to be a hero, how to remember yourself while committing to a longterm relationship and how she’s learned to exist and identify in a post-feminist world.
Speaking on her new album Everybody Needs A Hero, Gartland says that it is more straightforward both sonically and lyrically and strays away from her original singer-songwriter sound of writing moody, folky songs. After realizing she wasn’t writing songs that connect with her personally, she took it upon herself to put more of her personality and character into her work.
“When I realized that and allowed [it] to come into the music, something clicked a lot more.. I think maybe this time I felt confident enough to take a step further in that direction and be a little more on the nose lyrically, a little more committed in the production choices and allowing it to jump all over the place dynamically a little bit more.”
I THINK SURROUNDING MYSELF WITH STRONG, INDEPENDENT WOMEN IS QUITE IMPORTANT TO ME
Everybody Needs A Hero finds Gartland exploring several complex themes, one of them being how the singer chooses to take up space within a postfeminist world. In the music industry specifically, it’s easy for a woman to feel hesitant when it comes to speaking out or making her presence known.
“I perceive that to be not exclusively a female experience, but often a female experience,” she says. “I struggle to take up space sometimes and that can be in a studio session writing a song and that can be in a relationship or a friendship. It’s a tendency I have that I’m always trying to fight.”
In a male-dominated society and a coinciding industry, Gartland admits that surrounding herself with powerful women such as her mother or her close friends has helped her both personally and artistically. “I think surrounding myself with strong, independent women is quite important to me because — I mean, it’s to each their own — but I just don’t personally want to exist in relation to someone else in someone else’s orbit,” she says. “I do think it’s easier when you get into relationships sometimes to do that, to crouch behind someone, to take someone else’s lead. But the older I get the more I’m just always actively and manually trying to fight that urge and just make sure that I have
my own life and have my own friends and have my own opinions and none of that should be very revolutionary. But it sometimes does feel that way for some reason.”
In almost every aspect of her career, Gartland chooses to surround herself with women. When it comes to songwriting or the creative process, Gartland says doing so allows her to speak her mind and take up space. That being said, Gartland says she produced Everybody Needs a Hero with two male producers who also allowed her to take creative control rather than forcing themselves to take over.
“They are very egoless men and I have worked with plenty of [egotistical] men in my life,” she admits. “Finding producers and studios and spaces where you can make your music involves kissing a lot of frogs. But with these two guys who I’ve worked with individually and then for this album, they’re both just the best at pushing me to the front.”
Gartland goes on to say that encouragement from her peers is crucial, especially for moments she might feel shy during a recording session and not want to take charge. “I think being surrounded by strong women and being surrounded by men who I perceive to be feminists and modern in their
approach — not just ego, man-spreading men — definitely encourages me to stand on top of the pedestal or step up to the mic metaphorically and just take up that space.”
As an artist, when one takes a step back and leaves space for another producer or musician to take over, Gartland says a project can end up a little lost. “It’s important to me to have a real handle on what I do,” she says. “Caroline Polachek has just come to mind, but the kind of artists that I love are artists producing their own music. They’re sometimes creative directing their own visuals. They’re maybe even directing their own music videos. They’re just in all of it. I think especially as a female artist I just love to see that.”
IT’S IMPORTANT TO ME TO HAVE A REAL HANDLE ON WHAT I DO
Similar to how it’s easy to get lost by not taking charge in your own artistic vision, it’s just as easy when you don’t stay true to yourself in a romantic relationship. On Everybody Needs a Hero, Gartland delicately explores the idea of a person losing grasp of their identity when they choose to devote themselves to another person.
“I can go a little bit too far the other way; I can get obsessed with my own independence and sort of reject anything or anyone that threatens that,” she explains. “I think an amount of leaning on someone is good and it’s the beautiful part of a relationship. But I think how you retain that individuality is just keeping it in check and making sure that you have things that you like that are just for you and making sure that you have your own friends. I think some of the most devastating breakups that I have been in or witnessed around me are ones where someone has put their entire life into someone else.”
A healthy relationship is totally possible, but the most important thing to keep in mind is balance. “Monogamy is difficult,” Gartland says. “It’s a lot for us to expect one person to be our confidant, best friend, the practical “pay taxes do laundry” kind of partner, the one we sleep with– all of these things are so different. I have compassion for people who make their whole life about one person.”
Her single “Late to the Party,” featuring indie superstar Declan McKenna, addresses the concept of dating somebody and understanding that you are not that person’s first partner, with a bratty
and brash approach. While Gartland adopts a rebellious and defiant persona within the single, she says that accepting that everybody brings baggage to a relationship is a key part of life.
“I guess the whole song is pretty tongue in cheek,” she says. “It’s pretty playful because obviously none of us are a blank slate. Even if you are someone’s first partner there’s still so much in our lives that inform how we are. I like me in that song, being this brat and being like ‘God, you got all these issues — but me on the other hand am totally perfect,’ which is not true. I think it’s really sweet and quite beautiful that, as we present to a new friend or a new partner or someone new, we are just this tapestry of all the experiences that we’ve had.”
I DO REALLY ENJOY WRITING SONGS ABOUT FEELINGS I FEEL ARE UNDERREPRESENTED IN POP MUSIC
orla’s new “side dReam” is to get her haiR done at hayley williams’ salon in nashville
On her latest album, Gartland ultimately explores identity in various niche ways. Whether it’s how we identify ourselves in society, how we identify ourselves as an individual or how we identify ourselves within a relationship with another person — romantic or otherwise — Gartland beautifully and poetically evokes deeper, inimitable feelings among listeners as she addresses the more gritty aspects of the human experience.
“I do really enjoy writing songs about feelings I feel are underrepresented in pop music — especially those slightly more niche, sticky, confusing feelings,” she says. “When I listen to other people’s music and I feel seen in it, it can be such a cathartic thing. Especially if you’re going through a bit of a harder time and you press play on a song and you feel like it perfectly sums up how you feel or your life. I think that’s when music is most spiritual and witchy and sick.”
In her own music, where she addresses the more rough and raw feelings of love, Gartland hopes to convey this exact feeling. As she has felt seen in
orla finds them to be more romantic and wholesome
the work of her own favorite artists, Gartland hopes to be the one that other listeners feel seen and heard by when life brings adversity.
“It’s not about just having the same life as someone, because people will always hear their own interpretation in a song and maybe relate to it differently,” Gartland says. “But just making people feel seen or heard. Especially because
the intention throughout the record is it’s not as simple as ‘I love you.’ It’s like, ‘I love you, but I don’t want to lose myself,’ ‘I love you, but I get these compulsive thoughts where I want to just ruin your life.’ Just all these slightly uglier feelings. I want to hold space for those because that’s how I feel. Any slightly more nuanced feelings, I would love people to hear that in this album and feel like they get it.”
WRITTEN BY Shauna Hilferty
(biopics) THE RISE AND CRITIQUE OF
Navigating the Line Between Reality and Entertainment
In recent years, movie popularity has shifted towards a unique genre, one that explores the lives of musical icons who have influenced generations. Music biopics, as they are called, are a blend of biography and musical storytelling, shedding light on the personal stories of beloved artists. This genre brings these artists’ journeys to the big screen in a way that’s digestible, entertaining and educational for the public. Films such as Bohemian Rhapsody, Elvis, and Rocketman have successfully combined history and entertainment. However, while the music biopic genre has earned significant commercial success, it has faced persistent criticism for its tendency to blur the line between fact and fiction.
The roots of the music biopic genre stretch back to the 1940s with Alfred E. Green’s The Jolson Story (1946), which told the life of Lithuanian-American singer-songwriter Al Jolson. The film was a boxoffice hit and earned three Academy Awards for its soundtrack and score, establishing a foundation for future musical biopics. Films such as Selena (1997), starring Jennifer Lopez, further demonstrated the commercial potential of the genre. Selena grossed $11.6 million in its opening weekend and garnered acclaim for its portrayal of Selena QuintanillaPérez’s life, even winning American Latino Media Arts Awards.
In recent years the music biopic genre has become a box-office powerhouse. Bohemian Rhapsody (2018), which chronicled the life of Freddie Mercury and Queen, is one of the most successful biopics of all time, earning $910 million worldwide. Similarly, Elvis (2022) grossed $288 million globally and Rocketman (2019), about Elton John, made $195 million. These films are not only financially successful but also critically acclaimed as Rami Malek won an Academy Award for his portrayal of Freddie Mercury and Austin Butler received widespread praise for his performance in Elvis Streaming platforms such as Netflix and Hulu have also contributed to the genre’s rise, enabling biopics to reach niche audiences without relying solely on box office numbers. Films about lesserknown artists can now find new fans, bypassing the need for blockbuster success.
Despite their box-office triumphs, music biopics are often met with criticism. One of the most significant challenges filmmakers face when creating biopics is finding a balance between entertainment and accuracy. The question then becomes: how much truth can be bent in the name of storytelling before it becomes a distortion?
In Bohemian Rhapsody, for example, many events were dramatized or altered for narrative effect. Mercury’s relationship with manager Paul Prenter, portrayed by Allen Leech, was exaggerated to emphasize betrayal. Prenter, who sold private information about Mercury to the press, was depicted as a major antagonist, following a familiar
biopic trope in which the artist or band’s manager becomes a villain. The film also significantly changed timelines to heighten the drama. While audiences flocked to theaters, many fans and critics took issue with these creative liberties.
Similarly, Rocketman, which told Elton John’s story, featured fantastical musical sequences that blurred the line between reality and imagination. While the film explored John’s struggles with addiction, it also incorporated moments of surrealism, leaving viewers unsure of what was factual and what was invented for theatrical purposes.
One reason biopics remain popular, despite their flaws, is their ability to introduce audiences to artists they may not have fully explored. Films such as Walk the Line (2005) about Johnny Cash and Ray (2004) about Ray Charles brought new fans to these legendary musicians. Both films earned Academy Awards and were praised for their indepth exploration of each musician’s struggles with fame, addiction and personal demons. Yet, even these successful films had to condense the artist’s entire lives into a two-hour runtime, inevitably leaving out significant details or dramatizing others for effect.
Audiences are often drawn to music biopics because of the emotional resonance of the artist’s stories. There’s a certain appeal in witnessing the rise, fall and redemption of an artist or band. However, as the genre becomes more predictable, this very structure has turned into a formula. In many biopics, the story follows a familiar trajectory: an artist rises to fame, encounters personal or professional setbacks and either overcomes them or falls from grace. Bohemian Rhapsody followed this arc closely, and many viewers complained of the predictability, especially in the way it depicted Mercury’s relationships and struggles.
Tropes involving the artist or band’s manager becoming the antagonist and the dramatic portrayal of inner conflicts have become staples of the genre and while these elements can add drama, they often come at the cost of authenticity. As audiences become more familiar with these conventions, the surprise and emotional impact begin to wane.
The ongoing debate surrounding music biopics centers on the balance between entertainment and authenticity. Filmmakers face a delicate challenge: Should they prioritize historical accuracy, even if it means telling a less exciting story? Or should they take creative liberties to create a more compelling narrative?
Elvis showcased this duality. Butler’s portrayal of Elvis Presley was widely praised, and the film received accolades for its energetic and visually stunning sequences. However, some critics noted that certain aspects of Elvis’ life were either embellished or downplayed to make the story more glamorous. In contrast, Priscilla (2023), directed by Sofia Coppola, shifted the focus to Elvis’ wife, Priscilla Presley, offering a more nuanced and intimate perspective on their relationship. Coppola stated at the Venice Film Festival that her film aimed to tell Priscilla’s side of the story, offering a more balanced portrayal of Elvis’ life.
Despite the criticism, biopics continue to captivate audiences across generations appealing to older fans who remember the music firsthand and younger viewers drawn in by discovery.
While biopics offer a unique blend of entertainment and insight into the lives of beloved musicians, maintaining the genre’s relevance and impact, filmmakers must strive for a better balance between storytelling and truth. By embracing authenticity without sacrificing compelling narratives, music biopics can continue to evolve and honor the legacy of the artists they portray. As the genre moves forward, the challenge will be to tell these stories with the depth, complexity, and respect they deserve while still entertaining the masses.
isdefiant &chilling in new era
A favorite artist of some of the biggest names in modern music, there’s no doubt that UPSAHL has made her way into your speakers at one point or another. Having opened for artists such as Beck, Olivia Rodrigo, YUNGBLUD and Melanie Martinez, and having written award-winning songs with Demi Lovato, Reneé Rapp and Dua Lipa, UPSAHL has cemented herself as one of today’s most successful and driven pop artists.
WRITTEN BY Justice Petersen
PHOTOS BY Ashley Osborn
Born and raised in Phoenix, Taylor Upsahl released her debut, self-titled EP, at 14 years old. Over the years to follow, she released two more albums as Taylor Upsahl, quickly rising to fame within her local music scene. In 2018, under her new moniker, UPSAHL, she was signed with Arista Records. Shortly after, the singer released her debut EP, Hindsight 20/20.
Now, with a total of four EPs, one album, a wide array of singles and various songwriting credits alongside some of the biggest names in popular music such as Dua Lipa, Madison Beer, Reneé Rapp, on top of handfuls of others, UPSAHL doesn’t plan on slowing down any time soon. With a signature popstar musicality to go along with her razor-sharp rockstar edge, UPSAHL has established herself as an artist who walks the line between rebellious and empowering.
UPSAHL is currently on her Melt me down World Tour, where she is playing the biggest venues of her career to date. Having just finished the North American leg of the trek, the singer is now gearing up to play her U.K. and European shows. Whether she’s playing in Europe or in the states, she says both audiences bring the same high energy to an UPSAHL show.
“I feel like in Europe everyone likes to dance a lot, which is really fun for me just because I love flailing around stage the whole time, it’s nice when the crowd matches that energy,” she says. “I feel like in the U.S., everybody is screaming every single word back at you which is the coolest, most magical feeling.”
Now a decade into her music career, she admits that this is the most excited she has ever felt for a tour. “I feel like everyone says this about every new thing that they do, but genuinely … I feel so excited about these shows,” she reflects. Bringing back old songs that she hasn’t played in nearly five years, UPSAHL says she is bringing a completely reimagined version of her live show. For seasoned fans who have seen the singer play before, this will be a whole new experience.
When you go to an UPSAHL gig, it will feel like nothing less of a punk show — pure unbridled freedom and intense energy both on and off stage.
“That’s my goal for the show,” she says. “I think with the Melt me down tour specifically it’s a little bit more of a story, which I’ve never done. It’s a little bit more of a concept show. I want it to feel more like I’m taking the fans into the world that I’ve been making with my album that comes out next year. Without giving the album title and the album world away yet, I’m giving them little teasers to what it’ll be like.”
I THINK THAT’S COOL WHEN YOU CAN SORT OF HIDE A BIT OF A VULNERABLE, REAL MESSAGE BEHIND A FUN SONG
Ahead of her upcoming album, UPSAHL has released two singles: “Summer so hot” and “Tears on the dancefloor.” The latter is a quintessential UPSAHL track in which she juxtaposes a bittersweet vulnerability with intense sonics fit for the club. Paired with a vampiric, club-inspired music video straight out of Blade (1998), you have the perfect recipe for an emotional, sensual and cinematic pop anthem.
“I think that’s cool when you can sort of hide a bit of a vulnerable, real message behind a fun song,” she says about her song “Tears on the dancefloor.” “I also think that’s kind of who I am as a person, whether that’s healthy or not. I feel like I deal with a lot of the bad shit, but with humor and having fun with it. I think I try to do that with my music and that’s what we did with ‘Tears on the dancefloor.’ We wanted to write this song about having a mental breakdown at the club. I feel like everyone’s had that moment where they’re out and having a terrible time and thinking about their shit and just wanting to go home.”
UPSAHL says the album-making process for her in the past typically involved writing different songs with different artists while she was in LA or on tour. It wasn’t until after all the writing sessions were done that she would finally piece the album together. “With this [upcoming] album, every song that we’ve written, even the ones that haven’t made the album, is all very intentional,” she says. “Each song is like a little puzzle piece in this [greater] concept that is the album. I want fans to
I FEEL LIKE WITH THIS ERA OF MY LIFE AND WITH THIS ERA OF MUSIC, I’M REALLY DONE GIVING A SHIT ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE AND THEIR PERCEPTION OF IT
just be able to immerse themselves in the whole thing. I feel like people — myself included — live in such a singles world and everyone just loves songs. If I have one goal for the album it would be for people to listen to the whole thing, top to bottom.”
UPSAHL has made it clear she has entered a new artistic era, inspired by years of having to build up a thick skin in the music industry. The new record is inspired by a coldness that the artist has developed. “I feel like with this era of my life and with this era of music, I’m really done giving a shit about other people and their perception of [my work],” UPSAHL says. “I’m trying to stay as true to myself as possible throughout this whole process.” The new record also portrays a sonic change for UPSAHL. Pulling from early 2000s pop icons such as Fergie, Nelly Furtado and Gwen Stefani, she aims to infuse the record with a definitive club music sound and party girl attitude stating that she “grew up in that era.”
“I was listening to punk rock music because of my dad, and I listened to whatever he thought was cool because I thought he was the coolest person ever,” she says. “I didn’t listen to [early 2000s] pop music like that as it was coming out. I got to experience all that music for the first time in the past few years, which has been so special and so inspiring. Not even just the music, but the music videos, the outfits, the visuals, the concepts. I want it to feel like the early 2000s for sure.”
She has continued to harness that signature attitude in her music: defiance and confidence. On her upcoming album, she says that despite a heavy pop-leaning sound, the punk energy can’t be missed, adding that it’s “such a big part of who I am and how I grew up,” and that it will “always sort of sneak its way into my music regardless of what genre I’m doing.”
I THINK THAT’S SORT OF THE POINT OF MUSIC. IT’S THIS TIMESTAMP OF HOW YOU WERE FEELING AT THE TIME
When UPSAHL first started writing music, she didn’t feel the hesitation or fear that can often
result from detailing such personal topics and feelings. Now, however, when she writes a biting or emotional lyric in a song, she says she’ll often feel those familiar nerves and doubts creep up as the song’s release gets closer. “The night before the song comes out I’m like, ‘this is so embarrassing why would I want to put this into a song? People are going to judge me,’” she says. “But I think that’s sort of the point of music. It’s this timestamp of how you were feeling at the time. I guarantee that if I feel this way, someone else has to have felt that way at some point. So I’ve been learning to get over the nerves of actually releasing the music out into the world.”
Her first single of the year, “Summer so hot,” was the perfect track for anybody’s summer poolside playlist. Despite evoking images of tan lines, speakers by the pool and ice melting atop burning pavement, the track was — funnily enough — written on a cold, rainy night in London. “It was
quite literally the middle of the night and pouring rain, freezing cold,” UPSAHL recalls. “Wayne, the main co-writer on the song, started singing this ‘summer so hot’ thing because we had just been talking about being so excited to be able to go to the beach. I was like, ‘I can’t wait to be in my bikini, running around, enjoying the summer. It’s freezing cold here and I’m miserable in this weather.’ And then he started singing the riff of the chorus and it all just happened from there.”
IT’S SO CHEESY, BUT I WANT TO
Despite UPSAHL’s adoration for the song, she admits that she was initially hesitant to release it. “I couldn’t tell if I loved it or hated it, which I thought was kind of a good sign,” she says. “It scared me the first night that we made it, and then I revisited
THIS OR THAT
Phoenix will always have her heaRt, But she loves livinG in la
she feels most in her element in the studio
it when I got back to LA and rewrote the verses like a million different times until they were perfect. I’m obsessed with how it turned out. I feel like it feels so nostalgic, which was kind of how we were feeling when we were writing it.”
Whether she infuses her pop stylings with a punk prowess or a hyperpop radiance, UPSAHL is defined by an artistry that is intense, vulnerable and addicting. Her live shows demonstrate a
cathartic sense of freedom, while her music conveys a grounding air of nonconformity.
“It’s so cheesy, but I want to empower people,” she says. “I feel like a lot of my fans are young girls and I just want to empower them to feel confident on days that they don’t or empower them to just not give a fuck and own however they’re feeling at any given time and just live in that.”
the friend-finding compass
WRITTEN BY Brittany Muldoon
We’ve all been there: you’re at a concert or festival and it’s packed. You’re there with your friends and you’re making your way through the crowd, having a great time. When next thing you know, your group splits up — whether it’s on purpose to grab a drink or you accidentally lose each other in the masses. You try to get everyone back together but through the sea full of people, you can’t find each other. What makes it worse? You’ve all lost cell service or your phone is dead. At this point, there’s no telling when you’ll be reunited with your crew. This can not only be frustrating, but also anxiety-inducing and unsafe depending on the scenario.
Enter Totem Labs’ genius solution to one of the most frustrating parts of live events. Totem Labs, born from a real-life experience, came to life after founder Chase Lemonds had an experience similar to the one described above at EDC Orlando in 2019. His phone got stolen within a few hours of arriving at the festival and he got separated from the one friend he had come with. Cue wandering the festival grounds alone for hours without any way to contact anyone.
As a result of this experience, Totem was founded with four cornerstones in mind: love, unity, simplicity, and beauty. Through Totem, Lemonds
and co-founder Carter Fowler strive to bring people together in a simple way so that they can experience more beauty and love in their lives. With these principles in mind, the pair started working on their debut product, the very same one that came to Lemonds’ mind that fateful day at EDC Orlando: the Totem Compass.
The Totem Compass aims to eliminate that feeling of being lost and alone at music events, even when you’re surrounded by a sea of people. With no Wi-Fi, Bluetooth or cell phone required, the Totem Compass is a sleek, water-resistant and dirt-proof gadget that fits right around your neck —making it perfect for festival-goers of any age. Each Compass uses colorful LED lights to guide you back to your friends, and in case of an emergency, you can turn your compass to SOS mode to send out a signal. With an all-day battery life and a quick USB-C charge, the Totem Compass is as durable as it is stylish.
How does the Totem Compass work?
The magic of the Totem Compass lies in its GNSS technology and the Unity Mesh Network, a peer-to-peer network designed specifically for . It pinpoints your location and allows your compass to link with your friends, without needing any cellular connection.
The range is impressive too — up to 700 meters ~6 football fields or close to half a mile), however, the more people using the Totem Compass at a festival, the bigger the range becomes. This results in a practically boundless range at large events, especially as more and more people use the devices.
The Totem Compass has been live tested at Tomorrowland in Belgium, Lost in Dreams in Los Angeles and Rose on the River in Chicago.
How do you use the Totem Compass?
Since to Totem, consent is a top priority, they’ve integrated explicit two-way consent across the Totem Compass, meaning both compasses need to be close and undergoing “bonding mode” at the same time no accidental pairing here, just a trusted connection with your friends.
Once bonded, your Compass will light up with a unique color for each friend — pink will always be your first, green for your second, blue for your third and yellow for your fourth and final connection. Though you can only bond with up to four other compasses, you can connect larger groups by creating a daisy chain effect where each compass connects with a few others in a group. This allows your group of 4 to turn a limitless number of compasses, always ensuring everyone is safe and reachable.
And when you’re not in Compass mode, your device doesn’t sit idle, it vibes with the music. Tested at various live sets such as Goth Babe, Jon Batiste, Khruangbin, T-Pain, Seven Lions, Red Hot Chili Peppers and more, your compass will light up with pulsing lights that react to the music.
Where can you buy the Totem Compass?
Currently in production, pre-sale orders of the Gen1 Totem Compass will ship in late October. New orders are available on Totem’s website with shipping beginning in November and discounts available if you order them in groups.
The Totem Compass offers a simple, no-brainer
findsconnections ineverymove
Braden Bales is not afraid to blur the lines. In fact, he’s a big fan of this practice. Through his raw honesty and unfiltered presence shared with his nearly half a million followers online, Bales has cultivated a relationship with his fans that feels personal and real. Whether it’s through his emotionally charged lyrics or social media presence, he’s determined to build a genuine connection with his audience.
21-year-old singer-songwriter Bales first had a brush of viral success with “CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS,” which now carries more than 44 million streams on Spotify. Though the single was successful all on its own, a viral boost from TikTok influencer Elyse Myers duetting the track launched Bales further into the spotlight. From his debut EP Nomad, featuring “CHRONICALLY
WRITTENBYShaunaHilferty
PHOTOSBYSamiee
CAUTIOUS” to his latest singles “ASHED US OUT” and “CINNAMON TWISTS,” Bales makes connection the cornerstone of his art. For him, music is a means of sharing his life in real-time with his fans, reminding them that they’re not alone in their struggles.
IN ORDER TO MAKE SOMETHING A LOT OF PEOPLE WILL LOVE, YOU NEED TO MAKE SOMETHING THAT’S RELATABLE TO EVERYONE
Being open and transparent isn’t just a part of Bales’ personality — it’s a key element of his art. The Nashville–based (but not for long) singer-songwriter lives by a simple truth: the more vulnerable he is, the stronger the connection with his listeners becomes. “Transparency in my life lets my music speak for itself more,” Bales says, emphasizing the significance of openness in his creative process.
“I’ve never really been a private person, I’m an open book. I like that people can watch me do things [on social media] and then hear those songs come out a couple months later and get used to that rhythm of things happening.”
Videos on social media of Bales in his car with his CPAP machine and laptop amidst the guitar cases and a comforter, singing the lyrics to “CHRONICALLY CAUTIOUS,” conveys both anxiety and a fear of the future. These raw moments, shared so casually, make his followers feel like they’re part of his journey. “We all go through different versions of the same things,” Bales says before rephrasing a quote he heard from an interview with Seth Rogen. “In order to make something a lot of people will love, you need to make something that’s relatable to everyone.” By digging into the specifics of his life, he creates a sense of universality in his work.
After feeling stagnant in Nashville earlier this year, a restorative trip back home to Canada and a monthlong stint in Los Angeles got him out of a funk. He says that after his time spent in L.A., he discovered more ways to create content to promote his songs, and has found fellow artists equally as excited to do the same. Finding a true connection with likeminded artists is something Bales has struggled with in the Nashville scene.
Feeling not quite completely unhappy but relatively uninspired, he says he “drove to L.A. and slept in my car and tried to really just give myself space from the world to figure out what I was feeling and why I felt like I wasn’t operating at the best level that I could.”
Somewhat serendipitously, he managed to score a spot in a house full of other musicians ahead of his upcoming move to L.A. “It’s rare to find artists who are really crushing the content side in Nashville and it felt like sometimes I was the only one doing it the way I was doing it,” he says. “It was so clear to me that [L.A. is] the place that I needed to be.”
As Bales gears up to support for Games We Play’s upcoming She’s The Girl tour, he says he’s excited to collaborate with fellow artists, particularly while creating engaging content such as a recent video for tour in a Denny’s Diner. These moments of collaboration — onstage, online and behind the scenes — are what strengthen the connection he feels with others in the industry. “That was one of the most fun videos I’ve shot with another artist because it was so off the cuff and good vibes,” he says of his natural chemistry with Emmyn Calleiro of Games We Play.
In cities across the Northeast and Canada, Bales’ promises to give an authentic and unforgettable experience, fueled by the genuine connections he’s built through his music and online presence. “It’s gonna be a really fun tour when we’re all together in November because the vibes are just great.”
WE ALL GO THROUGH DIFFERENT VERSIONS OF THE SAME THINGS
Referencing the upcoming tour, Bales shares he treats each performance as running an errand or grabbing a coffee actually lessens his nerves and performance anxiety. He says that Irish singersongwriter Cian Ducrot, who opened for Ed Sheeran in 2023, described that Sheeran intentionally had no pre-show ritual.
“The more that you put a routine around a show and you have a ritual or a specific thing that you do, it gives you opportunities to mess up that ritual and then feel mentally like you’re not prepared for
it,” Bales says, loosely quoting Ducrot. ”The more that you put pressure on that moment of being on stage, whether you’re drinking before or you’re tying your shoes a certain way, the more you build your own anticipation, the more nervous you’re going to be.”
The only semi-ritualistic thing that Bales does to prepare is taking four deep breaths. “If I do it quickly and I take those breaths as I’m walking from the green room to the stage, then I don’t even feel like I have any time to realize that I’m going on stage until I’m just there and I’m in front of people,” he says. His onstage “script,” so to speak, is non-existent, and he says he prefers to
talk about the songs and the stories behind them in the moment, creating a natural and inviting space for fans to connect with him in real-time. “It lets me have it be a little bit different every night if I don’t have it strictly planned.”
As Bales connects with his audience through touring and online, he continues to embrace authenticity whenever he can. “You think that you’re the only person that has thought of something or gone through something and then you go and see how many comments and likes go with [what you’ve posted],” he says. “That is something that brings me a lot of peace to know that I’m not alone in that.”
ASpell Bound
witchiest musicians of all time
WRITTEN BY Justice Petersen
s the Summer weather begins to adopt a chill, the holidays of Samhain and Halloween no sooner follow. With this darker season may come an even darker atmosphere – and an appropriate soundtrack to go with it. As “witchy season” comes to fruition, the music must follow suit. After all, witchcraft has always played a role in music, and modern music would not be what it is today without genres such as rock ‘n’ roll, indie and pop taking influence from witch-inspired themes and the occult. While this combination of witchcraft and popular music has historically garnered controversy (think: the PMRC’s “filthy fifteen”), witchcraft is something that has seen widespread acceptance in recent years, and many musical artists have incorporated the coinciding aesthetics, topics and sounds within their work. However, while a large number of musicians have taken on witchy vibes, there are some names who are truly recognized as the witchiest of all.
•Lana Del Rey
With an enchanting artistry that defined a generation, Lana Del Rey is a spellbinding songwriter, singer and performer. Writing songs that capture heartbreak, the sunny highways of the West Coast and dreams beyond measure, Del Rey’s otherworldly melodies and haunting vocals bring comfort and inspiration to her devout following. With her covers of “Season of the Witch” and “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood,” as well as her famous hits “Ride” and “Salvatore,” she brings a haunting glamor and a doomed Old Hollywood charm to her iconic musicality.
•Florence
Welch
Known for her passionate vocals and ethereal presence, many fans regard Florence + the Machine frontwoman Florence Welch as an incredibly witchy icon. Embodying intense emotion and spirituality within her work, Welch conveys themes of witchcraft within her music. Songs such as “Dream Girl Evil,” “Seven Devils” and “Which Witch” are definitive examples of Welch’s evocative and otherworldly artistry. Welch is said to have started a coven with her friends while in high school, marking her as not only a witchy musical artist but a legitimate witch herself.
•Stevie Nicks
Regarded as one of the most famous women in rock ‘n’ roll, Stevie Nicks has become a definitive name in rock due to her solo work as well as her work with the rock group Fleetwood Mac. With her folk-inspired aesthetics and musicality as well as her intense witchy vibes, music fans may regard Nicks as the witchiest artist of them all. (After all, her nickname is the “White Witch.”) With heavily emotional songs such as “Leather and Lace,” “Rhiannon” and “Silver Springs,” Nicks is not only one of the most spellbinding artists in history, but Rolling Stone has labeled her as one of the greatest songwriters and singers of all time. Additionally, Nicks was equally praised for her music as she was for her sense of bohemian fashion which included lots of jewelry and long, flowy skirts. Nicks perhaps achieved peak witchiness when she played herself on “American Horror Story: Coven.”
•Siouxsie Sioux
Frontwoman of the rock group Siouxsie and the Banshees, Siouxsie Sioux is most famed for establishing the definitive traditional goth look with her all-black clothing and sharp makeup. Through haunting songs such as “Spellbound” and “Cities in Dust,” Sioux’s songwriting with the Banshees’ defined the post-punk era and went on to influence a wide variety of modern rock and female artists. With a revolutionary sound and look, Sioux has left the entirety of modern music bewitched.
•Black Sabbath
Considered by many to be the greatest heavy metal band of all time, Black Sabbath is credited as the first band to bring the words “heavy metal” into pop culture’s dictionary. With frontman Ozzy Osbourne going on to define a genre, an era and an image with his controversial antics both on and off stage, Black Sabbath has made a mark on modern music like no other. Their name alone, defined as what you would call a meeting of people practicing witchcraft, might have been all it took to label them as one of music’s most witchy musical artists. By combining a dooming name, music containing themes of the occult and imagery heavily influenced by religion, Black Sabbath has gone down in history as pioneers in heavy metal music.
•Alice Cooper
With the moniker of the “Godfather of Shock Rock,” there’s no doubt Alice Cooper may be considered one of rock’s witchiest artists. In the 1970s Cooper garnered buzz by carrying boa constrictor onstage, performing in a straight jacket and running around with Frankenstein’s monster and cutting his head off with a guillotine. Cooper has transcended across decades with hit albums such as Billion Dollar Babies (1973), Welcome to My Nightmare (1975) and Trash (1989). Performing alongside Vincent Price and drawing song inspiration from horror films and vaudeville, Cooper is a witchy artist in his own right, and can be summed up in simple words: an entertainer.
•Screamin’ Jay Hawkins
While Alice Cooper is the godfather of shock rock, the genre would not have come into fruition without the contributions of Screamin’ Jay Hawkins. Most famous for his then-controversial 1956 hit song “I Put a Spell On You,” Hawkins was renowned for his extreme stage presence and theatrics. Performing on stage with a smoking skull on a stick and emerging from a coffin, Hawkins incorporated several voodoothemed props into his musical act and his overall shock value established him as an icon within goth and rock genres.
•Coven
While themes of witchcraft have spanned across many genres, it shares no closer bond than with that of rock ‘n’ roll, and fans may say that this relationship began with one band: Coven. Pioneers within occult rock and the originators of the “sign of the horns,” Coven made their musical debut in 1969 with Witchcraft Destroys Minds and Reaps Souls. Originally formed in Chicago, Coven went on to gather much controversy during the 1970s amid the era of cult leader Charles Manson. An Esquire magazine issue titled “Evil Lurks in California” (March, 1970) mentioned both Manson and Coven’s debut album, and this bad publicity ultimately led to the band breaking up in 1975. Despite their short-lived career, Coven were significant pioneers within occult rock and went on to inspire many big names in heavy metal such as King Diamond and Black Sabbath (though their influence on the latter has been a decades-long debate).
•Kate Bush
Also known as one of the most famous artists within the art rock genre, Kate Bush was most known for her work during the 1980s with hits such as “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” and “Babooshka.” Thanks to Netflix’s hit show Stranger Things, which featured “Running Up That Hill (A Deal With God)” in its fourth season, Bush saw herself make an intense comeback in 2022, with a new generation of music fans enthralled by her hypnotic soundscapes. The following year she was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. With an inimitable vocal style and intensely dreamy artistry, Bush effortlessly brings listeners into a different realm as they listen to her work.
•Dave Mustaine
An original member of Metallica and the founder of Megadeth, Dave Mustaine has become a household name as one of the most iconic heavy metal musicians of all time over the last 40 years. After forming thrash metal outfit Megadeth in 1983, Mustaine has delivered a discography nothing short of hard-hitting, resonating and unforgettable in terms of modern metal music. Additionally, Mustaine is one of the few rock musicians who has admitted to practicing witchcraft himself. The “Peace Sells” singer has admitted to casting spells on a few classmates while in high school, but swore off of it after witnessing the aftermath. Although Mustaine no longer practices the craft, his everlasting discography and hit 1986 album Peace Sells… but Who’s Buying? featuring songs such as “The Conjuring” and “Bad Omen” has defined Mustaine as a prominent artist on this list.
FINNEAS FOR CRYIN’OUT LOUD!
Subtlety can be a hand grenade sometimes, often catching you off guard. Just like an unexpected detonation, subtle moments can disrupt and transform the way we think and it becomes clear that even the quiet nuances have the greatest impact. 27-year-old producer and songwriter FINNEAS channels strength through subtlety and quiet courage on his sophomore album, For Cryin’ Out Loud!, released Friday, Oct. 4, via Interscope Records.
WRITTEN BY Clare Gehlich
A follow-up to his debut record, Optimist (2021), FINNEAS crafts music that invites you to dance, cry, sing along or simply lie on the hardwood floor and stare at the ceiling as it plays in the background. This new album elevates his solo artistry, showcasing his distinctive sound through piano, guitar and innovative production that is very much his own, all while highlighting a newfound self-assurance.
The album opens with the piano ballad “Starfucker,” in which FINNEAS is frustrated with someone who seems to thrive on conflict. The song cleverly references the title of his previous album, Optimist, highlighting the dichotomy of dealing with a narcissist. As the track progresses, it leads into “What’s It Gonna Take To Break Your Heart?,” which features a guitar vibe reminiscent of Michael Jackson.
FINNEAS delivers an ode to an unrequited crush on “Cleats,” an indie-pop track featuring his airy vocals sprinkled over warm acoustic guitar. The singer is being kicked around by youthful heartbreak and hopeful teenage romance against a backdrop of minimalist songwriting and bedroom pop vibes.
The funkiness of “2001” shines after the haunting power ballad “Little Window.” On “2001,” FINNEAS metaphorically waits for the dark side of the moon, reflecting on the frustration of waiting for someone who seems elusive or troubled. He asks, “Honey, what you runnin’ from? / Where the hell you headed to? / Do you like the way I run after you?”
FINNEAS splits “Sweet Cherries” into two parts, a recurring theme in his music. In Part I, he addresses a girl he was interested in who has been hurt by another woman, which FINNEAS predicted. In Part II, he shifts focus to a fling who struggles to keep both platonic and romantic relationships. While it’s unconfirmed, it’s possible the fling is the girl FINNEAS describes in Part I, with Part II establishing an exciting, groovy vibe.
The title track “For Cryin’ Out Loud!” plays on the expression in a literal sense, detailing the highs and lows of a relationship. As a result, the phrase “for crying out loud” can convey annoyance or frustration, which FINNEAS blends with bedroom pop and funk.
FINNEAS highlights the sibling dynamic with his little sister, Billie Eilish on “Family Feud,” describing how their relationship has evolved as they’ve grown up, commenting on her unpredicted fame and how “the world is watching [her].” Despite the title, the song is a sweet ode to Eilish and his relationship with her.
In the album’s final moments, FINNEAS presents a slow, contemplative conclusion with “Lotus Eater,” adopting a somber tone. The title references characters in Homer’s Odyssey, who exist in a state of blissful lethargy after consuming lotus. With “Lotus Eater,” FINNEAS hopes to lose himself a bit and find some joy in the present moment.
EVERYBODY NEEDS A HERO
ORLA GARTLAND
Orla Gartland’s newest album, Everybody Needs a Hero 4. The London-based artist has a Spotify monthly listening of o listeners and has produced hits such as the 2019 release “Why Am I Like This?,” which attracted over 71 million Spotify streams. Through the album, Gartland navigates relationships and works to discover her identity.
WRITTEN BY Ashley Robinson
Dublin-born and London-based, Orla Gartland is a critically acclaimed indie artist and producer, known for her raw musicality and vulnerable lyrics. Since making waves with her 2021 debut album, Woman on the Internet, Gartland has established herself as a unique voice in indie music, balancing sharp wit with emotional depth. She continues to chart her own course as an independent artist, founding her label New Friends and producing much of her own work.
The tracks featured on Everybody Needs a Hero are already climbing Gartland’s Spotify charts, with “Late To The Party,” “Backseat Driver,” and “Little Chaos” landing in spots two, three and five, respectively. Throughout the album, Gartland navigates a relationship and works to discover her identity. She develops a theme that it is okay to feel everything all at once, even if you don’t always know what exactly you’re feeling.
Though short (clocking in at just under two minutes), album opener “Both Can Be True” is emotionally powerful as Gartland struggles to find balance as her relationship falls to pieces. She sings, “I’m stuck in between / Frozen and feeling everything,” trying to keep her head above water. “Kiss Ur Face Forever” has a very different vibe, but expresses a similar ambivalence. She wants to stay in her relationship, but she sings, “Half yours / And half unsure,” showing that she is torn between staying and leaving.
“SOUND OF LETTING GO” brings about a heavier, more intense beat. Gartland’s anger
is evident as she breaks free, taking back her independence. In the chorus, she repeats, “I can’t change you, can’t change me, can’t change anything / So, I guess I gotta let it go.”
In “Little Chaos,” Gartland is conflicted between letting her internal thoughts take over and letting her love interest take over for her to silence the chaos she feels inside. She faces a similar conflict in “Backseat Driver,” where she wants to be herself, but admits, “I wouldn’t trust me either.”
Declan McKenna stars alongside Gartland in “Late to the Party,” as the two grapple with a lover’s past relationships. The groovy track perfectly expresses how disorienting overthinking can become, and masterfully captures both artists’ talents.
“Mine” is more gut-wrenching as Gartland describes the impacts of sexual assault. With heavy-hitting lyrics, she unleashes the devastation felt to realize, “my body was mine.”
“Simple” takes a step back from the whirlwind of emotion and features Gartland taking in the smaller moments of joy that can be overlooked. She emphasizes that love does not need to be grandiose, but instead can be uncomplicated and easy, like, “the right song for the right mood.”
Everybody Needs a Hero complexities of love and self-discovery, inviting fans to explore the nuances of Gartland’s mind. Gartland has masterfully displayed her capabilities as an artist and storyteller, in effect proving that whatever comes next will be even greater.
MXMTOON LIMINAL SPACE
To be in a liminal space commands uncertainty from eeriness, allowing the opportunity for exploration and contemplation in a surreal environment. Bedroom-pop singer-songwriter mxmtoon, known for her ukulele-driven tunes, captures the essence of the term throughout her third studio album, liminal space, out Nov. 1.
First emerging at 17 years old with her YouTube ukulele covers in her parents’ California home under the same pseudonym, mxmtoon — or Maia — sought out an avenue to express the underpinnings of a queer, half-Chinese girl’s teenage experience. It was not long before her soft, confessional covers and original songs led to her monumental debut album the masquerade in 2019, which featured her commentary on the modern teen’s experience, told through platinum-selling singles “prom dress” and “seasonal depression.” Her sonic and lyrical identity have evolved over the years, taking on brighter and warmer pop sounds in her 2020 EPs dusk and dawn and her 2022 sophomore album rising. At just 24, the singer is not yet done growing up.
liminal space is introduced with requesting grace as the singer lists off proactive advice on improving her mental health before saying “no thanks,” to proposed solutions so she can bask in her selfprescribed “dramatic escape.” This song sets the tone for the album as it not only allows listeners to prepare for untempered contemplation, but also highlights the unconventional synchrony in a variety of elements that will appear throughout the album.
Many of the album’s songs dwell on the nuance of identity and what it means to be an adult. She grapples with the meaning of home on “rain,” as she reminisces on her naive “first day of life” moving to New York before appreciating “growing old in Oakland.” She begrudgingly wrestles with her frustration and the inability to be taken seriously on “just a little,” where she sings, “I wish they didn’t fear me / I wish someone could let me lose it.” She
WRITTEN BY Kelly Carciente
uses “god?,” to question her spirituality in search of a divine power and her existentialism comes into play in collaboration with Kero Kero Bonito with the morbid “the situation,” where she pokes fun at the inevitable fate of crying on one’s birthday and death’s inevitability: “There’s a final destination/We get older then we die / And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
The songwriter does not shy away from exploring family as a theme in her music, either. She reflects on the vastly different upbringing she would have had if she were her younger brother in her parents’ eyes in “number one boy.” She also worries about the bittersweet notion of growing up and slowly becoming just like one’s parents in “vhs,” along with having to say goodbye to her past self: “Sometimes I miss her / The girl I used to be.”
The album concludes with “white out,” a confession of discomfort in one’s own mind, hoping to “put [her] darkest thoughts on ice.” In this final farewell, mxmtoon halts her cognitive exploration by admitting to not taking care of herself and ignoring her problems, singing, “I’m sitting with my shadow, but I’d rather be alone.”
Although her contemplative introspection on her evolution continues to follow her throughout different stages of her career, mxmtoon’s liminal space captures a maturity in her craft and in her sound. Her vulnerable and existentialist storytelling coupled with her enchanting and euphonic sound surpasses her previous work, only reflecting her continued growth as an artist.
NO OBLIGATION THE LINDA LINDAS
The Linda Lindas are the future of rock ‘n’ roll. Made up of Bela Salazar, Eloise Wong and sisters Lucia and Mila de la Garza, the Linda Lindas are a young band that focuses on sharing their experiences growing up. Their sophomore album, No Obligation, is a blend of all things rock. From heavy metal to soft alt-rock, No Obligation uses the ever-expanding genre of rock to highlight stories and songs of empowerment and confidence.
WRITTEN BY Emma Celenza
The Linda Linda’s infectious energy has drummed up attention across the globe, earning them the opportunities to create music for shows and movies such as Moxie directed by Amy Poehler and The Claudia Kishi Club directed by Sue Ding, allowed them to open for bands such as The Rolling Stones or Green Day and perform at events such as Coachella and the 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee.
Opening with the title track “No Obligation”, we are introduced to The Linda Lindas’ band motto of always being yourself. Through powerful guitar, strong vocals and punchy percussion, The Linda Lindas challenge stereotypes and let the world know that the only people they are here to please are themselves. This theme is repeated throughout the album, but is more specifically focused on in tracks such as “Don’t Think” and “Excuse Me.” Not only do The Linda Lindas stand up for themselves, but they encourage others to do the same. In songs such as “Lose Yourself,” The Linda Lindas empower listeners to find their voice over leading bass and steady percussion.
No Obligation is an anthem of strength for those in need and used as a reflection of the experiences Salazar, Wong and the de la Garza sisters have faced. One huge theme seen throughout the album is the importance of shifting your perspective. In songs such as “Once Upon a Time,” The Linda Lindas work to see themselves in a different light.
The deep guitar and emotional vocals on No Obligation allow The Linda Lindas to express their desire to better understand the thoughts of others, as seen on “Cartographers.” They share their differences and instead of these differences splitting them apart, they conclude that they will eventually get on the same page and are willing to wait for the others to catch up. Other tracks that show this theme include “Resolution / Revolution” and “Nothing Would Change.”
Wrapping up No Obligation, they conclude with the track “Stop,” about standing your ground against haters. This song truly encapsulates the reason the Linda Lindas formed: to be themselves, encourage others to love themselves and to stand up for those who are marginalized. The Linda Lindas choose to put themselves first and prove to the world that they are here to stay no matter what others think.
Through their empowering lyrics and catchy songs, The Linda Lindas are a positive force in the rock community and are going to change the world and while No Obligation might only be the Linda Linda’s second album, it is just one of many accomplishments they will go on to achieve. With their determination, they could take over the genre of rock ‘n’ roll.
